Sorry for taking so long to update…I blame homework, which keeps me up all night, and lack of time – parents. I'll update soon! (-ish)
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Chapter Two –
The gang was in Jeremie's room the next day. Jeremie was on his laptop, sitting on his chair, while Aelita sat Indian style on the bed as close to him as the bed would allow.
Odd was against the opposite wall, playing with an energetic Kiwi and his ball. Yumi sat on the other side of the bed, like Aelita, except her legs were dangling over the edge. Under her, leaning against the bed frame, was Ulrich.
Everyone seemed deep in thought, and even Odd had only said hello to everyone, and not much else. Ulrich had been silent since he came.
Jeremie was talking about the file he had stumbled across. Aelita also joined in with the talking, while Yumi listened patiently. Ulrich was listening as well, but seemed more bored and seemingly tired. Odd was tossing Kiwi's ball – it was unsure if he was listening or not.
"…but what is most amazing about it is that it may lead to a different part of Lyoko. After all, it seems to act as a scanner." Jeremie said excitedly. Aelita continued n for him.
"Jeremie thinks that it may materialize us into a different area." She giggled. "It sounds exciting."
Odd stopped tossing the ball, and looked at the two geniuses'. An ignored Kiwi whined at its owner. Everyone looked at him.
"But how will we get back?" Jeremie frowned at this, and swiveled back to face his laptop, already typing furiously.
"I'm still working on it…" He said, and Aelita watched the screen.
"Where is it?" Jeremie looked over to Ulrich, who had finally spoken. He looked at him for a second, and Yumi even looked down from her place on the bed to watch with interest.
"Uh…It's beneath the core. You just jump down, and whoop-" Jeremie made a gesture with his hand. "You're gone. Or at least, someplace else."
Ulrich and Yumi nodded. A few minutes passed after Jeremie returned to his computer, when Ulrich spoke again.
"Is there anything in Sector 5 that can help?" He asked, and Jeremie sighed.
"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know." He answered, and – again – swiveled back to his laptop.
"I might just have us go and check later." Ulrich nodded, somewhat satisfied, and leaned his head against the bed post.
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An hour or two later…
"Transfer: Odd. Scanner: Odd. Transfer: Yumi. Scanner: Yumi. Transfer: Ulrich. Scanner: Ulrich. Virtualization." Three bodies formed from papery-like data, and fell into an area of blue blocks, landing gracefully.
The voice, which seemed to come from nowhere, began again.
"Transfer: Aelita. Scanner: Aelita. Virtualization."
Yumi watched as Aelita landed onto the stretch of land that they were on. The boys were now laughing at some joke, with Odd talking about Jeremie getting them to Sector Five without losing Ulrich's body.
Ulrich turned around, and waved to Aelita. Odd looked as well, and clapped his hands together.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" As he said that energetically, three vehicles appeared. Odd got onto his Hoverboard, Ulrich on his Overbike, and Yumi and Aelita onto her Overwing.
As they traveled towards the core of Lyoko, everything was peaceful. Yumi looked over at Ulrich, who had gone from smiling to a thoughtful frown. Odd was next to him, making tricks and having fun, but he didn't seem to notice.
Aelita had moved onto Odd's Hoverboard, who then took her for a ride. She was screaming and laughing, and everyone had joined in.
But now, Yumi had noticed, Ulrich had probably sensed something. He sometimes had those instinctive feelings…
"Ulrich? What is it?" Yumi asked, and Ulrich started. He turned to Yumi, hesitated, and sighed.
"I dunno. It seems…too silent out here. I mean, I haven't seen one Creeper." He was looking back in front of him and Yumi looked around. He was right.
"Jeremie?" She asked, and Jeremie confirmed Ulrich's insight.
"Maybe Xana's expecting us?" Odd suggested, having listened to Ulrich's thoughts. Ulrich shrugged, and then pointed in front of them.
"We're here." The Warriors and Aelita looked up at the core, and Aelita jumped off the Hoverboard. She turned to the others as she activated her wings.
"I'll go first and enter my password. And don't worry; I'll be careful." With that, she jumped up and took off towards the platform above the core, while the others jumped up the steps.
"Hey guys, I'll go after Aelita, is that alright?" Yumi asked, and the others simply nodded, and Jeremie gave her an, "Of course."
