Chapter 1.2.2 of 50: Arrival at Kadic, Part Two
Everything was white. She tried to move, but she couldn't. Crying out to Alex wasn't about to happen either. A faint whooshing sound could be heard, but nothing more. Ginger felt scared. At least that meant she wasn't dead. Or did it? She didn't know. What if something had gone wrong? She began to seriously question her sanity level at the moment that she had stepped inside the Scanner, when suddenly an new sound became aware to her. A very high-pitched sound, sort of like an electronic crackling that overtook the whooshing sound, seemingly filling her brain. Then the whiteness that blinded her began to fade, blurry colors and disfigured shapes shoving their way into her vision. She could feel her head again, now her torso, and her arms as well. She still couldn't move very much. Now her legs regained feeling, and just as her feet felt real once more and the electronic crackling stopped, she felt herself begin to fall. She let out a little yell and thought to herself: "Oh, my mouth works!" Then she hit whatever was below her hard, her vision still a modern art canvas of greens and whites. Pain shot down her back, as if she had just fallen onto a rock or something. She closed her eyes and rolled over onto her stomach, clutching her aching back. She buried her nose into what she had fallen, trying to mask the throbbing pain with another one of her five senses. She found it odd that it had no scent, and gave up trying to smell whatever it was. She grunted and rolled onto her side, opening her eyes. She thought the pain from the fall must have damaged her vision, but a few rapid blinks and a good rub of her eyes confirmed that she was indeed seeing what she was seeing. She gazed around as she sat up, marveling at the sight that surrounded her. What looked like tall tree trunks stretched in every direction, yet these trees seemed to have roots at the top as well as the bottom. A long green path stretched out in front of her, bordered by what looked like green rocks. The path had the occasional gray rock and tree-with-root-leaves sticking out here and there, and farther off, it could be seen that it broke off into different directions. She struggled to her feet in order to get a better look at her surroundings, then stopped and blinked in surprise once she was straight up.
"I feel taller!" She exclaimed out loud, slightly surprised to hear her own voice.
"You look taller as well." A voice came from behind her. "I'd say no more than two inches."
"Sam?" She turned around, and saw Sam standing next to Ashley a few feet in front of her. "You look...different." She squinted at Sam, who grimaced. "Are you wearing bell-bottoms?"
"Shut up." He groaned, rubbing his shoulder. He was wearing a light brown sleeveless top. At least I don't look like something from the Matrix." He chuckled, eyeing her with an air of amusement. "Although I must say, black really fits you. And I love what you've done with your hair." Ginger gasped, twisting and turning to get a better look at herself.
"Oh my god. Am I wearing a body suit? Why is my hair brown again? And what's with this turtleneck?"
"It looks fine!" Ashley said cheerfully, walking over to her. "I like those boots, the silver buckles really look pretty."
"Oh thanks, they...wow, Ashley! You look beautiful!" Ashley giggled as Ginger stared at her in awe. "You look like a fairy!" Ashley's green top swooshed slightly as she twisted to admire herself.
"Or a glow stick." Sam said, walking over to them. "You're dressed in all green."
"I've got these, don't I?" Ashley motioned to four golden bracelets, two around her left ankle and two around her right wrist. "And my top has gold trim. And hey, my hair changed color!" She ran a finger through a lock of her now short brown hair that was swept into a sort of pixy 'do across her right eye. "Besides, at least I don't look like some sort of mutant Chewbacca."
"Get real." Sam scoffed, striking an action pose. "This is a hunter's outfit."
"Does the hunter dance as well? Or did he forget his platforms?" Ginger laughed, watching Sam's light brown bell-bottoms move slightly above his bare feet. "And I love your gray wrist pieces. They don't clash with those black stripes under your eyes or anything."
"They're athletic bands." Sam huffed, inspecting them. "Hey, what's this?" He lightly touched a red button on his left band, and a shimmering wall of green appeared in front of him. "Oh, sweet! A shield!"
"Hey, no fair." Ginger complained, as the green wall faded away. "You've got a shield and I've got nothing, aside from my body suit and boots."
"But what's that on your back, then?" Ashley asked Ginger, tapping something on Ginger's back. "It looks like a case."
"Oh...but what is it?" Ginger reached her arms over her shoulders and felt at what Ashley had pointed out. It was circular and hard, and had a point sticking out next to each shoulder. "Oh, this is what I fell on!" She exclaimed. "God, it hurt, too."
