Ulrich Stern Kadic Academy Ninth grade student
"She really had a bone to pick with me," I told Aelita as we ran back to the factory, Aelita looked over at me with an expression of concern plastered over her face, "you're bleeding," she pointed out. "It's just blood, it could have been much worse if you hadn't shown up," I smiled. "So where were you?" I questioned. "Lyoko, being a snack for a squid," she explained. "Oh, fun," we slid down the ropes and ran to the elevator, "hopefully this nightmare is ov-" I turned around to see Tovah opening the elevator door with her bare hands, "thought we were done huh?" She smiled as she grabbed Aelita by the hoodie and dragged her out. Aelita dropped the golf club and dragged her feet trying to get a grip on the cement, "Ulrich!" She gasped. I picked the golf club off the ground and swung it at the back of Tovah's head but sadly, missed. I hit the air and Tovah dropped Aelita on the ground and turned holding her hand up in the air and generating a ball of lightning aiming for me, Aelita stood up tackling me, and just as she did the lightning ball barely missed me, instead of hitting the panel of the elevator. "Nice shot," I said as I helped Aelita up, "this way," I dragged her down the stairs to the boiler room. "She's just going to keep following us, why does it want T anyway?" I asked.
Yumi Ishiyama Kadic Academy Tenth grade student
"Um, Jeremy should we be concerned, there is a tornado-looking thing heading towards us," Odd pointed out. "Thats never happened before! Can you get closer?" He asked. "Not if we want to find Tovah," I pointed out. "Okay, um, well get out of there then!" We started in the other direction trying not to get swept up by the tornado, but then we heard a voice, "Help!" It yelled, I turned pulling my fan out and bracing myself. "It's going to get bumpy," I added.
The tornado suddenly stopped and disappeared from the sector, I hopped off of the overwing and walked forward to where it had been. "It's gone?" Odd asked walking up behind me. "It's not on my screen anymore, and neither is Tovah," he added. "I should bring you guys in... we need to figure this out," he sighed.
We went into the scanners and hurried up to Jeremy, "we lost her?" I asked. "I-I don't know," I bit my lip, "she can't be lost, she's on lyoko, just somewhere we can't see,"
Aelita Stones Kadic Academy Ninth-grade student
We climbed the ladder up to the supercomputer, evil twin Tovah had disappeared, "well, she's gone, I don't know where but...did someone die?" Ulrich asked. "We lost Tovah." Odd bit his lip. "Like she fell into the digital sea?" He asked. "Possibly," Yumi slid down the wall.
Tovah Pressman Kadic Academy Ninth grade student
"Set the table, it's time for dinner," my mother demanded slamming fine China down on the counter, I had been dragged back into this hellscape by force and now I was just supposed to smile and behave. I took the heavy stack of plates and walked to the table laying them out, "faster, dinner is ready," my father snapped. I sighed laying the forks out, "yes, father," my mother ran her fingers through my hair and wrapped her finger around a gray streak, "you know, I think you might learn to like it here, we could be a happy family you always wanted." During dinner we ate in silence, everything tasted bitter and salty. After dinner my mother sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her motioning for me to join her, I sat down and she pulled me to lay my head in her lap, "do you remember, at night I would read to you? I would tell you a grand story and you would tucker out at the sound of me reading a sweet story. I thought to get you more comfortable we could do that," she pulled a book out and flipped through the very familiar book, I was somewhat comfortable listening to the story I had heard a million times until I really listened to the story. My "mother" really dug her heels into the story, she punched every word and every syllable making my stomach twist anxiously.
"A leg of lamb."
All right then, they would have lamb for supper. She carried it upstairs, holding the thin bone end of it with both her hands, and as she went through the living room, she saw him standing over by the window with his back to her, and she stopped.
