Chapter 3
Paper skeletons hung from the ceiling of the school hall along with paper chains being pinned around along with lights, pumpkin carved candle holders in the corner of the room, Games being set up and a mixing table on the stage.
Sora was arranging the lights so they wrapped around in a sort of web like manner with his sister holding the ladder at the bottom. He along with Erin and some other people were helping to set up for tomorrow night.
Erin grabbed the paper chain in the box and pulled it out, practising her flips and twirls and other such skills including using the chain as a ribbon.
"Oi be careful Erin" Sora warned.
"Don't worry, I do this all the time" Erin called back pinning part of the chain on to the wall before taking the next bit.
"It's true. You should see her in the showers always prancing around using her towel like a ribbon for gymnastics" Kairi vouched grinning at her eccentric friend ignorant of how embarrassed her brother was.
"Kairi!" he yelled red faced.
"What? It's not like she was naked when she did… oh I get it you would rather it was Emerald who does that?" Kairi looked up with a smirk at her brother, a mischievous glint in her jade eyes.
"What are you suggesting?" Sora demanded jumping down to face his twin.
"I'm saying what has been obvious since day 1. You love Emerald" Kairi sang leaning teasingly to her brother who backed away glowering pathetically at her.
"Who loves me?"
Sora jumped two feet back at the new voice who joined in the conversation.
"Only Sora" Kairi smiled over at the newcomer only for her green eyes to widen in admiration.
"Emerald I love your new look" she squealed.
Emerald's confused face switched with an excited one as she forgot what transpired during her arrival.
"I know, cool isn't it? I got the inspiration from my Lyoko avatar, it took a while to achieve… but I did it!" Emerald boasted fluffing her hair a little.
Sora was blown away, he didn't think she could become more beautiful but she went and proved him wrong.
Emerald's lilac hair was now longer extending to just above her chest with the right part of her hair in front going over her shoulder. It was straight unlike in her Lyoko form. She also seemed to have her hair in carefully cut layers so it looked more natural. But what made the makeover complete was the green streak on right side of her hair extending from the root and fading at chin length.
"What do you think Sora? I especially like the green streak. It adds a little… rebellion to the look" she looked at him expectantly.
"You're right… you look great" he smiled.
"My only question is, how did you grow your hair so fast in only a few days?" Kairi asked eagerly.
"A little invention called hair extensions and a quick visit to the hairdressers to make it look more natural." She answered easily feathering her new look.
"Where's Cherry? I thought she'd be down with you lot" Emerald suddenly realised her best friend was nowhere to be seen.
"She said she was coming down in a bit, she's having some quality alone time with Odd. I wouldn't disturb them" Erin beamed cheekily.
"You're right. Let's give her a while" Emerald grinned back and they all burst out laughing in irony since she obviously liked her virtual boyfriend.
"What are you idiots laughing about?" an obnoxious voice asked rudely. They all turned to find Lia there with her subordinate Oscar.
"We were just saying how you will definitely win the fancy dress prize since you don't even need a costume as your presence scares even the rats away" Erin jibed causing Lia to blush in agitation as the group laughed loudly.
"Yeah, we'll see who has the last laugh clown face!" Lia raged stalking away angrily.
"I'd rather be a clown than a beast" Erin called back increasing the calmed down giggles to full blown laughter from her friends and she joined in whilst Lia was literally shaking with anger as she walked away with Oscar giving her useless words of encouragement.
Meanwhile with Cherry:
Cherry was tapping away on the keyboard looking into the bits of the supercomputer that she could access from home. She tapped enter and tried connecting with Odd.
"Odd! Odd you there?" she said holding her earpiece microphone close so he could hear her.
"Boo!" the loud sudden reply made Cherry jump until a small screen showing Odd with his claws out in a cat like manner meant to frighten all who disturb him.
"I am the cat ghost of Lyoko, wooooo" he wailed in a wobbly voice trying to scare Cherry who realising it was Odd started laughing out loud. It wasn't long until Odd stopped and joined in.
"What was that about?" Cherry asked still giggling.
"I'm slightly disappointed I didn't manage to scare you. I've been looking forward to today ever since you told me about it 3 weeks ago! Hence the reason why I've been practising my scary face for the last few hours" Odd answered calming down.
"In between our two XANA attacks?" Cherry raised an eyebrow at that.
"When else could I have practised?" Odd asked innocently.
"Speaking of XANA has any strange activity happened recently?" Cherry inquired.
"No, he's been quiet. At least for now" Odd looked down a bit at that with a sad face.
"What's wrong?" Cherry didn't like seeing Odd upset.
"I know you promised, but I don't like putting you all in danger just to buy time to materialise me. I'm scared that XANA will get you all one day" Odd admitted.
"Odd, it's ok. Nothing that bad will happen, we won't let it!" she said determinedly. Odd brightened up with her words of encouragement.
"Thanks Cherry, you're a good friend" Cherry blushed on reflex at his words.
"Why are your cheeks red?" Odd's amber eyes innocently showed that he had no clue as to the reason of the reddening of her cheeks.
"Oh, I um… It's a bit warm inside here! Yeah that's it!" Cherry hurriedly explained laughing and pulling at her top to prove her point despite the fact it was actually rather chilly.
"Oh… ok" Odd replied confused still having doubts about it, but he decided not to voice them.
"You know I have made some progress to the materialisation program. I found a program that contained it on the supercomputer named Code Earth. I believe it's a previous materialisation program, but most of the crucial programming has been wiped away and only a few pieces have remained. I'm currently trying to work from those pieces. If I keep up this pace then you'll be with us by the middle of the year possibly a little later, but definitely within the year." Cherry looked very sure.
"That's really great Cher. I really appreciate all the time you spend for me!" Odd's eyes sparkled as he replied showing her gratitude for her good intentions.
"It's alright. I'm sure you would've done the same for me" Cherry said nicely.
"No I mean it. If I was allowed one wish, it would be to repay your kindness" Odd positively beamed with optimism causing Cherry to turn red again and she had to duck down her head to prevent Odd from seeing it.
"You being here would be payment enough…" she whispered quietly.
"What?"
"Nothing" she said quickly. Odd's face changed from confused to a curious smirk.
"Speaking of 'nothings'... When are you going to come to Lyoko again and actually show us what you look like? I'll bet you look really cute" he grinned mischievously knowing it was a subject of embarrassment.
"Odd! You know I don't like being on Lyoko. All those monsters firing at you for no reason; I can't fight to save my life." Cherry huffed at him.
"But you have a weapon don't you? Oh, I wonder what your weapon is… a sword? Nah you don't seem like the type… throwing knives? Maybe…" Odd tried out this deduction show in front of her unaware of her stare that begged him to drop the subject.
"As for your Avatar, I know what you should be right away. A fairy!" he cried excitedly.
"Why a fairy?" Cherry questioned blushing slightly at the thought of being a lovely but illogical being.
"Because you're really kind and I'll bet you grant wishes too" Odd looked at her with awe completely convinced she was something like a mythological fairy.
