Code Lyoko: A Retelling Chapter 1: Episode 1 Teddygodzilla, a code lyoko fanfic

Disclaimer:

I don't own Code Lyoko…I'm just another fan in the swarm of millions that enjoy watching the show. So please, do not take this fic as an insult to the series but rather a testament to its greatness as it inspired me to undergo this project.

Notes about the Fic:

The stories that I'm planning to write are unique to, well at least in my eyes. The series that I'm writing is not completely new, rather a retelling of the events of the first season of Code Lyoko with some changes made by me. Although I do rely heavily on the material that the episodes have presented so far, I do not intend for my stories to be simple carbon copies of the original. This is an experiment for me since I am a greenhorn in the realm of fan fiction and as a means of testing my own writing abilities. Although feedback is most welcomed, I will try to update the story as how I see fit despite banter provided by the usual flamers. However, your intention today is to enjoy a well-written story not to have your ear chewed off by some no-named wannabe writer. With that said, on with the show.

Episode 1: Teddygodzilla

If you were to ask any random pedestrian walking the streets today and asked them to comment on the day you would receive a variety of answers. However, despite the broad spectrum of replies one thing was certain. It was just another regular Friday morning. Now ask that same question to the students of Kadic Junior High and you would receive and entirely new set of answers varying in degrees of excitement. To the students of this particular boarding school, this was not just any Friday morning, for it contained on of the most important events the school year, the annual Kadic Junior High School Prom to be exact. In the eyes of an outsider, one would disregard the social significance of this particular event, simply dismissing it as another over hyped school dance. However, because the school schedule emphasized studies over recreation, whenever the students got a break from regular classes, it was most appreciated.

With that said, it is of no surprise to see that the campus's atmosphere contained feelings of jubilee and fanfare as students waited anxiously for the upcoming event. Conversations were no longer about the latest movies, gossip and homework assignments. Instead they were focused on upcoming plans for the evening and trying to find last minute dates for the occasion. For a special group of students, the excitement for them was too unbearable and they had decided to help set up the gym for the occasion making good use of their pent up energy and idle hands.

Junior newscasters Milly and Tamiya took it upon themselves to document the events firsthand, to them the prom was more than worthy for the front page and it was their duty to uncover every single minute of the occasion. From the morning of set up to the last dance, no stone would be left unturned as the girls were determined to capture the significance of the occasion. The two reporters entered the auditorium and bore witness to the progress at hand. Although there were a number of students who decided to shun away their duties and only volunteered to help just for the benefit of missing class, there was a small few who were actually working.

"Whoa, Einstein! You gotta be careful with that," exclaimed Odd as he saw Jérémie struggling with a few boxes that were holding some very expensive electrical equipment.

"So tell me again why I'm doing this, instead of working on my latest computer program?" Asked a puzzled Jérémie, who began to regret accepting Odd's invitation.

"Oh come on, a little fresh air and exercise won't hurt anyone," Ulrich stated, trying his best not to sound like his P.E. instructor Jim.

"Hey you two," Yumi butted in. "I don't think standing around and talking like that is going to help us set up this dance for tonight."

The three boys quickly ended their conversation and resumed their work and were totally ignorant of Tamiya and Millie's presence. Taking a quick glance around the large room, the girls wasted no time in setting up. In one fluid motion Tamiya opened her bag, pulled out her camera, removed the lens cap and began centering Milly within her shot. Milly on her part began to rehearse her lines and made some metal last minute adjustments to them. Tamiya then pressed the record button and flashed the thumbs up signal showing that she was ready for Millie's report.

"Junior reporters Milly and Tamiya here, coming to you live from the Kadic Junior High Auditorium," said Milly. Her voice was laced with a mixture of childhood excitement and professional calm as she tried her best to capture the euphoric buzz that has swept the campus all in one passionate newscast.

"With the school prom just hours away the entire student body waits in anticipation for the memorable evening. Although we are forbidden to show you any footage beyond this point we will bring you any breaking updates for the upcoming dance."

Despite Millie's rapid-fire commentary, Tamiya was able to keep her within the shot and was able to catch a glimpse of some of the students working. As she swept the camera across the room Sissi, Herb and Nicholas entered the shot followed by Milly who quickly approached Sissi for an interview.

"Sissi, do you have any thoughts on tonight as you attempt to be crowned prom queen for the second year in a row?"

Unfortunately for Milly, she did not get the answer she was hoping for, or any answer in fact. Sissi simply walked by with her head turned away in disgust. Whatever Sissi's response lacked, Herb made up for it in tenfold. He walked over to Tamiya's camera and placed the palm of his hand over the lens thus officially ending the newscast much to the girls' dismay.

Admits the confusion caused by Herb and the frantic work done inside. A lone figure watched the entire fiasco with a look of deep concern and slight anger in his eyes. Pressing the stop button on his CD player, he shifted his entire focus toward the conversation. The individual had no intention of moving and simply stood in the shadow of the doorway that concealed his presence with the sole intention of watching the ordeal that was unfolding before him.

A worried Tamiya began to inspect her camera for any signs of damage caused by Herb's palm and began to ever-so-gently clean the marks made on the lens. Milly took a more direct approach and confronted Sissi's group with an angry look.

"Why on Earth did you do that?! You have no right to just disrupt our report!"

"Awww is the little baby gonna have a temper tantrum?" Sissi replied in a childish tone of voice, making fun at the fact that the girls were younger than she was. "I don't have any time to waste on youngsters like you. I have more important things to do than to help two little babies pretend that their big important news people."

"Hey, just because you're bigger and older does not mean you can just treat us like your doormats!"

"Oh really, I think it does. Face it, aside from your make believe news show that nobody cares about, you two have nothing. I bet you don't even have a date for the dance tonight."

Those last words struck a deep cord within Millie's subconscious as the meaning of Sissi's statement further resonated within her mind. Deep down inside she knew that Sissi was right...she was dateless for the prom. Although it was ok to go to the prom single, Milly was not ready to face the social stigma that came with that decision. Especially if it that someone was constantly in the public eye, which her position as a reporter had brought her. Milly did not want the embarrassment of going to the prom alone, nor did she want to give Sissi the upper hand in this argument. If she were to admit the truth, it would only give Sissi even more leverage and the insulting would only continue. She had to think of a way out and fast.

"Umm...," Milly stalled as she quickly thought of a replay. "It's no problem I could get a date anytime." After completing her answer, a wave of relief swept over her body as she narrowly escaped the question; however, this feeling was short-lived.

"Prove it tenderfoot. Go ahead, ask any guy. I'm waiting."

Sissi words sent Milly into a loop. If she was unable find a date anytime soon she would have to eat her words along with a giant slice of humble pie and she new that a combination of these two products was not good for her health. She surveyed all the potential candidates and was deeply worried that she did not know a majority of them, until she saw him. Milly could barely contain her excitement as the subject of her affection entered her field of vision. She knew she liked him but was unable to act on these feelings out of shyness. A slight blush spread across her cheeks as she called out his name.

"Ul…rich."

Milly struggled to maintain her composure but her efforts were in vain. She had a hard enough time just saying his name, let alone asking him out to the dance, but she would not give up now knowing full well that Sissi was watching. She had to press on. Ulrich on his part was slightly startled; he was completely oblivious of Millie's presence until she called out his name which effectively stopped him dead in his tracks. Yumi, Jérémie and Odd also followed suit and turned their attention to the conversation. Ulrich stared at the pink haired girl and wondered if he should do anything at this particular moment. His thoughts were soon interrupted as Milly continued with her request.

"Would...you mind going with...me...to the dance?"

As the question began to sink in Milly was sure that Ulrich would say yes and waited for his replay as her hopes began to soar like a rocket.

Ulrich was stuck in a real Catch 22. Faced with the ever hopeful Milly he wanted to acknowledge her request as a friend so she could enjoy the dance but then again there was the fact that he promised Yumi the same thing. He had to make a choice knowing full that no matter who he chose one girl would be happy while the other would hate his guts. Ulrich racked his mind for an answer, any justification for the choice that he was about to make but to no avail, in the end he would stay true to his promise, even if it meant shattering Millie's hopes. As he struggled for a way to break the news to her gently, Millie's smile soon faded.

Milly saw the look in Ulrich's eyes, and they spoke volumes for him. He didn't need to say any more for she knew the answer, and it was not pretty. Her rocket ship of hope was sent plummeting toward the earth powered by the force of reality. The result of this crash was not a violent explosion but a single tear drop. Milly knew she lost and was once again bested by Sissi as she tried to salvage what little dignity she had left, she made one crucial mistake that she would greatly regret.

She looked over at the woman in question.

Sissi was wearing the biggest "I Told You So" grin that she ever saw while Herb and Nicholas stood behind her snickering at her misfortune. Whatever newfound courage that Milly had stored in order to tell Sissi off was quickly lost as the tears began to form again. At that moment Milly did what any normal teenager would do at that time.

She ran.

After seeing her best friend be reduced to a sobbing mess Tamiya glared at Sissi as she sought for means of vengeance against her transgression. Tamiya balled up her fist and was ready to knock that smug look off of Sissi's face for good but later chose against. She realized that hitting Sissi, although it would feel good at the moment, would accomplish nothing. Besides, she had a friend to comfort, which was more important than extracting her personal revenge. Tamiya soon left to find her friend in her hour of need.

To put it bluntly Yumi was pissed. She couldn't just stand there motionless as Sissi verbally abused the two girls. If no one was going to stand up for them, then she would be more than will to shoulder that burden of responsibility.

"Hey, Sissi!" Yumi called out. "I hope you're really proud of yourself for what you just did, because frankly…it makes me sick seeing you treat others that way!"

Sissi was slightly intimidated by the anger in Yumi's voice but she did a good job in hiding it as she answered back in a calm manner.

"Oh Yumi, it's not my fault that Milly can't find a date." Sissi then changed the topic in an effort to put Yumi on the defensive. "So Yumi, what dirt do you have on Ulrich? Because it seems like blackmail would be the only reason why he would go to the dance with you."

Sissi's stratagem paid off in spades as her comment got a rise out of Yumi. Before Sissi was able to take advantage of the opening she created, an unfamiliar voice halted her plan of attack.

"I don't think so. He could have gone to the dance with Yumi or with a spoiled, stuck-up girl...like you. Hard choice I'd say," said a mysterious voice. Everyone's attention soon focused on the doorway in an effort to identify the unknown speaker. Just then the individual stepped forward into the light revealing him.

Now it was Sissi's turn to be on the defensive. She blew off the person's comment thinking that he was just another student in her class that was jealous of her popularity and status. As she turned around to face her unknown assailant, she froze in place. He was wearing a black jacket with its left sleeve rolled up along with a long-sleeves red shirt. A gray pair of track pants with a red and white strip going up the sides along with a set of black and white tennis shoes finished off his outfit. As she looked at his face while watching him remove his black headphones from his head her eyes went wide with shock. There was something different about this guy she contemplated. It wasn't that he was extremely handsome or cute. It was just that although she had definitely never met this person before, she felt like she'd seen him somewhere else.

"Why does he look so familiar?" She thought to herself as she continued her inspection. "I would have definitely remembered someone who dresses like that, especially that sleeve, how weird."

