Uncharted Territory
Aelita is asleep in her room and is tossing and turning in her bed, having a nightmare. In the dream, a small elf with black hair in a maroon cloth, white tunic, and a green hat is being chased by a pack of wolves. The elf trips and then gets up and continues running. He comes up to a tree with a hole in the trunk and hides in it. He sees the wolves walk by, but one of them sees him and roars. Aelita wakes up screaming and gets out of bed. She is wearing an oversized pink shirt with a red "A" on it and white socks. Jaden is on his computer, printing something out.
"Now, let's see… Wow, this is unbelievable!" Harris and Lewis enter
"Come on, Jaden. Let's get a move on, otherwise, there won't be any hot water left." Said Harris
"You remember the Hermitage?"
"That house where Aelita had those crazy visions? Bad memory, Jaden."
"Well, I decided to look into it some more and found out something amazing."
"What would really be amazing is if there are still some eggs by the time we get to breakfast." Said Lewis
"You know, guys, there are more important things than breakfast right now."
"Maybe, maybe not." They go to the showers
"I did some research to find out who that old house belonged to and came across a restricted access site. It took me most of the night to hack into it, but it was worth it, I found a deed signed by a Mr. Franz Hopper. It seems he's the owner."
"You think it has something to do with Lyoko?" Asked Harris
"There was a passage to the sewers in his yard, believe it or not. So he must have something to do with the supercomputer." Lewis pointed out
"Exactly, I looked more up on Franz Hopper and, get this, he was a science teacher here at Kadic academy. Is that nuts or what?"
Aelita goes to the showers, only to see a very long line to get in. She gets on the back of the line and Sissi comes out of the showers. Sissi walks up to Aelita.
"Too bad, you'll be here for another two hours. You should go to the showers downstairs. There's no line and not a girl in sight."
Aelita takes her advice and goes to the downstairs showers. Yelling of boys is heard and Lewis and Harris walk her out.
"Aelita, the girl's showers are upstairs." Harris said, annoyed
"Aelita Stones!" Jim walks up to them
"Go easy on her, Jim. She's new here." Said Harris
"New or not, you should know that the girl's showers are upstairs. Pull that one again and you're going straight to the principal's office." He walks away and Sissi, Nicholas and Herb walk up to them
"Well, Ms. Einstein, I was right. There wasn't a single girl in those showers."
"Sissi, we're sick of your jokes. Can't you cut Aelita a break? You knew, she's believe you." Harris said while giving a razor-sharp glare to Sissi
"Well, Harris sweetie, she's going to need to adapt. It's a jungle out there."
"You can say that again. I'm looking at a big baboon right now." Lewis said and they started laughing
"Shut up, Draco!" They walk away
"Hey!"
They walk outside and talk to Yumi about their findings.
"So you think the owner of the Hermitage and the science teacher are the same guy?"
"Well finding two guys with the name Franz Hopper in a radius of less than half a mile would be an amazing coincidence." Stated Harris
"Only one way to find out. After history class, we have a study period in the library. How about we do a little research in the Kadic Academy archives?" Suggested Jaden
"Sounds good." Said Lewis
"I'll go too." Suggested Aelita
"Bad idea, Aelita. You already got in trouble in the showers this morning. If Jim catches you sneaking around the archives, you'll be suspended for sure." Said Jaden and they left for their class and Aelita stays, lost in thought
"You okay, Aelita?"
"I don't think I can get used to living here. I had another nightmare last night, the same one."
"You haven't even been here a week, just relax."
Later that day, Harris, Lewis, and Jaden sneak into the office building. Harris and Lewis keep watch, and Jaden sneaks into the archives. He looks at the letters on the file cabinets.
"Let's see… E, F, G, H for Hopper. He opens the drawer
Just then, Mr. Delmas' assistant comes out.
"Uh-oh." Said Harris with worry
"Shouldn't you be in class? Well?" She asked
"Yeah, but… we're looking for a teacher." Harris replied
"Really, which one?"
"Mrs. Donovan." Said Harris
"Mr. Strub." Lewis said at the same time.
Jaden looks through the files and finds the one for Hopper and opens it. He takes out the deed he printed out and compared the signatures. He exits the room.
"Come to think of it, if you can't find your teachers at this time, they should be in class."
"Don't worry guys, I found Mrs. Hertz. Let's go." They exit the building
Aelita is in the cafeteria, deciding what she wants to eat.