"While that is lovely to say, that's not my Avatar." Cherry stated factually.
Odd actually frowned in thought, an expression he rarely used. He was such a cheery soul most of the time.
"What could you be then? I can't imagine you being anything other than a fairy… If you're not a fairy, then you jolly well should be! Maybe you should change your default avatar settings." Odd suggested brightly.
"Or we can drop the subject and conclude that I am not going again!" Cherry snapped losing patience.
"Why are you such a spoil sport?" Odd pouted placing his face in his paw sulkily causing Cherry to giggle a little at how cute he was.
"Anyways, I need to go down and help the others set up the party. They'll be moaning at me for not doing my part if I don't. Speak to you later Odd" Cherry began saving and shutting down windows.
"Ok, I know someday I shall find out your secret! bye!" Odd waved before disconnecting.
"I know he's a computer program, but he is just too sweet and funny. I can't wait until he's materialised" Cherry giggled, getting up and slipping her jacket on.
She switched her computer off and went out of her room to help the others like she promised.
In the gymnasium:
Cherry came down and was greeted with the sight of Erin sprinkling glittery stuff on the floor. Kairi was setting up the piñata at one end; Emerald and Sora were sticking one part of the Halloween banner to the side of the side along with another pair of students also helping set up the gym like the rest.
"Hey there, what'd I miss?" Cherry wandered in cheerfully.
"Nothing much, we're still preparing for the Halloween party" Erin smiled brightly at her.
"Do you need any help left? I know I spent too long up there, I'm sorry" Cherry apologised wanting to make up for lost time.
"Don't be. We wouldn't dream of interrupting your precious time with Odd, we know he's the real reason you spend so much time on your computer." Erin cheekily smirked at her as she walked up having finished her part in sprinkling.
"Oh stop teasing! It's nothing like that" Cherry insisted turning her head from her friend.
"Oh please! It's blatantly obvious you like him. Just like it's obvious that those two like each other" Kairi added gesturing to her twin who was climbing down with Emerald only just hearing what his sister said.
"Kairi!" he shrieked in irritation.
"What are you three talking about?" Emerald innocently asked having not heard any of it; she was looking at Sora in an odd way.
"How did you grow your hair overnight, Emerald?" Cherry asked curiously.
"You like it? I got hair extensions at the hairdresser. My Lyoko avatar really inspired me" Emerald grinned twirling her green streak.
"I always told you that long hair suited you better" Cherry cheekily boasted remembering when she had long hair before.
"It's hair, it grows back! I wanted to experiment… and you had to admit, it didn't look bad" Emerald gave her friend a little nudge and a wink.
Cherry rolled her eyes at her friend's antics.
"Yes I know you had all the boys chasing after you declaring how you were 'still beautiful'. You shouldn't encourage them" Cherry lectured.
"I can't help it if boys fall for my smile… and my personality… and my body… and my-!" Emerald was stopped in her joke listing by Kairi who slapped her hand over the other's mouth.
"Emerald, have some dignity! Don't go parading your bits and moves to random strangers. Go for someone you actually like and want to go out with." Kairi made a suggestive nod in the direction of her brother letting go of her mouth.
Emerald just laughed loudly for a solid minute after Kairi released her. Calming down she wiped a tear of laughter from her eye.
"Haha… I was only joking Kai. I don't really know why boys like me a lot. Anyway I let them hang around 'cause, I know if they try anything they'll get a foot in their face" Emerald announced confidently kicking her left foot in the air where the average person's head would be.
"I think I see what they like about her…" they all thought as they stared at the proud girl in awe, knowing it was her rebellious and beautiful spirit that attracted these boys. Kairi glanced at Sora's face which was blushing pink she was sure that he was close to a nosebleed. She gave a small knowing smirk.
Sora saw this smirk and glared at his sister.
"What?" he snapped impatiently.
"Oh nothing" she sang in an airy knowledgeable tone still wearing her smirk as she turned her head away.
"In any case, what else is there to do?" Cherry asked eager to help.
"Well, the mixing board hasn't been tuned accordingly. Could you do that? And Erin, could you sort out the masks that everyone's going to wear tonight? Put neatly in the box and then later on tonight before everyone gets changed they can collect their masks in the front of the gym at around 8pm. Sora I think you should help her, it will be quicker with two people" Emerald issued her commands clearly and with conviction; it left no room for argument.
Everyone went to their designated tasks except Kairi and the other students helping set everything up. They were putting up tables and chairs; decorating them to look scary. Cherry was immediately getting to work on the mixing board.
"Kairi, could you do me a favour? and get more decorations from the storage cupboard near Jim's room? I need to go and collect the Halloween snacks and plates to set out. That's going to take a while, so when you get here just help the others with whatever needs to be done. Ok?" Emerald kindly requested.
When Emerald took command, she never ordered. She only spoke in a clear suggestive voice that said you didn't have to obey, but it made you want to because of the niceness woven into her voice. No one believed she was even aware of this ability.
Kairi most certainly did not. And she was most definitely not immune to this power.
"Sure" Kairi chirped before scampering off thinking about this and that in good cheer.
In the courtyard at around half 6:
Kairi carried the box of extra decorations through the courtyard quietly enjoying the tranquil atmosphere as she strolled on the path back to the gym. It was nearly sunset and you could tell by how dim the blueness of the sky was. It would definitely turn pink soon and the temperature would drop to suit the earth's needs.
Walking by she then noticed a Japanese man who had headphones around his neck with black hair wearing a dark blue shirt and black jeans. He was at the big memorial statue for those missing students; he had his hands together bowing slightly at the memorial.
She didn't recognise him, so she decided to approach the man to see if he was meant to be there.
"Excuse me, are you here for the Halloween party?" she asked politely setting her box down on the floor, the man jumped slightly and turned to look down at the culprit. He only saw a young teenage girl staring up at him curiously.
"Oh, you scared the life out of me! Do you need something?" the man offered politely getting over his shock.
"No, I was just wondering what you were doing in the school." Kairi tilted her head to the side so innocently the man couldn't help but think it was cute.
"I was just visiting my sister's memorial" he answered turning back to smile at the statue.
"I'm sorry for your loss… Doesn't your sister have a grave near your family shrine?" Kairi asked curiously knowing that most Japanese families like her own tend to have family members buried near other family members.
"We don't really know if she's alive or not, we don't have a body… Obviously when a person has been missing for 15 years especially a teenage girl, it's more than likely that she's been killed… but my parents don't want to think like that, they still hope that she's alive. So they and I frequently visit this school each year to help out… And everytime, I always visit my sister." he explained calmly with a touch of sadness.
"Oh, I see… what do you help out with?" Kairi inquired further.
"Well, I was actually on my way to the gymnasium. I'm the DJ." He smiled in good nature.
"We were wondering where you were, we were told that you had arrived an hour ago but we didn't believe it since you didn't show up. Oh that's right! I'm Kairi Shimizu. Pleasure to meet you" she held out her hand politely, he grinned back as he took the offered hand and gave a firm shake.