Sissi wasn't the only person who was perplexed by the individual's presence. Odd too saw the strange familiarity in his face. As he glanced over at Yumi, he noticed that she was wearing an almost identical expression that Sissi had. If this were to happen at a less serious moment, he would have made a wise crack about the two mortal enemies being more alike than they realized but for now, he would just keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately this would prove be very difficult for him as the silence of the whole situation was killing him. He had to say something to break the eerie clam that possessed the room.

"Hey, Yumi. This guy shares your interest in colors, well black at least. I bet you two would be really close friends."

The individual chuckled at Odd's joke and prepared to speak again. "Actually my purple-haired friend, we share many more things than that."

Ulrich suddenly found himself balling up his fist. "Who the hell is this guy?" He thought to himself "And what's his connection with Yumi?"

He ran by several explanations in his head in an effort to clarify the situation before hand. Could this guy be an old boyfriend that he never heard about? Or, even worse...some stalker who wished to harm her? As that last thought entered his head Ulrich immediately stepped in front of Yumi. He did not trust this guy, not one bit and the minute he made any threatening moves against her or any other of his friends, he was going to beat the living daylights out of him.

Seeing Ulrich's reaction Yumi raised her arm to calm him down. She knew fully well who this person was and that he was far from dangerous. She couldn't believe her eyes. He was finally in front of her in the flesh. Only one word was needed to sum up all the joy she felt inside for being reunited after so long.

"Aniki!"

If only Milly shared that same feeling of joy that Yumi was experiencing, then she wouldn't be in the garden shed crying her eyes out into her teddy bear.

"I hate them. I HATE THEM ALL!" Milly screamed as loud as she could, trying to find an outlet for her rage. "Especially that stupid Sissi," Milly uttered in between sobs. "Just once I'd like to get back at her for all of the harm she has caused."

Millie's fortress of solitude was soon discovered by Tamiya as she peered through the window.

"Milly, are you done sulking in there?" Seeing no reaction from her friend, Tamiya entered the shed and was greeted with Millie's tear-streaked face. She had to take action.

"Listen Milly, it's not as bad as you think, there are plenty of people who don't have a date for prom."

"But you don't understand! It's all Sissi's fault! Why does she have to treat us so horribly?"

"It's because it's in her personality. In my honest opinion I don't think she really doesn't care for anyone outside of herself, not even her "friends" Herb and Nicholas. It's only a matter of time before her actions will catch up with her."

"I just hope it will come sometime soon."

"That's enough crying for one day. If you have already forgotten, we still have a news report to shoot and there isn't much time left."

Millie's sadness quickly subsided and was replaced with the same feeling of determination that she had this mourning. As they both left the garden shed neither of the two friends realized the teddy bear that was left behind. The door soon closed and thus made the bear the sole occupant of the room, but not for long. A dark, shapeless shadow filled the room as it searched for a suitable host to carry out its diabolical plan. If only Milly knew the true power that her words carried. Although she will get her wish that day, she was about to get more than she bargained for.

Odd was confused, well more confused than usual, Yumi's one-word answer failed to clarify anything, especially individual's identity.

"Aniki? What the heck does that mean? Aniki, sounds like...sounds like...well whatever it sounds like, it's not too familiar with me."

"It means older brother in Japanese," Yumi answered, overjoyed to be saying that name once again.

"OLDER BROTHER!" The other three boys said in unison. For the short period of time they've known Yumi, they were never aware of her having any siblings what so ever.

It was at that moment the individual decided to introduce himself. "Jin Ishiyama, at your service."

Jin's introduction was accompanied by a gentleman's bow in an effort to show that he meant no harm. Although his intentions were genuine, Sissi was still skeptical, thinking that this was all an elaborate prank set up by Ulrich and the others. She had every reason why to think so. For one, he showed up out of the clear blue yonder and was ready to chew her head off in a moment's noticed. Second, he looked too young to be Yumi's older brother. She decided to act upon her assumptions and probe deeper into the subject.

"Oh, yeah? Well if you really are her older brother, why do you look like you're around her age? By how much are you older than her?"

"Do I really have to answer that question? Look miss, why don't you put two and two together but I'll humor you just for the fun of it. Now if my memory serves me correct, I'm exactly three minutes and twenty-two seconds older than her. Happy now?"

"THREE MINUTES!" The three boys said again along with the aid of Sissi.

"Then that would mean you're Yumi's twin," Ulrich said, pointing out the obvious. "But I thought twins were of the same gender and obviously you're not a girl."

Yumi glanced at Jérémie and gave him a "you take this one" look. Jérémie nodded a spoke again.

"Actually your partially right, Ulrich. Jin and Yumi are fraternal twins. Fraternal twins only share about fifty percent of their genes thus allowing more variations such as gender etc. Also in specific medical journals..."

"OK Einstein, I think he gets the message," Odd interrupted "Now if you excuse me, all this talk about twins and DNA is doing nothing that will help set up this area for the prom."

Jin interest was sparked. Now eager to work, he cracked his knuckles ready for the upcoming task at hand. "Alright then, let's get to work troops!"

"Wow, when he said he shared a lot more in common with Yumi he wasn't kidding. They both have the same work ethic," Odd said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Well you heard him, let's start building."

Jin accompanied the four friends as they made their way back to the work site while Sissi's group tagged along behind them. "Um…sis? Would you mind introducing me to your friends, I kinda don't know who they are."

Yumi mentally kicked herself in the head once she realized that she failed to reveal the identities of her friends and promptly sought to remedy this.

"Well Jin, the fellow with the glasses here is Jérémie he's our computer wiz kid and knows almost everything."

"Not everything Yumi. It's like what they say. True knowledge stems from the fact that you know nothing." He then turned his head toward Jin to continue his introduction. "Pleased to meet you."

"I can clearly see that. I can't name too many people that I know who can break down the genetic relationship between fraternal twins. How did you come across info like that?"

"Byproduct of boredom."

"Man you must have been really bored to learn about a whole separate language."

Yumi continued, "Now this strange looking person here is Odd. His behavior can best be explained as...unorthodox"

"Well it's obvious what your favorite color is," Jin said as he inspected his wardrobe. He then extended his arm for a handshake which Odd returned. "Nice hair. I don't normally see that style around here often."

"What can I say? It's a fashion statement," Odd said in his usual sarcastic tone. "What about you rolling up your jacket's sleeve like that? I don't normally see that around here either."

"What can I say? It's a fashion statement," Jin mimicked. They both laughed after seeing that their sarcastic wits were at equal levels with one other.

Yumi joined in on their fit of laughter and regained her composer. "And last but not least this is Ulrich"

Unlike the others Ulrich was silent and just gave Jin a nod that acknowledged his presence.

"Ah so this is the infamous Ulrich that I keep hearing about."

Ulrich was surprised when he heard Jin's comment.

"Yep, whenever Yumi talk's about her experiences here, she always brings up your name. Don't know why but it's good to finally meet you in person." A slight blush spread across Ulrich and Yumi's face upon hearing this fact. Jin looked at their faces and was confused.

"Was it something I said sis?"

"No, it's…nothing…really, it is. You know Ulrich, I wouldn't have mind if you went to the dance with Milly. She really wanted to go with you."

"Thanks for understanding. Look, I'll find some way to make it up to you I promise."

Once again their blushes returned for all to see. Jin witnessed it all and tried to bring the discussion back on track. "Ai ya! Will you two love birds just give it a rest for a minute here?"

Both Yumi and Ulrich stammered in unison. "It's not what you think guys!"

"Whatever you say. Oh, and sorry about my entrance before. I'd kind of just show up out of nowhere, kind of like a ghost." Jin remembered Ulrich's reaction when he first revealed himself to the others and took special note of it. "If I scared you, I apologize, especially to you Ulrich. But it's good that see that all of you guys have my sister's back incase if she were in any danger."

With their introductions out of the way the five of them made their way to the work site.

If one were to see the current expression that Sissi wore at that moment, one could easily deduce that she was greatly annoyed.

"Hey, Sissi, you don't look so happy," commented Nicholas stating the painfully obvious.

"Of course I'm not you dolt! I was on a roll by showing Milly the error of her ways and then out of nowhere, here comes this guy who tries to tell ME off. Now he's a part of the "Weirdo Bunch" and worse yet he's Yumi's brother! Arrrrrrg!"

Sissi's cries of frustration fell onto deaf ears while she led her group inside the auditorium.

The children wasted no time and they began to set up the place for the upcoming prom. Jérémie inspected the equipment that the DJ would use later that night while Jin, Odd and Ulrich handled mostly grunt work, lifting boxes and such. Even Sissi was productive as she was currently balancing on a ladder held by Herb in order to install the crystal disco ball in the middle of the ceiling.

"Wow I'm impressed," Jin said in amazement, witnessing the spectacle first hand. "Looks like Sissi put her money where her mouth is and is actually helping us."

Jin's word perked Odd's ears and he turned around toward his direction. "Wait. You know Sissi!"

"Remember, I was in that doorway for quite some time, listening to her speak. But I only know a few details about her, like her name and the fact that she was prom queen last year. Now that's a five-thousand dollar question. How on Earth did she manage to pull that off? My only explanation is that her judges were both blind and deaf."

"Well she could pull stuff off like that when her father uses a special scoring method for the contest I think you know him. He's the school's principal after all."

"Now that explains a lot of things."

Ulrich heard the topic of their conversation and wanted to put his two cents in. If it involved Sissi bashing in any way, shape or form, he immediately wanted a piece of the action. "Right and if meanness was a factor in the pageant then she would win easily hands down."

With his daily requirement of Sissi's insults satisfied, Odd changed the topic of the conversation to answer the major question that was plaguing his mind ever since he met Jin.

"So Jin, where were you all this time? I find it a bit strange that I haven't met you until now and you're a blood relative of Yumi. Did you run away from home or something?" he said jokingly. Unfortunately for him, Jin took Odd's sense of sarcasm seriously.

"I was living with some relatives in America for the past two years, so no, I didn't run away from home, but...I was running away from something. Look, I really don't want to dwell on this subject any more it's something I don't want to talk about."

"I'm sorry'"

"Don't be, it's not your fault, you didn't know. Now if you excuse me, I need to set up those ladders over there so we can stream some more banners. "

Odd was flabbergasted by Jin's sudden mood swing as he watched him walk to the far side of the auditorium. He decided to ask Yumi to help clarify this.

"Hey Yumi, what's wrong with your brother? All I asked was why he moved to America."

Yumi slowly turned around and took in a small breath of air before speaking to her friend. "I don't think Jin would like it if I were to suddenly start telling everyone about his problems without him knowing so. All I'll say is this, Jin left to America in order to sort some things out and the only reason why he's here again was because I asked him to come back."

Yumi watched Odd give a silent nod of acknowledgment communicating that fact that he would not go any deeper on the subject. Secretly she knew that Jin would return just like she asked, but she was still surprised how quickly he answered her call. With the first phase of her plan completed she moved onto the next step.

Jérémie was busy checking the wiring of the school's equipment to see if was safe. Just then, he heard someone calling his name.

"Jérémie, can I ask you for a really big favor?"

"Sure."

"I want to ask you if Jin could be a member of our group."

"Looks like he already is. You should have seen him joke around with Odd and Ulrich just moments earlier."

"No Jérémie, I'm talking about our special group."

"What do you mean our special group, I mean we're not winning any popularity contests here...Oh no! You don't mean..."