"For God's sake," he said, hearing her, but not turning around. "Don't make supper for me. I'm going out." The next thing she said almost made me dart out of my seat, but it was sink or swim time. "At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head, she might as well have hit him with a steel club." Suddenly my mother had a large smile plastered on her face and jumped out of her seat leaving me laying on the couch, "oh! Goodness, cookies are ready! I almost let them burn," I sat up straightening myself out, I looked at the window giving my father a small smile, "so, I guess I'm here for the long haul, maybe you could give me more violin lessons," I suggested walking up to him, he stood deathly still, I pressed my hand against his shoulder shaking him a bit, it was as if he came to and turned looking at me, "what did you say?" He asked. "I said you perhaps could teach me more violin," I repeated. "Are you alright?" I questioned, "fine, I'm going to go help your mother, you go up to your room and get ready for bed, I'll be up in a few to check on you, say your prayers, and take your medicine," I walked up the wooden staircase to my bedroom, I softly opened the door and looked at the pill bottle next to my bed and thought, "that's not supposed to be here," I tipped the pill bottle into the wastebasket and changed into a matching set of pajamas and pulled my hair up. I bowed my head as I sat in bed, maybe this prayer was one of the only things keeping me alive. "Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray dear Lord my soul to keep.
Please help me be the best I can be.
Please watch over our family. Thanks for all you've given me; Please forgive me for all I've done wrong." I said it as if it were a normal night and I was rattling it off as I always had. "Isn't this a sweet picture?" My mother asked as she walked into my bedroom holding a glass of milk in one hand and the other hand clenched. "Just doing as I'm told," I smiled softly. "Very good, here's some milk and something to help you sleep," I shyly took the milk and the little blue pill and slipped it into my mouth swallowing it. "C-could you sit here with me until I fall asleep?" I asked gulping. I don't know why I said that she wasn't my mother, but she was the closest thing I had.
Aelita Stones Kadic Academy Ninth-grade student
"They're going to notice she's gone," I pointed out, "what do we do?" I asked slumping back on Tovah's bed, "we barely got away with-it last night when Jim came to make sure we were sleeping," I looked up at Jeremy, my heart was broken, and Tovah was gone. We had no clue where she could be, "well, we have to do something." He proposed, "maybe we could say she's sick?" He offered. "That won't work, they'd know she's not in the infirmary," I added. "Maybe..." Jeremy stood up, "I might have an idea." We walked to his room and Jeremy sat in his chair putting on his spare headset, "Hello, this is Mr. Pressman, Tovah's father, she was feeling very sick so we sent her to stay with her aunt," Jeremy looked at me and shrugged as if saying it was the best he could scrape up. He nodded and then nodded again. "Alright, you too," he set the headset down and let out a sigh of relief. "That should buy us some time, as long as they don't go poking around, but let's be honest Tovah's dad won't answer the phone if they call." We walked to the lunchroom where Odd stood up quickly, "anything?" He asked. "No," I shook my head sitting down. "I don't think she's in the digital void," Yumi said abruptly, "I think she's somewhere else," we looked at her with confused expressions, "what do you mean?" Ulrich asked. "That tornado, before it disappeared, we heard someone yell 'help,' and then after that, nothing," she shook her head, "I mean it's a start, she could still be on Lyoko right?" Jeremy nodded with enthusiasm, "You're right!" He said a little too loudly. "I mean, yeah, you're right," he nearly tipped his hot chocolate over as he stood up. "Let's go!" We started towards the factory when we saw none other than Tovah coming out of the gate, "what happened?" She asked, Odd pulled her up to him and brushed her off. I felt a weight fall off my shoulders as I looked at her. "It's really you, isn't it?" Yumi smiled putting her hand on her shoulder. "Who else would it be?" She asked. "Can we go eat something?" She laughed softly, "I'm starving." We walked to the cafeteria and Tovah grabbed a tray at random, we sat down and she stirred her spoon through her soup not paying much attention, she scooped it into her mouth swallowing it, "mm," she nodded. Odd turned in his seat looking at the chalkboard of the cafeteria specials and then back at her, "so what happened?" He