"I feel your pain, literally." Sam said rubbing his back. "I fell on my bow. Because I apparently have one now." He turned around, letting them gaze at the crossbow strapped to his back, along with an arrow holder.
"I fell on my staff." Ashley said, turning so the others could see it. It was long and obviously wooden, with two green circles around the wood on both ends. "Although I feel for Ginger more. That thing looks painful, whatever it is."
"Testing, testing, one-two-three? Are you guys there?" A sudden voice in their ears made them all jump.
"Who wants to know?" Sam called up, looking confused.
"It's me. Duh. Who else?"
"Alex?" Ashley gasped. "But how? Aren't you still in the lab?"
"I told you, I can communicate with you." Back on earth, Alex grinned at the screen with his friend's ID cards and the digital map of the surrounding area on it. "You can't get rid of me that easily. Sorry it took me so long, by the way. The communications system was offline for some reason. Anyways, welcome to Lyoko, my friends! How do you feel?"
"As if we just went through the rinse-'n-wash." Sam grumbled. "What was that, anyways?"
"It was the virtualization process. According to Belpois, it takes a lot out of you the first time around. But anyways, where did you come up? What do you look like? Your ID cards sure look spiffy. Loving the Chewbacca, Sam. Nice bodysuit, Ginger. And Ashley, why do you look like a glow stick?"
"I am not a glow stick!" Ashley complained, crossing her arms. "Better watch yourself, or I'll beat you when you get here. We're in some sort of forest, by the way."
"Oh, Alex, I grew taller!" Ginger said excitedly.
"Yeah. And I grew chunkier." Sam said, inspecting himself. "In fact, we all look a bit odd. What's up with that?"
"Lyoko's a virtual reality." Alex's voice explained. "Imagine yourself stuck inside the Sims 3. That's probably why you look funny. Although I would imagine the graphics on Lyoko are much better than any Sims game."
"Quite right. Anyways, what do we do, exactly?"
"For now, you all need to get to a tower. I need to run scans to make sure you did finish the process safe and sound, and this way I can also find out what you guys can actually do."
"Great! So where's this tower?" Ginger said, looking around.
"There should be one in a clearing at the north end of the path you're on." Alex said, causing them to turn around and stare down the path. "But please be careful! Look to the edge of the path, but don't get too close." They did, and saw, far below the roots of the trees, a sort of yellow ocean.
"It looks like water." Ashely said. "What is it?"
"It's the Digital Sea. Belpois explained that whatever falls in becomes lost forever, so do your best to stay away."
"Yeah, we'll do our best." Sam said, edging away back to the safe part of the path. "Can we get going now?"
"Sure. Just head down the path and you'll run into the tower."
"Right-o." With that, the three friends walked off. After a few seconds of radio silence from Alex, Ginger spoke up.
"Does anyone else find it weird that only three of our five senses work here?"
"Yeah, I noticed too." Ashley said, turning to look at her as they walked. "I can't smell a thing."
"The only thing I can hear is our footsteps, for now. And we can still feel things. But smelling and tasting are out of the question."
"Now how do you know that taste is out?" Sam said with a grin, looking over at her. "You land with your mouth open or what?"
"No, you dork. I mean, like, on earth you can taste things in the air, like humidity. Here, there's nothing. And I bet..." Ginger stopped talking for a moment to touch her finger to her tongue. "Yeah, I was right. I can feel my finger on my tongue, but there's no taste whatsoever."
"Well, it is a virtual world..." Sam said, shrugging. "You can't expect to taste the programs, now can you?"
"He's got a point." Ashley said, to Ginger's slight annoyance. "Alex, how far are we from the tower?"
"Still quite a ways." Alex's voice echoed in their ears, causing them to groan.
"Walking's for old people." Sam huffed "Is there no faster way? Can't you teleport us there, or something?"
"You could try running." Alex suggested. "'Cause teleportation isn't happening. Although, if you give me a few seconds, I can help you move faster. I'm in the process of digging up this program that allows me to program some vehicles for you."
"Oh, sweet! I call the helicopter."
"Sorry, Sam. It looks there're vehicles already programmed, which means I'm not going to waste my time programming new ones. There's...erm...something called an Overboard, which is kind of like a floating skateboard, an Overbike, which is basically a one wheeled motorcycle that can fly, and an Overwing. That looks like...a UFO. Sort of."
"I call the Overwing!" Ginger called, getting ahead of the group.