Yumi nodded her head.

"Are you crazy? We barely know this guy and you're asking us to just reveal all our secrets to him? It's hard enough amongst the four of us let alone five."

"Jérémie you can trust him, he's my brother after all," Yumi said in a sincere tone of voice. "We both know we have a hard enough time fighting XANA's monster as is. With another member in our group we can stack the odds in our favor. Besides you know you want to make another character just like old times."

"I don't think that's a wise decision to make by myself. Wouldn't we need Ulrich and Odd's impute as well"

"Then let's give him a trial run?"

"Trial Run?" Jérémie repeated unsure of what his female friend was suggesting.

"Is there a way you could program him into the computer's database so that when we return to the past after a XANA attack he can still remember the original events but vaguely enough so that he would just dismiss them as a dream?"

"Well I can just impute his basic specs into the computer so that would be possible. The only way one could remember the attacks completely is if they have a character entered in the computer but why do you ask?"

"Think of it. All you have to do is program him into the computer and when XANA attacks we'll see how he handles himself. If he does a good job then well go on with the process but if he fails then he'd would just dismiss the entire ordeal as a dream or a case of déjà vu."

"Since you put it that way, I guess there's no real risk anymore. Ok, it's a done deal, since I'm not doing any heavy duty programming, I can use the computer in my room to handle this but I better start now, it's gonna take me a while."

"Thanks a bunch and one more thing Jérémie. Just out of curiosity, you said yourself that you need a character to retain your memory after a return to the past trip. How do you keep yours?"

"Simple, I do have a character for Lyoko, but it's just for show. There's nothing too spectacular about it and I just have it so I can be in the database and besides, If I were to use it, who would be manning the scanners?" with that said Jérémie left the Yumi's presence to fulfill her request.

Jin was too focused on his current task of setting up the ladders against the walls for further decoration of the area to notice his sister's plotting. Things were going by smoothly for him, until karma decided to act. It was now his turn to be confronted by an unfamiliar voice but this time the encounter would prove to be much more hostile.

"Look what the cat dragged in. We got ourselves a new kid in Kadic. Well it's time for us to give him a warm welcome." Jin spun around toward the direction of the voice that was calling toward him and was face to face with Kadic Junior High's most notorious students, Clayton and Dirk.

Clayton was a large boy who wore baggy clothes that augmented his size. While Dirk was a thinner figure that dressed in semiformal clothing to show off his wardrobe. While the two bullies in training greatly differed in sizes and fashion sense, they both shared the same attitude problems. Clayton regularly attended class for the sole reason of harassing the smaller students of the room. He knew he was a large man and was not afraid to use that largeness to his advantage. Dirk too had his fair share of faults. He carried a narcissistic personality along with some anger management issues. He was the more cunning of the two as he was willing to lie, manipulate, cheat and steal all to accomplish his goals. Seeing her brother's predicament, Yumi rushed to his aid and began to stare down her two other mortal enemies. Jin was unaware of the "special" relationship her sister held with these two beings.

The bad blood held between his sister and the two bullies began just last year when they all shared Mrs. Hertz's physics class together. For some unknown reason, she was their preferred target of choice as they gave her grief every day. Only through support of her friends was she able to keep on going. Fate would later play out in Yumi's favor as Clayton and Dirk were held back a year to retake the course. Apparently they focused too much on insulting Yumi rather than their studies. This saved Yumi from another year of ridicule. Although she got away scot-free, Ulrich, Odd and Jérémie were not as lucky as the two bullies began to target them with their antics.

"Ah Yumi, so nice of you to join us," Dirk said in a sly tone. "We were just introducing ourselves to the new kid."

"Hey, that new kid has a name and it's Jin!"

It was now Clayton's turn the pile on the abuse on their former verbal punching bag. "What's with the attitude, sweetheart? Is this guy your boyfriend or something?"

"Hey! Don't talk to my sister like that, jackass! I can see that you two are not on good terms with her. Well let me just tell you both something. If you mess with my sister than you mess with me."

Dirk noticed the likeness in their looks and put two and two together. "Awww, Yumi has a twin brother, how sweet. So does your mommy dress you the same?"

"I wouldn't be ragging on twins right now, since you guys are twins yourselves."

Clayton was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well you're the most unique case of Siamese twins I've ever seen. Never before have I seen two people that share the same single brain cell."

"Why, you little—!"

Clayton was furious, never in his life had he been insulted so badly before. Clouded by his rage, he swung a wild punch toward Jin, determined to cause permanent physical injury. Seeing Clayton's reaction, Jin immediately took the defensive. Grabbing a piece of sheet metal used in the construction of the DJ's stage, he raised the object toward his face in an effort to protect himself and waited for the inevitable with a smile on his face.

KLANG!

Clayton's fist smashed into the metal sheet producing an ear-shattering sound throughout the building. The nerves in his hand went wild as he felt the results of flesh and bone meeting cold hard steel.

"Humph" Jin grunted, impressed with his handiwork. "Why am I not surprised?"

"YOU LITTLE PUNK!" Screamed Clayton, his fist was still ravaged with pain.

Dirk saw his friend cradle his fist in a vain effort to subside his suffering. He too was filled with anger. However, after seeing the damage that Jin and his metal plate caused to Clayton, he knew that he was no match against him in a head to head fight. He had to find another way to extract his revenge. He saw his opportunity in the ladders that Jin had set up moments earlier. Taking advantage of them, Dirk shot out his foot in the direction of the ladders striking them with a tremendous force. The ladders knocked over chairs, tables and decorations before landing with a thunderous crash that echoed throughout the building team's ears. Satisfied with the destruction they had caused, the two bullies left the wreckage both wearing the same wicked smile but not before taking a parting shot at the group of friends.

"Don't forget about today Ishiyama, because I know we won't!"

"Hey don't strain your brain, my friend. You still have to share it with Tweedle Dumb over there!" Jin yelled out as he watched the two of them leave.

The rest of the students who saw the incident, including Yumi, Odd and Ulrich, were stunned. Never before had a single student gotten such a violent reaction out of those two but now the students were faced with an even bigger problem with the dance a few hours away, how can they set up in time now?

Jin cracked his knuckles once more and spoke, "Look guys, the students are counting on us to get this place set up so let's get to work."

The children in the auditorium were not the only ones working their hearts out at that particular moment. Jérémie was busy slaving away at his computer trying to program some of Jin's basic information that was provided by Yumi. As he furiously typed, he began to show signs of fatigue. It was at that particular moment, Aelita decided to pay him a visit.

"Hello Jérémie."

To say that Jérémie was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. Graced with Aelita's presence, Jérémie quickly forgot how tired he was and began to type at a steadier, relaxed pace.

"What are you working on?"

"I'm programming some basic information about Yumi's brother into the computer so he would be able to retain some of his memory after the next XANA attack."

"Shouldn't you have discussed this with Odd and Ulrich? That was a major decision you just made."

"Don't worry, Aelita, This is our way to see if Yumi's brother would be able to handle the duties that come with being a Lyoko fighter.

"I see."

Only the clicking of Jérémie's keyboard saved the two from complete silence as he resumed entering all the necessary commands. His Zen-like trance was once again broken by Aelita's questioning.

"Jérémie, what is a brother?"

Jérémie instantly stopped typing for the question caught his full attention. Anyone else would have thought that was a stupid thing to ask but he knew better. Aelita's knowledge of the outside world was somewhat limited and he had to factor that in before making an answer.

"Well Aelita," Jérémie struggled to find the answer for such a simple question "A brother is a male individual who's very close to you."

"In that case, are you my brother Jérémie?"

"It's not that simple Aelita. A brother has to share both your parents and your bloodline."

"You mean like they have a similar genetic code?"

"Correct."

"Well, if you're not my brother, then what is our relationship then?"

Jérémie was startled by the question. He'd never really analyzed his relationship with Aelita before. Never in his life had ever been this close to anyone before, real or virtual. At first he tried to deny it, dismissing his feelings by thinking that Aelita was just a simple computer program. However, as he got to know her, he began to learn more about his mysterious counterpart. Aelita had emotions, a conscious, empathy…to Jérémie, Aelita was more than human. She was almost perfect in his eyes, and was more than willing to bring that perfection into this world. However, although his moment of introspection was profound, it did little to answer Aelita's question. Regaining his sense of reality Jérémie articulated his answer.

Meanwhile in a nearby dorm Sissi was busy trying to materialize her own dream, mainly winning the title of prom queen for the second year in a row. She was still upset with the remarks made by Ulrich and the others but she couldn't let their words affect her contest tonight. She sat on her bed and began to undress until she was clad in only her undergarments. She then made her way to her closet and removed an outfit specifically picked out for this night. Sissi prided herself on her sense of fashion as she gazed at her pink tank top and light blue jeans. She then walked over to her mirror which held her various skin care and makeup products. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror all while applying a highly expensive moisturizing cream on the surface of her face.

"Humph, not only will I steal the show tonight, but I'm also going to steal his heart," and with that Sissi placed two cucumber slices over her eyelids and prepared herself for a relaxing hour that would amplify her beauty even more.

She had only intended to relax in her dorm yet this was not meant to be. Little did she know she was being watched by a dark being deceptively disguised as an innocent child's toy. Through its blood red eyes, the being watched Sissi like how a tiger stalking its prey. It patiently waited underneath her bed, waiting for an opportune moment to strike, it couldn't have picked a better time. Sissi's was totally defenseless for its upcoming assault. Not wanting to waste anymore time, the being dug its claws into the carpet and prepared and unleashed its attack.

Jérémie raked his brain in an effort to answer Aelita's question appropriately.

"We're friends. That's a term used for two people who are on really close terms with one another and are from different families."

"Is it possible for two people to become closer than friends?"

A blush spread across Jérémie's cheeks as he considered the possibilities. "Um...yes it is...but it takes a substantial amount of time for that to happen."

Jérémie's moment of tranquility, a rarity in this day and age, was shattered by an ear-piercing scream.

"Did you hear that Jérémie?"

"I did, I'm going to check it out'"

"Ok, but be careful."

"Don't worry I will."

Jérémie bolted out of his room and down the hallway. After seeing Sissi flee her room with a look of sheer terror on her face and wearing only a bath robe, He stopped his sprint.

"This might be too much for me to handle alone," he said to himself. Not taking any chances, he pulled out his cell phone and began to dial for help.

Jérémie's call was unneeded as the students inside the building instantly took notice of Sissi's cries for help. They ran to the entrance of the dorms and saw Sissi crying and leaning against the doorway being comforted by her father.

"Move along people, there is nothing to see here;" the principal said in an almost pathetic attempt to maintain order.

Jérémie ran down the staircase to join the others in the courtyard as they tried to figure out what actually happened in Sissi's room.

"Welcome to Kadic Junior High Jin," Odd said in a tone that faked excitement. "Sure weird stuff happens here all the time, but judging by your personality, you'll fit in just fine."

"So tell me sis, does stuff like this always happen?"

"If you only knew."

Ulrich looked away from the discussion that his friends had only to see Jérémie running toward their direction.

"Oh thank goodness that I found you guys." Jérémie was slightly out of breath as he talked in-between pants. "Did you guys hear about Sissi?"

"Well of course we did," Ulrich replied. "I mean half the school is here right now."

