Author Note(s): Oh yes, I did conclude Odd’s little back story of trying to beat that particular video game. In case you don’t know yet, yes, the game was in fact Sonic Advance 3. Considering how much of a Sonic fan I am, I couldn’t write a Code Lyoko fanfic without making a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog somewhere in there. As for the message board he was on, let’s just say that it was “The Sonic Stadium” and leave it at that, shall we?

Disclaimer: Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita are all the property of Code Lyoko, and therefore are copyright to Moonscoop. Sonic Advance 3 is copyright to SEGA/Sonic Team, which is referenced in this fic. Note that this isn’t a crossover—Odd is playing the game throughout the entire fan-fiction.

Chapter 8: Realizations

Jeremie’s fingers were all over the keyboard, typing as fast as he could move his fingers. Virtual ‘search bots’ scoured the databases, checking for anything out of place. Everything came back clean. Nothing more in the programming had been changed or modified.

Jeremie sat back in his seat and gave of a sigh of relief. “All’s clear,” he reported.

Yumi and Odd were standing nearby when suddenly the door opened. Yumi backed up in surprise. “Huh? She asked.

Jeremie jumped from his seat, but only to find Aelita and Ulrich walking in. He’d only materialized them out from Lyoko seconds ago, but… How’d they get up here so quickly? He pondered this as they reported.

“All’s clear inside Lyoko, too.” Ulrich proclaimed boldly.

Jeremie raised his eyebrow. “Well you guys certainly managed to get up here pretty quick.”

Ulrich shrugged his shoulders. “Technology—it helps.”

Aelita sighed. She was still bracing herself with the crutch that the nurse gave her. Her ankle still plagued her, but it was healing quickly—just as anticipated. “So did we get any new info out of this?” She asked.

Jeremie nodded. “Yup, we got lots,” he explained.

Aelita momentarily backed away, stunned. “W-what...?” she asked.

The young scientist grinned. “I just learned that we still have many unsolved mysteries about Lyoko, Franz Hopper, and XANA.” His grin widened. “There are still many things we don’t know, but we can uncover it… together.”

Odd now stood up and walked toward Jeremie. “Well now that that’s over with, Jeremie, mind if I borrow your computer?” he asked.

Jeremie looked up in surprise. “Why do you want to borrow my computer? Well, I guess you can...”

Odd nodded in reply. “Thanks!” he stated. He quickly rushed over to the console and reached underneath for a small, black bag. He unzipped it and took out Jeremie’s laptop. Odd then went and seated himself down next to the holographic display of Lyoko in the center of the room, immediately typing away.

Ulrich glanced curiously at Odd, eying him suspiciously. “What are you up to?” he asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really,” he replied. “I just decided to take this time to brag at a few people online about my superior game mastery.”

Yumi rolled her eyes. “So what, you finally beat that game you were playing? Well that’s certainly a big accomplishment,” she stated sarcastically.

Odd scrolled read through the topic on the message board he was reading through, until something caught his eye. “What… no, it can’t be!”

“Is there something wrong?” Aelita asked.

Odd whimpered. “No, it took me forever to beat it, and now I learn that it’s not even the true final boss?!” Odd through his hands up into the air and cried out. “Curse you, Sonic Team! CURSE YOU!!!”

The others just burst into laughter as Odd fell to the ground and whined over it all.

XXXXX

The figure in the ruined form of The Hermitage stood by and watched the five kids through the computer screen. He smiled delightfully. “You kids may have one this battle, but the war is not over. My plans are still in motion, and it cannot be stopped. Soon, the world will be mine, as it was destined from the beginning.”

A symbol seen often inside of Lyoko flashed on the forehead of the figure. He made his way toward the door and outside into the garden. “Now, to set the final part of the plan into motion,” the man said. “Resistance is futile. My plans will succeed, and you destroyed.” He laughed as he walked through the thickness of the forest and disappeared.

XANA: The entity within Lyoko set on destroying the world. XANA is a program developed by Franz Hopper to destroy Carthage, AKA, ‘Sector 5.’ However, somehow XANA went rogue, and instead changed his means on using Carthage to take over the world. XANA lives within Sector 5, known only as ‘Carthage,’ and controls all within Lyoko. By activating a ‘tower’ within Lyoko, he is able to use his ghosts to control things on earth. However, those five kids—Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita, always foil his plans and deactivate the tower before his plot can be finished off. If only he could take them out first…