It was dinner time at Kadic academy. Jeremie, Odd and Aelita were sitting at the same table they always did. Odd, as usual, was wolfing through his meal, which was spaghetti and meatballs. Aelita, on the other hand, had barely touched hers.

"Hey Aelita, is something wrong?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes… no… I don't know" Aelita glanced at her shoes.

"What's on your mind?"

"It's just… sometimes I wonder if this fight against XANA will ever end"

"Of course it will, Aelita. Look at how much progress we've been making lately – we've managed to collect a lot of data from the Replikas we've discovered so far, and I've no doubt that data will help us defeat XANA once and for all"

"Yes, I know, but… sometimes I wonder how you all stand it"

Odd had just finished the last morsels from his tray. "What do you mean?"

"Our struggle against XANA has been going for two and a half years, and there's no end in sight. What happens if we don't defeat XANA before we graduate? Or, heaven forbid, what if we even DIE?"

"I don't see it that way", Odd said.

"Oh? How do you see it?"

"As far as I'm concerned, we always give our all against XANA, so even on the off-chance he beats us one day, at least we died trying. But, you know, there's no way XANA will ever take me down" Odd began leaning back on his chair. "My fighting skills are just too advanced for him to handle" Odd leaned back further, and ended up falling backwards onto the floor. Jeremie and Aelita began laughing.

"Your fighting skills might be up to scratch, Odd, but your co-ordination leaves a lot to be desired" Jeremie said. "By the way, I don't suppose either of you know where Ulrich is, do you?"

"Oh, he's on a date with Yumi" Odd said nonchalantly.

"Really?!" Aelita was shocked. "That's quite the development"

"Yeah, I know, plot twist of the century, right? But it's true. Yumi's parents and Hiroki are out of town for the weekend, so Ulrich's planning to spend the evening at her place. In fact, he should probably be arriving there right about now"

Ulrich knocked on the door to Yumi's house. After five seconds, Yumi appeared.

"Hi Ulrich. I'm really glad you could make it"

Ulrich started blushing. "So, er… what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know. Do you fancy playing Go?"

"No way, you're too good at it – you always beat me!"

Yumi smirked. "That's true". She pondered for a little while. "Maybe we could just put on some music and just… talk"

"T-Talk? What do you mean by that?"

"Come on, Ulrich, you know what talking means" Ulrich blushed once again at Yumi's teasing.

"Um… er… well… where did you say your parents were again?"

"Oh, they're attending a friend's wedding or something", Yumi said. "Nothing special"

"Would you… er… like to do some Pencak Silat training?"

Yumi rolled her eyes and laughed. "Pencak Silat, huh? You sure know how to liven up the party, don't you? Alright, let's go into the garden"

However, as the two of them went to leave the house, rain began to fall.

"Well, so much for that plan" Ulrich said.

Suddenly, Ulrich's phone began to ring. "Hello?"

It was Jeremie. "Ulrich, are you with Yumi?"

"Yeah"

"XANA's just launched an attack. Get to the factory as soon as you can!"

Ulrich sighed in frustration. "We'll be right over" He hung up. "XANA alert – it looks like our evening together will have to wait"

"Damn it!" Yumi was visibly annoyed. "Come on then, let's go! The sooner we get this over with, the better"

However, as the two of them ran towards the pavement, they heard thunder and lightning booming and crackling in the night sky.

"Wow, it's one heck of a storm" Yumi remarked. "I've never seen anything like it before"

"You're telling me – one minute ago it was clear skies, and now this! Do you think this might be XANA's attack?"

"Maybe. Come on, we haven't a minute t- ARRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Before Yumi could finish her sentence, she was struck by a bolt of lightning. Then, several other bolts of lightning concentrated their energy on her, all in unison. Ulrich could do nothing but stare in shock as Yumi screamed in pain. After a few seconds, Yumi disappeared entirely, and the lightning ceased.

"Yumi, no!" Suddenly, another bolt of lightning came down and hit Ulrich. Three other bolts began to circle around him like an unholy trinity, and soon enough he had disappeared as well.

Meanwhile, Jeremie, Aelita and Odd were just emerging from the sewers and running towards the factory. Just before they could reach it, however, they felt an intense rumbling beneath their feet, which knocked the three of them over. All at once, the bridge split cleanly in two behind them. The half that they were on began to slope downwards. They tried futilely to get up, but soon enough they had landed on the floor again, and ended up falling into the cold river underneath them.

As the three of the resurfaced, Aelita looked dejectedly at the others.

"How on earth are we going to get to the factory now?"

"There's another passageway on the other side of the factory building", Jeremie said. Jeremie pointed north-west. "That way"

"Great, nothing like a little swim" Odd said.

However, before any of them could move, Odd was struck by a bolt of lightning. He cried with pain.

"Odd!" Aelita screamed, and within seconds she was being struck by lightning as well.

"W-what is going on here? What i-" Before Jeremie could finish his sentence, he was also being encased by lightning. After a few seconds of intense, agonising pain, the three of them disappeared into thin air.