"Real funny Ulrich, but do you know exactly what happened to her?"

"Nope, how about you?

"I only saw Sissi run out of her room in sheer fright before calling your cell phones. Outside of that, I can't make out heads or tails of what happened here. Can you get the others? We need to talk right now."

Ulrich caught Yumi's attention and motioned with his hands to move to his location. Yumi for her part brought over Odd and Jin to the desired spot.

"Look guys," Jérémie resumed the conversation. "We won't know what specifically happened back there unless we look at her room. Maybe we can find some clues that could give us some answers."

"Man and I thought Odd was a messy roommate," Ulrich said, looking over Sissi's dorm.

Sissi's lush and elegantly decorated room lay in shambles. Tables and chairs were turned over, mirrors were smashed, and several articles of clothing were strewn on the floor in a discarded ruin.

Yumi was a bit worried knowing that Sissi would never allow her room to be in such a poor condition. "Any ideas, guys?"

One look was all that Jérémie needed as he conjured up his conclusion. "It's simple guys. Sissi was preparing for the dance and had too many electronics plugged in which caused an electrical overload."

"But what about all the damage that was caused?" Asked Odd still confused of what was going on.

"Sissi must have caused it herself when she panicked."

Jin entered the conversation and tried his best to make light of the situation. "Just great Jérémie," he said in his usual sarcastic tone of voice. "Not only are you the junior incarnation of the great Albert Einstein, but you're also a little Sherlock Holmes in training. Who needs the Las Vegas Crime Lab when they got you working the case?"

Yumi soon joined in, "Real funny, Aniki. Well, at least we got that problem out of the way." She then glanced at her watch to check the time. "Well today's been fun but I think we should head home ourselves so we can get ready for tonight. You think you guys can cover the rest of the construction for us?"

"No problem," Ulrich said and with that he saw both Jin and Yumi leave. "Ok Odd, let's get to work"

Odd groaned in disbelief. "Oh man Ulrich, I think those two are starting to rub off on you, you're starting to sound like them already."

The two boys returned to their duties leaving Jérémie alone with the crime scene. As he turned around to leave, he saw Milly and Tamiya make their way to the room. Milly pulled out her note pad and began to jot down some notes on the incident while Tamiya, armed with a Polaroid camera started taking pictures.

"Another news story, girls?" Jérémie asked, curious of them being here.

"Yep and a juicy one in fact," replied Milly. She was eagerly taking down notes and was even smiling at the whole ordeal.

"You know, for such a tragic story, you're doing more than your fair share of smiling. What gives?"

"To tell you the truth I'm happy that this happened."

"What!"

"You heard me. She deserved this for how she treated me today. I'm just surprised that it came so soon."

"The incident this mourning," he said underneath his breath.

"The one and only. Now if you excuse us, we have some more information to collect. Oh and before I forget…" Milly held up her notepad in Jérémie's direction. "Would you mind providing a statement for the paper?"

"So, how does it feel?"

"How does what feel?"

"You coming home of course"

Yumi tried her best with stirring up a conversation with her brother. His time spent in America really changed him. Although he was still the same goofy childish boy she'd always knew, there was something more to him now. His experiences in the U.S. added onto his already complex personality.

"I don't know. It feels weird. I mean it's my home after all but for some reason I feel a little afraid. I mean I know I've changed since I last left here, I just hope I can fit back into my old routine of life."

"Don't sweat it Aniki. I'm sure mom and dad are going to be overjoyed once they see you just like how I was."

Jin sighed to himself, "Well I guess you're right. So Yumi, why did you want me to come back?"

"It's because we all missed you, Jin. Besides, my life was taking a turn for a better and I wanted you here to help me see it through."

"That's really thoughtful of you but in your letter you said that there was something going down here and I thought that you got yourself into some serious trouble."

"There is, but I'm not sure on what's going on, myself. For now, just enjoy the fact that you're finally home after two years. Speaking of your return trip, how on Earth did you get here?"

"I swam."

"No really."

"Sheesh, Mom and Dad planned everything they bought my airline tickets and had a family friend pick me up and drop me off to school. They also didn't want me to tell you when I was going to be home so I could surprise you. Looks like our efforts paid off."

"That explains your entrance this morning, but what about your stuff?"

"The friend dropped it off at our house"

Yumi looked up and saw that they arrived at their destination of choice, home.

"I think you should knock first."

"Fine" Jin raised his hand and gave three loud knocks on the door. A female voice answered from the other side.

"Who is it?"

"It's Yumi."

"And Jin."

"Jin!" The door flew wide open revealing their parents on the other side. Mrs. Ishiyama ran up to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace. "It's so good to see you again! When we found out that you wanted to come home we were so happy. Our family is finally back together."

"That's...nice...mother...but you're kind of crushing my spinal cord..."

"Sorry dear" Jin's mother released him from her viselike grip as he crumpled to the floor gasping for breath.

It was then his dad's turn to greet him. "Son!"

"Oh no, not you, too!"

Seeing his son's predicament Mr. Ishiyama decided to just give him a hearty handshake and leave it at that.

"Hi mother. Hi father." Yumi walked over to her parents and gave them both a kiss on the cheek almost completely ignoring her brother's pain. "We're gonna get ready for the dance tonight. Is that Ok with you?"

"We?" They asked perplexed.

The after effects of their mother's bear hug wore off as Jin was able to stand again. "I talked with the principal this mourning concerning my classes and he invited to the prom tonight saying that it would be a good way for me to "mingle" with the student body"

"Speaking of classes Jin," Yumi asked. "How do yours look?"

"Well to make things easier on me, they just gave me the same schedule as yours."

"Oh, goodie."

"Well Jin," His mother spoke again. "All your stuff arrived safe and sound and we left your room alone, so why don't you use this time to unpack while I'll get dinner ready?"

"Thank you, mom."

"Oh by the way, we left a gift for you on your night stand to celebrate your return."

"Thanks again."

"Actually you should say that to your sister. It was her idea."

Jin made his way upstairs to his room and looked at his night stand as he was instructed to do. Sitting right on top of the table was an all black cell phone with a note attached to it. He picked it up and began to read it.

Dear Jin,

I know you're still confused with why I called you back here but all answers will come in time. Please take good care of this because I have a feeling that you're going to need it real soon.

Your Loving Sister,
Yumi

Jin inspected the phone some more and noticed that his sister had programmed into the memory along with her own number: Odd, Ulrich and Jérémie's number.

"What does my sister have in store for me? I wonder," Jin asked himself.

He pocked the phone and began to unpack his items. He first reassembled his computer on his desk and turned it on. Satisfied to know that it was still working, he resumed his task. He removed several books that he originally brought to America, and also some newer ones that he purchased. His collection was very eclectic as it contained several martial arts manuals, books written by Michael Moore and Jerry Seinfeld and several books about psychology and philosophy. Next, he unpacked his only two DVDs which he enjoyed greatly—Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a movie that contained countless moments of comedic genius, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. He enjoyed the second movie because he was able to relate to the main character. He was a natural showman who was always messing things up despite his best efforts.

"Yumi! Jin! Dinner's ready!"

Jin still had more boxes to unpack but then again his stomach was growling. Looks like he was going to finish unpacking some other time. Before he left the room, Jin placed his most prized possessions on his night stand. His CD player, a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, the letter his sister wrote that asked him to come home and finally two picture frames, one containing a picture of a thirteen-year-old boy and the other holding a news article about a tragic event.

"FINALLY WE'RE DONE!" Odd yelled in triumphed after hours of slaving away in the large room coupled by the setbacks Clayton and Dirk caused, the area was finally prom ready.

"I'm glad that it's over," said Ulrich wiping the sweat from his brow.

One the other side of the room, Milly was frantically looking for a cherished object. Tamiya once again saw her friend in a state of worry.

"What's wrong this time Milly?"

"It's my teddy bear! I went to my room and realized that it was missing!"

"Take it easy. Where was the last place you had it?"

"Well I was in the garden and...THE GARDEN SHED!" And with that Milly sprinted out of the doors.

"Twice in a row today," Tamiya said to herself as she made her way toward the shed.

Tamiya found her friend inside the shed in a panicked state. She watched Milly dart to and fro from each section of the shed she became increasingly worried. Her precious teddy bear was nowhere to be found.

"Where is it?"

"Calm down Milly, there has to be an explanation for this"

"It's Sissi! Sissi took it! I just know she did! She wasn't satisfied with just making me look bad during our newscast but had to take one of my precious belongings!

"Whether Sissi took your bear or not, we gotta get out of here before we get into..."

Tamiya's train of thought was halted when she caught sight of a very large figure in red

"Too late."

"That's right. You're too late girls. Outside, now!" Jim watched the girls leave the shed as he locked the door. "What did I tell you kids, nobody is allowed to enter the garden shed without permission? With all the dangerous equipment in there, some one can get hurt. Little kids like you should especially stay clear from here understand?"

Milly had enough. First Sissi and now the P.E. teacher? Today was just not her day. "Don't treat me like a child just because I'm a year younger, I should be respected to!"

"Look who's suddenly grown up. Fine if you want to talk like the big kids then you're going to be punished like them also. As of right now, news story or no news story, you two are forbidden to go to the dance tonight. Let this teach you a lesson in respect for your elders," Jim said no more and walked away.

The past events of the day left Milly completely drained and she was no longer willing to fight for the time being. All she wanted to do was to sleep her worries away. Her trance-like state was disturbed as she bumped into Odd and Ulrich.

"Hey Milly, what's wrong?" asked a concerned Ulrich still feeling guilty for crushing the girl's hopes this morning.

"It's...nothing Ulrich. Thanks for asking though," Milly replied trying to hold back her anger.

"Its ok, you can tell me, I insist."

Hearing Ulrich's request, Milly allowed the floodgates to open as she expelled are her pent up rage in one loud statement. "JIM GROUNDED US IN OUR ROOMS TONIGHT!"

"What!"

"I was in the garden shed with my teddy bear and I left it there. We came back for it later and that's when Jim spotted us and…well, you know the rest. But you have to understand Ulrich! I really miss my teddy bear. It's like another part of me!

"Any idea where it is now?"

Milly thought to herself for a few moments. An answer clear as day entered her mind as an angry look filled her eyes. "Sissi! Sissi took my bear! She wasn't satisfied humiliating me this morning, so she stole my bear to make fun of me more!"

"Sissi, again? Will that girl ever learn?"

All of a sudden Tamiya got an idea to help her friend. "Wait a minute Milly, I just took a number of pictures of Sissi's room remember? We'll just scan through the pictures and see what we could find."

The rest of the kids eagerly searched through the pictures and quickly found what they were looking for. Wedged in between a pillow and the headrest was Millie's teddy bear.

"I volunteer myself for this rescue mission," Odd said in a commanding tone of voice. Before the girls could reject his offer, he ran toward the dorms without another word.

"Is he always like this?" questioned Milly wondering why Odd was so "odd" at times.

"Sadly, yes," Ulrich said hanging his head down.

"Heh...Just like Mission Impossible," Odd chuckled to himself as he crept through the hallways. Just for his amusement, he was humming the famous theme song from the show and pretending that he was on an important mission that would decide the fate of the world instead of just recovering a teddy bear. Sissi's room was not hard to miss. It was the only room with its door wide open revealing remnants of was once a girl's room. He held the photograph and walked to the area shown on the picture to pick up Millie's bear. Much to Odd's surprise, the bear was nowhere to be found, despite its obvious location indicated by the picture.

