The samurai crouched over the crude map of his desert before gazing off into the distance. Something strange was happening. The monsters he had hunted and fought for so long were becoming more and more numerous, especially near the Tornado Peaks. As a result of this, he had been driven away from the Oasis. With the Tilting Plains too dangerous to traverse for now and the infestation of the Sand Hills and Floating Plains, the boy and his clones had been forced to retreat into the Northern Wastes. The small, sparse wasteland had been one of the last places explored due to the difficulty in reaching it. As far as he knew, there was only three narrow land bridges which connecting the Northern Wastes to the mainland. He and his clones had managed to block one with a massive landslide while the other two could be seen from his position. A muted rumble in the distance informed the warrior that his counterparts had succeeded in blocking off one of the many canyons that crisscrossed the region. He was no fool. He had realized some time ago that the roles had been reversed. He was the hunted. And now, he could only wait until his enemies came to him.
The geisha slumped against the edge of a nearby cliff with a heavy sigh. Leaning her head back against the smooth stone, the raven-haired girl closed her eyes and let her mind drift, not in the focused clearing of meditation but the random and chaotic swirl of exhaustion. Once she had discovered the strange new cryptic speaking words, she had hardly ceased attempting to decipher them. For almost a full period she had remained in the Tower of Benevolence, slaving away to understand their meaning. Yet all she had managed to deduce was that they were instructions of some sort. Instructions for something so complex that the procedures and problems the strange texts described were beyond the geisha's grasp. Wearied by her efforts, the geisha had chosen to leave the tower for a time. Not to meditate. Not to hone her telekinesis. Not even to explore. She had come to rest. As she did so, she realized that while she had been scouring the mountains recording everything she had seen, she had never once really sat back and took in the scenery. Opening her eyes, the geisha glanced around at the mighty mountains that loomed around her, clothed in mist and peppered with hardy, green trees which clung to the rocky ledges. Feeling her mind relax, the geisha closed her eyes once more and listened as a slight breeze wound its way through the towering peaks.
Jeremy, William, and Aelita sat at there usual table in the cafeteria. As the two boys were busy eating there lunches, Aelita was regaling them with stories about their new friend Odd and the glacier-covered land he had told her about.
"Three tarantulas at once?" William asked before taking another bite of his meal as Aelita finished yet another story about the adventurous feline. "That sounds a little hard to believe. Are you sure he wasn't exaggerating?"
"From what I've seen of him so far? Probably," Aelita conceded, rolling her eyes with a soft smile. The truth of the matter was that Odd had told the story with five tarantulas in it rather than her aforementioned three. "He can get pretty excited when he's telling a story. I get the feeling that he's not the type to take being alone very well."
"Guess he's the polar opposite of Einstein here, huh?" William smirked towards Jeremy, who glanced up at him to give him something akin to an offended expression.
"And what," Jeremy asked with a flash of indignance, "is that supposed to mean, exactly?"
"Oh, come on," William rolled his eyes. "Like you don't know what I'm talking about. You spend practically all your free time in either your room or the computer lab working on some program or another. And when you do actually interact with someone, it's either a teacher or one of us."
"So?" Jeremy huffed, crossing his arms. This was not the first time his friends had brought up his self-imposed isolation. "I have a job to do. A very serious job!"
"We know that," Aelita assured her friend before adding with a hint of amusement. "We just can't help but wonder what on Earth you're going to do with all the free time you'll have once we defeat Xana."
"You know, despite what you believe, I did have a life before I discovered the supercomputer and met you two," Jeremy retorted. William feigned a questioning look towards Aelita.
"Well don't look at me," Aelita replied to the silent question, the corners of her mouth quirking. "That was before my time."
"Yeah, and I've only been here for a year," William added, exchanging another mischievous glance with Aelita. "What is this 'life' you speak of? I've heard some rumors of a kid named Jeremy who was always getting the right answers in class and was always locked up in his room doing something or other."
"But that can't be right!" Aelita exclaimed with a wide grin. "That's how he is now! And since he's clearly stated he's changed, that can't possibly have been him!"
"Haha," Jeremy drawled. "Very funny, can we talk about something else?"
"Alright, but you know Jeremy, you really make it too easy," Aelita replied, chuckling with William as Jeremy shook his head. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, since you both seem to be a pair of jokers," Jeremy began, earning a slight huff from William and a slight smirk from Aelita. "I figured I'd send you with Lyoko's resident joker, Odd, to go survey his virtual reality."
