Chapter 1: Dressed in Black

They watched the great technological machine, probably the finest in all of history, lose its faint golden glow and fold up back into the floor and sealed with the mark of their long gone nemesis, XANA. The eye-like symbol gazed almost forlornly at them, and a wave a melancholy rolled through them, as if they were watching a long lost friend finally being put to eternal rest.

They clambered out of the manhole and replaced its iron covering. The dull metallic ring echoed in the forest, like the last note of a song. But somehow, they felt almost…relieved. All their hard work to save the world paid off greatly and now, they were free. Satisfaction replaced the sadness as they stood up and stretched. They didn't even bat an eye when Jim swaggered up to them from behind one of the trees.

"Well, isn't it the fantastic five. What kind of trouble are you up to now?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh, nothing at all. We just closed the book on an unforgettable adventure-filled life with heroism and danger," Odd replied, in typical Odd fashion. Bewildered, Jim raised an eyebrow and began to ramble on about his own life and how he'd rather not talk about it. But they ignored him and winked at each other, ready to finally start their first ever, normal life at Kadic Academy.

Little did they know of the true danger that lay ahead, watching them from the shadows, dressed in black…

Odd swirled his spoon in his bowl. Soggy cornflakes bobbed up and down in the milky whirlpool as he absent-mindedly gazed out the window, towards the forest where the tunnel to the factory remained whole and untouched.

He blew purple strands of hair out of his eyes. In memory of Lyoko, he had kept his hair gelled up, but he couldn't bear to see himself exactly as he had been on his beloved virtual world. After several days grueling over his hair, only going to bed when Ulrich threw his shoes at him, he had finally decided to exempt his purple streak from the gel. Without any other way to go, the purple hair flopped over his forehead.

This morning was the only other time he hadn't finished his meal. The last time was when they had decided to shut down the supercomputer, the finale to their adventures. But they had initiated a return trip too, so he guessed it didn't count.

The gang was just as quiet as he was. Breakfasts sat untouched and if eyes were lasers, the table would have been long gone and a hole would have reached the other side of the earth by now. The silence hung like a thick glass dome over the group. All (except William) were remembering their old days, jam-packed with 'heroism and danger'.

After all, it was the year-old anniversary of the shutdown of the supercomputer, the final chapter in their lives.

"Can you really believe it?" Ulrich's quiet, deepened voice broke the silence. "It's been an entire year since we last visited Lyoko.

"I know, right? It's weird, not having calls from Einstein every two seconds," Odd joked. The friends laughed softly. It was true; the lack of constant phone calls had unnerved them at first.

"All the same, it's relaxing," Yumi said. She tied her heavy black hair back into a long ponytail as she spoke. "No attacks, no reruns, no nothing. No stressing about XANA's next strike and who the next target will be. We can finally focus on our own personal lives," she added, smiling at Ulrich, who blushed and smiled back. More laughter erupted, louder this time, and his face grew redder.

"Ulrich and Yumi, sittin' in a tree, K—"

"Shut up, Odd!" Ulrich snapped, playfully lashing out at him.

"Look, Will's getting red, too," Odd sang, wrapping his arm around the older boy's shoulders.

"N-no I'm not!" William protested, shoving Odd away. He mashed his croissant in Odd's open mouth in revenge, leaving him spluttering and spitting out the roll. The group laughed again as they watched the two struggle good-naturedly until Jim waddled over and rebuked them.

The conversation returned to Lyoko as Jim left, muttering to himself. "It is quite peaceful," Aelita admitted, finishing braiding her hair. The small pink braid hung down her neck and swung gently as she flicked it over her shoulder. "But I feel empty. I lived there for a while in the first place, so I still feel a little sad."

"But the important thing is that everyone is safe," Jeremie said firmly. "We don't have to worry about the world anymore. We were finally able to become normal students, right?"

The group unanimously agreed. But their previous adventures left a permanent thirst for action, for the sense-sharpening rushes of adrenaline in their fights for humanity, against their bitter enemy. An air of desire hung about them in the silence that followed. They all felt it, and they all wanted the same thing, too.

They wanted to go back to the factory. To go back to the place that tied the knot of friendship, the place where it all began. The factory symbolized their entire group. It was the reason why they were together today, closer than any other gang in the school. Perhaps even the world.

