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Code Lyoko Episode 68: The New Xana
Author: James the Lesser/The Bunnyman
Disclaimer: I Do Not Own These Characters! Moonscape Does!


After a couple weeks of quite relaxation the Lyoko Gang was getting nervous, Xana, Sanne, hadn't attacked. Yumi and Ulrich had been happy for the break but knew it probably meant Xana was planning another attack and was just waiting for them to drop their guard. "Ulrich relax." Yumi and Ulrich were watching a movie in Ulrich's room while Odd was out with S.S. "You're still tense, do you..."

"No Yumi it's not that ok? You're getting me worse just talking about it."

"I said I was sorry Ulrich, I..."

"I forgave you, it wasn't that bad but you keep bringing it up. I just want to relax and watch this Yumi, with you."

"But you aren't, I can feel it." Yumi puts a hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "We're all worried about Xana but you don't see the others getting so stressed out they can't enjoy being together." Yumi starts to rub Ulrich's shoulder trying to get him to relax.

"Don't talk about the others, especially Odd and S.S." Ulrich laughs starting, trying, to lighten up.

"We don't need to get that relaxed." Yumi puts her arm around Ulrich resting her head on his shoulder. "This is perfect."

Xana on the other hand was not trying to relax. She had been trying to find a way to get at the Lyoko group that would work. If Xana was just a computer it might try the same old activate a tower, posses someone, attack. But Xana was also Sanne, a human, and humans have the ability to learn. Physical attacks, psychological attacks, emotional attacks, none seemed to work. She had an idea though...

"Hello?" Ulrich's phone had rung.

"This is Jeremie, Sanne's activated a tower." Ulrich hangs his phone up not sure if he was relieved that finally Xana had woken up or was mad that Xana was going to interrupt him and Yumi.

"Yumi, Xana's attacking; we can pause the movie and come back."

"Ok, it was just getting interesting to, bummer." Yumi and Ulrich get off his bed and head for the sewer entrance.

As they were heading for the Factory Ulrich's phone rings again. "Wait Yumi the numbers Jeremie's, hello?"

"She stopped." Jeremie was looking at his screen trying to see if she activated another tower somewhere else.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, but best come here anyways, she may be playing a game with us."

"What happened?" Yumi was curious and couldn't hear what Jeremie had said through the phone.

"Xana stopped but we should still go to the Factory in case this is a trick." Ulrich and Yumi get on their skateboards getting to the Factory.

The Factory was the same, so Xana hadn't done anything to it, what could the attack have been? Taking the elevator down to the Control Room the two get off and see Jeremie and Aelita working at the Super Computer console. "Where's Odd and S.S.?"

"Not sure, they said they were on their way though." Jeremie was working away at the console. "Doesn't seem to be starting another one, Aelita you have anything?" They had split up the work, Jeremie taking Sectors 1, 2, and 3 while Aelita took Sectors 4 and 5 to look for activated towers.

"No, she seems to have stopped." Aelita was disappointed, she was hoping for a reason to go back to Lyoko, to maybe see her Mom again, talk to her.

"May just be a false alarm but still better to be safe, we can sit here for a bit, unless you two were doing something important?" Jeremie smiles at Ulrich, he knew he didn't have to call Yumi about the Tower; she would have been with Ulrich. Ulrich knew what Jeremie was implying and blushes a little before pushing the thoughts away.

"No we were just watching a movie, we can finish it later." Ulrich decides to try and embarrass Jeremie. "If you and Aelita would like to get back to what you were really doing all alone down here we could go away." Yumi and Ulrich laugh as both Aelita and Jeremie blush.

"Jeremie another Tower has activated." The group looks at the screen as Aelita finds out where it is. "Sector 4, and two more just activated, what is she doing?" Jeremie was going to find the answer as he set up three screens, each to a different news channel, and checked the security cameras for any activity.

"She might be going after Odd and S.S., why they haven't made it here yet." Jeremie brings up Odd's phone number and has the computer dial it as he continues typing away. "Odd you ok?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" Odd and S.S. were walking down a street on their way to the Factory.

"Sanne has activated more Towers and we don't know what her attack is yet."

"Xana could just be messing with us." It sure messed with him and S.S. "Couldn't S.S. and..."