"In any case, I've paid my respects now both to her and her friends. I need to get to the gymnasium to set up the music for tonight." The man announced grandly all traces of sadness gone; Kairi could tell he overexcited himself to move on.
"I'm heading there too; there are still a few decorations to finish. But the mixing board should be finished and all set up for you by now." Kairi chirped cheerily picking up her box again and heading down with the man.
"Oh yeah! I still haven't caught your name" Kairi told him as they walked along.
The man laughed and slapped his own forehead gently as if berating himself.
"How silly of me! To forget to introduce myself! Ok Miss Pure Water, you deserve to know" the man chortled at the slightly at the baffled face she gave with his joke.
"Isn't that a given since you know my name?" Kairi asked with a raised brow.
"Yes, I suppose it is, isn't it?" the man stopped walking forcing Kairi to stop as well.
The man faced her smiling pleasantly, his jet black hair pulled by a burst of wind before falling back down. His face held a smirk that boasted wisdom, and knowledge. His eyes twinkled with secret mirth helping Kairi to see the adventurous and naughty spirit that was buried within this adult.
Then his mouth opened.
And he spoke.
"My name is Hiroki Ishiyama, very pleased to meet you Kairi"
In the storage room:
"There" Erin declared placing the last mask in the box all stacked neatly in line ready for everyone to pick theirs up from the boxes. All the masks were half masks so they only covered the top part of your face. Every one's mask was unique so it was impossible to mistake another for yours.
Weeks ago in order to make it a success; everyone was required to choose their Halloween costumes weeks in advance so they could design their own half masks to match them.
Up until last week they were kept in the care of the school to make sure nothing happened to them.
"At least we got to pick up our own masks before anyone else" Sora smiled looking at the grey mask he decorated to match his Zombie outfit. Erin had similarly picked out her dark red and black mask to go with her vampire outfit.
"I know you've got Emerald's already, so I'll bring Kairi's and Cherry's masks for them" Erin beamed holding up her friends masks knowing Sora had Emerald's.
"W-whatever, let's just bring the rest up" Sora averted his face knowing a blush was present. Both picked up two boxes leaving one left.
"What about the last box?" Erin queried peering at it a bit in exasperation knowing she had no more room in her arms to carry any more.
"Well, you can go get them later" Sora told her smartly.
"But I have to prepare for tonight" she whined.
She didn't want to have to come all the way back to get them. It was halfway across the school! She had to prepare her costume, the make-up and everything had to be perfect. Especially her hair, she was a girl after all.
"Why don't you collect the box? You're going to have to leave your room early, since your sister is changing and she has a date tonight." Erin reminded him; he frowned at the reminder of his sister's 'date'.
"Stop that! You know my feelings on her 'boyfriend'" Sora huffed.
"What's wrong? You jealous she's got a boyfriend while you're still pining after Emerald? Or are you just being overprotective?" She teased with a grin. Sora went even redder.
"So it's both"
"Oh! Let's just go. We'll pick up the other box later. We'll send Lia or someone" Sora cried tired of this bickering between them which Erin would describe more to be banter. So they both left the room with Erin closing the door behind them with her foot.
In the room from the plug socket a spark appeared briefly before a thick black slimy sort of fog began to ooze out of it. The fog crept towards the last box and manifested into the masks inside it causing the colours to become a slightly darker shade of their original colours.
Back at the gymnasium at 7:
"Hey, is the mixing board set up?" the group turned around to see Kairi with a Japanese man wearing casual.
"Are you the DJ for tonight?" Cherry asked setting the headphones down on the mixing board.
"Yeah, I've been told you got it all set up for me, everything looks good to go all it needs are monsters. You've all done enough, why don't you all get ready for the party? Thank you for accompanying me Kairi" Hiroki told them all pleasantly.
"Oh Guys, we brought your masks over early. So you won't have to claw your way through to retrieve them later" Erin announced waving hers, Cherry's and Kairi's masks.
"Oh brilliant! Thanks Erin" Kairi took her mask gleefully.
"Well, DJ sir. We haven't plugged in the electrical lights yet because of 'health and safety' reasons. So just get Jim to do it he's in the storage cupboard over there." Emerald smiled kindly at him.
Hiroki did a double take of her.
She was clearly friends with Kairi's group and a year older. However she was the striking opposite to his sister: bright, cheery, and sociable; it was clear that she was generally a very friendly girl around who will easily let you into her life, although quite vaguely unless she grew to like you. But you could also see that she had a way to control people, she controlled people nicely but with a stern vice; with this she clearly hasn't ever had to raise her voice.
This was the exact opposite to his elder sister who was quite closed off to anyone who wasn't within her inner group of friends, wore black all the time in comparison to Emerald's style, hung out with boys a lot and loudly spoke her opinion of someone or something if she felt it wrong or misguided.
Hiroki watched her as she said farewell to her friends thinking how similar Emerald was to her; he could just see that she had extensions in her hair because he could see the real hair part was layered and stopped below her chin like his sister normally wore her hair.
"Everyone else is finishing their tasks and heading back to their rooms to prepare. Which means I need to head off too; I'll see you guys later. Cherry I'm going to pop by your room later, so you better have your costume on by the time I'm there" Emerald reminded her seriously knowing that she would try and squirm her way out if she didn't.
On her way she went over to Lia.
"Lia, could you be a dear and get the last box of masks from the storage room?" she asked sweetly, Lia saw her smile which would be regarded by most as sweet but she found it creepy and scary. Emerald's sweet face easily concealed an aura that was clearly telling Lia to do it or there would be consequences.
"O-ok" Lia couldn't stand up to Emerald when she was the leader, when she was on equal terms yes. When she was looking down at her with a sugary smile, that's when she became afraid.
Emerald turned around and gave a wink to her group along with a thumbs up; Erin and Kairi gave peace signs with giggly grins on their faces whilst Cherry snorted in amusement and Sora smirked happily.
"Well, we girls need to go and get changed now since everyone is getting their masks now. After all we need a little more time for a special occasion like this. Sora I'll text you when you can use the room to change." Kairi told him slinging her arms around her girlfriends carting them away leaving her twin brother behind.
Sora stood still for an entire minute as realisation hit him on his sister's remark.
"I need some proper male friends… I know too many girls…" he groaned burying his face in despair.
With Lia:
Lia grudgingly went down to the storage area; she was not happy about having to help out at all. Her mother insisted that all students had to help with decorating for the Halloween party and she was not exempt from this rule.
"Why do I have to get the rest of the stupid masks?" she whinged picking up the box and walking out of the room.
She got back to the gymnasium and plopped the box next to the others which were half empty. She saw that her own mask wasn't inside the other two, so she searched the one she brought over. She found it right at the end. She huffed since she guessed that the others purposely put her mask when it was supposed to be in alphabetical order.
