The rogue Apache Longbow was flying over the city towards the Factory.
Jeremy noticed it showing up on the factory cameras. "Uh-oh, that's not good."
"What's up, Einstein?" Odd asked.
"An Apache Longbow helicopter is on its way here, and it has no pilot."
"Great. A military grade vehicle." Odd said with some sarcasm.
"Maybe we should've put some defenses around the factory," William commented.
Jeremy noticed something on the radar. "Guys, this isn't good. There's an unknown signal somewhere around your location.
"Jeremy, there's nothing here for miles." Odd said.
Famous last words. Suddenly, something speared William, instantly de-virtualizing him.
Ulrich looked around for the assailant, and his eyes widened in horror. "Crap!"
"Wha-? NOOOO!!"
Jeremy watched in horror as the strange monster instantly de-virtualized the entire group.
"What is that thing?! I can't even get statistics!" Jeremy slammed his fist down in frustration.
"Jeremy, what's wrong?" Aelita asked.
"A weird new monster just de-virtualized all the others! I don't even know what that thing looks like!"
"That's great, Einstein, but I can't really deal with that right now. I've got something bigger to worry about on my hands."
A new signal promptly showed up on Jeremy's monitor. "What in-?"
"Don't ask. Just let me deal with him." Aeron said, unsheathing his daito.
Aelita swooped low and let Aeron jump off.
"Don't go too far. That guy could be anywhere." Aeron warned.
"I can take care of myself," Aelita replied, taking off for the tower.
"You don't know how Kitsune does things!" Aeron called.
Aelita stopped and turned around. "What?"
"Kitsune has a range of abilities that you've never dealt with in all your battles."
"Who exactly is this "Kitsune"?" Aelita asked.
Suddenly, she was roughly shoved off of the Overboard.
"Whoooaaa!" Aelita shouted.
Aeron blew through his nostrils in annoyance and raced underneath Aelita, catching her.
"That answer your question?" Aeron asked, pointing.
Standing on the Overboard was a tall young man with white hair. He was clad in robes of white and wearing an orange vest. His eyes were angled and slightly slit like, and he had a pair of fox ears on top of his head. His air was that of almost a noble, but there was something about his gaze that made Aelita shiver.
"Greetings, Kitsune. I hope you've come for a social visit." Aeron said.
His response was a mere point of the finger.
"Guess not," Aeron muttered, holding up his sword.
A series of red lines gathered at the tip of Kitsune's index finger, creating a sphere of energy that soon exploded towards Aeron as a beam of energy that shook all of Lyoko with its power.
Aeron slashed, sending a blade of wind down the middle of the blast, slicing through it and sending the two halves of the beam screaming past him to smash harmlessly into the Plateau.
Kitsune narrowed his eyes and flash stepped close to Aeron, swinging a sword conjured seemingly from thin air.
Aeron parried the strike, then played his own sword in a circle and flipping Kitsune's blade out of his hand.
"Lame as always." Aeron remarked, slicing at Kitsune.
Aeron's blade passed harmlessly through the virtual being, causing Aeron to stumble without the expected resistance.
"Easy to fool as always," Aeron heard in his ear. Aeron glanced at the voice and saw a smug Kitsune raise his blade high over his head.
Aeron kicked Kitsune in the midsection, sending him sprawling, and point his finger at him. Three green lines of light surrounded by a golden nimbus gathered at his fingertip and formed a sphere of energy. Three smaller lines were added to the mix, and then three more.
"Shinsei Taiho," Aeron muttered, unleashing the energy in a beam like attack that roared through the air where Kitsune stood.
Kitsune suddenly turned into smoke, causing the blast to roar harmlessly through his substance. He reformed a moment later, twirling his blade.
"I hate him when he does that," Aeron growled, slicing at Kitsune. As he did this, a blade of wind formed and zoomed towards Kitsune, extending the slash.
Kitsune turned into smoke again, allowing the wind scythe to pass harmlessly through him. Just as he reformed, though, Aeron suddenly blasted a green energy pulse into him that finally connected with him, smashing him into the ground.
"Freeze, Kitsune!" Aeron shouted, pointing his sword at him. Lines of freezing energy twirled into a sphere at the tip of his blade, which grew bigger and bigger.