By time they got up there, Aelita had finished inputting her password, and stood by for Yumi to do the same. She did so, and then walked back to stand next to Ulrich, who was staring off into space.
"You seem…" Yumi looked away as she thought about the right word. "…You seem like you want to say something. So, you know you can tell me anything, right?" She said, and looked at Ulrich, noting immediately that he must've grown an inch; he was about one or two shorter than her.
Ulrich frowned. "You went first just to give me time to answer, didn't you?" Yumi smiled as a reply, and he sighed.
"Well, if you must know…" Just then, Odd cut him off.
"Hey, good buddy, it's your turn!" Ulrich and Yumi scowled, but Odd took no notice as he went to stand next to Aelita, who was closer to the platform than Yumi.
Ulrich inputted his password, and Aelita quickly reclaimed the screen.
"Jeremie, I'm in!" She said, and smiled.
And, well, you know Xana. He's that one guy, you know, that just loves to ruin the moment.
Yeah. That guy.
Anyhow, a few mantas show up with William on one's back. He jumped off one and quickly knocked Aelita down. As Jeremie screamed a warning, she activated her wings and landed at the bottom of the flight of stairs.
Odd started firing arrows at a manta, and Yumi threw a fan at William and he growled, falling though the screen before he could get a good look at it. Ulrich ran up behind him as he was off balance, and pushed him off, so that he landed on a manta.
Odd fired a few arrows and Yumi threw her fan, and the two both destroyed a manta. The other one came around and fired its laser, hitting Odd in the shoulder.
However, Yum counteracted, and destroyed that one as well. Jeremie then called into the microphone.
"Guys, watch out! I can't find William, and there are more mantas heading your way!" Odd shook his head and chuckled.
"So, the coward ran off?" He then stopped laughing as three more mantas came up. He sighed.
"Here we go again." He leveled his arm, and fired a few arrows, which all missed. Before the manta could react, a sudden yell accompanied with a pink ball of energy destroyed it.
"Energy Ball!" Aelita cried, and hopped the last few steps and joined the others. Now joined together, the four warriors subconsciously formed a square.
Within a few minutes, Odd had been devirtualized, and there were now two mantas left. The three other warriors had already taken hits.
"Ulrich, you need to get to the screen! Just type in a password to terminate the program for now; we can't let Xana look at it!" Ulrich nodded.
"Yumi, cover me." He said, and ran to the screen as Yumi moved to take his spot.
Ulrich stared to type in his password again:
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Aelita destroyed a manta with an Energy Ball, and let out a cheer. Even Yumi smiled at the fact that they were winning.
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"Aelita, watch out!" Came Jeremie's warning, but it was too late. A manta laser hit her, and she devirtualized.
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Yumi's eyes turned into a glare as Aelita disappeared, and Ulrich began to type faster.
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Yumi turned around in alarm, after destroying the manta in front of her.
I
She dodged a few lasers, and hit the manta easily, smiling as it turned into bits of papery data.
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She sighed in relief and let down her guard, thinking that there was no one else to defeat.
A
Oh, how wrong she was.
M
Her smile disappeared as she noticed the distraction – A black shadow ran past her. Her look of triumph was replaced with fear.
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"Ulrich!" She yelled, and turned quickly, reaching for his sword. He was too late.
William ran into him, pushing him over the edge before turning into a cloud of black smoke.
He fell past the core, and into the bottom of the sector. Yumi stood still, shocked.
"Jeremie…" She choked out. She rematerialized slowly, and closed her eyes before disappearing.
"Yumi slowly made her way into the elevator, trying her hardest not to cry. This had happened once before, but why again? Why him?
She exited the elevator, and saw everyone staring at her solemnly. Jeremie was typing on his computer.
"Yumi…this isn't like last time." He said, practically reading her mind. "He isn't gone…remember what I was talking about earlier? He didn't fall into the digital sea. We just…have to find him." Yumi perked up, her face lighting up with possible hope.
"Yes. Maybe we can somehow ask my father for help." Aelita said, and Odd raised his hand, frowning.
"I personally volunteer to jump into the digital sea so that Franz can save me in his giant pink bubble." He said, and then looked away sheepishly a few seconds later, lowering it. "Though…he might just let me fall…" He said, and Yumi chuckled lightly.