As she walked away to her own room to get changed herself clutching her mask seeing as the party was due to start within 2 hours, she never noticed how darker it was to how she originally made it and how it sparked ever so slightly as she carried it off.
Soon after her many other students came and took their discoloured masks, unaware of the difference.
Cherry's room:
Cherry had finished changing into her witch's costume so was tapping away at her key board to contact Odd.
She wore a black dress with a purple belt and a green, purple and black mesh skirt with black leggings. On her head she had a crooked witch hat with a purple band and buckle, mesh fingerless gloves and a witch charm choker.
She let her auburn hair down instead of in its usually low ponytail, it tumbled down her back and some of the front part going over her chest and stopping at her waist.
"Odd, you there?" she called.
"Hello" Odd's cheery face appeared on a window.
"Great costume! You look proper scary" Odd complimented.
"What about now?" Cherry teased holding her mask over her eyes.
"Who are you? And what have you done with Cherry?" Odd demanded with an exaggerated horrified face.
"Nice to see you're as happy as ever" Cherry commented taking her mask off.
"Nothing really to be sad about. Why sulk for no good reason?" Odd reasoned shrugging his shoulders.
"In any case, have you noticed if XANA has been active?"
"Nope, still quiet… I haven't felt anything" he replied puzzled.
"Ok, I'm going to be gone for a few hours so I'm going to run a scan to see if there's an activated tower anywhere. If you feel anything go over to the activated tower but stay well hidden." She ordered tapping a few keys before pressing enter.
"Roger that!" Odd saluted before signing off.
"He's so Odd" Cherry chuckled before getting up and leaving to meet up with the girls seeing as it was time for them all to meet up.
9:00 gymnasium:
Catchy Halloween music boomed through the door of the gymnasium as Jim dressed as a vampire complete with mask as required checked to make sure they weren't wearing anything obscene or inappropriate before they went in. Cherry, Erin and Sora were waiting patiently near the front of the queue quietly waiting their turn to go in.
Emerald wasn't there yet, and Kairi had already entered with her date.
Lia was in front of them wearing a quite suggestive devil costume with red tights and red pumps, but it was conservative enough since the dress wasn't low cut, or the skirt too short so Jim couldn't really bar her from the party despite thinking himself that she could've chosen a more conservative one.
Sora had a Zombie costume with a bit of zombie makeup on and he had messed up his blonde hair even using hair gel to get a few strands to stick out wildly. His costume consisted of a jacket with attached a shirt front and bloody ribs and tie. Jim let him through without a second thought even commenting how lifelike his outfit was.
Erin stepped forward and turned around to show Jim that it was acceptable.
She was a vampiress complete with fangs and of course her mask, her costume consisted of a black dress with an attached pointed collar, 3/4 length sleeves which have white ruffled cuffs. The dress was detailed with gold buttons, red lace trim at bottom and included a red and black panel on the chest. At the back at the top of her skirt was a big red ribbon. Under her dress she had red tights with knee high black boots with thick heels that weren't too high but enough to make her slightly taller.
Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail leaving her fringe out and with two long strands to frame her face. She had applied white powder to make her skin seem paler.
Jim was fairly impressed at her costume's scariness especially with her mask before nodding her in.
Similarly he appraised Cherry's last and found it to be quite like her friend's. He assumed that her friend Emerald had chosen the costume for her. Seeing she was fine he motioned for her to enter.
In the gymnasium:
Party music blared around our group who gathered around the snack table; Emerald still hadn't arrived. The others could clearly see Kairi across on the dance floor dancing with her date who was a werewolf.
Kairi was wearing a female pirate costume: her costume was a long sleeved off the shoulder white gauze crop top with ruffled trim, black waist cincher, a black studded with antique-looking belt with brass buckle, black capri pants, a brown sleeveless vest that split into and black and brown knee high boots similar to Erin's, and to top it off a brown pirate hat.
"So Julien's her date? I thought it'd be Antoine since he's quite a catch and I've seen him flirt with her a couple of times. Speaking of which, didn't Peter ask you to the dance Cherry?" Erin grinned at her friend teasingly.
"No! We're just friends, why does everyone assume that something happened!?" Cherry shouted at Erin leaning forwards whilst Erin leaned back with a grin on her face giggling helplessly while holding her hands up in defence.
"So what's up people?"
The three members turned to find their oldest member in a mummy costume. It included a long sleeved scoop neck knit dress with ripped rag detail, nude lining, and uneven hem and matching ripped rag stockings with white pumps. On her head she had a head wrap around her head under her lilac hair with the green streak.
"Wow! That's a brilliant costume Em! You'd make a terrific mummy" Cherry awed at her costume.
"Teehee thanks. What do you two think?" Emerald smiled warmly at the other two staring it amazement that she flawlessly looked the part even with her mask.
"You look wonderful!" Erin told her happily, even feeling a little jealous.
"It's true, I would not want to encounter you in a tomb" Sora teased nudging her a little.
"Yeah, well don't bite me" she retorted playfully pushing him a bit.
"Jeez you two just get a room" Erin suggested giggling along with Cherry. When Emerald and Sora whirled to face her, their faces had turned magenta.
This only caused Cherry and Erin to laugh louder being heard better by everyone despite the loud music and chatter around them.
"Don't jump to conclusions. We're just friends!" Emerald insisted averting her eyes away from everyone.
Cherry recognised this behaviour; Emerald always avoided looking at people when she was either denying something or not telling the truth. They'd been best friends for 3 years prior to studying at Kadic, she'd be a lousy best friend if she couldn't recognise the tell-tale signs her friend displayed, and similarly Emerald could identify hers.
"Well, if it isn't the idiot club." They all winced as Lia approached them her stuck up voice. Oscar was trailing her wearing a skeleton costume with a mask.
"Where's your fifth member? Still with her sorry excuse for a date? I could do much better" she declared flicking her hair making her look like the very devil she was dressed as.
"At least Kairi got a date. Unless Oscar is your partner" Sora quipped smiling in satisfaction when she bristled at the insult. Oscar blushed fully at the suggestion of getting together with Lia.
"No way would I be with this little snail!" Lia said indignantly cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
Erin felt sorry for Oscar when she saw his face fall; it must be hard to be love-struck for a girl who only had her eyes set on another.
"But I'd be more than happy to take you away from this little group Sora, and you could be my partner" she purred flirtatiously.
"Sorry, but Sora's taken!" Emerald stepped in grabbing Sora's arm and pulling him close giving Lia an intense stare which at first glance seems emotionless. But the firmness and absolution in her declaration showed in her tone and annoyed eyed that were silently telling Lia to back off.
Cherry observed all this and saw something strange about Lia's and Oscar's masks.
"Say, your masks look darker than they originally were. Why is that?" Cherry asked curiously.
"Yeah, I noticed that too while I was changing. The paint must get darker as it dries or something" Lia shrugged adjusting her horns on her head.
"Well, anyway the contest is going to start soon. I must go and prepare for my crown" she strutted away confidently Oscar shadowing her almost unnoticed seeing how small he was.