"The Overboard's mine!" Ashley and Sam called in unison.
"Oh, no. That's mine." Ashley said, stopping and looking at Sam.
"No offense, but I actually know how to skateboard." Sam smirked. "I think I'll take it."
"Oh do you, now?" Ashley said hotly, whipping out her staff and slamming it on the ground in front of her, green lines glowing. "Wanna go?"
"Sure!" Sam flared up instantly, drawing his crossbow. The two stood in front of each other, weapons drawn and at the ready, with Ginger looking on helplessly.
"Stop fighting, or you two will come back to earth right now!" Alex's voice cut sharply through the tension. "I have the program to devirtualize both of you here and ready. If either of you harms the other, you both come back. Understood?" Muttered agreements from the two friends. Ashley sheathed her staff, and Sam his bow, both still glaring at each other. "I actually have an idea about how to solve this. I figured out the program and have virtualized all three vehicles on the path ahead of you." Their heads turned in surprise, looking down the path for any sign of the vehicles.
"Down there!" Ginger said, pointing to three blurry shapes on the horizon.
"The contest is a simple one." Alex continued. "Whoever gets to the vehicle first claims it."
"So a footrace?" Ashley smiled. "It's a done deal!"
"Huh, good luck!" Sam scoffed. "Alex! Start us so I can get my Overboard!"
"Right. Contestants, on your marks!" Ashley and Sam both edged forward, one trying to get ahead of the other by just a bit. "Ready! Go!" The two took off running, leaving Ginger to helplessly shake her head and follow.
"Hnf...good luck getting there first!" Sam panted, racing ahead of Ashley.
"Oh don't you worry, I'll catch up!" Their feet pounded against the ground, each one willing themselves to go faster. As the vehicles became more than just fuzzy blobs on the horizon, Ashley shot ahead of Sam, who was held up by a large boulder blocking his side of the path.
"Hey, no fair!" He shouted angrily, shying to one side and continuing to run, now considerably behind Ashley.
"All's fair in love and war!" She called back, almost having reached the Overboard.
"That doesn't apply!"
"And half the things you say do?"
"Fair point..." He grinned, coming up next to her. "But are you sure you even want that thing? I mean, it is purple, after all."
"True..." She sighed. "...but I won it, fair and square, and i'll be damned if I don't give it a chance first!"
"So that means I get the Overbike." Sam said, walking over to it. "This was actually my second choice, you know."
"Yeah. OK."
"So who won?" Ginger asked, running up to them.
"Me!" Ashley chirped. "After all, how could I not have? I mean, with my superior speed, and all."
"It was the boulder!" Sam groaned. "I would have won otherwise."
"Right." Ginger laughed. "I'm so sure."
"Ashley, congratulations on that." Alex's voice sounded in their ears again. "Now if you don't mind getting a move on?"
"Right, sorry." Ashley jumped up onto the Overboard as Ginger climbed onto the Overwing and Sam onto the Overbike. "Woah...oh. This thing's a little unstable for my tastes." She complained as the board wavered slightly under her.
"Does that mean you'll give it up?" Sam said hopefully, looking up at her.
"Not a cha...chance." She said defiantly, even as she almost lost her balance. "I'll get better, you'll see."
"Yeah. Right. So Alex, how do we move, exactly?"
"Uh...I don't particularly know. Sam, yours is fairly straightforward. Just twist the throttle to go. But for you two girls, it looks like you have to...I dunno, imagine it. Try willing it to go."
"Moving them by will?" Ginger scoffed, leaning over the handles of the Overwing. "What a ridiculous idea."
"Hey, if you've got a better one..."
"Yeah, all right. How, though. I mean...is it just...woah, hold on, I wasn't ready!" The last part came out as a small scream as the Overwing came to life under her and shot down the path.
"Ginger!" Sam shouted. "Let's go, Ashley!" He revved the Overbike and raced after Ginger, leaving Ashley to follow slowly in his wake.
"Oh man..." She complained, as the board wavered from side to side as she tried to pick up speed. "Alex, any pointers? I'm kind of stuck."
"Try keeping a low center of gravity." His voice suggested. "Also, don't be afraid to fall. It's like learning to ride a bike, you know?"
"Ok, low center of gravity..." Ashley bent her knees a little more as the Overboard started to pick up more speed.
"Hands out. Pretend you're surfing."