"Hyouketsu Bakuha! (Freeze blast)" Aeron shouted, unleashing the icy energy at his fallen foe. It unleashed a circle of energy that flew backward and outwards just as it was unleashed, not to mention a ton of light and wind, blowing Aeron's hair back and causing Aelita to shield herself from just from the recoil energy.
Kitsune had no chance. The freezing blast iced him over, instantly de-virtualizing him.
Aeron watched as the ice faded. "Well, that's that." He twirled his sword in his fingers and sheathed it. He breathed in and out for a bit. "Man, that took a lot out of me. It must be because of my low life points."
"How low exactly are your life points right now?" Aelita asked.
"If I read this accurately, I'd say I have about ten left."
"That low? Did you ever go into a tower?" Aelita asked, shocked.
"I did, but only to pass between sectors. Besides, I haven't regenerated any life points once."
"How'd you deactivate the towers, then?" Jeremy asked, frowning.
"I blasted them until they went offline." Aeron informed them.
"But that's dangerous!" Jeremy exclaimed. "That could sever the connection between Lyoko and the real world!"
Aeron shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. The tower comes back online in a matter of hours. But can you check my avatar? I have a feeling something's wrong with it."
Jeremy opened up Aeron's avatar, and quickly discovered something. "Aeron, you're not gonna like this."
"Tell me anyway."
"You've got a bug that keeps you from regenerating on your own at any time. Even if you entered a tower, your life points won't come back."
"So, what would it take to get back life points?" Aeron asked.
"I could regenerate them for you," Aelita said shyly.
Aeron raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
Aelita nodded. "I can do it at the cost of half my own life points."
Aeron frowned. "You sure that's okay?"
Aelita nodded. "I'm sure."
"It would be better if she did that, Aeron, than if you remained at your current level of life points."
"Is it because the bug will cause me to be deleted rather than de-virtualized?" Aeron asked.
"Right. You're pretty smart, you know that?" Jeremy asked.
"I don't know. Maybe." Aeron said.
Jeremy pulled up Aeron's avatar again. "I'll try to get a debug program working to fix the problem. In the meantime, Aelita…?"
"I know." Aelita closed her eyes and pointed her hand at Aeron. Angelic voices began singing somewhere in the background of Lyoko, and then Aeron's form began glowing as his life points were restored to full strength.
"Well, Einstein? How do my life points look?" Aeron asked when the voices stopped singing.
Jeremy glanced at Aeron's life points, then looked again, not believing what he was seeing. "I don't believe this!"
"What is it, Jeremy?" Aelita asked.
"Aeron's life points are higher than anything I've ever seen!"
"Which is, what, one hundred thousand?" Aeron asked.
"Exactly!"
The elevator opened and the others came up.
"Hey, Einstein. What're you freaking out about?" Odd asked.
"Take a look." Jeremy pointed to Aeron's life point value.
"What's so special about-?" Odd's mouth dropped open midsentence. "100,000?!"
Jeremy nodded. "For real!"
Ulrich looked at the monitor. "Jeremy, what's the Apache doing? It's just hovering there."
Jeremy checked. "I don't know, but-HEY!" He suddenly looked at the monitor in shock. "What's a spectre doing there?!"
They looked and saw a way oversized spectre flying high up into the Apache.
"Whatever it is, we can't stop it." Yumi said grimly.
"Aeron! Aelita!"
"What now, Einstein?" Aeron asked.
"A second spectre flew up to the Apache! Something's up! You've got to deactivate that tower fast!"
"Hmm. A second spectre? How big was it?"
"Much larger than anything I've seen so far!"
"I get it. Now I know what XANA's up to." Aeron said.
"What is he up to?" Aelita asked, puzzled.
"Just drive and I'll-!" Aeron cursed suddenly. "Jeremy! We need another vehicle!"
"All of them were de-virtualized. I can give Aelita her wings, but you're going to have to go on foot."
"All right. I can cover a lot of ground on foot." Aeron said, unfazed.
Aelita tapped her bracelet and her wings flared out. She flew into the air and soared off.
Aeron watched her go. "She looks like an angel. I suppose you like her that much, Jeremy?"
Jeremy's mouth dropped open. "How did you know?"
"I know all and see all." Aeron said smugly. "Just don't let it get in the way of what's at stake."
Aeron ran after Aelita, making a mental note to explain later that which needed to be explained.