Cherry had a worried frown on her face. She observed the music filled room and saw that the darkened masks were littered around the room. She didn't have a good feeling about any of it.
On Lyoko:
Odd was sitting on the platform relaxing allowing his thoughts to drift when he found himself a little bored. He had been wandering the mountain sector and hadn't noticed any activated towers so he decided to wait in the way tower for a while.
He had started imagining how living out of Lyoko would feel.
He could imagine himself walking down a normal dirt path with trees surrounding him with the wind blowing a nice breeze across. He didn't know what a breeze felt like, he hoped it was as good as he imagined. He wanted to experience all the tastes and smells his friends experienced every day. See the sun rise and set, hearing about it was one thing. Seeing it is another experience altogether.
But above all else he wanted to be by Cherry's side. He had a special attachment to the girl; he wasn't entirely sure what this feeling was. But it was a good one that he didn't want to disappear. It made him feel like all his worries in the world were gone and only joy remained whenever he was with her. He enjoyed her company ever so much.
She did have a tendency to speak in quite complicated computer language, and while he could understand her he wished that she would simplify her speech to not make their interactions as formal. A large portion of their chats consisted of her asking him for ideas to fix the Code: Earth program and XANA attacks. So the structure was normally quite formal. There were the regular talks of normal life and happy chatting like earlier today. But they were overshadowed a lot by the other circumstances…
Odd jumped when he felt something like a beat and snapped his eyes open looking around. He sighed in relief and slight stupidity since no one else could enter the tower but him. He started to relax again.
Ba-dump!
Odd opened his eyes again. He did not imagine it.
He faintly felt more pulsations underneath leading outside. He stood up in a hurry and rushed to the door of the tower.
Once outside he felt the pulsations more clearly and saw the red circles that indicated the beats that slightly shook the ground.
"Cherry, there's an activated tower! I'm going to go check it out" he called out hoping she'll see that she tried to contact her before running towards the source of the pulsations.
At the party:
Cherry and the others decided to get on the dance floor and do some, well, dancing… Cherry still had a bad feeling but ignored it as she took part in all the Halloween-like music.
She was having a drink a table, Erin had found herself a boy to dance with and Sora was obviously having alone time with Emerald. As she drank, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around only to come face to face with a boy who was dressed as a black cat, covered with a black mask.
"Peter!" she cried in surprise.
"I didn't scare you did I?" he grinned in response.
"Great costume, I could hardly recognise you"
"You too, your hair looks pretty down. You make a very cute witch"
"Flirting will get you nowhere… How have you been?" she gushed smiling back.
"Fine, you?"
"I'm just fine. Did you get a good grade for that project I helped you with?" she had hung out with him for a few days because he asked her to help him. That's what sparked the rumour that they were together.
"Yep, got one of the highest in the class. Thanks for the help" he winked giving a thumbs up.
Cherry then saw something on his mask flash in the middle of the forehead area.
"Say, did you get your mask out of the last box or the first two?" Cherry pressed seriously.
"Ummm, the last one. Why?" he questioned confused. Cherry gasped when she saw the symbol appear on the forehead of the mask again, this time it remained for longer and she could clearly identify it as the eye of XANA.
"Peter, there's something wrong with the masks in that box. Take it off now!" Cherry screamed in worry stepping towards ready to rip it off if he didn't do it fast enough.
"What's got into you?" he exclaimed recoiling backwards hands over the sides of his mask to protect it from being taken.
Cherry was about to reply when Peter started to shout and writhe in pain clutching his mask. She heard similar screams around the room, and she looked around to find everyone who was wearing the darkened masks all had symbols of XANA on their mask foreheads were grabbing at their masks desperately to take them off.
Cherry turned back to Peter who was screaming in pain. She winced as she saw the mask was literally embedding itself into his skin to become part of him.
"What's wrong with everyone!?" the DJ yelled turning off the music since everyone was now aware there was a problem.
"Erin! Kairi! Come with me!" Cherry called out just as Peter stopped moving and stood motionless for a moment before looking directly at Cherry. She noted with fear that he had the eyes of XANA as did all the dark masks in the room.
Screams then filled the room as everyone began running when the dark masks grabbed masked people strongly by their shoulders and connected their masks with the other person's, this made them undergo the same process the originals went through.
Sora and the others all gathered around Cherry as she backed away from Peter who was slowly advancing on her.
Finally Peter lunged for her to which she stepped to the side and ran towards the exit. Before exiting Sora realised his sister wasn't with them.
"Wait Kairi!" he screamed looking back only to see she was being possessed by the masked zombies.
"We have to go now Sora" Emerald cried pulling him along as people pushed past them through the exit.
When they left the gymnasium all four tore off their masks and threw them away as did everyone else having realised that the masks were the things that possessed them.
The possessed masked people were outside having used the other way around to trap them.
Hiroki called out to everyone "Everyone go to the canteen! We'll be safe there!" he ran as fast as possible hearing a herd of footsteps follow him, some unfortunately not so lucky and were caught.
"We need to get to the factory, but we're surrounded" Erin told them worriedly when their path was blocked by a few and they had to turn left into the forest.
"Leave it to us, you and Cherry go to the factory and guide Odd to the tower." Sora winked at the two before smirking at Emerald who mirrored his smirk.
The sound of walking feet against the trampling of fast moving ones clearly resonated and the dark masks waited for the group to get closer before charging at them. At the last minute they all split into twos, Cherry and Erin in one; Emerald and Sora in another.
Cherry and Erin headed deeper into the forest heading to the manhole. Whilst Emerald and Sora were running to join the others.
The dark masks conferred to each other with a series of grunts before splitting up and chasing after each pair.
With Cherry and Erin:
They knew that they had distance between the dark masks chasing after them, since they could hear the pounding footsteps behind them in the distance.
"There it is" Cherry announced pointing to the manhole cover that grew bigger as they ran towards it.
Cherry quickly lifted the lid and slid it to the side; she slipped quickly down the manhole. Then Erin went down pulling the cover over her as she went over. She faintly heard the mask's footsteps slow down above them, so not wanting to be caught if they figured she was down there with Cherry she hurriedly climbed down.
Both she and Cherry took the two scooters there and mounted them whilst moving to gain speed and reduce the time to get to the factory. Luckily their costumes weren't too difficult to move in, but Cherry did find it slightly annoying that her hair in front did get into her mouth sometimes. Vaguely she wondered to herself why she hasn't cut it shorter.
But there was no time for that now. So the Vampiress and Witch travelled down the sewers towards the factory.
With Emerald and Sora:
Ironic that a dressed up Zombie was being chased by real life zombie-like creatures and his only companion was a very pretty Mummy.
They ran around the buildings to get inside the canteen. Only to find around the corner Jim leading a small platoon of the masked creatures. Emerald and Sora didn't falter and so they both charged forward jumping up and delivering a double flying kick against Jim's chest which knocked him over.