"Oh..woah! Ahaha. I'm getting it! Sam, here I come!" The Overboard shot forward after her two other friends, leaving Alex to smile and shake his head on earth. She was a fast learner, what could he say? Back on Lyoko, Ashley was flying along the forest path. "This is much easier once you get the hang of it." She said to Alex. "I'm just glad it's a straight path...I don't think I could manage a turn right now."
"Well, that's no problem." His voice sounded. "You can have time to practice later. Right now, you're coming up to the tower. Sam and Ginger are already there. Do you want me to devirtualize the Overboard so you can jump off? Or you wanna try and stop yourself?"
"I'll stop, thanks." As she swerved slightly to avoid running into a tree, the tower came into view. At the far end of a clearing, it was a magnificent sight. A tall, white structure with lines running up the sides here and there. It had a sort of circular depression near the top that cut off a small piece of the tower from the main part, and from there was where the aura that Belpois had talked about in the lab emanated from. Right now it was a calming blue. The bottom of the tower looked like it had melted slightly. Black in color, the base didn't go up the tower very far. It looked disfigured, with parts being lumpier than others on the base, and the occasional bubble here and there. "It looks so calming...although the bottom looks like melted plastic, or something."
"Yeah, apparently they all look like that. Hey, you going to stop sometime soon, or d'you plan on running into the tower?"
"Oh, shut up. Stopping now." Ashley said as she less-than-gracefully wavered to a near stop next to Sam, Ginger, and the other two vehicles, and jumped off, letting the Overboard float to a stop a few feet away.
"...And she makes it!" Sam said, leaning on the Overbike. "Getting better, huh?"
"Yeah, I am!" Ashley said defiantly. "Ginger, are you OK?"
"Just dandy." She said, smiling. "I got the Overwing under control, which meant that Sam and I just had to have a little race. And guess what? There was no rock this time." She laughed and winked, while Sam looked on, slightly miffed.
"Yeah, all right, whatever. So what do we do now?" He looked up at the tower and its mysterious blue aura.
"Now you go inside." Alex said. "Careful how you do it. I've got a diagram of the tower here, and apparently you can only enter through one spot, or you'll miss the platform completely and fall into the data stream."
"Question...is that a bad thing?"
"I don't know, as of now. Belpois told me that if you dive into the data stream from a way tower, then you'll be transported to another sector. Considering this isn't a way tower, I have no idea what'll happen if you fall in."
"Reassuring." Ginger said sarcastically. "So how do we get inside without falling?"
"Just enter the tower straight on. With this one, line yourselves up with the path you just came from, and walk in."
"Just walk?" Ashley said, hesitating nervously as she lined up in front of the tower with Sam and Ginger. "You sure?"
"I'd do it myself."
"OK..." Ashley reached forward and gently touched the odd looking tower base. She cried out in surprise, as did Ginger. Where her hand touched the tower, ripple marks spread.
"Go on! You won't fall." Alex's voice encouraged her. She nodded, even though he couldn't see her do so, and stepped forward. The ripple marks surrounding her hand grew bigger and bigger to encompass her whole body as it slowly sank through the tower base as she stepped inside. Sam and Ginger looked at each other in amazement.
"Ladies first..." He said slowly.
"If I knew what this thing on my back was, i'd kill you with it." She shot back, but stepped forward nonetheless. Inside the tower, Ashley slowly walked forward. She was standing on something that resembled a narrow catwalk that led to a large circular platform in the very center of the tower. Aside from the narrow path she came in on, there was no other way onto the platform. The inside wall of the tower was made up of hundreds, if not thousands of data screens, all of which had numbers flashing by. A brief glance over the edge of the platform let her know that there were no supports holding it up, and that what Alex had called the data stream apparently stretched out far below her, as she couldn't see a bottom to the tower. Reaching the very center of the tower, she looked up and saw another circular platform high above her. Then a low droning sound from behind her caused her to turn and see Ginger appear inside.
"Alex...this is amazing!" Ashley breathed.
"It really is!" Ginger gasped, joining Ashley on the circular platform.
"Is it? Can't wait to see it. Are you all there now?"
"Yeah, i'm here." Sam said, sinking through the wall of the tower and joining the girls. "Wow, this is crazy stuff."
"So i've heard. Anyways, I'm going to start the scans. Ashley, you're going first. Just step onto the center circle, and if the program works, you should gain a green aura while you're examined."
"Ok. I'm in position." Ashley said, stepping onto the center circle and crossing her arms. "Ready."
"Starting the program now." The three friends waited inside the tower, Sam looking around to see if something inside the tower would react.