"Hey move it or lose it, will you?" Said someone behind her
She looks at the plates of food and tries to decide what she wants to eat.
"Come on, we're starving here, move it." Aelita walks away
Harris, Lewis, and Jaden discuss their findings outside the office building.
"Boy, that was a close one." Said Lewis
"Well?"
"I compared the teacher's signature to the one on the property deed I found on the Internet. They're the same."
"What if we had a look around the Hermitage to find out more about this teacher." Suggested Harris
"Good idea."
"But, aren't we supposed to meet Aelita in the cafeteria?"
"Don't worry, Lewis. It won't take long. She won't mind waiting."
Aelita looks for a place to sit and sees Yumi.
"Yumi." She sees her sit with Damian
Aelita gets upset and exits the Cafeteria, running into Sissi, Nicholas, and Herb.
"So, going back to the great, white north?" Asked Sissi
"Why not, at least I feel at home there." She runs into the woods
Jaden, Harris, and Lewis arrive at the Hermitage and enter.
"Still as creepy as ever. What are we looking for?" Said Harris
"How should I know? If this Franz Hopper has something to do with XANA, then maybe we will find something about Aelita's virus." Replied Jaden
They walk into a study and Jaden looks over the books on a shelf.
"Well?" Asked Harris
"Not much, physics textbooks." He looks at the books closer
"Wait, what's this doing here?" He takes out a book and Harris looks at the cover
"The Punic Wars. Why does that sound familiar?"
"The war between the Romans and the Carthaginians. We studied last year."
"Now I remember. One of the only wars that was interesting to me."
"Not like there was much about history that was interesting to you." Lewis remarked and Jaden opens the books
"You see all of these notes, I'm sure Hopper wrote them."
Aelita arrives at the factory and sets up a countdown on the supercomputer and brings up her ID card. She goes down to the scanner room and steps into the scanner. The countdown reaches zero and she is virtualized automatically. Harris, Jaden, and Lewis go back to the school and to their science class. Mrs. Hertz tries to get started.
"Quiet down everyone. Where is Aelita Stones?"
"Aelita?" Said Jaden in shock
"Sorry, Ma'am. I don't."
"I do. She went back to Canada." Said Sissi
"Canada?"
"Yeah, that's what she told me; and she even said 'At least I feel at home there.'"
"Elizabeth, if you continue to disrupt the class, I'm warning you, I will send you to your father's office."
"It's Sissi, not Elizabeth. I hate being called Elizabeth."
"Ma'am, I don't feel very well, can I please go to the infirmary?" Asked Jaden
"Of course, Jaden."
"Can we take him?" Lewis and Harris said together
"Well… All right. But don't take too long."
They exit the room and Jaden runs ahead
"Jaden, where are you going?" Asked Lewis
"To the factory."
"You think Aelita's there?"
"She told Sissi that she was going back to Canada. What she meant was 'I'm going back to where I came from.' Which means Lyoko."
Aelita walks through the forest sector, depressed and is approached by a Blok. Jaden, Harris, and Lewis arrive at the factory and Jaden gets on the supercomputer.
"I found her. She virtualized herself all on her own."
"Weird, why would she do that?" Asked Lewis
"Maybe she got homesick." Replied Harris
"Does Yumi know?" Asked Jaden
"I left her a message."
"Get to the scanner room and hurry." Lewis hits the elevator button
"Aelita, can you hear me?"
Aelita starts running in fear of the Blok and Yumi arrives in the computer lab, drying her hair with a towel.
"I got the message at the swimming pool. What's going on?"
"Run to the scanner room. Harris and Lewis are already there. I'll explain later." She goes down to the scanner room
"Jaden, help!" Cried Aelita
"Don't worry, Aelita. The other's are on the way." He starts the virtualization process
"Transfer, Harris." Harris' scanner closes
"Transfer, Lewis." Lewis' scanner closes
"Transfer, Yumi." Yumi's scanner closes
"Scanner and virtualization." They are virtualized and land in the forest
"Do you see her?"
"Not yet." Said Harris
"She's due north." They start running
Aelita continues running from the Blok and another one confronts her.
"Jaden, I'm surrounded."
"Guys, hurry. Aelita's fallen into a trap."
Aelita sees another path across a gap. She gets a running start and makes the jump, barely grabbing onto the edge. Harris, Lewis, and Yumi continue their pursuit.