They took this opportunity and quickly whacked the only two in their way before rushing to the canteen doors.
"Let us in its Sora and Emerald!" Sora yelled pounding on the door.
"Thank goodness guys, give us a second!" Hiroki called from the window before disappearing presumably to de-barricade the door and let them.
"Sora you better get ready to fight" Emerald told him urgently pointing to Jim and his horde who was being joined by another team to gang up on them.
They both backed away in a fighting position as the dark masks approached them like cornered rats.
"Emerald, it's been a pleasure to have known you"
"Same to you"
They were now back to back with dark masks surrounding them. Both were scared, but at the same time took it as a challenge to stay alive. They turned around to look at each other one last time, smiles graced their faces.
Just as they were to attack, the door flew open and Hiroki rushed out ignoring their surprised looks and grabbed their shoulders to take them to shelter quickly.
The dark masks realised this a second too late as the doors slammed in their faces and costumed students put tables and chairs against the door without haste.
"Thank goodness you two are safe" Hiroki exclaimed in relief still having his hands on their shoulders.
"Yeah, but how are we going to get out of this alive?" Sora questioned glancing outside the window where some were pressing their masked faces against the window; in their hands were darkened masks.
"I've tried calling the police, but they won't believe me. We've got to wait for an opportunity to escape and gain help to defeat these zombies." Hiroki spoke with authority.
"Oh man, they got my sister" Sora said solemnly looking outside to see her in her pirate outfit wandering around holding out her plastic sword ready in case someone tried to attack her.
Hiroki remembered that face; it was a face that appeared on his own quite regularly 15 years ago for 2 years until he moved on. Even 15 years later the face still crossed his features occasionally.
Emerald stepped towards Sora and put a gentle hand on his shoulder "It'll be alright" she assured softly.
Sora turned to look back at her smiling "I know"
The two then moved to join the others in their wait, behind DJ Hiroki.
At the factory:
Cherry and Erin swung down from the ropes landing on their feet; Cherry punched in the access code before pushing the button which opening the lift.
They both rushed inside facing the doors as they closed and they went down to their first stop in the lab.
When the doors opened Cherry stepped out to take the controls whilst Erin just pressed the button to go further down to the scanner room. The door shut itself securely before the lift heading down again.
Cherry went over to the control seat and put the headset in. Looking on the monitor she saw that Odd tried to contact her and there was an activated tower.
"Odd! Are you there?" She called urgently.
His face appeared on the screen.
"Finally! I tried to contact you but you wouldn't answer" Odd's face showed exasperation.
"I couldn't answer; I was at the Halloween party." She reminded him knowing that he knew.
"That's why I left the message that I tried to contact you. In any case I took the liberty to seek out the tower" Odd replied smartly.
"So why haven't you deactivated it?" she asked puzzled.
"Because of that" he replied and sent a visual link showing the mountain sector to Cherry.
But what was in the frame was a big spiral land mass like a floating island with caves dotted around it and certain paths leading each certain cave to cave whilst other caves were standalone ones. Cherry could tell Odd was below level with it from the angle she was viewing.
"Well, I can certainly see your problem. You can't jump that high despite your capabilities nor can your creativity go that high. But have no fear it just so happens that I'm sending a red bird over to help you" she winked at Odd tapping away at the keyboard.
"A lift would be appreciated" Odd sang.
In the scanner room:
Erin stood still as the door to the room opened. A burst of air flew past her shaking her vampiress dress and tied back flame coloured hair.
"Erin the activated tower is in the mountain region on a sort of floating labyrinth island, there's no way to tell you how to navigate around it from here." Cherry told her as she walked towards the nearest scanner.
"Brilliant… Well, can't change the position so might as well conquer it" she grinned in good nature stepping into the scanner.
"Transfer Erin" the scanner doors closed and Erin relaxed for the next stage.
"Scanner Erin" a blast of wind flew up making Erin close her eyes, and the ring moved up and down her body recognising her.
"Virtualisation" Erin felt white cover her and felt nothing after.
On Lyoko:
Erin's avatar constructed itself before she hovered in mid-air for a moment and then dropped to the floor. However since the second time she always expected it so she landed in a graceful crouch.
She stood up from her crouch her fiery wings spread out proudly before relaxing as she scanned her surroundings.
Over nearer to the edge right next to the island Cherry described, she saw Odd waving grandly at her flailing both of his arms and teetering on his feet like he was going to fall over but he didn't of course, since he had the perfect balance of a cat.
Having spotted him she ran to join him.
"Are you here to give me a hand?" Odd asked her politely as she stopped next to him.
"No, I'm here to give you a pair of wings to carry you" she beamed in good humour.
"That works even better" he responded chuckling.
So Erin spread out her strong wings giving a strong flap and she was immediately lifted into the air. Another flap forward and she grabbed Odd under his arms lifting him off the ground before flying up towards the giant maze.
They stopped at the bottom cave where Erin set Odd down first before perching herself beside him.
"I'm starting to get really jealous of your wings" Odd pouted.
"Well stay jealous, because I'm never giving these up" Erin told him cheekily.
"Anyway, let's follow the pulsations" Odd turned serious pointing towards the red beats you could see on the floor.
So the pair stepped into the fairly spacious maze.
In the canteen:
Rosa had long since fainted since despite being a very strong and scary woman when she wants to be, she did get scared at the supernatural.
While she rested on a chair everyone else searched the kitchen for weapons to use.
Hiroki and two others positioned themselves to look outside the windows.
"Oh no! They've broken into the shed" Hiroki said loudly.
"Damn, they'll probably try and break the windows! We need to make it hard to get across. Move all the tables in a jumbled mess against the windows" Emerald barked. Everyone obeyed, never had she shouted at anyone to do anything, so she definitely meant business.
The tables were moved against the windows and just in time as a rock flew in through the window smashing it to pieces.
Everyone took cover from the shattered glass; Sora covered Emerald with his own body gaining a few scratches. When it was done they realised how closely they were hugging. They both separated a bit awkwardly with a hard blush on both their cheeks.
"Everyone get your weapons and don't allow them to come it" Hiroki cried swiping his saucepans and banging his onto one hand that poked through forcing it to retreat back only for another to appear and more of their bodies had poked through the mass of tables.
Soon everyone was hitting the intruding dark masks with their respective weapons even our Mummy and Zombie with two pan lids and a chair respectively even incorporating their karate into their hits.
Sora knew though that they wouldn't win, they just had to stay alive long enough for Odd to deactivate the tower.
Back on Lyoko:
"Have you two found the tower yet?" Cherry's voice seemed to echo a little within the labyrinth.
"No, the pulsations don't really lead anywhere. They lead Everywhere" Odd sighed frustratingly as he and Erin stood at the fork where all three of the paths had pulsations on them.
"which one do we take?" she wondered befuddled which path the pulsation was actually coming from.
"This must be a XANA trick… guys don't panic, and try to find the right path. I'm going to see how Sora and Em are doing" Cherry advised calmly.