"Alex, I don't think your program worked. I didn't glow green."
"Yeah, I realize. Apparently I have to activate the tower. Ashley, stay there. Sam, go outside and tell me when the tower's aura turns green-that indicates when i've activated it."
"Got it." Sam turned, and walked through the wall of the tower, leaving nothing but fading ripple marks behind.
"Alex, what happens when you activate a tower?" Ginger asked curiously.
"Simply put, I activate it for my own use. Since I don't have someone to manage the data terminal inside the tower yet, Belpois explained that until I find someone to do that, I have to activate the tower to be able to do anything with it, such as run this scan. He's walking me through the process, but he also pointed out a downside."
"And that is...?"
"X.A.N.A. . Apparently it hates when towers are activated from the terminal. Although this could be considered a good thing because this could be just the thing we need to draw X.A.N.A. out of hiding...there. Tower activated." And sure enough, Sam walked back into the tower with news on how the aura had changed from light blue to green with a ghostly moan.
"Are you gonna start the scan now?" Ashley asked, shifting impatiently.
"Yeah. Just stay still. Scan start." Ashley immediately took on a green aura, just like the one the tower was now radiating.
"Oh, cool. Now you fit the glow stick character perfectly!" Sam laughed.
"You just wait 'till I'm done here." Ashley fumed. "I'll beat you into the next sector!"
"I apologize for interrupting your death threats, but I'm getting results here." Alex said, causing them all to jump slightly. "Ashley...you have 150 out of 150 possible life points, your electric staff is in prime condition...you appear to have something hidden around the sides of your stomach, though. Check that out." Ashley felt around her left side as Alex stopped talking.
"Oh, electric...that's what the lines...wait, but, I don't...oh, hey, I found a pocket!"
"What's inside?" Ginger asked curiously.
"These!" Ashley pulled her hand out, and laying in the palm of her hand were two small throwing daggers that glinted malevolently in the dim light.
"Wicked!" Sam grinned.
"Oh, that's what that is?" Alex said. "It appears that you only have 15 of them. You can use them for a variety of things, apparently, but I'll let you discover them on your own. If you happen to run out, just shout out to whoever's at the terminal. They can be reloaded from here." The glow around Ashley faded away. "Your scan's complete, Ashley. Ginger, you're next." Ginger replaced Ashley on the small circle in the center of the platform and, just like Ashley, began to emanate a green aura. "Scan in progress." Alex said. "Ginger, you have 150 out of 150 possible life points, your Shadow Swords are in prime condition..."
"Hold on, Shadow Swords?" Ginger asked, surprised. "Are those what those points on my back are?" She gingerly felt the tips protruding from the small metallic backpack on her back. "And what do you mean by Shadow Swords? What are they? What do they do?"
"Well, they're swords, obviously. I call them Shadow Swords because that's what they look like. It's a normal sword hilt, but some weird smoky stuff takes the place of a blade on them. Pull one out, see what it looks like." Ginger did so, the hilt coming smoothly out of the small case on her back.
"I can't see very well in the tower, because of the blue tint from the lighting…" Ginger murmured, gazing at the odd sight before her. "…but it's definitely not a normal sword, yeah." She held the Shadow Sword up to her face, and was able to see straight through the odd smoky substance. Sam's face looked back at her with a puzzled expression.
"Can you touch it?" He asked curiously. Ginger tentatively ran a finger through the shadowy substance, and was surprised to feel her fingers take in the sensation of being dipped in a cool stream.
"It's like putting your hands in a gently flowing stream." She said admiringly, running her fingers through the substance several times. "It's cool to the touch as well."
"That's really cool…" Ashley murmured. "Alex, what can she do with them?"
"Well, from what my screen is telling me, they solidify on contact. So you can play with them, just don't…swing them too hard."
"Gotcha. Anything else?" Ginger asked, pulling out the other sword and holding them out in front of her.
"Yes, actually…try touching the two hilts to one another, then pulling them apart. There'll be some sort of fusion." Ginger did so, and when the two metallic hilts touched each other, they let out a small puff of whatever they were made of. When she pulled them apart, the smoky substance solidified itself into a long, staff-shaped object.
"Oh, wow!" Ginger exclaimed, twirling her new weapon in her hands. "This is really cool."