asked. "Well one minute I was taking a walk and then I was unconscious and then I was in the clutches of that fish thing and boom now I'm back," she shrugged. "I've probably missed some school?" she asked, tearing a piece of bread in half. "I'm going to go change and then take a nap," she picked her tray up and Jeremy followed behind her. "Bye," Yumi and Ulrich got up grabbed their bags, and headed out. "Why do you seem so glum?" I questioned looking at Odd, "the chalkboard says baked potato soup, I had it, you had it and Tovah had it for dinner. Rosa asked me if Tovah was coming to dinner because she had a special bowl of soup waiting for her, instead of asking like she usually does Tovah just grabbed a bowl off the line, and ate it without saying anything. The baked potato soup we had wasn't kosher either," he looked at the door, "that's not our space girl and I'm sure of it," he added. "What if she just went through a big shock and didn't think about what she was doing?" I asked. "Even when she didn't have her memory, she knew what she was doing," he leaned back in his chair, "let's follow her," we walked upstairs to their room where she said she would be, "nothing," Odd resounded. "What now?" I quivered, "maybe she's in the showers?" He replied. "I'll call her," I pulled my phone out and dialed her, no response. "Maybe..."
Jeremy Belpois Kadic Academy ninth-grade student
I walked to the factory to see why my computer had been acting up, and when I got there, I saw that things had been tampered with. I pulled my phone out dialing Aelita. "I'm starting to think that Tovah isn't Tovah," I sighed. "Meet me at the factory," I hung up and heard a crash from above. I climbed the ladder and saw Tovah pulling out wires, "Don't! You'll mess everything up!" I wailed. "Oh, haven't thought of that," she smirked. "You know Jeremy, I wasn't very keen on this body, but she has some memories I'm pretty fond of, like all the ones of you putting her down and telling her what a failure she is and the ones where her mother just slips away and you tell her how annoying she is for interrupting your life, I guess that's why you're trying so hard to make it up now, letting her be part of your group? But you're right, she is so dumb compared to you, I mean look at what you've accomplished, it's too bad I have to wr-" just like that out of nowhere Yumi tackled fake Tovah and Ulrich tied her up. "I'm not done! I will succeed in my plan! I hope you know that I am an all-powerful being and you guys are teenagers," she struggled against her confines and Yumi pulled out the duct tape and covered her mouth. "Thats enough out of you. So, to the scanners?" Yumi asked. "Yes, to sector five," I confirmed. "On our way," I rebooted the supercomputer and it switched off for a minute or so, I tapped my foot impatiently waiting for it to come back on.
Tovah Pressman Kadic Academy Ninth-grade student
I woke up in the middle of the night to inky blackness, nothing around me for miles. I stood up and walked a few steps holding my hands out, "Hello?" I called out, "Is anyone out there? Someone?" I shouted. A minute or so passed and I was back in the hallway of my childhood home. "Well, we have to convince her," I heard from downstairs, I took tiny steps towards the edge of the hall to the staircase, I peered down to see the door open and a ghostly figure talking to my "parents"
"Have you tried everything?" It asked.
"Well, we've tried being firm and sweet," they explained, "well," it spoke in a distant whispered tone, "try harder, I need a form to get on to earth and what I'm doing now with a copy of her earthly form isn't working, it's not solid and won't last a fortnight. I need the real one," it bellowed, "you have until sundown tomorrow to get me my lamb, I don't care what you have to do, just get it!" It hissed, and at that moment against all my bodily wishes, I sneezed. The thing turned to face the stairs and pointed a ghostly finger up at me, "come to me," it whispered. I stood up and walked slowly down the stairs, "you are magnificent aren't you," I shook my head no, "and modest," my father and mother both put a firm hand on my shoulder, "you know I don't need your soul, just your form." It was like its breath reached all the way to my face. I didn't say or do anything. "Why do you want me?" I asked after a long silence, "silly children, always asking questions. Go to bed now," it turned me around and before I could reach the stairs one of its ghostly fingers wrapped around one of my graying hairs and pulled it out of my scalp. "So pretty," then when I went to look back at the thing it had vanished. My father gave me a reassuring smile, "violin in the morning,"
I was going to escape.