"Ok, let's go right" Erin decided, pointing to the path on the right.
"Why right?" Odd asked unsure.
"Because right is right" she grinned back before turning around and heading down it her dress swivelling slightly. Odd merely shrugged in nonchalance following his partner.
In the lab:
Cherry rang Emerald's mobile waiting for her to pick up impatiently until she finally answered.
"What? We're kind of busy here!" she yelled over the loud background noise.
"Are you and Sora ok?" she asked frantically ignoring her friend's snappiness.
"We're fine, for the moment. Driving away masked Zombies is harder than it might seem!" she shouted before making a 'hya' sound and the sound of something solid hitting another solid object resonated through the phone making Cherry wince slightly.
"In any case, Odd and Erin are on their way to the activated tower now. Just hold on a little longer" Cherry assured her.
"That's great and all, but please tell them to be quicker" Emerald begged and then ended the call.
"Right guys you need to find that tower fast!" Cherry ordered.
Back on Lyoko:
Odd and Erin were walking fast through the path but only found other entrances to branched off paths.
"Erin, can you hear something?" Odd stopped suddenly.
"Hear what?" Erin was confused by his strange behaviour.
"I can hear… a rolling sound" he said quietly.
"A rolling sound?" she questioned in disbelief, but then she heard it too.
It was coming from in front of them and getting louder.
Odd saw a black dot appear around the curve and immediately jumped.
"A Megatank! Quick! Duck!" he screamed jumping into a cave and Erin into the one on the other side just as the Megatank passed them. Unluckily Odd managed seemed to fall right through the ground.
Odd yelped as he fell in and screamed as he slid down the narrow tube. Erin heard his cries after the Megatank had passed; so she immediately ran over to the cave he entered but didn't see anything. Odd had disappeared.
With Odd:
Odd screamed down the tube before it ended quite suddenly and he fell onto his back rather abruptly.
"Ouch! Could've done without the fall" he moaned standing up rubbing his virtual lower back.
He looked around and saw a bigger space than the one he'd been in.
"Hey, maybe this is the right way" he beamed.
"Great, then go check it out" Odd walked forward but he suddenly felt a sting on his back.
"What was that?" he demanded whipping around only to see two Bloks appear from the darkness behind him.
"You've got visitors; I couldn't see them on my screen. They've just appeared" Cherry explained.
"Great! The only thing stupider than a Blok is two Bloks" Odd exclaimed when they started firing at him causing him to run. They actually hit him a lot of times while missing many more.
"Odd you've only got 10 life points left hide!" Cherry screeched worried.
Odd ran for his life avoiding the lasers using the walls to run on. But while Odd could now see the pulsations in the direction he was headed, he could also tell that the Bloks were purposefully missing him now. But he didn't want to risk slowing down and them accidently hitting him.
With Erin:
"Cherry what's happened with Odd?" she asked desperately.
"He's being chased by two Bloks right now! You must get there now!" Cherry yelled tearfully.
"But where did he go?" Erin asked in panic.
"He went underneath you" Cherry explained.
"Underneath…?" Erin was thoughtful so she looked around and saw a small ring of rock around a fairly big circle. She went over and went to pat it, only to find her hand go through.
"It's an illusion! Damn, XANA's been clever this time!" she gave a growl of agitation before jumping down into the ring and slipping into the hidden tube.
She landed on her feet and instantly saw the pulsations. With a strong push into the air she flew as fast as she could in order to help Odd in time. She knew the Bloks were chasing Odd to the Scyphozoa but Odd wasn't risking them accidently devirtualising him forever by slowing down or stopping. Even he knew when things were too much of a risk.
With Odd:
Odd reached the exit of the tunnel and found himself near the clearing it lead to. But at the last minute one of the Bloks hit the part of the wall that Odd was on and he cried out as he ricocheted into the clearing.
Odd felt very weak after the fall, but he looked up to see both good news and bad news.
The good news was the activated tower was here.
The bad news was in front of him and therefore in front of the tower was the Scyphozoa.
"Cherry… I've found the tower" Odd said scrabbling away from the advancing jellyfish.
"Odd get out of there now!" Cherry cried desperate.
Before Odd even had a chance to stand up, tentacles wrapped around him paralysing him as the Scyphozoa picked him up. Odd couldn't struggle at all as the Scyphozoa placed its tentacles on his temples and forehead and began draining something from him which Cherry had told him many times was his unrecalled memory.
"No Odd!" Cherry shouted panicked now.
Suddenly a ring whizzed through the air leaving a red tail behind it and saw through the tentacles holding Odd. The startled Scyphozoa dropped Odd from its grasp whilst retreating to heal; the cat-boy dropped to the ground lying still having lost consciousness.
The ring curved back around back to the owner who flew into the tower clearing. Erin caught her ring neatly tucking it neatly by her waist avoiding the laser shots from the pair of Bloks below her.
She dove to Odd's limp body scooping him up in her arms on adrenaline not allowing the Bloks a chance to hit her.
She soared high up to the shallow cave up at the top of the room.
"Cherry! Odd's out cold" Erin told her shaking Odd urgently.
"He's only got 10 life points… you must get rid of the monsters first above all else" Cherry told her sternly.
Erin had her hands on Odd's shoulders and she was frantically willing for Odd's life points to recover. She gasped in surprise seeing an orange sort of energy emit from her hands and go into Odd.
"What's happening? Odd's life points are regenerating." Cherry said in disbelief.
"I think I'm doing it." Erin whispered staring at the hands she just took away to examine.
Erin's confusion soon turned into a smirk.
"I think it's a special power I have. I can heal Odd's life points with this" she then brought Odd closer to her.
Then sitting on her knees she leaned over a little allowing her wings to curl around her and Odd. She placed her hands on his chest and willed his life to go back up. Her body had a fiery orange colour outline as did her palms that pushed life into the young purple Catboy's body.
"It's working! Odd's life points are coming back" Cherry squealed excitedly.
Odd soon started stirring back to consciousness blinking weakly until he felt like he was at his normal health; he looked at Erin as she removed her hands and slumped down slightly exhausted her wings dropping tiredly behind her.
"Are you ok Erin?" Odd asked her concerned sitting up.
She looked up and smiled at him "I'm fine"
"Thank you Erin" he smiled in appreciation.
"I know you're tired Erin, since you've only done that for the first time. But Emerald and Sora aren't going to hold out much longer. You need to clear the path of Odd" Cherry told her authoritatively.
The pair then stood up.
"Wait here Odd, wait for the opportunity to jump down and run to the tower" Erin told him sternly.
Odd nodded determinedly.
Erin spread her wings once again and whooshed out of the shallow and back down to the Bloks who were waiting for her.
With Emerald and Sora:
The dark masks were breaking through the barricades they made. The pair tried their best to drive them back. But they were outnumbered and the possessed dark masks were stronger than they seemed.
Suddenly there was a scream and everyone looked to the side to see one of the boys had been taken a hold of by one dark mask. The dark mask pushed the mask in its hands onto his face. He cried in pain as the mask melted into his face to become part of him.