"No Odd get here, I'm going to send the others soon and they might need your help." Before Jeremie hung up the computer screen stops flashing. "Just get here Odd something weird is going on." The Towers had deactivated.

"Anything on the news?" Ulrich and Yumi were looking at the screens seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

"I don't get it, whatever Sanne is doing doesn't register on any channel."

Odd and S.S. are still walking down the road to the Factory when a car pulls up behind them. "Stop where you are and put your hands on the back of your head." Odd turns around not paying attention seeing a police car. "I said stop where you are and put your hands on the back of your head!" Odd's hands shot up to the back of his head. "Lay down on the ground, belly first, and don't move." Odd and S.S. listen as the officer gets out of his car.

"What's going on? We weren't doing anything."

"How many blond kids have a purple splotch in their hair? You must be..." The officer looks down at a paper. "Odd Della Robbia, wanted for two counts of rape in the first degree, two counts of murder in the first degree, and one count of assault on a police officer. Miss you don't know how close you were to becoming his next victim."

"Odd didn't do that, there must be some mistake."

"I don't know of any other Odd Della Robbias do you?" The officer grabs Odd's arms and puts his hand behind his back handcuffing him. "If you confess and tell us where your accomplices are they might go easy on you."

"S.S. its Xana, she did this, tell the others..."

"What? The others, so you aren't an innocent person but part of the gang? Well it's just my lucky day; capture two members of a gang responsible for two murders and more out in Paris. Stay right there while I call for backup, need more cuffs." S.S. was panicking, Odd was right Xana had to be responsible for this but they had to warn the others.

"Officer you don't understand, Xana..."

"Be quiet I haven't read you your rights yet and you don't have an attorney present, while we're at it, you have the right to remain silent..." The officer reads Odd and S.S. their rights as another police car pulls up with an extra pair of cuffs.

"Where are they?" It had nearly half an hour since Jeremie called Odd, what could those two be doing? If Xana had attacked them they would have called, and Xana hadn't activated any new towers, so what was going on? "I called both of their phones and no answer."

"Maybe Xana only needed to attack for a few seconds and now they are in trouble." Aelita was the most concerned for her friends as it was her Mother that was responsible, even if Aelita had no control over Xana, Sanne, she felt guilty. "We should go to Lyoko."

"What if that is what Xana wants? I know me and Yumi could probably handle it if there was an attack but if Xana isn't attacking her full attention is on Lyoko, waiting for us."

"I know but if they are hurt..."

"I don't want to send you defenseless Aelita; I could send you under S.S. so you would have some protection." Jeremie was already brining up the programs. "We can't risk it, even if they are just, off doing other things, Xana could have done something." Jeremie and the others knew it wasn't other things, they may be young and full of hormones but they had priorities, they knew their responsibilities, they all did.

"But if their isn't any Tower activated what do we do?" Why go to Lyoko if they would just get attacked with no goal?

"I don't know, check things out, Lyoko may have been damaged after Sanne's last attack."

"Xana will be waiting for us won't she?" Yumi was still having bad dreams about the last attack; about the Hornet pumping its venom into her after it had pierced Ulrich, and wasn't looking forward to going to Lyoko where Hornets would be.

"She might be, but I don't see any activity on Lyoko, it might..." Jeremie goes over some code. "No, its there, why the Towers activated, but no activity, strange."

"Jeremie we are going to the Scanners, bye." Aelita kisses Jeremie on the cheek and heads for the elevator. "Come on we have to do something." What she wasn't sure with no Towers activated she was pretty much useless.

"Mom I didn't do anything! There is a mistake I swear, please come and get me." Odd was crying into the phone, his one phone call, and wasn't holding his feelings back. "They said they can't hold me in jail since I'm a minor but they'll put a bracelet on me, track me, please Mom." Odd had been finger printed, photographed, and worse of all separated from S.S. He had no idea what had happened to her. "They need one of my parents to get me, to sign the papers, and make, make sure I don't run away." Odd had nearly choked on a sob, he was in a lot of trouble, they said he was the leader of a gang from Paris; a tip had been called in that he was here from a random person, and they weren't treating him like he was innocent until proven guilty. He knew it was Xana's doing, had to be, but he had to call his Mom, he couldn't stay here. "Thanks Mom, I love you, please get here as fast as you can." As Odd hangs up the phone a police officer grabs him roughly by the arm and takes him back to a cell with three other people, Odd tried to find out what was happening to S.S. but the officer ignored him pushing him into the cell. Odd begged quietly to God that his friends would figure it out; that Xana had done something to him and S.S. and was torn between being mad at him for not calling his friends and telling them and fear of what was happening to S.S.

