Morning came and the LYOKO warriors were ready for Yin to come. Each had packed a backpack full of clothes and food and a first aid kit. Kiwi danced around Odd's legs, knowing that something was about to happen.
Yin appeared in Jeremy's dorm room, the agreed upon meeting place. Today she was dressed in an indigo tunic, black pants with blue and green swirl designs and a fuchsia eyepatch that covered her left eye.
"Ready to go?" she asked. They nodded. "Okay, then."
Yin pulled out a silver key and pointed it at the door. A beam of light shot from the end and a portal opened.
Kiwi growled and hid behind Odd.
"Is that the dog?" Yin asked.
Odd picked up Kiwi. "Yeah. He's a little upset at the moment. He doesn't know you."
"That's fine," said Yin. She took Kiwi from Odd.
"Bye, Kiwi," said Odd with a final pat on the dog's head.
"Step through the portal and you'll be in the other dimension," said Yin.
"Anything we should know about this dimension we're going to?" asked Ulrich.
Yin pulled out a newspaper and handed it to Eva. "Everything you need to know is on the front page."
"Let's go," said Aelita.
One at a time, they stepped into the portal and disappeared.
They appeared in a dark warehouse somewhere near water. Sunlight came through the small windows illuminating the dust particles in the air.
Kayla sneezed. "Oh! Eva, what does the newspaper say?" she sniffed.
Eva took a moment and quietly reviewed the front page. The others watched her raise an eyebrow.
"Okay," Eva drew out.
"What?" asked Odd.
"Apparently there have been some monster sightings," Eva said.
"It's probably XANA," said Jeremy.
Eva frowned. "Not unless XANA's trying to lower Manhattan's crime rate."
"Manhattan?" asked Yumi. "As in New York? Were in America?"
Eva nodded. "And it's dated 1997."
"We've gone back in time?" asked Kayla.
"I don't think so," said Aelita. "It's a different dimension. Perhaps they've always been a few years behind us."
"With any luck, the outdated technology will slow XANA down," said Ulrich.
"Let's hope so," said Kayla. "New York is the city that never sleeps. There are so many electronic devices."
Aelita shook her head. "XANA was created a few years earlier."
Ulrich groaned. "There goes that hope."
"Don't be negative," Odd said with a smile.
"Odd's right," said Eva. "Negativity will only lead to our demise. And the last thing we need is a defeat. Especially when Yin is counting on us to get the job done."
"I'm not so sure about Yin," said Jeremy.
"I'm with you there, brother," said Eva. "But if what she says is true, XANA could destroy this world. And I for one am not going to sit by and let it."
"She's right," said Yumi. "We have to trust Yin. Now what were you saying about monsters?"
"Not much to tell," said Eva. "There isn't a picture of them. It only says that a bank robbery was foiled by a group of monsters."
Kayla shuddered. "I don't like this. What have we gotten ourselves into?"
"Stop." Eva put the newspaper down. She pulled out her cell phone. "Our phones work, but I don't know how well."
"We'll work with what we got," said Kayla. "That's what you're always telling me, right?"
"At least Yin was nice and left us some cash," said Odd. He opened his backpack and took out an envelope that looked like it was about to explode.
"How much do we have?" asked Ulrich.
"Two thousand dollars," said Odd. "At least that's what she told me."
"Not much," said Eva. "We can easily burn a hole in that in an hour just in taxi fares and food. We'll have to be careful how we spend it. Unless . . . " Eva turned away, her eyes growing distant.
"No!" said Kayla warningly. "Don't even think about it."
"Too late," said Eva. "Everyone, check your bags. If Yin slipped money into Odd's, maybe she slipped something else in one of ours."
The seven of them opened their backpacks and searched for anything they didn't pack.
"I found a key," said Aelita, holding up a key ring. "It's a hotel room key to the Plaza Hotel."
"What?"
"To the penthouse suite," Aelita said. "At least that's what her note says."
"She got us a suite at the Plaza Hotel?" Kayla said in shock. "The Plaza?"
"Oh, come on! You seriously think I would leave you alone in New York?" Yin was standing behind Jeremy and Ulrich.
"The thought had crossed my mind," Jeremy said flatly.
"Come on," said Yin. "I rented a van."
The eight of them went outside and found a dinged up van parked next to the warehouse. Yin got into the driver's seat and started it. The LYOKO warriors clamored in after her.
Yin drove erratically.
"Don't get us pulled over," said Ulrich.
"Don't worry," Yin said. "I've done this before. Granted it was with something much bigger and could fly, but this isn't too different from that."
Yin pulled up next to the Plaza Hotel and they got out. Eva watched Yin walk up to the front desk and sign them in. There were a lot of looks from the staff, looks that Eva was not comfortable with.
They followed the bellhop to the penthouse suite. Yin gave him a generous tip and he left.
"I signed you guys under the name 'Riddle'," said Yin. "I'm using the name Anne Riddle. Common enough first name, don't you think?"
"Whatever works for you," said Odd.