The other dark masks took this moment of distraction as an opportunity to get through forcing the rest to back away to a corner of the room while some were taken.
"Come on guys, please be there soon" Sora growled gripping a chair from the back like everyone else.
"Don't worry… they'll stop this" Emerald assured him confidently holding her own chair strongly.
Lyoko:
Erin swooped down to one of the Bloks firing at her. She spun her rings from her waist into her hands, she gracefully avoided the lasers. She did a somersault over the Blok in front slamming her rings into the eye behind it. She landed a short distance away just as the Blok exploded.
"Great, Erin! One down, one to go." Cherry cheered in support.
Erin stood up and faced the last Blok who was regarding her carefully.
She grinned as she held up her rings, and the Blok's head spun as it charged up an attack and fired its laser. She moved her rings quickly deflecting the charge of lasers making them hit the walls around them. Then the Blok changed to a different laser and Erin threw her rings to go around the Blok. Three fire rings were shot at her, but Erin gracefully front flipped through them all.
She eventually reached the Blok so that it was in front of her, and she quickly without hesitation and skill hopped on the top of the Blok and rolled over its head that it had no time to react.
She landed on the other side and caught her rings simultaneously turning around cutting her blunt blades powerfully into its eye.
She pulled her weapons out stepping back as it exploded.
"Nicely done" Cherry complimented.
"It's among one of my many talents" Erin boasted airily.
"Odd you can go now" Cherry said quickly.
At once Odd jumped from his balcony landing perfectly on all fours near the tower.
Odd relaxed himself as he calmly walked forward.
The door slowly sucked him in.
In the tower:
Odd walked gently towards the centre the rings beeping and lighting up as he reached each one. When he reached the middle of the platform, he closed his eyes allowing the platform to grant him access to the next level. He leaned his head back when he felt his body being pulled up.
In the canteen:
The dark masks had fully invaded the canteen. There were more dressed up monsters on their side now. Sora and Emerald fought hard with Hiroki and a few others.
Suddenly one of the dark masks caught a hold of Sora's arm and yanked him forward. Emerald saw this and wrapped her arms around his waist pulling him back.
"No!" she screamed and they both wriggled desperately to get Sora out of the strong grip while simultaneously avoiding the mask the possessed person was trying to pin on his face.
"Odd, please hurry!" she yelled.
Hiroki froze in shock at her words.
"Odd…?" he wondered strangely, and then he shook his head in disbelief thinking she can't be talking about who he thought she was talking about. He cried out as he was taken by the Zombies.
Lyoko:
Odd reached the platform above and lightly landed on it causing the floor to light up.
He walked forward a little before stopping when the interface screen appeared.
He placed his paw in the screen and it recognised him and did the rest.
ODD
CODE
LYOKO
The screens around him flipped down into the bottom. A little burst of white energy gathered before exploding and going up engulfing everything in it.
In the lab:
"Return to the past now!" Cherry said, pressed enter and was engulfed by the white light from the supercomputer.
In the canteen:
Emerald saw the white light from outside and smiled happily as it approached them rapidly. The fighting didn't seem so important after everyone was covered by the white light.
Outside the gymnasium after the party:
The group had redone the whole day again including setting up the gym and meeting Hiroki. But this time they took all of the masks at the same time instead of leaving that pair like they did before.
The party went smoothly this time with everyone having a great time. Kairi didn't really remember much from what happened. But it had been explained to her in parts of the day.
The group waited as Kairi said goodnight to her boyfriend giving him a little peck on the cheek causing him to blush immensely whilst she giggled turning around and heading towards her friends.
"Well that was fun!" she beamed happily ignoring Sora's sour face at her interaction with her boyfriend.
"What are we still doing out here?" she asked.
"We're waiting for one more person" Cherry smiled calmly at her friend.
"Here he is" Erin pointed as Hiroki the DJ walked out yawning himself.
"Hey DJ Hiroki!" Emerald waved as they all approached him.
"Oh hey, shouldn't you lot be going to bed?" Hiroki smiled politely.
"We just wanted to thank you for being the DJ for our party" Sora told him warmly.
"Oh, it was nothing. I and my parents help out with the school every year around this time so its kind habitual I guess." He shrugged.
"When are your parents meant to arrive here?" Cherry asked curiously.
"I should think around next month in November" he answered nicely.
"Right, while you may not be tired. I am *yawn* goodnight" Hiroki yawned and walked away waving to the group.
"Do you know what we should call my power?" Erin asked the group.
"Hmmm, how about 'Energy control'?" Kairi suggested.
"I agree with Kai" Emerald raised her hand as did Sora and Cherry.
"That's brilliant!" Erin squealed hopping around kind of like a bunny as they all walked back in their costumes to the dorms with their arms around each other's shoulders walking casually. Until Emerald had to leave to go home leaving the rest to get to their rooms.
In Hiroki's bedroom:
The headmistress had kindly lent Hiroki a bed for the night as the nearest hotel was a few hours away.
He took out a photo as he sat on his bed in pyjama bottoms and white vest. The photo showed a 14 year old black short haired girl hugging a smaller boy with shorter matching black hair.
He sighed and placed the photo under his pillow, he tucked himself in and in no time at all he was lost to the land of dreams.
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Everyone I am SO SO SORRY! I intended this to be a Halloween special but I Literally had NO TIME at all in my Halloween two week break to do this! And then I had school which did get in the way a lot since I am doing A-level.
Yeah I know it's near Christmas but if it helps your imagination just pretend its Halloween again.
I know you've all been waiting very patiently and if you haven't given up on me thank you so much *deep bow*.
In regards to this chapter I hope you all liked the twist I had with Hiroki and you all know who is going to appear in the next chapter ;)
Basically I am going to have a special character from the previous generation appear in each chapter. But I won't give you a spoiler like in this chapter every time, Since the spoiler was only out as an apology.
With the last part where the infected masks infects everyone else. Yes it is similar to a certain Code Lyoko episode but I did try and warp it enough to make it different.
Again if you want to see what their Halloween costumes look like exactly just PM me and I'll send you the links. :D
Btw and I know I'm being a bit cheeky but please, please, PLEASE can you leave reviews or I might stop this fanfic! (*psst* I won't really… but I would feel more encouraged if I read your reviews)
Constructive criticism is always welcome I just ask that it be said in a nice manner. 'cause there is criticism meant to help you, and criticism just written quite nastily that you just don't know if they're being plain nasty or trying to help you.
One last thing I beg you to tell me in your reviews… because I want to test your powers of deduction…
There is an important character in the first two chapters can you please tell me who you think it is and why? If you don't want to spoil it for everyone just PM me.
I'm afraid I probably won't be able to start on the next chapter until Easter because I've got lots of school and I am quite busy (busier than I've ever been! Not sure if I like it or not…). Sorry but you're going to have to wait a while for the next one again forgive me!
In any case please R&R ;)