I laid back in bed and thought about how I could get out, the inky blackness that had occurred earlier, I ended up in the hallway, what if it happened again and I ran the other way? I just had to be patient.
Morning came and I sat at the table eating my breakfast, I tapped my foot on the leg of my chair, waiting. Breakfast left and my father came in with my violin, "ready, darling?" I nodded, positioning the violin under my chin, I started playing and he smiled patting along on his knee, my mother kept an eye on us in the kitchen. I started to lose hope when suddenly the color in the world began to drain again, I held tightly to the instrument in my hand and ran as fast as I could towards where I thought the door was. I ran and ran to where a small light was, I tossed the violin behind me and slid towards the only beacon insight. I gasped to my bitter shock, nothing.
Odd Della Robbia Kadic Academy ninth-grade student
"What's that bubble over there?" I pointed towards a brightly lit orb, "that looks like that thing I was trapped in," Aelita leaned forward, "let's get closer," we flew closer, hopping off my board and I pressed my hand against it and my hand disappeared into it, "that didn't happen last time," I thought out loud. "Maybe it's a trap," Aelita stepped back. "I'll go in, you stay out here and keep watch," she nodded, "I'm sure Yumi and Ulrich are on their way," I stepped in and saw what appeared to be a neighborhood, I wasn't in my suit anymore but my everyday clothing. "Weird," the houses looked quiet and empty, but one had a car in the driveway, I walked towards that one and opened the door nonchalantly, "anyone home?" I called. I heard beautiful violin music being played in the sitting room and smelled gingerbread in the air. I walked in further and saw Tovah standing there with a violin in hand looking frightened, "Tovah! Is that you?" I muttered, she said nothing but kept playing and looked at me and shook her head as if to warn me.
"Stop," she mouthed. "Leave," she whispered.
"I'm here to rescue you and all I get is leave?" I laughed. "Come on," I grabbed her arm and began to pull her when suddenly I saw a man and a woman standing in front of the door.
"Care to introduce us?" The woman snarled.
"I'm Odd?" I shrugged.
"Well, nothing like another mouth to feed!" The man pushed me back on the ground by force and Tovah fell back as well.
"So nice place," I commented. She looked at me, frustrated, and then stood up.
"Enough!" She yelled. "I am not your prisoner! You are not my parents!" She roared. "I like my body and no one can take it!" She backed up and her parents began to shift and mutate into beastly creatures, "you can't scare me," she stood her ground. "Because this isn't real, my mother is dead, my real mother and my father is in Africa, your things aren't anything and you can't actually hurt me, so just go ahead and try!" she closed her eyes and held her arms out. It seems as though something happened as they shifted and continued to shift until they disappeared. Tovah looked at where they had been and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness," we walked outside and a black tornado was forming, Tovah stepped forward with her fists clenched.
"you'll be mine one day, Lamb" It spoke, Tovah grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her, "run, it can't get us if-" we ran as fast as we could and narrowly avoided the tornado, we made it to the edge of the neighborhood and I pulled her forward to where I had entered. "You're safe," I assured her. "What was that about being a lamb?" I asked.
"Lamb?" Ulrich solicited.
"It's no big deal." Tovah shook her head, "I'm just glad to be home." She replied. "I have no idea what it wanted with me." She looked down at the ground and moved to get on the over bike with Ulrich.
"I think we have a Tower to deactivate, don't we Jeremy?" Aelita asked.
"Let's do it," Tov smiled.
We headed to the mountain sector, taking out a hoard of wasps and while we were doing that, Tovah showed us that she had uncovered a new power, gravity manipulation. She could pull things forward and push things back, kind of like force. She pushed a wasp into a boulder and it was super cool.