"Go on, Harris. With your speed, you should get there first." Said Lewis
"Right."
"Too late." Yumi interrupted
"Krabe." She points to a Krabe in front of them
"There's another one behind you."
"Battle stations." Said Harris and they get ready to fight
Aelita climbs onto the path and the monsters fire at her. She runs down the path and avoids the shots.
"Aelita's bought some time." Said Jaden
"Your move, Lewis." Said Harris
"I love this."
Lewis runs up a tree, using his sword to stay on it and climbs. Yumi throws one of her fans and Harris slices the legs of the targeted Krabe. The Krabe falls over and is struck by the fan, destroying it. Lewis continues to climb and jumps off, directly impaling the Krabe. He jumps off and the Krabe explodes.
"Nice work, guys; but hurry up, the Bloks are catching up to Aelita."
"What are you waiting for? Call us a taxi." Said Lewis
"It's on the way."
The Bloks continue to chase Aelita and force her to a cliff.
"Hurry, Jaden."
"Extreme Gear materialization." The Extreme Gears appear in front of them
"Let's roll." Lewis said as their Extreme Gears took flight
Aelita is forced towards the edge of the cliff.
"The others are coming to get you."
A large white sphere with a blue sign of XANA comes up behind Aelita. She screams loudly.
"Aelita!"
The others arrive at where Aelita disappeared and dismount their Extreme Gears.
"What? She's gone? What happened?" Asked Lewis
"She's disappeared from my screens."
"You mean…?" Asked Yumi
"It's not likely. Hold on." He looks into the data
"What's going on here?" Something comes up
"I've got a signal, a very weak one. Weird, she's not in this sector anymore. She's not in any sector, actually.
"Could you please explain that a bit better?" Asked Harris
"No, I can't. Let's just say she's in a sector that doesn't exist. A fifth sector."
"A fifth sector? Have you gone bananas or what?" Lewis replied
"No. If I can just fix this thing…" A password window opening interrupts him
"Welcome to Carthage?"
Aelita wakes up in a strange, dome-shaped room with dark blue walls and a sign of XANA on the floor. The walls spin around her and eventually stop, opening a path. She goes down this path. The others are still in the forest, waiting for Jaden to solve this puzzle.
"Is this going to take long, Jaden?" Asked Yumi
"I hope not."
Three Hornets suddenly descend.
"Things are really starting to heat up." Lewis said and they get on their Extreme Gears
The Hornets attack, but miss. Yumi comes up to the Hornets and throws her fans, destroying all three. Two more approach Harris.
"Super Sprint!" Harris jumps out of his Road Star and spins like a propeller with his blades in hand, destroying the Hornets
"What are we doing, Jaden?"
"Hold on, I've got a problem."
"For every problem, there is a solution. What is the problem?" Asked Lewis
"A password, something to do with Carthage."
"This is no time for a history lesson, Jaden!" Said Harris
"Wait, history lesson. That's it!" Jaden takes out the book he got from the Hermitage
Harris destroys another Hornet, but one more comes and shoots his Road Star, causing him to fall off of it. Lewis destroys it while flying on his Shooting Star.
"Hannibal, the Carthage general?" He enters the password, but it is denied
"No his father." He enters "Hammilcar," but it is also denied
"Hey, Jaden. Any time now." Harris said and he sees that he lost 20 life points
"Hannibal's sister, Salammbo?" The password is denied
Meanwhile, Aelita comes up to another wall, and it and other walls behind it open one by one. She enters this tunnel and ends up in a large room made of blocks, some elevated, some not. She sees a monster with a serpentine structure, a brown, fleshy upper body, metallic tail, two arms on it upper body, and a sign of XANA on its head. Aelita runs and the monster chases her. Jaden continues entering passwords.
"The nemesis of Carthage." He enters "Rome," failing again
"No dice."
"Whenever you're ready, Einstein." Said Lewis as a Hornet tries to shoot him
"I'm doing my best here."
Lewis and Yumi both lose their Extreme Gears.
"Jaden, we're not going to last much longer." Said Yumi
"I know I can get this."
"I can't believe this." Said Yumi, worried
"I'm going around in circles." He looks at the book
"Welcome to Carthage. Let's see… You have to go into Carthage." He concentrates and thinks
"You have to defeat Carthage. Who defeated the Carthaginians? Scipio. S-C-I-P-I-O." He enters the password and it is accepted; the Hornets retreat
"Hey the Hornet's are calling it quits." Said Yumi
"Come back here, you cowards!" Said Lewis
"Wait what's that ball doing there?" Harris points to the sphere that caught Aelita
"I think the codeword: Scipio made it appear."