"Now where could it be now?" Odd questioned himself trying his best to figure out the events that played out before him. "It's not like it just got up and walked away."

Little did Odd know how correct he was.

Jim had seen better days. First there was the overall stress of trying to set up the school dance and making sure that all the plans were following the schedule. Next there was the Sissi incident with her room where it was his duty to keep the curious masses away from her dorm to prevent any contamination of the crime scene. Finally there was the time he had to scold Milly and Tamiya about their entrance to the garden shed. At times like this Jim regretted his extra responsibilities outside of teaching P.E. since it made him look like the bad guy. He really did not want to ban the two girls from the dance since they were so looking forward to it, however rules are rules. Someone had to maintain order here and Jim saw it as his duty to do so. As he finished locking the door to the leading to the auditorium, he turned around and was greeted with a horrific sight.

Revenge was a dish best served cold. The being's second target stood before him ever fearful of its bloodshot gaze. At first the being's size was very small and thus only allowing him to cause minimal damage to its first target. Although it succeeded in causing Sissi misery, it was not satisfied with the destruction it caused. Now he was significantly bigger, almost twice the size of the portly man in its vision.

"Back away! I'm a black belt in Judo!" Jim's frightened tone of voice betrayed the intimidating look he was going for. Jim assumed his fighting stance and launched out a barrage of skillful strikes. If his opponent was human, he would have been on the floor in two seconds flat gasping for breath but then again punches and kicks do little to no damage against a body that was covered in fur and stuffed with cotton and twice your size. Jim was horrified when he noticed this and braced himself for the inevitable.

The being chuckled to itself as it watched its target try to defend himself. This person was willing to fight, unlike the first who just ran away from his presence. It swung its massive arms toward him, catapulting him against a nearby wall instantly knocking him out. With its dirty deed accomplished the being moved on. Its first victim was charged with the embarrassment of its owner. The second was responsible for denying Milly her happiness. The being then made its way to its third target, the one responsible for it all and what it had in store for this one was a worse fate then the previous two combined.

"And you're sure that Sissi took your bear?" Odd questioned Milly.

"Of course, didn't you see the picture?"

"But when I went to her room to get it, it wasn't there."

"Hey guys, I think you should get a look at this," Ulrich butted in. The five children turned around to see a large group of students circling around a particular area. As they made their way to the front of the crowd, they saw Jim's battered body being rolled in, by a stretcher, into the school's infirmary. Ulrich and Odd both saw the look of sheer terror in Jim's eyes as he came in and were immediately worried.

"Ok guys, look..." were the only words that Ulrich was able to say before he was interrupted by Odd.

"I'm going to get some more info. In the mean time girls, you should head back to your rooms. Especially you Milly, you look really tired."

"But, what about my bear, Odd?"

"I'll give to you the moment I find it."

"Thanks."

The girls left their area and made their way to their room while Odd chased after Jim's stretcher.

"You gotta admire his enthusiasm," commented Jérémie as he watched Odd run off once again.

"What is this school coming to?!" The principal asked himself. First my daughter's room is completely destroyed, and now I hear that Jim was attacked just a few minutes ago. I'm getting to the bottom of this!"

The infirmary's door opened, revealing a still panic stricken Jim who was now fully awake.

"Jim, what's the meaning of this?" The principal asked concerned for the P.E. teacher's safety.

"I…I…I…" Jim was still paralyzed with fear. He was unable to speak still deeply traumatized from his attack.

"First my daughter is victimized and now you. Someone is attacking the students and it's my job as the school's principal to stop it. Please Jim, you got to help me."

Jim desperately wanted to help; he too cared for the kids of this school. That was why he was so strict with them—not because he was mean or anything like that; he was just looking out for their safety. He had to find a way to communicate with the in order to stop the madness. He quickly saw a pen and paper the Dorothy left behind. Seeing it as the only means of him communicating with the outside world, he gestured toward the desired objects. The principal understood what Jim wanted and handed the items to him.

"Ok Jim, I want you do draw the attacker as best you can."

Jim scribbled the picture on the notepad using what little artistic skills he had. He finished his drawing and handed it over to his boss.

"That's more like it Jim!"

The principal was ever so hopeful that Jim had just provided the much needed answers that he was looking for. As he adjusted his glasses and brought the paper to eye level for a closer examination, he was confused. According to Jim the unknown attacker that had both harassed his daughter and his fellow coworker was...a giant teddy bear! This had to be a mistake. He tried asking Jim again to see if this was some sort of sick and twisted practical joke.

"Are you sure this was the attacker?" The principal held Jim's crudely drawn bear close to his face so he could better see it.

Jim on his part began to nod at a frantic pace. The principal continued.

"And he must have been skilled in martial arts if he was able to overpower you."

Jim once again nodded.

"You know as well as I do that this was not the person who brought you harm. Obviously you're still frightened and can't think straight. I'll come back later when you regain your senses." He left the room to allow Jim to recover but now he was faced with a predicament. What was he going to do? There's some mysterious individual attacking random people on campus and there's a big dance tonight. He couldn't just let him roam free nor could he just simply cancel the dance, the students waited all year for it.

"The best course of action," he spoke to himself, "is to have extra chaperones for the prom tonight. We can't get the police involved if our main witness thinks that it was a teddy bear that attacked him," his train of thought was broken once he noticed a purple spot in his vision. He glanced up and noticed Odd in the doorway.

"Odd, what are you doing here?" He asked acknowledging his presence.

"I...was..." Odd quickly thought of an excuse that would explain him being at the infirmary at this time. "Concerned for Jim, yeah that's it. I wanted to know if he was ok."

"Jim is doing all right physically, but please, leave him alone. He's still traumatized after being attacked."

Odd noticed a crumpled up piece of paper in his hand." Hey, what's that ball of paper in your hand?"

"It's nothing. Just some trash I found on the floor. "The principal then threw the paper in the trash and walked toward his office.

When the principal was out of sight, Odd ran toward the trash can and picked up the ball of paper. As he unraveled the ball and began to focus on the picture the answers suddenly became clear to him.

"No way!" That was all he said before he made a mad dash to look for Ulrich and Jérémie.

Jérémie held Jim's doodle to the light to carefully examine it. A few moments passed before he spoke again. "Yep its official, this is XANA's doing"

"You think so?" Ulrich asked, still wondering. Why would XANA control a teddy bear instead of something more dangerous?

"Think of it, Millie's teddy bear was found in Sissi's room when it was destroyed. Now we have this drawing that Jim made of his attacker."

"Ok so we know its XANA so what do we do?"

"What else? We head to the factory and stop it."

"But what about the school? We can't just leave it unguarded. One of us has to fly solo today."

"A solo mission. Are you crazy! No one is that stupid to go on a mission so dangerous! It's too high risk…it's insane!" Jérémie soon saw Odd who was practically jumping up and down just begging to be picked. Before Odd could "volunteer" himself again, Jérémie confirmed the obvious.

"Okay Odd, you can go"

"YEAH BABY! I mean...I accept"

"Then that means I'll watch over the campus. Ok, good luck guys."

"WAHOO!" Odd exclaimed in joy.

"Do you ever act serious Odd?"

"Aww, come on, Jérémie. Where's the fun in that?"

The campus was practically empty as the students were mostly in their rooms preparing for the dance. Jérémie and Odd ran at top speed to their secret manhole cover. After they had removed the lid and made their way down the ladder, the two boys quickly grabbed their method of transportation. Jérémie casually hopped on his scooter and began to peddle himself toward the factory while Odd was a little more forceful. Holding his skateboard, he ran full sprint down the sewer and took a monstrous leap forward, placing the board underneath him. They made their way to the factory with little incident. Soon they were sliding down the ropes they attached to the factory's roof to provide a quick entrance and made their way inside the elevator. Jérémie punched in the necessary code and the doors closed in front of them. Odd placed his hands on his hips while Jérémie clasped his behind his back.

"So, Jérémie…" Odd said, to break the silence. "What does XANA want with Millie's teddy bear?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. The only important thing here is that this is a XANA attack and it's our job to stop it."

"What do you mean our job?" Odd retorted jokingly. "I'm the one whose gonna do all the fighting."

"That is true, but if I'm not at the computer then there is no chance for you to be devirtualized."

"Touché."

The elevator stopped and Jérémie got off leaving Odd behind. He ran to his chair and as it rotated to the factory's main computer. Aelita soon appeared on his screen with a worried look on her face.

"Jérémie!"

"I know, Aelita. It's XANA. I'm sending Odd over to Lyoko."

"What about the others?"

"Ulrich is still at the school and we can't get in touch with Yumi. We'll just have to make due with what we have. Odd, you there?"

Odd had managed to get to the scanner room during the period of time when Jérémie and Aelita were talking and was ready for his trip into the virtual world.

"You betcha."

"Okay, you're heading to the desert region now."

Odd stepped into the bright yellow scanner. With the door closed the scanner slowly spun him around to get a 360-degree profile of him.

"Transfer—Odd."

Jérémie selected Odd's character card from the list as he watched his character appear on the screen.

"Scanner—Odd."

A bright light engulfed Odd as he felt his body slowly leave the real world and into Lyoko.

"Virtualization."

Odd landed in the desert region of Lyoko in a catlike crouch. The area was dry and absent of any natural life, well almost. Waving in the distance was his virtual friend Aelita who stuck out greatly. Her bright pink clothes contrasted heavily with the desolate scenery.

"So, did somebody call for a knight in shining armor?"

Aelita giggled at Odd's joke and pointed down a dirt ramp.

"The pulsations lead this way."

"Then what are we doing? Let's get going!"

No sooner did Odd say that, five of XANA's cockroaches got the jump on them.

"Odd!" Jérémie yelled from the comfort of the real world. "You're surrounded by five enemies. Get out of there and take care of Aelita!"

"You don't need to tell me that Einstein!"

Odd, stared a hole through XANA's minions and prepared his attack. As the monsters opened fired, Odd did several graceful cartwheel flips to dodge the oncoming lasers. In mid flip, he pointed his wrist at the group and fired.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd cried as a small arrow was launched from his wrist.

Aelita was impressed with Odd's composure in battle, but she knew that he was only one person, and he couldn't fight all of XANA's monsters like this.

"Odd, we have to go down, there's no other choice!"

In the time span between him looking at Aelita and him returning to the fight Odd was struck by a laser. He could feel a searing heat inside his body. Suddenly the pain was numbed, the result of a program that Jérémie recently installed so they could fight in Lyoko without being ravaged by pain every time they were hit by XANA's monsters.

"Odd! You only have ninety life points left, get a move on!" Jérémie screamed into the intercom.

Odd knew that stakes did not play out in his favor. Following Jérémie and Aelita's advice, Odd dove down the ramp and took cover behind a nearby ledge. As he checked on Aelita so see if she was all right, he saw a strange sight. No longer was Aelita in front of him, instead she was now falling…falling into the eternal abyss at the bottom of Lyoko—the Digital Sea. The whole sight played out in slow motion underneath a brown grain filter giving it a surreal feel. Odd shook himself from his trance but not before taking special note of it.