"Scanner Yumi, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Aelita, Transfer Yumi, Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Aelita, Virtualization." Jeremie sends his friends, and girlfriend, to Lyoko no knowing what they would find. "So what does it look like?"

"It's normal Jeremie, for now." Ulrich gets his sword out ready for an attack.

"A Tower just activated, not even in your Sector, find a transfer Tower and go to Sector 3." Jeremie looks at the news screens, nothing on them about anything strange going on, what was Xana doing?

"Jeremie we aren't seeing anything here, Xana isn't doing anything here, try Odd or S.S. again." Yumi has her fans out while Aelita has the power pole S.S. uses out walking back to back while Ulrich leads looking for an ambush. "Aelita, do you know how to use that?"

"I'm not sure, extend?" The pole extends radically. "Stop!" It does. "Um, what does she say?" Aelita didn't have time to think of the word as two Tarantulas and a Mega Tank show up as the Lyoko group is just meters from the transfer Tower.

"Watch it!" Ulrich blocks a laser from the first Tarantula with his sword. Aelita, take Yumi to the Tower and find the activated Tower, I'll hold them off."

"Ulrich we are already two members short we need you." Yumi blocks several lasers from the second Tarantula with her fans. "On the count of three we run, Aelita you go first, Ulrich and I will block and run for the Tower after you."

"I need to leave this; I don't know how to work it." Aelita drops the pole which had extended across the path they had used to get to the transfer Tower.

"1, 2, 3!" Aelita runs while Yumi and Ulrich block the lasers, jumping over the power pole as the try to run and block at the same time. The Mega Tank opens up charging up a shot.

"Aelita jump to your right!" The Mega Tank had been aiming at Aelita hoping to hit her before she got to the transfer Tower but when it fires the power pole, still extended, blocks it. With this quick reprieve from the laser fire Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita make it to the Tower. "Lead us to Sector 3 Princess." They jump into the stream of information and electrical charges below and take it to the next transfer Tower.

"Good, now go right and don't stop, hey I think Odd and S.S. made it." Jeremie hears the elevator working. "I might be able to get you guys out of there soon, wait, the Tower, it deactivated, what is going on! Sanne is messing with us; she waited for you to get there and..." Jeremie hears the elevator doors open but instead of seeing Odd and S.S. he sees three police officers in full riot gear. A canister lands on the ground and explodes with a bright flash and loud bang.

"Go, go, go! Move in, check the area, and make sure the area is secured before going down to the next level. Blue Squad is in, we found one of their members, not sure where the other members are." Jeremie was lying on the floor ears still ringing, seeing nothing but a white glow, feeling hands roll him on his stomach and cuffing his hands behind his back not knowing what was going on.

"Jeremie!" The headphones and speaker Jeremie used was still on and all the others could hear were footsteps and what sounded like a bomb. "That was Sanne's plan." Aelita hoped Jeremie was alright but didn't know what to do now that the Tower had deactivated. "If we go back to the other Tower..." Aelita thinks about something. "That won't work, we should continue heading towards the Tower, and if I get there I might be able to figure something out."

"What won't work?" Yumi and Ulrich were confused and worried, maybe Xana had gotten to Odd and S.S., and now Jeremie.

"We need a Tower I can access the Super Computer from and I can't from the transfer Tower." The group continues towards the Tower that Jeremie told them was there and hoped they weren't too late.

Jeremie got his vision and hearing back while in the back of the police car. "What's going on?"

"Shut up, you must be the one who got the gang their false I.D. We have all the information on your gang, thinking you could come here to hide out was a mistake."

"Gang? Lyoko? My friends?"

"Is that what you call them? Lyoko, that Russian or something? We will find the other members soon, we didn't find them in the Factory but we will keep looking. You guys think you're so tough, we already have two of the members in custody and with all the evidence an inside source gave us you little bastards are going to be tried as adults."

"Sanne?" That's why the Towers kept deactivating; she only needed enough time to falsify data in the police computers. "This is a mistake, a set up, Sanne is setting us up! You don't understand..."