"When in the staff formation, the smoky stuff solidifies." Alex's voice said. "To get them to change back into normal swords, just reverse the process." Ginger slid the two sword hilts together again, and pulled. The hilts came apart easily, revealing their original, smoky forms. "Great…now that the Shadow Swords are dealt with, on with the scan…"
"Do I have any more cool powers? Or weapons?" Ginger asked eagerly, having sheathed her Shadow Swords.
"Yes, actually." Alex said, receiving a groan from Sam.
"At this rate, you'll have taken all the cool stuff!" He grumbled.
"You're just jealous." Ginger stuck her tongue out at him.
"Ahem…anyways...Ginger, you also seem to have the power to teleport short distances, and you can release a small burst of black smoke from the palms of your hands that briefly paralyzes whatever it hits. Be careful, though. The teleportation, if used in rapid succession, will tire you out quickly. Also watch where you aim. You underestimate the distance, and you could very well end up in the Digital Sea. The scan isn't giving me an exact…oh, what's the word…limit, I guess. The Scan isn't giving me a limit as to how far you can actually teleport yourself, so you'll have to find that out yourself. But yeah, that's all you. Sam, you're up next." The glow faded from around Ginger as he spoke, and she stepped back. Sam took her place in the center of the platform and, when Alex announced it, began glowing green like the other two. "Sam...you have 150 out of 150 possible life points, your one bow and 20 reloadable arrows are in prime condition...you have something hidden in the bands around your wrists. Aside from the shield, I mean. Try flicking your wrists, see what happens." Sam did as commanded, and a number of small throwing stars fell out and hit the floor with a small tinkling sound that echoed through the Tower.
"Wow, excellent!" Sam exclaimed, bending over and picking up a star. "This is deadly!" The light in the tower glinted malevolently off of the wickedly sharp points of the star, causing the girls to shy a bit farther away.
"Don't play with those in here! We might fall into the Data Stream!" Ashley complained, keeping an eye on the star in Sam's hand.
"I won't, I won't. Geez." Sam let the throwing star fall back to the ground, where it hit another and clanged slightly. "Calm down. I'm not that reckless." Over the communication channel, Alex coughed lightly. "Ah, whatever." Sam grinned. "I've gotten better."
"Yeah, all right." Alex chuckled. "Sam, aside from the things already mentioned, you also seem to have the power to duplicate yourself. Five copies minimum, each with a lifespan of about four to five minutes. You command them, but each copy only has ten life points, so watch where you send them."
"Duplication, crossbow, throwing stars...I'd say I'm fairly well off." Sam grinned smugly.
"All right, you guys are done." Alex said, the faint sound of him cracking his knuckles floating over the communication channel. "Sam, you're coming back to earth. You have to run the program for me."
"For real?" Sam groaned as he stopped glowing. "I haven't even gotten a chance to try out my new weapons yet."
"Deal with it. Ashley and Ginger don't know how to run it, so you have to come back."
"Fine." Sam huffed, starting to fade through the tower wall. "But you owe me. An extra dessert at dinner should suffice." Ashley and Ginger followed him through the Tower wall, and stepped outside just in time to see Sam's body fade into a sort of wire alloy, then flicker and vanish.
"Gah! What's going on, I haven't launched the devirtualization program yet! Why did Sam disappear?" Alex sounded frantic. "Is something going on over there?"
"Sort of..." Ginger groaned. "There are...these...things in front of us..." Looming above the two girls stood three of what looked like enormous red crabs, each with four very long and spindly legs, and a strange symbol near the front of their flat, disk-shaped tops, right above three small red, circular "windows" that were assumed to be eyes.
"Hey, that symbol!" Ashley cried, pointing to the insignia on the top of the crabs. "I've seen it before!"
"Ashley, move!" Alex shouted over the comm. channel. Before the sentence had even finished, Ginger threw herself at Ashley and knocked her sideways, both girls narrowly avoiding a rapid burst of laser fire from all three of the creatures. "Attack the symbol!" Alex cried as the girls hastily jumped up, avoiding more laser fire. "It's what destroys them!"
"Right!" Ginger said, drawing her swords. "Here we go!" She dashed forward and ran between the monster's legs, holding both swords out on either side of her as she ran. "Ashley, take care of the symbol! I'll incapacitate them!"