"Snap out of it and move!" Jérémie yelled out. Just then Ulrich's cell phone appeared on his monitor.

"Jérémie, I've got some real bad news!"

"What is it Ulrich?"

"Millie's little teddy bear isn't so little any more"

"Huh?"

"It's huge Jer. REALLY huge, and it's in the city right now."

"You're right. This is really bad! If the bear is in the city then it's not targeting the school."

"Look, I got to go, Jérémie. I'll keep you posted if I find anything."

Armed with only a flashlight Ulrich began to examine the massive footprints that lead to a broken fence and began to think.

"Jérémie's right, the bear is not targeting the school then what is he after. Could it be us? NO! YUMI!"

Ulrich ran toward Yumi's house, determined to save her from a gruesome fate.

"ODD!" Jérémie was now screaming into his intercom. "Hurry up! The bear has grown to a massive size and is IN the city as we speak."

To bad for Jérémie, Odd didn't grasp the emergency at hand as quickly as he did. "Ooooooo...XANA, cockroaches and bears, oh my!"

"Real funny, Dorothy! Now why don't you follow the yellow-brick road of pulsations, so you can find the magical activated tower of Oz!"

"Geez, Jérémie, chill out! I'm here in Lyoko, remember?

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"I'd love to chat some more but I still got some company behind me but not for long."

Odd decided to pull off yet another acrobatic maneuver to deal with the cockroaches. He first performed a back handspring to allow himself to face the roaches head on. He used the backwards momentum to throw himself into a dive which gave him a full view of his targets. Odd then pointed both his wrist this time and unleashed his counter attack.

"Laser Arrow!"

Odd's assault proved to be too much for the cockroaches as they began to fall in droves. Three of Odd's arrows hit their target causing the forth cockroach to tumble to its own doom off the side of the cliff. Before Odd could congratulate himself for his remarkable comeback, he saw Aelita make a tumble of her own. Odd dove off the edge himself and grabbed Aelita's hand with one arm and used the free one to slow down his dissent. Odd buried his claws into the rocky wall in front of him and prayed for a quick stop. Bits of dirt and rock sprayed in all directions as he tried to both focus on stopping their free fall and hanging onto Aelita for dear life.

"Hang on Odd!"

Jérémie was at his wit's end. If there were to continue their fall, not only would have they have no means of fighting XANA, anymore, he would also lose two of his dearest friends. Jérémie watched as their speed finally began to slow down before they stopped completely in their tracks. The scene was too much for him to handle—Odd and Aelita hanging on for dear life, a giant teddy bear on a rampage in the city, and a XANA attack to thwart. Fortunately for him, Odd was able to make it more bearable for him.

"You were right about me taking care of Aelita Jérémie. I can't leave her alone for a second without seeing her get into even more trouble."

"You never miss a beat Odd."

Aelita noticed something unusual in the side of the mountain. Instead of the usual wall of rock that she expected to see, there was a hidden cave carved into the mountain.

"Look at this!"

Where Odd's troubles were ending, they were just about to begin with Ulrich. Tailing a giant teddy bear was an easy task for him, as he followed the trail of destruction that led him to Yumi's house.

"I'd better get in touch with Yumi," he said to himself.

Ulrich began to frantically dial the numbers for Yumi's cell phone and waited anxiously for her to pick up. However, with each ring that echoed through his ears caused his hopes to diminish and his worries to skyrocket. Until...

"Hello, this is Yumi."

"Yumi, you got to get..."

"I'm not able to pick up my cell phone right now. Leave a message after the beep."

Things were looking really bad for Ulrich. He would have to warn Yumi the hard way, face to face.

Only two lights could be seen from outside the Ishiyama household lighting only Jin's room and the bathroom. The adults of the home left for a night on the town leaving the two children to fend for themselves for the night. Jin wisely decided to get ready for the prom before his sister had to use the bathroom and was already dressed for the occasion. His sister told him that he was going to arrive on the same day of the dance so he came back prepared to participate in the dance. He wore a midnight black suit with a red shirt underneath it along with a black Fedora hat so that he had a quasi zoot suit outfit.

"Jin you're gonna knock them dead," he said to himself as he looked in the mirror.

Yumi too was doing her own preparations as she was currently taking a relaxing bath. She used her time to think about the previous events of the day and her plans concerning her brother.

"I still can't believe he's home after two years," she told herself. "I hope my plan follows through. Jin really needs to be part of our fight against XANA. Maybe when he's done something this good, he could finally get over "that" incident two years ago."

Yumi said no more as she dunked her head into the warm water to help clear her mind, she continued to think.

"Still, even though Jérémie said that Sissi's predicament was caused by an electrical overload, why can't I shake this evil feeling?"

Jin walked over his computer to turn it on. He decided to use his extra time to brush up on some dance moves he learned in America by watching a particular music video on his computer. The video starred a man with long black hair wearing an all white suite and wearing hat similar to his but white. He mimicked the 80's singer's moves with great accuracy as he effortlessly slid his feet across the carpeted floor. Jin knew the singer had a bad reputation and only respected him for his musical genius and not his "lifestyle." The chorus began to play and Jin sang along with the words.

Annie are you ok
So, Annie are you ok
Are you ok Annie
Annie are you ok
So, Annie are you ok
Are you ok Annie
Annie are you ok
So, Annie are you ok
Are you ok Annie
You've been hit by
You've been hit by-
A smooth criminal

Jin stopped his practice session in mid-moonwalk once he heard the doorbell ring.

Ulrich waited at the doorstop and repeatedly pressed the doorbell trying desperately to gain the attention of the occupants of the household. He was finally relieved to see the door open but standing in the doorway was not the person he was looking for.

"What's up Ulrich? I thought we were gonna meet you guys at the dance?"

"Change of plans Jin, I need to speak with your sister pronto!"

"Easy there. It's not like it's a life or death situation."

Ulrich eyes went wide after hearing Jin's comment. Jin took note of his reaction but acted as if he saw nothing.

"I'll get her." Jin turned away from the door and toward the direction of the bathroom that she was in. "Hey Yumi, you might want to come down here! Somebody wants to talk to you."

Yumi was slightly irked when Jin disrupted her train of thought and her shower. She slowly made her way to the changing room. Unlike her brother, Yumi's outfit was a little more modern. A stylized black tank top and short skit that exposed her midriff was the look she was going for. She made her way downstairs and saw an unexpected but most welcomed guest in her home.

"Ulrich?"

The first target was too prideful in herself. She was punished by having all of her possessions destroyed, wounding her ego. The second target was too intimidating for his own good. Using his size and authority were his own personal tools of oppression. His psyche was soon broken turning an imposing figure to a blubbering fool.

Now it was time for the third target to pay his price. His crime, destroying the hopeful wishes of an innocent young girl and causing this chain of events. The girl too should also be eliminated for she aided in his evil act. Now that he was at his maximum size he would make them both pay the ultimate price.

"Good thing Mom and Dad are out, because if they saw you dressed like that, they'd go ballistic," commented Jin, targeting Yumi with his own brand of sarcasm.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Aniki but they were the ones who help me buy this. Mom even said it looked cute on me."

"Ai ya."

Ulrich didn't have time to hear this, not when there was a giant teddy bear stalking the streets looking for them. He decided to take direct action now and leave and Q & A for later. He grabbed Yumi's hand and led her outside.

"Ulrich! What's the meaning of this?"

"Hey! Where do you think you're going with my sister?!" Jin asked as his temper began to rise.

"Cool it Jin. We got a serious emergency on our hands. You better stay here for your own safety."

"That's a negative Ulrich. If this involves my sister, then it involves me too!"

Yumi spoke in an effort to halt the argument between her brother and Ulrich. "Can you at least tell us what's going on?"

"There's no time to explain..."

Ulrich was cut off by a loud rumble that shook the earth with tremendous force.

"Well that's enough of an explanation for me," Jin cried out "Let's jet people!"

Odd was doing his own fair share of running in Lyoko. It was through serendipity that Aelita was able to find the secret cavern in the mountain region of Lyoko. The cave led them to an open area with the activated tower standing in the middle of it in all of its evil glory.

"Well we didn't exactly find the light at the end of this tunnel, but we did find the tower and that's good enough for me," Odd said to Aelita.

"Stay alert Odd."

"Oh come on Einstein, this is going to be easy as..."

Unfortunately for Odd, it was not going to be that easy. A giant metal ball barreled down the cavern behind them. Odd and Aelita dodged the ball and watched it stop its forward momentum only to see it execute desired attack.

"Tsk, a Mega Tank. You just had to open your big mouth Odd," he said to himself. "In Lyoko, things are never this easy."

He saw the sides of the ball split opened revealing its only weak point, the XANA symbol. The tank's center began to glow as it charged an unprecedented amount of energy before firing it at Odd and Aelita who once again jumped out of the way. Odd recovered from his roll and retaliated by firing at the tank only to see his instruments of destruction bounce harmlessly off the tank's iron hide. The tank then rolled to a new location and began its offense all over again.

"This is going to be WAY harder that I thought," Odd said as he tried to form his own strategy in his head.

"So tell me sis, does this kind of stuff happen EVERY DAY!" Jin yelled as he ran away from the giant teddy bear.

"If you only knew! Hey Ulrich! Do you know where we're going?"

"Away from that THING!"

They ran through the shopping district and were doing everything in their power to lose sight of their large attacker. Ulrich soon spotted the means of their salvation as his eyes swept across a nearby store surrounded by high walls.

"Come on guys! This way!"

Jin bolted ahead of the group and was the first one to arrive at the store's grounds. He hid behind the wall. His dark suit provided an excellent camouflage against the night sky, making him practically invisible. Yumi and Ulrich's more colorful wardrobe were not as beneficial. Instead, they opted to take shelter in the store's doorway, which was not visible from the main street.

"Do you think it's still after us Ulrich?"

A series of loud footsteps answered Yumi's question for her.

Thump…

The bear was definitely still after them.

Thump!

And even worse...

THUMP!

It was close...

THUMP!

Really close...

THUMP!!

Until...

THUMP!!!

It was right in front of them. The bear halted its advance and began to scan the streets for any sign of its targets. Consumed by fear, Yumi and Ulrich embraced each other for comfort subconsciously. Realizing their current position, they let go of each other, a furious blush across their cheeks proved to be the only evidence of this event. They both looked outside and hoped that the bear would soon pass.

Objective failed, the bear thought to itself. Its two primary targets were lost in the streets. With its mission over the bear was about to give up its newfound power and return to its original size, until it recalled a specific statement.

"I hate them I HATE THEM ALL!"

The bear analyzed this new tidbit of information and realized that the ENTIRE school was after its owner. He would go after the boy and girl later, after it dealt with the school. The bear walked away and began to wonder where a majority of the students would be on this Friday night.

Jin waited until the footsteps faded in the distance before stepping into the light once again.

"I just dodge death from a giant teddy bear and have yet to ruin my suit. You have some serious skills man," Jin congratulated himself and noticed Yumi and Ulrich still in the doorway of the store and called them out.

"Come on out you lovebirds," he said jokingly.

Both Yumi and Ulrich blushed at the remark and walked over to an impatient looking Jin.

"It's not what you think Aniki."

"As much as I like to talk about your "relationships" now Yumi, I think a more appropriate question to ask is what should we do now?"