"You don't kid, you are going away for a long time, and the DA is looking at the max on both murders." This was a big case, and even if it got sent back to Paris it would look good on his record, he got the first two and now had a third one, just three members left and they were kids, the Paris police were probably to fat and lazy to do real police work, not like him and his people did.

"There it is, oh man..." Xana had sent three squads of Hornets plus a squad of Assassins. "Ok Aelita you stay behind there while Yumi and I take care of this mess."

"Ulrich, I, the Hornets." This is what Yumi was afraid of, having to face Hornets again. She rubs her stomach where the stinger had pierced her, had pumped its venom into her.

"What about them? You are the only one with long range weapons, you can handle them right?" Ulrich was getting impatient, they didn't know how long this would take and what was going on outside.

"Can't you do something?" Yumi was starting to shake; even being virtual she could feel fear, mind numbing body freezing heart seizing terror.

"Yumi what's wrong, I didn't see you get hit yet, something go wrong with the transfer?" Ulrich sees Yumi is shaking, thinking that it is a glitch with the transfer and not Yumi herself doing it.

"I, uh, no." Yumi gets a fan and throws it at a group of Hornets but even with them being guided slightly from the improvements Jeremie made they miss from a bad throw from a shaky hand.

"Come on Yumi pull it together." Yumi didn't even attempt to grab the fan as it came back and lets it go flying by. Now that they have the Hornets attention they go in for the attack. "Yumi watch out!" Yumi, paralyzed by fear doesn't even attempt to dodge the lasers and is hit multiple times being sent back to Earth. Ulrich, busy blocking lasers with his sword, doesn't notice until after the Hornets pass over getting ready for their next barrage.

"She was hit, she's back on Earth." Aelita was hiding behind a rock and moved around it as the Hornets were on the same side now.

Back on Earth the Scanner opens dumping Yumi out. "Freeze!" Yumi looks up at a barrel. "Hands on your head, lets see, Asian girl, are you Yumi Ishiyama?" Yumi nods still frozen from fear about the Hornets. "Hey we got one of the muscles, where is Ulrich Stern!" The information they had said there were two muscles, two thugs, who did the dirty work, the Asian girl and a German kid.

"I, he is still on..." Yumi stopped herself from saying Lyoko, would they believe her? Of course not, they'd think she was crazy. "What's going on, what are you doing?"

"Shut up we ask the questions, where is Ulrich Stern?" He was the only other dangerous one, to others. They were still looking for the Russian girl who killed her parents before going on the run, or so the information said. But all the information they did have said she was only dangerous if cornered and they weren't going to let her get a weapon. "Tell us how to make the other tubes open!"

"What?" Yumi looks and sees the other two Scanners have their doors closed, they always opened after they went to Lyoko, why had they stayed closed?

"How long do you think they can last in their? Did they send you out to see if we had left? Some big shot killers you are, still foolish kids, we will wait until we have all you little punks. Cuff this suspect, take her up, and bring some water back down." An officer handcuffs Yumi and takes her to the elevator.

"I can't believe her; something must have gone wrong with the transfer." Ulrich was in deep trouble now, he had three squads of Hornets and a squad of Assassins left to defeat all by himself. "Aelita you have any ideas?"

"I don't know, if I had the pole I might be able to get there but I left it behind."

"Yeah, and the Assassins are the worst, if I hit one I have to get away before it explodes." Ulrich looks at the Assassins, then over his shoulder at the Hornets. "Aelita, you'll know when to go."

"Wait Ulrich, what do you mean?" Ulrich waves his sword making sure the Hornets target him.

"Super Sprint!" He charges the Assassins dodging lasers, blocking when necessary, sliding underneath one of the Assassins. The Hornets circle overhead trying to get a clear shot as the other two Assassins close in on Ulrich lowering their lasers to hit him. "Impact!" Ulrich stabs the belly of the beast, sliding the sword down cutting the Assassin in half causing it to explode. Ulrich hoped his plan would work as he goes back to Earth. Aelita sees the Hornets explode from the impact of the blast and the remaining Assassins stumble from it, this is what Ulrich meant. Aelita charges the Tower and dives into it before the Assassins know what is going on.

Ulrich falls out of the Scanner and starts to get up. "Stop right there, get down on the floor!" Ulrich looks up to see two men dressed in riot gear wielding rifles.