The ball loses one of its halves, scoops up Harris, Yumi, and Lewis. And moves very fast toward the other end of the sector. It goes into a bright light and ends up in a strange, spherical sector with walls like the inside of a tower. In the center is a dark blue sphere with four data streams coming out of it. The orb goes into an opening in this sphere and disembarks the Lyoko Warriors in the same room Aelita started in.
"Whoa!" Said Harris
"Hey!" Said Yumi
Lewis gets dizzy and falls down onto one knee.
"What's going on, Jaden?" Asked Harris
"Let's just say, I got a little help from Franz Hopper. Welcome to Sector 5, everyone."
"What does it look like?" Asked Yumi
"Like a big sphere that…" A countdown window with one minute, twelve seconds comes up
"That looks like bad news."
Aelita continues running and is confronted by two more monsters. They surround her and a hissing sound is heard. Following this sound is a jellyfish-like monster with a purple, pin-like body, clear, dome-shaped head, exposed brain, eight clear tentacles, and a green diamond-shaped face with a sign of XANA on it and two spikes on each side. It prepares to attack with its tentacles.
"Jaden! Jaden! Help!"
"I think Aelita's being attacked. Time's running out, hurry."
"Can you guide us?" Asked Yumi
"Take the foot bridge in front of you. This is no time for sight seeing."
The go down the path and the monster uses two of its tentacles to ensnare Aelita in an energy ring, causing her to exude a red aura. The others continue down the path.
"Super Sprint!" Harris runs ahead
The monster brings three tentacles around Aelita's head and data starts flowing through them. A window comes up on the supercomputer screen showing Aelita and a number starting a 1700 and rapidly decreasing.
"Hey what's this?"
Harris arrives and the others follow
"Jaden, there's this… this thing here." Said Harris
"Destroy it. That this is taking away Aelita's memory."
Harris Super sprints and destroys one of the other monsters. Yumi throws her fan and cuts the other one's tentacles. Aelita falls and Harris catches her. Lewis destroys another monster by impaling it.
"Something weird is happening." Said Jaden and the countdown hit thirty seconds
The blocks that make up the room start to move in an effort to close the room.
"Get out of there, you guys!"
They start to retreat and the tunnel the came in closes behind them. They reach the room they started at just as the last wall closed.
"What now, Jaden?" Asked Harris
"Hold on. I'm re-entering the code: Scipio." He enters the code and the orb appears and takes them back to the forest, outside of a tower.
"And there you go. I'm bringing you in right now. Aelita, all you need to do is get into the tower and I'll rematerialize you." She enters the tower
"Materialization, Yumi." Yumi is devirtualized
"Materialization, Lewis." Lewis is devirtualized
"Materialization, Harris." Harris is devirtualized and they all come out of the scanners
They all regroup and discuss their recent adventures in Jaden's room.
"You should've seen it, Jaden. There were these creepy monsters and in the middle of them, some kind of… huge jellyfish." Said Lewis and Kiwi growled
"I can't believe that thing was stealing my memory."
"One thing's for certain: XANA wants something out of you. But what? That's what we need to find out" Said Jaden
"I can't wait to go back to the fifth sector. There's so much to explore" Said Harris
"I'll go with you. It'll be awesome." Said Yumi
"Hold it, guys. I need to study first. For now, it's uncharted territory. It's too dangerous."
"Jaden, you're not mad at me for going back to Lyoko by myself, are you. I don't know what got into me"
"Don't worry, Aelita. We understand what happened and we're not mad. I promise I'll spend more time with you."
"Yeah, and if you want, I can teach you plenty of ways to tell Sissi to go to…" Lewis said and Sissi barged in
"Lewis, do you know what you're filthy mutt did in the shower." She sees Aelita
"Well, isn't this nice. You finally found Mrs. Einstein."
"And you were taking your third shower of the day." Said Harris
"Well, Harris sweetie, you should know that a beautiful flower like me needs to be watered often."
"You…" Said Lewis before Aelita jumps in
"Yes, you never know. You might just sprout a brain." They all start laughing and Sissi storms out
"I think you can give Lewis lessons, Aelita." Said Harris
"You sure learn fast." Said Yumi