Ulrich put his two cents into the conversation. "We're going after it"

"ARE YOU FREKIN INSANE?! The last time I checked that thing was a huge as a building! We're gonna need a bear trap the size of Texas to stop that, that...that THING!"

"Look Aniki," Yumi said in order to calm him down. "This is the "serious trouble" that I was talking about in the letter. I can't tell you now but it's our job to stop it."

"Great. I leave for two years then all of a sudden my sister becomes the super hero of her hometown."

"I'm serious Aniki!"

"So am I. What should we do now?"

"Like I said before," Ulrich commented. "We gotta find its next target so we could evacuate the area."

"Save the world or go to prom, tough choice" Jin said as he branded his sarcasm into the situation.

As Jin said those words, Ulrich realized the significance of the attacks. This was Millie's teddy bear that was attacking them, not some mindless XANA-controlled drone. It must have shared the same thoughts and desires as its owner. All of the bear's victims committed some sort of crime against Milly. Sissi, Jim heck even himself and Yumi were all offenders in the bear's eye and now that Milly was not able to go to the prom, the bear might strike there next.

"Don't worry Jin, we'll get to do both tonight," Ulrich answered back.

"What do you mean?" Questioned Yumi, puzzled by his explanation.

"That bear's next target might be the prom dance at our school! We gotta get there to evacuate the area!"

Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, Jin joined in, "Ok, count me in guys. If we have to save some lives tonight, I want to be part of the action."

They soon ran back toward the school grounds determined to prevent a disaster from happening. If Jin saw the look on his sister's face, he would have seen a slight smile on her lips when he said those words.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd launched another barrage of arrows that just bounced off the tank's surface. His efforts were rewarded with another massive energy blast delivered by the tank. He was about to shoot another flurry of shots until Jérémie interrupted his plan of attack.

"Odd you only have one shot left. Make it count!"

Odd awaited the tank's attack and squinted his eyes, knowing full well the extent of what failure would bring.

"Looks like I'm going to have to take this fight where he least expects it...right in his face," Odd said to himself as he prepared for his final assault.

"And I thought I was coming to school tonight to be a part of the group, not break it up," Yumi commented as the three made their way onto the campus. "So what's the plan Ulrich?"

"Ok we have to both evacuate the auditorium and the dorms. That means we have to split up."

"Fine, I'll take the dorms," Yumi said they began to divide their duties.

"Then I'll head toward the auditorium," Ulrich said seeing no other alternative. "What about you Jin?"

"Hold it! Did you say that you're going to the auditorium?"

"Yes."

"If I may ask, that's where the prom is being held?"

"YES!" Ulrich was starting to get irritated by Jin's constant questions.

"Well if you need to get a lot of people's attention at a given moment, I'm your man."

"Ok, good luck you two. We're all gonna need it," were Yumi's parting words before she dashed off toward the dorms leaving the two boys behind.

"Ok Ulrich, lead the way."

Ulrich and Jin made their way inside and were both immediately overwhelmed with the sight the building contained. The auditorium was almost unrecognizable as it looked more like a posh dance club instead of a school building. Bright laser and strobe lights flashed across the room and the DJ began to play another song. Students danced in close proximity of each other and were in total bliss of the peril that they were in.

"Stay close to me, we got to see this though," Ulrich said as he surveyed the chaos around him. Jin on his part gave a nod of acceptance and followed in his footsteps.

Ulrich's mission was soon halted by a being more imposing than a giant teddy bear could ever be...Sissi.

"Well Ulrich, looks like Yumi and all your other friends have deserted you."

Ulrich took the moment to analyze Sissi's style of dress for the night for his own amusement. Well-dressed or not, Sissi in his way was still Sissi in his way.

"Sissi, can we talk later, I've got some important things to take care of." He forced his way past Sissi and the rest of her gang only to see Jim block his path.

"Geez Ulrich, could you have made an effort to dress up for the evening? Everyone else has! Oh, well…just have fun tonight. You look as if a disaster is going to happen."

Obviously, given Jim's current behavior, he had recovered from his attack and was back to his old self again and he was the type to follow his own advice. Jim's outfit was similar to Jin's minus the hat and that he was wearing a white shirt underneath his blazer. Ulrich turned around to talk to Jin so that the two could collaborate on a plan to evacuate the place but when he looked around him, he noticed that Jin was gone.

"Probably got separated by the crowd," Ulrich said to himself. "Looks like I'm flying solo tonight."

Ulrich looked around the area for any means of drawing attention to himself, and watched a few technicians set up various microphones for the competition later that night.

"I wonder..." and with that said Ulrich left the company of Sissi and Jim.

Truth be told, Ulrich was right; the crowd did separate him from Jin, leaving the boy alone in a sea of unfamiliar people.

"Hump, looks like I got to go to Plan B," he uttered underneath his breath as he assessed his current situation.

Jin decided to use this time to execute his own plan. He had to find a way to get everyone's attention for a quick evacuation. He searched for the one tool that could help him, the school's fire alarm near the stage. He took special note of it when he was setting up ladders just in case he needed it and it looks like this was an appropriate situation to use this knowledge. Jin patiently waited for the right moment to pull it so that it would not look like a childish prank.

Things were much easier for Yumi. Thanks to the prom, almost all the dorms in the school were empty. Well mostly all of them. The voices of its two occupants echoed across the hallway and allowed Yumi to track their location. She approached the door and opened it to reveal Milly and Tamiya.

"What are you two doing here? Don't you have a news story to shoot?"

"Well we did, until Jim grounded us for tonight when he saw that we were in the garden shed" replied Milly who was still depressed after all the unfortunate events that had happened to her.

"We have to get outside, NOW!"

"But we can't," Tamiya protested. "Jim said we have to stay in our dorms."

"Listen girls we have to get outside now. This is a matter of life or death!"

The two girls headed Yumi's words of warning seeing how she wasn't the type to lie to others. The three of them headed outside.

The principal was happy with the turnout despite the chaotic events of the day. The dance was running along smoothly and now it was time to crown this year's prom queen in the yearly pageant. He secretary hoped that his daughter would win so it could make up for having her room destroyed by an unknown assailant. The contestants made their way to the stage and he followed suit grabbing a microphone on his way up.

"It is now time for you to choose the student among these three who has the perfect combination of beauty, personality, poise and sincerity to be our next prom queen. Our first contestant, the current queen herself, Sissi!"

Sissi stepped forward and was applauded by an odd combination of claps, howls and cat calls. She adored the attention that she was receiving and secretary hoped that it would never end. Unfortunately for her, there were some people watching who did not share her desire.

"Sincerity!" Jin exclaimed. "Sheesh, she's sincere all right, especially after her little talk with Milly."

Jin's thoughts were cut off by a voice that echoed toward the stage.

"STOP!"

The audience turned their heads toward the direction of the voice only to see Ulrich standing on a table holding a microphone.

"We have to evacuate the building."

The audience was confused by his request and saw no reason why to acknowledge his request.

"Don't panic."

Still no response.

"Listen guys, I'm not kidding when I'm saying this, but we're about to be attacked by a giant teddy bear."

"AHA I KNEW IT!" Jim yelled at the top his lungs. "Don't worry Ulrich, I saw it too. They thought I was crazy when I told them about it but it looks like we're the only sane individuals around here!"

Jim's testimony did little to persuade the crowd into leaving the building. Jin watched from the comfort of the stage and was standing near the fire alarm.

"Ah the direct approach," he chuckled to himself. "Although it's easy to execute, you might not get the desired results seeing how people are expecting it." Jin quoted one of his old Sensei's philosophies on fighting. "Next time, use a method that's a little more unorthodox."

Jin saw how everyone's attention was focused on Ulrich which prompted him to act. He clasped the alarm's handle and pulled down on the leaver. The alarm siren's high-pitched wail pierced through the air and caught everyone's attention instantly. The principal was still calm and collected and spoke into his microphone.

"Okay students; let's leave the building in a clam and orderly fashion."

Ulrich was confused by the sight he was seeing turned toward the fire alarm and saw Jin standing by it. Jin raised the thumbs up sign to let Ulrich know that he was the perpetrator of this too bad for him Sissi too saw this exchange.

"WAIT!" She bellowed stopping the student's evacuation.

"Sissi, what's the meaning of this?" Asked her father in a stern voice wondering why his own daughter would halt the evacuation. "This is an emergency!"

"But that's the thing father it's not! Yumi's brother pulled the alarm!"

"Crud," Jin cursed underneath his breath.

The principal looked over to Jim and gave give a nod. Jim on his part walked over to the emergency cutoff switch to silence the alarm. As suddenly as it turned on, the alarm's wail was no longer audible as Jin cursed himself for not being discreet enough. An irate Sissi snatched the microphone from her father's hand and began to chew the entire student body's heads off.

"You fools, don't you see that this was just a prank pulled by Ulrich and our new student here to prevent ME from wining for a second year! I'm mean, are we listening to the same story here?! Giant teddy bears, why not King Kong? At least with that story we get a creature that's remotely scary."

No sooner did she finish her lecture the entire building began to shake.

"This is bad," Ulrich thought to himself knowing full well the cause of the vibrations.

This time it was going to succeed. This time it would get its targets for sure. This indeed was a perfect spot to attack, all these helpless students confined to such a small area where they could be taken out in a single blow. And as a special bonus all of its previous targets were there also. The egotistic girl, the imposing, portly man and even the boy who killed its owner's hopes this morning. All of these individuals will be dealt with. Slowly it made its way to the stage to begin its plan.

"The reason why King Kong wasn't attacking tonight was because he doesn't like to work on Fridays!" Jin exclaimed as he watched the bear make its way onto the stage. He took one glance behind him to see how the other students were doing. He was relieved to see that they took the bear's entrance as a cue to get out of the building but was horrified to see Sissi paralyzed with fear. The bear decided to attack Sissi again but this time instead of just simply destroying her room, it opted to crush her like an insect. Even though he and Sissi were not on good terms with one another, he couldn't just stand there and watch her get killed. He said he was going to help save lives tonight and now it looks like he's finally going to get his chance.

Ulrich couldn't really pay attention to the stage at the given moment since he was too busy trying to dodge the onslaught of people running in his direction. Even Jim was running in fear as the sight of the bear reminded him of his attack just hours earlier. When the auditorium was finally cleared of students, it was then he finally saw what was going on. Realizing the danger the two of them were in, Ulrich too rushed toward the stage.

Sissi could not move. She was staring face to face with death personified as a gigantic stuffed foot. She didn't want to die right now, not on HER night, HER night of glory. She still had so much left to do in life. She silently accepted her fate knowing that she'll never have the chance to profess her love to the object of her desire. She bowed her head and waited for her end.

"Not on my watch!" Jin yelled to the bear as he made his way toward Sissi, shoving her out of the way of the bear's foot and putting himself in her place. Jin quickly dived out of the foot's way just in the nick of time as he saw it collide with the stage's floor sending chucks of wooded debris in the air. The force of the stomp combined with his dive propelled Jin through the air and off the stage. Seeing that his free fall was going to end, Jin turned his body so that his back could absorb the impact. He landed on the floor hard, and had the wind knocked out of him while a wave of pain shot through his body. Sissi quickly ran to his aid in an effort to pay him back for just saving her life just moments earlier.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Jin screamed which halted Sissi's advance.