"That's the best you can do Xana?"

"I said get down on the floor now!" The man points the rifle at Ulrich. "Slowly, keep your hands in my sight, any sudden moves and I will shoot you." The man walks towards Ulrich slowly. "I said get on the floor now!" He gets close enough to put the tip of the barrel between Ulrich's eyes. "fine don't listen punk, you must be the other muscle of the group, Ulrich Stern, you were the one who slit their throats wasn't it?" Ulrich's reaction is the same as the others, confusion.

"What? Where's Yumi?"

"We already sent her up, you sweet on her or something? The couple who kills together stays together huh? Your sick little group is busted; the only one we don't have left is the Russian girl, Aelita Hopper." Ulrich was even more confused, everyone on Earth knew Aelita as Aelita Stones, the only people who knew her real last name were her friends, Franz Hopper, and Xana, or Sanne Hopper. "Now get on the floor and put your hands behind your head."

"Ok, this is a mistake though, Xana is playing you we didn't do anything." Ulrich figures that as long as Aelita was on Lyoko she could do something, a return to the past, anything.

"The elevator back down yet? Good, the water here?" The other officer nods. "Ok, get a couple bottles out, cuff this bastard and let's get the others something to drink." Ulrich is cuffed and dragged to the elevator to go to the Control room so the officers could drop off the rest of the water bottles. All that was left was one little girl, although the information, the warrants out on her, said she was a murderer, had committed patricide; she was just a little girl, nothing they couldn't handle.

Aelita is working on the computer inside the Tower and brings up the Factory cameras. "Why are they there?" She sees several police cars and two vans outside the Factory. She sees Yumi in the back of a car while several officers stood around waiting for something. "Yumi, where's the others?" She doesn't see Jeremie, or Ulrich, what had Xana done?

"Return to the past!" Aelita looks around, she hears Ulrich's voice, was he in the Control room? "Do it Aelita, Xana's done something to them, do a return to the past!"

"I can't!" It would make her Mother stronger Aelita didn't want to be responsible for it.

"Please, I know you can hear me, you have to, do a..."

"Shut it kid!" Aelita hears a thump noise and Ulrich stops yelling.

"Ulrich!" Aelita uses the computer in the Tower to connect to the Super Computer. It would be easy, she'd done it before, but it would make Sanne stronger, something she didn't want. "I have to; those officers are hurting my friends." She types for a few seconds and brings up the program. "Return to the past now." The white glow comes out of the Factory ending the attack by Xana.

"Ulrich, I'm sorry." Yumi had just been sitting in the back of a police car and was back on the bed with Ulrich."

"What happened? Did the transfer go wrong? You kept shaking, I'm just glad you're ok." Ulrich rubs the back of his head, he knew the lump wouldn't be there but he wanted to be sure, they hit him pretty hard.

"No I was scared." She hadn't been able to fight the Hornets, the image, the feeling, the memory of being stung and pumped full of poison had stopped her cold.

"Really Yumi, a transfer problem wasn't your fault, what was it?"

"I was scared Ulrich, the Hornets, I couldn't stop it." Yumi was feeling sick just from remembering.

"Couldn't stop what?" Ulrich sees Yumi become pale. "Are you ok?" What had happened after she went back to Earth? Had they hurt her?

"No I'm not. I have nightmares about the Hornets, when they attacked us here on Earth, I haven't been able to make them stop, go away." Yumi starts to cry feeling weak, foolish, Ulrich and her friends could have been in trouble if Aelita hadn't made it to the Tower, figured out what was going on and fixed it.

"Yumi its ok we all have nightmares." He had heard Odd going through them, he had them sometimes, the things they went through fighting Xana was bound to do that. "Aelita has them, I have them, Odd has them, I'm sure Jeremie has them and S.S. Xana has targeted you the most though hasn't she? I don't know why though but she has, its not your fault." Ulrich holds Yumi trying to comfort her.

"I could have, if I hadn't, I..." Yumi tries to talk but her sobs keep her from completing her sentences.

"Be quiet Yumi it wasn't your fault, we're ok, it's going to be ok." So Ulrich hoped. If Yumi did what she did again it could be disastrous. "It's going to be ok." Yumi cries some more, Ulrich never letting her go, both ignore the movie playing even when it got to the part they missed due to the activated towers.