"Anyway, I didn't tell them much about you," Yin continued. "Make up the story as you please. You can be cousins, friends, whatever you like. I'll check in with you when I can."
"Wait!" called Yumi. "What if something happens and we need you?"
"Check your mobiles," said Yin. "My number's in there under 'Riddle'."
Yin disappeared.
"At least we have a way to contact her," said Kayla.
"Listen up," said Eva. "I don't think it's a very good idea to use our real names for anything. If we have to give someone a name, we should use a fake. XANA can probably track us if it gets into a data base."
"Okay, bro," said Odd, putting his arm around Eva's shoulders. "Can I call you 'Ricky'?"
"Whatever," said Eva. "Kayla, you know the aliases I use. Just in case something happens."
"I know," said Kayla.
"Let's get settled in," said Eva. "But keep everything ready to go if we need to leave in a hurry."
The seven of them explored the suite and the hallways on their floor. Aelita and Kayla took inventory on everything they had. Jeremy began searching for leads on the internet. Eva, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich mapped out the hallways and all possible escape routes.
"I found a way to the roof," said Ulrich when they came back in.
"Good," said Jeremy. "We'll need it."
"Find anything, Jeremy?" asked Yumi.
"Not at the moment. There doesn't appear to be any abnormal activity here from what I can tell."
"That's weird," said Yumi. "You'd think if XANA was here it would be causing all kinds of trouble."
"I agree," said Aelita.
"Maybe XANA's gone incognito," said Odd.
"But why?" asked Kayla. "This isn't LYOKO. It can take out half the city in an hour."
"It's looking for something," Eva said.
"For what? What could be here that XANA could want?" asked Yumi.
Eva turned to Odd. "Let's hope your anticipation ability still works."
Odd nodded and activated his specter band.
"Okay, now what?" asked Ulrich. "He could never activate it on command. And how do we even know that he still has that ability?"
"He still has it," said Eva. "Remember back at the factory when we were first practicing with the specter bands? I hit Odd so hard that he had a psychic vision."
"But I think there were other elements in play with that one, Eva," said Kayla.
Odd froze where he stood. He could see something! Winged monsters. A castle. An infant.
"Well?" Eva asked.
Odd shook his head. "It's not what XANA is after. It's who. I saw winged monsters and a castle and inside of the castle was a baby. I think XANA wants the baby."
"A baby?" asked Ulrich.
"What could XANA want with a baby?" asked Yumi.
"It's perfect," said Kayla. "XANA could control the baby and no one would be the wiser."
"Unless whoever sprang XANA from LYOKO wants the baby," said Eva. "We need to find out where the castle is."
"It could be Belvedere Castle in Central Park," said Aelita. "We're not far from it."
"Let's check it out," said Yumi.
"No," said Eva. "It's too obvious. That's not it."
"What?" asked Jeremy. "How do you know?"
Odd narrowed his eyes and turned to Jeremy. "It's XANA, Einstein. It never makes anything easy."
"Jeremy's right, we don't know for sure," said Aelita.
"Thank you, Aelita," said Jeremy with a smug smile.
"But Odd is also right," Aelita continued. "It is very rare that XANA would make anything simple. Even if it believed that we could not follow it, it wouldn't be careless with its plans. We should check just to be safe."
"Then let's check it out," said Ulrich. "The sooner we rule it out, the sooner we can move on."
The seven of them left and walked through Central Park to Belvedere Castle.
"This isn't it," said Odd.
"You sure?" asked Ulrich.
"Positive," replied Odd. "I know this wasn't in my vision."
Eva was very quiet. She tuned out the others and listened to what was around her.
"Guys," she said. "We need to go. Now."
"What's wrong?" asked Yumi.
Kayla looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Eva, it's nothing."
"Kayla, now," Eva said.
A man walked up to them. Eva's eyes became alive. There was something off about this man. He walked with purpose up to them. And then she saw it; XANA's mark.
"Run!" Eva yelled.
The man hurled a ball of energy at them. They scattered and began to run back to the hotel. Eva brought up the rear, careful to avoid any attacks, but protecting the others at the same time.
"Kayla, just run!" Eva shouted.
Eva turned to face the man who was possessed by XANA. "Okay, buster, let's see what you got." Eva gave her specter band a twist and activated her Jeremy-fied form.
The man growled, the symbol pulsing in his eyes. Eva conjured an energy ball of her own and threw it. It was a good hit that sent the man reeling. Eva dropped into a defensive crouch and waited. The man righted himself and came at Eva again. His movements were quick for a human's but so were Eva's. She landed a powerful kick to his leg and slammed her knee into his stomach. Both attacks had much more power than a human and the man was sent flying into the air. The man landed on his feet and threw a punch that Eva dodged. She slammed her own fist into his face.
Thinking she now had his undivided attention, Eva began to run down the path away from the hotel. The man was hot on her heels. Eva hid in the trees and they began to play a very dangerous game of hide-and-seek.
I know, a total cliffhanger. I thought the story needed a bit of drama right about now.