"Hey, how about we have a party at the factory after school?" Jeremie suggested. "We could look back on everything that happened in the past and have cake and everything."

"Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" Aelita exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I can make the cake."

"Another stroke of genius, eh, Einstein?" Odd said with a wide, toothy grin.

"That'll be awesome!" William agreed.

"And celebrate our victory, again," Yumi piped in. Ulrich simply nodded, with a smile just as big as Odd's.

"Then it's settled!" Jeremie said. "Meet up at the factory and bring food if you can, alright?"

The bell rang, and students began filing out of the cafeteria, shuffling their feet and grumbling. On the other hand, the Lyoko gang left, excited for their return to the factory.

"So then I ended up acting like Kiwi, with the whole smelling thing and running around and barking and everything!" Odd finished, demonstrating his incident where he merged with his dog on a trip to Lyoko. Everyone laughed as they remembered his strange antics back then. William laughed the loudest.

"No way! That can happen?" he asked.

"Apparently so," Jeremie replied. "When Odd virtualized on Lyoko, the scanner probably saw Kiwi as a part of him and merged the two. Their molecules—"

"We're here to party, not study!" Odd said, smacking Jeremie flat on the back. Jeremy winced and sighed in defeat but couldn't help smiling as Odd danced around again, yipping and trying to scratch his head with his foot.

"And there was that one time where XANA actually sent Krabes through the scanners to earth, and you were helped take them out in the car the cop brought for practicing our driving," Odd added. "You were pretty awesome, too!"

William's smile faltered. "I wish I remembered," he said, "and I wish I didn't act like an idiot back then, the first time. I could have helped you guys out, but I ended up making it worse instead—Ow!"

Ulrich punched him in the arm. "Hey, we told you it was alright, remember?" he said amiably. "It was all in the past, anyway. There's no use wasting sleep over it now."

"Yeah, I guess," William replied. He pushed his dark blue hair away from his face and took a few sips of soda. "But still…"

"We've forgiven you, William. It's okay now," Yumi said kindly. She patted his head and William blushed again.

"Hey, Will's red again!" Odd sang. William narrowed his eyes in mock anger as he kicked at him. Odd dodged easily and quickly slipped into fighting stance.

"Just say that again!" William growled, mirroring the younger boy.

"You want to go?" Odd said, beckoning him with one hand.

The gang cheered as Odd and William sparred, upsetting the bottle of soda, which luckily was closed. The sun sank low behind the horizon as they settled down and returned to reminiscing about their adventures in Lyoko. The gang began to clean up as the first stars shone in the dark sky. With satisfied farewells, they parted at the end of the tunnel, returning to their homes and dorms.

But it wasn't until later that night when Jeremie opened his computer to find an all-too-familiar green window appear on his screen. His heart began race and chills ran down his spine as he clicked on the ominously glowing box.

Instead of the image of a glowing red tower he expected, however, he was confronted by a strange, frightening message, accompanied by the very symbol that plagued their lives in the past.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS MESSAGE RIGHT NOW, YOU ARE IN TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE DANGER.

THE MEN IN BLACK HAVE FOUND YOU.

A/N:

If no one remembers the men in black, (as far as I am aware of) they are the ones from the government who chased Franz and Aelita down. Since they and the whole backstory with the origins of XANA and the supercomputer was not explored in detail, the plot concerning them will be completely my own, except for the concept. I'll do my best to figure out Project Carthage and all that government political stuff. *sigh*

I will also use my own interpretation of Project Carthage since it has so many holes...so many...

By the way, I don't like Sissi and I never will. I know she becomes their friend in the end, but I don't want to write her in so let's just say she went to America on an exchange trip of something. Bye Sissi! Good riddance, you b—

And writing the actual cast was very difficult, since I'm used to OC/AU stories. I will make this as canon as I possibly can (in terms of personality and plot), so worry not! Only when I fail miserably...

Also, I have no idea why I'm writing this. Damn plot bunnies. I have other stories to write, too!

Anyway, if you read this/like this/subscribe to this/favorite this, please leave a review! Thank you~~

~Wings~ flying off.