"All right!" Ashley sprung forward to meet the first crab, who toppled over with a resounding crash, legs no longer functional thanks to Ginger. "Take this!" She cried, and, whipping her staff out, slammed it into the middle of the symbol on its head. Her staff crackled with electricity as the impact zone flared a bright yellow. The crab began to writhe as golden light began to come from the hole in its head. Ashley pulled back and jumped over to the second crab, already on the ground, when the first crab exploded. Small pieces of red shell were scattered around, then everything that was left of the crab flickered and vanished. Ashley turned back to the crab in front of her, but before she could strike it, the crab let off a few rounds of laser fire, hitting Ashley dead-on in the left leg. She fell back with a cry, her leg crackling with electricity. "Ouch! Hey, that smarts!" She reached into the folds of cloth next to her stomach, drew a few throwing knives, and launched them viciously at the monster in front of her. "Take this, you terrible machine!" Two knives hit the crab in its "eyes", and the last two hit the target, all hits producing golden light. "Bull's eye!" The crab, just like the last, writhed and exploded, scattering pieces of itself before flickering and vanishing. Ashley stood and turned to her left, just in time to see Ginger plunge a Shadow Sword into the last monster. She withdrew, jumping back, and the crab exploded, leaving the landscape as empty as it had been before.
"Geez…" Ginger panted, sheathing the sword. "What were those things?"
"Apparently, they're called Crabs." Sam's voice sounded in their ears. "One of many monsters created by our friend X.A.N.A. . By the way, Ashley, that hit cost you 20 life points. Watch it."
"Sam?" Ashley asked, confused. "Where's Alex?"
"In the rinse-'n-wash. I had to take over for him. But let me tell you, getting devirtualized isn't a fun experience. It's like gasping for breath after you've been punched in the gut. But I see you managed to defeat the Crabs, which is a good thing. Damn machines surprised me; didn't even have time to throw a single star."
"Sounds unpleasant." Ginger grimaced. "Is Alex on his way, then?"
"Yeah, the virtualization program just finished. He should be appearing in front of you any moment now." Ashley and Ginger walked over to the front of the tower to wait for their friend, and, sure enough, a wire-frame alloy started materializing a few feet above where they had just been. Alex's head appeared first – his hair, spiked up, was the first thing to become visible. Then, his face, eyes open. A circular black collar around his neck started leading black lines down the sides of his body, which was dressed in a tight-fitting ice-blue bodysuit. There was a black circle with the inside colored red about as large as the base of a soda can in the middle of his chest. The last things to appear were his boots, a dark shade of black. As the electronic crackling faded away, Alex blinked his eyes, then let out a yell as he thudded to the ground. Ashley and Ginger walked over to him, smiling slightly as he groggily sat up and looked around, rubbing his eyes.
"God, that was terrible…where am I?" He gasped. "Wow, this is incredible! I never imagined it could be as amazing as this!" He stood up, marveling at the sights that surrounded him.
"Welcome to Lyoko!" Ashley chirped cheerfully. "You look spiffy."
"Oh, that's neat." Alex said, twisting around to look at himself. "I like this bodysuit. But I don't seem to have any weapons, which is slightly disappointing."
"Which is why I'm prepping the scan." Sam said, causing Alex to jump. "Get inside the tower before more monsters decide to show."
"That's what that sounds like? Alex said, wincing as Sam spoke. "That's really creepy." He then walked straight through the tower wall, already knowing how the towers worked, followed by Ashley and Ginger. Inside, Alex stepped into the middle of the platform and gazed around in awe as he began to glow green. "This is amazing…" He said in a hushed voice. "So much information that holds up this world, and it all runs through these towers…"
"Yeah, yeah, Romeo. Get over it, it's all just zeros and ones." Sam's voice echoed in their heads. "Anyways, your scan. You've got all 150 life points and no visible weapons. You do, however, seem to have the power to control ice. How original. You can shoot Ice Balls from your hands and cover yourself in ice for self-defense. You can also form a shield by touching two Ice Balls together."
"That is absolutely the best thing ever, original or not." Alex grinned as he formed a small Ice Ball in the middle of his hand. It glinted in the light of the tower, and when he looked through it, his vision became warped. Alex released the Ice Ball from the palm of his hand and it fell to the floor, shattering on impact. Small ice pieces slid across the smooth platform, and some fell off the edge, disappearing into the mysterious Data Stream.
"That's crazy." Ginger grinned, as the glow around Alex faded away. "Now what?"
"Now we get back to school." Sam's voice said. "It's 7:28 on earth, and we need to be back before people start hunting around for us when they realize we didn't go to orientation."