Aelita made it to the tower and we all sighed a big sigh of relief, then Jeremy programmed a return in time, who knows what all Evil Twin Tovah had done?
We were back at Aelita's party and Tovah and I sat on the couch having punch. "So, you didn't throw this party at all?" I asked. She shook her head, "no, but it is a nice party," she smiled, "personally I would've gone with a different cake but hey, the cake is cake," she giggled. "How did you know it wasn't me?" She asked. "You ate baked potato soup, it isn't kosher or vegetarian," I laughed. "You pay that much attention to what I do?" She queried. "Yeah, you're one of my best friends, of course, I do," I added. "But what was that place?" I wanted the full scoop. "Well, if you must know, that was my childhood home, ages one to eight," she confirmed. "I was happy at first to be there and then it turned into a living nightmare. I think- I think XANA designed it to try and take my earthly form to do damage on earth, which I don't know, why me? Why not Yumi?" She proposed.
"I guess I'm just easy to fool," she shrugged.
"I'd say it was probably just the wrong place, wrong time is all." I put my hand around her shoulders and pulled her close to me. "Don't beat yourself up, you did something really hard, you stood up to XANA." I smiled.
"He's tricked all of us before, it's not like it's never happened to any of us or anything. Let's enjoy the party." I helped her up off the couch and pulled her onto the dance floor doing a dorky dance to make her smile.
"Ooh, I call this one the grocery cart! Like that?" I giggled.
"Come on, show me what you've got." Aelita came over and hip-bumped her playfully, "what about this move?" Aelita asked. "Call this one the superstar!" She threw her hands up in the air. "What about this one, it's a little edgy," Tovah giggled. "The sprinkler!" She giggled.
"What about the worm!" Jeremy said laying down and attempting to do the worm, we all started laughing at the awkward attempt to do the worm.
"What? I saw it online!" He protested as he stood up.
"You look like me when I have a seizure, but less graceful," Tovah jabbed.
"Burn," Aelita poked Jeremy in the arm, we all made our way over to the gift table, and Yumi handed her one first.
"I got you this," it was a weirdly shaped box.
"Oh, thank you!" She smiled.
"Open it," Ulrich added.
"Oh yeah," she opened it to reveal a little jewelry box.
"Oh, I love it!" She cheered. She went through a few other gifts and got to Sissi's, she looked at Sissi a bit confused.
"Well open it silly!" She laughed. She opened it and it was a cast and crew photo from the production of Romeo and Juliet. "I thought you'd like it, it has a cute frame too," she added.
"Oh, it's so sweet!" Aelita smiled looking at it and then up at Sissi.
"you guys! It's all so sweet!" I handed her my gift.
"I hope you like it," she pulled it open, "I'm learning to knit," I added.
"It's so beautiful!" She pulled the hat on. "When did you have time to do this?" She asked.
"In class," I laughed.
"I love it so much!" She got up and hugged me tightly, next she opened Jeremy's card and gave him a small smile and a nod. Then Ulrichs, which was a diary and pen set. Then Tovah's.
"Oh, the dress!" She shook her head laughing, "I almost forgot about it!" She laughed.
"I kept thinking about how pretty you looked in it and went back and got it for you. You know after what we went through, I thought you deserved it," Aelita thanked everyone profusely and we all partied a bit more and then cleaned up.
Aelita Stones Kadic Academy Ninth grade student
"That will for sure be a birthday to remember," I held all my gifts in my hands as we walked up to our room.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, it was a surprise to me," Tovah laughed.
"I'm ready to sleep for a few years." She fumbled with the keys in the door and opened it letting me in first.
"I can't believe that you're fifteen now," she added.
"My birthday is in a few days, which is stupid." she shook her head.
"What a wild day," she sat up.
"I haven't done anything!" She sighed and laid back. "I'll talk to Jeremy about it tomorrow, now I sleep,"