"Are you crazy?! You're injured and that bear is going to kill you! You need help!"

"Listen, Sissi. I can take care of myself. Just get the heck out of here."

Sissi did what she was told but despite Jin's words, she still felt worried about leaving him behind.

Yumi could only watch in horror as the giant bear made its way inside. The overall shock the sight held froze her dead in her tracks along with Milly and Tamiya. She remained almost motionless like that until she heard her name called out.

"YUMI!"

Yumi turned in the direction of the mysterious voice and saw Sissi running toward her.

"Sissi, what's wrong?"

"It's your brother."

"Aniki!"

"Yes, he saved me from a gigantic teddy bear when it tried to step on me. It almost killed him, but he managed to jump out of the way but he fell off the stage as a result!"

"Is he alive?!"

"Yes, but he's injured pretty badly."

After hearing those words, Yumi ran to the double doors to try to help her brother.

"I've had better days," Jin said to himself as he lay on the floor. Soon he saw Ulrich loom over him.

"Need a hand?" Ulrich said as he extended his arm to help Jin up.

"Look, I'm fine, but I'll take you up on your offer anyway."

Jin grabbed Ulrich's hand thus allowing him to stand up. However, he was in no condition to walk right now as he struggled just to stay on his feet.

"You're a bad liar Jin. You are far from ok. We need get you to the hospital."

"Thanks, look I'll pay you back for this in the near future if we get out of this predicament alive. I promise."

Yumi threw the massive doors wide open and was horrified with the sight she saw. Jin used Ulrich for support as the two boys made their way outside. Unfortunately for them, the bear was still not finished with its reign of destruction. It jumped off the stage and made another earth shaking thud which caught the attention of Ulrich and Jin. The bear then saw a small foldable chair in the middle of the room and struck with its arm sending it flying toward Ulrich.

"Looks like I just got my chance!" Jin yelled as he saw the chair fly through the air in their direction.

Using the last bit of strength he could muster Jin threw Ulrich off of him and placed himself in harm's way once again. The chair's flat side connected with his back and unleashed a horrible noise upon impact.

CRACK!

Jin was sent flying his body twisting in midair from the sheer force of the attack. Both Yumi and Ulrich watched wide-eyed at the entire fiasco and became concerned with his safety. In one night, Jin risked his life twice and on both occasions, he took a beating as a consequence for his bravery.

"JIN!" Yumi screamed out as she rushed to the aid of her brother. Ulrich saw the danger the two were in and decided to buy them some time. Picking up the same chair that struck Jin, he hurled it toward the teddy bear to get its attention. He was not disappointed.

Only through the effects of adrenaline and willpower was Jin still conscience after the abuse he received moments ago. The two attacks he received were starting to take their toll on him. His vision started to blur and he could barely move his body at all. He turned his head to the side as saw his beloved sister make her way toward him.

"Jin, we gotta get you out of here!" Yumi said as she propped up her brother against a nearby table.

"Don't worry about me sis, I can take care of myself."

"You're a REAL bad liar Aniki."

"Ulrich said the same exact thing before too. If I were you, I'd run away. I'm pretty safe here."

"I'M SERIOUS! You just fell off the school's stage and took a steel chair to the back! YOU ARE NOT SAFE!"

"Look, Yumi" Jin let out a small cough it was getting harder for him to speak to his sister as he struggled to get his words out. "That chair was meant for Ulrich, he's the one who's in danger."

No sooner did he finish that statement, Yumi looked over toward Ulrich for reassurance, only to see the bear swat him with its massive arm.

"ULRICH!" She screamed out.

"Go to him. Obviously, he needs your help more that I do."

"But what about you, Jin?"

"That's not important! Go help Ulrich! NOW!"

"Ok XANA hit me with your best shot!" Odd taunted the tank.

If Mega Tanks could talk at that moment, they would say something like "Oh yeah" or "Well here it is!" but seeing that the tank could not say anything like that, it just answered Odd's remark with another energy blast which was exactly what he wanted.

"Ok gotta time this right Odd, the fate of the world depends on it."

Odd ran forward and jumped at the tank at the same time its blast impacted against the wall. The force of the shot propelled Odd even further and allowed him to jump on the tank. Using its, spherical shape to his advantage, Odd rolled the tank toward his direction thus exposing its weak point. He fired his last arrow into the target's center and jumped away from the tank to avoid its explosion.

"Ok Aelita, do your stuff."

Aelita soon disappeared into the wall and found herself in the all-too-familiar insides of a tower. The outer rings of the XANA symbol began to light up to acknowledge her presence while she brought up a small screen and entered the usual information.

AELITA

Ulrich lay on the floor battered and bruised. He had a hard enough time trying to sit up let alone run away. He watched in horror as the bear raised its arm again, preparing for another strike that he was powerless in stopping. All of a sudden, his vision of the bear was blocked as he was currently being embraced by Yumi who was shielding his body with here own.

"Now it's my turn to help," she whispered into his ear before she prepared for the worst.

Now it was going to succeed. Nothing was going to stand in its way as it was about to eliminate two of its targets in a single strike. He raised its arm, knowing full well it was going to relish this moment.

CODE

"NOOO! SIS!" Jin screamed out as he watched the bear draw back its arm he slowly crawled his way toward Yumi and Ulrich. With every pull he squeezed from his injured body he felt another jolt of pain shoot through his system which almost caused him to pass out from the shock. He ignored his body's pleas for him to stop as he inched his way over toward the couple in danger. The bear's arm halted its accent and soon came crashing down on Yumi and Ulrich who were currently cowering in fear.

"I'M TOO LATE!"

LYOKO

Jin shielded his eyes to prevent himself from seeing the gory scene that he was about to see. However, it never came. He didn't hear his sister's screams or any other sounds in that matter. Jin removed his hands from his eyes to see the entire scene before him in some sort of suspended animation but he was able to move freely. This revelation was soon followed by Yumi and Ulrich exchanging a hug and Ulrich saying a particular phrase that Jin could not comprehend.

"Ready to return to the past, Yumi?" Ulrich asked as the entire auditorium was engulfed by an almost angelic white light. Still wrapped in Yumi's arms he looked across the room at Jin's body and was surprised to see that he was still crawling toward them.

"Wait a minute," he thought to himself. "If Jin is able to move now then..." he was unable to complete his thought as he found himself in the past once again.

Ulrich found himself inside the auditorium holding a cardboard box instead of Yumi in his arms. He was slightly disappointed after seeing this but he could not dwell on this subject any longer since Milly had an important question to ask him.

"Would...you mind going with...me...to the dance?"

Ulrich was once again confronted by a hopeful look in her eyes but this time, he was going to make amends. He set down his box and walked up toward her.

"Of course I would Milly. I'll meet you here and eight 'o' clock sharp. You're all right with this Yumi?"

"Don't worry Ulrich, I think my secret admirer Odd will take me tonight.

Only one person was not happy with Ulrich's sudden change of heart.

"Wha…HOW COULD YOU! She's so young and you're...but it...I...ARRRG!"

Sissi could barely keep her thoughts together as they spilled out in a hodgepodge of stutters, screams and incomplete sentences. Her situation did not improve as an unknown figure stepped out of the doorway's shadow.

"Geez, take a chill pill. It's like what the Chinese say, one second of anger is one year off your life."

"Look I have no time to discuss philosophy with a complete stranger."

"Then allow me to introduce myself. Jin Ishiyama, at your service."

"Look Sissi," Ulrich called out to her "Milly might be younger than you, but when your brain finally grows to her size, I'll consider going out with you."

Sissi had enough. Before she could take any more shots to her ego, she stormed out of the room followed closely by her two cronies.

"Hey Jin!" His sister called out to him.

"Aw man. Looks like you found out my surprise visit today."

"Yep, Mom wasn't really too keen on keeping secrets. Well I'd like to introduce you to my friends. The fellow in the glasses is..."

"I know, that's Jérémie, the purple one over there is Odd and the quiet individual dressed in green is Ulrich."

Jin surprised himself when he finished the introductions for his sister. For some reason he knew all of his sister's friends, even though he never met them before. Heck, this entire conversation was familiar to him, but he just couldn't pinpoint the reason, it was like he was here before, but that was impossible.

"Hey Jin, can you help me set up those ladders?" Ulrich asked.

"Sure."

The five of them made their way into the work site to resume their duties. After Jin helped set up the ladders, he saw Ulrich climb on two ladders and placed a bucket of paint on top of them.

"Now why did you do that?" Jin asked perplexed by his actions.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Ulrich saw out of the corner of his eye Clayton and Dirk walking toward them. Knowing full well the consequences of their previous meeting, Ulrich handed a sheet of metal to Jin.

"Here, hold this for me."

"Huh?"

"You'll thank me later."

"Well what do you know, Yumi has a twin brother," Clayton spat at Jin.

"You got a problem with my sister?" Jin answered back coolly.

"Nope," Dirk commented. "But we got a problem with you. You see, we have a special welcoming "gift" for all the new kids, and I think its time you received it."

"Hazing the new kid, eh?" Jin chuckled. "Just make sure you don't fry your brain cell when you try to remember the process."

Clayton was furious. "WHY, YOU LITTLE—!"

For some reason Jin was expecting an attack from the large student. Using the sheet of metal given to him by Ulrich Jin blocked Clayton's punch and did a fine number on his fist. He watched Clayton scream in pain and expected another from his thinner friend. However, Dirk opted to just kick the ladder that was closets to him. But where he expected to cause a destructive chain reaction, instead both he and his companion got a large bucket fell on them covering its two victims in a thick coat of blue paint.

"YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS OUTFIT COSTS! TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!" Dirk screamed out.

"Awww," Ulrich joined in, impressed with his handiwork "The little monkey knows how to count."

"Nice kick Papa Smurf, looks like you still got some life in your old body," Jin continued the verbal abuse rubbing salt into Clayton and Dirk's open wounds.

The two boys left the building in a humiliated defeat chased by the laughter of the other students. The five friends soon joined in on the laugh and continued with their assigned duties. Although another disaster had been averted and the sins of the day were repented, for Jin, his journey was only beginning.

END

Notes on the Chapter:

Yeah I know this chapter was REALLY long 58 pages if you want to be exact. The reason why this story was so long was the fact that the first episode of Code Lyoko had SO much information in it. I decided to write this fic was because I noticed a stereotypical trend concerning new characters. The usual story is that they're a new student who just happens to stumble upon the factory and is later inducted into their group. I wanted to change that aspect with Jin…by having him go through a natural process to gain the group's trust. In case you're wondering, yes I do know that Jin is a Chinese name even though the character is Japanese, that aspect of him will be explained in later chapters of the fic.

I was partly inspired by the other well-written stories for Code Lyoko such as "Mayhem Squared" and "Oy Thy Brave Mercutio". I just hope my story can measure up to those to great works of art. The reason why I made Jin Yumi's brother was for two reasons. First of all, I did not want to write a love triangle between Jin, Yumi and Ulrich. Second, through the way he interacts with his sister, the audience gets a better view of his personality. I'm not that good with creating new characters so I did base some aspects of Jin off of my own personality however, I made sure to give Jin some SERIOUS flaws and not make him an all-powerful ACC. I hope you enjoyed reading this first chapter for I have many more to write. Please leave a review for me so I know what direction I need to go to satisfy the reader's needs.