"Hold up…no we don't." Alex said, a sly smile growing on his face. "Remember why we were all virtualized in the first place?" Ginger and Ashley grinned. "Sam, bring us back to earth so I can launch a Return to the Past." Alex said, excited. "This is going to be amazing."
"Step outside, then. I'm starting up the devirtualization program." As soon as the three were out of the tower, the electronic crackling started once more. Ginger was the first to go, her body fading into the wire alloy from the feet up. Alex grinned at Ashley, then flickered back to earth as well. Ashley looked down at her feet, which were now nothing but part of the alloy now. Suddenly, Ashley felt something strange. The same sensation that she'd felt when she was being virtualized for the first time. Pulsations. She gasped and whirled around to try and get a glimpse of whatever seemed to be causing them, but too late. Her vision whited out, and the strange rushing sound overtook her senses once more.
Ginger's vision returned to her in a sudden flash of golden light. She reeled, and fell back against the metallic wall of the Scanner. The doors in front of her slid open with a whoosh, and she staggered out. She looked around, and was glad to see that she wasn't the only one to look like passing out was a serious consideration. Ashley stumbled out of her Scanner holding her head. Alex simply remained in his, leaning against the side, eyes closed.
"Guys, get up here. Are we gonna do this or what?" Sam's voice echoed harshly in the tall room, causing them all to cringe.
"We can her you!" Alex shouted. "No need to be so loud. Damn, it's like having the worst hangover…"
"Ah…mine's fading away." Ashley said, walking gingerly over to the ladder. "Hopefully it was just this once, and we'll get more accustomed to it.
"Yeah. We'd better." Ginger grumbled as she started up the ladder after Ashley. Alex sighed, and followed suit, head still pounding. Upstairs, Sam was putting the final touches on the coordinates for the Return to the Past trip, when he heard the other three come into the room. He swung the high-backed chair around and greeted them with a smile. "It's not so plesant, is it? Don't worry, it goes away." His statement was greeted with stares full of death as the other three gathered around the chair. "..right. Anyways." He turned the chair back around to face the terminal and hit a final key. A window popped up on the main screen, showing a small 3-D model of the world that was slowly spinning. Light seemed to be shining from all the landmasses, and a set of coordinates was typed underneath. "The program's ready to be launched. Are you all ready?"
"Hold on, let me make…one small adjustment." Alex leaned over Sam and typed in a few commands into the terminal, causing the coordinates to change. "There. You had set the return date for a week ago. I don't think we need to go back that far."
"Right, sorry." Sam chuckled, rubbing his head.
"Hold on, there's something I want to say." Ashley spoke up. The other three turned towards her, Return to the Past momentarily forgotten. "On Lyoko, before I was devirtualized, and in the Scanner, the first time…I felt…pulsations. Strange pulsations, like a heartbeat. What does it mean?"
"While you guys were on Lyoko, I was watching some of Belpois's tutorial videos." Alex said, speaking up. "He mentioned something about how when that Aelita girl lived on Lyoko, she was able to sense when X.A.N.A. had launched an attack by tracing the pulsations she felt on Lyoko. This might mean that X.A.N.A. has woken up. After all, it would explain why three Crabs appeared out of nowhere."
"Good point…" Sam mused. "But if X.A.N.A.'s awake, why hasn't the computer said anything? I mean, isn't there supposed to be a program that detects activated towers?"
"Yeah, the Superscan. But we don't even know if that was X.A.N.A. after all. If it was, though, it's going to wait some time before launching an attack, I think. X.A.N.A. was described by Belpois as a master of cunning and trickery…it'll want to hit us when we're most vulnerable, not when we're all in the same room at the place where we can stop it."
"Point noted." Ashley sighed. "I guess I could've imagined it; they were so faint, after all."
"We'll know soon enough." Sam said, turning back to the terminal. "Now, we have to launch this thing. Is everyone ready?" They all nodded, Sam's finger hovering over the key that would activate the program. "Then let's Return to the Past…now." Sam touched the key, and the globe onscreen whirled madly. On the far left screen, white bars in a green window jumped up, seeming to max out. Suddenly, a large beam of white light shot down from the odd device encased in a roll cage in the ceiling to the Holomap below, catching them all by surprise. It expanded, covering the room, filling their vision with a blissful white light. Everything was overtaken by the light, everything slowed down. Alex felt at peace, trying to retain a conscious, coherent thought in his head. The light penetrated everything, making a strange sound, like a tape being fast-forwarded at double speed. Then, he thought no more
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