"Really?" William asked, while a flicker of uncertainty stole across Aelita's face.
"Are you sure?" The pinkette asked, thinking of the last time she had visited another virtual world. Jeremy seemed to sense the reason for her concern.
"Don't worry, Aelita, I'm sure it'll be nothing like Carthage," Jeremy comforted Aelita. "Besides, despite his apparent tendency to exaggerate, I bet Odd knows his way around there pretty well. And this time you'll have William along for the ride, too."
"Alright," Aelita nodded shaking off her fears and gradually becoming enthused by the idea of exploring a whole new world. "When do you want us to go?"
"Well, I was thinking I could send you on your little expedition right after school if that's alright with you two," Jeremy informed his two friends, who turned to look at each other before shrugging .
"I've got no plans," William affirmed. Jeremy looked over to Aelita.
"I'll return to Lyoko as soon as school is out," Aelita announced. "I'll find Odd and tell him what we're going to do and then I'll meet you at Tower One."
"Sounds like a plan, then," Jeremy affirmed. "Now if you'll excuse me, for once I feel like actually finishing my meal."
Odd surveyed the clearing below, grinning at how high up he was. He had a blast climbing the many trees of Lyoko. For once he had plenty of places to practice some of his more acrobatic tricks, something he had found difficult to do in his home due to the lack of trees - or for that matter a lack of anything which even resembled trees. Now, though, the hybrid was in the process of scaling Lyoko's sole mountain. Aelita had pointed the peak out to him before he had left, even mentioning that she had even created a stone staircase in the side of the mountain. Odd, having climbed far steeper and more perilous - not to mention more slippery - peaks, had opted to scale the mountain the old-fashioned way. After all, he could always use Aelita's Staircase whenever he wanted. But for his first time reaching the peak of the mountain? That required something special and challenging. Not that climbing this mountain was challenging for the feline, but it was the thought that counted. With the slightest of grunts, Odd pulled himself over the edge of the mountain's peak. Climbing to his feet, he brushed himself off.
"Well, that took you long enough." A voice teased from a nearby rock outcropping. Odd was so surprised that he took a step backwards, nearly falling off the edge of the mountain in the process. Waving his arms about before plunging them down into the ground, claws extended, Odd glared at the virtual elf leaning against a nearby boulder.
"Say that when I'm just climbing over the edge so that I can fall to my death next time, why dontcha!?" He shouted out, voice dripping with sarcasm and tail lashing in annoyance.
"Oh, you'd have been fine," Aelita smirked, rolling her eyes at her overreacting friend. "This is a virtual world, remember? At most you would have lost a few life-points. Besides, it would've taught you to use the stairs next time. I worked hard on those, you know."
"Well, I was planning on using them eventually," Odd protested, standing up from his crouched pose. "I just wanted to climb the mountain. Besides, using the stairs is cheating anyways."
"Oh?" Aelita quirked an eyebrow. "Then it's a good thing I didn't use the stairs, then."
Odd shot a puzzled look at the virtual elf. "You climbed up the mountain?" He asked, incredulous that the pinkette had beat him to the top. Aelita shook her head. "Then, how-" Odd began to ask.
"Overwing," Aelita replied before Odd could finish his question. She inclined her head in a direction off to Odd's right.
"What's a...," Odd began to ask as he turned to look in the direction Aelita had indicated. He broke off as he caught sight of a strange grey platform that hovered several centimeters off the ground and had what looked like a control console with handlebars sticking out of it. Realizing he still did not know what the strange object was, Odd finished his question. "So...what is it?"
Aelita rolled her eyes gently as she walked over to the overwing, stepping onto it and gripping the handles. "It's a vehicle," Aelita replied. "It helps me get around Lyoko faster. Now hop on," she ordered, gesturing to the floor of the overwing. "We're going to meet William at Tower One."
"You mean the tower that brought me here?" Odd asked as he approached the overwing. 'Whelp,' he shrugged. 'Can't be much harder than riding a krab.'
"The very same," Aelita confirmed as Odd stepped onto the overwing, placing his paws on her shoulders in anticipation of the overwing's acceleration. All the same, he was not prepared for how fast the slow-looking craft accelerated. Paws flying off of Aelita's shoulders, Odd waved his arms about trying to get a hold of anything to keep him from falling over backwards off the overwing. Aelita glanced over her shoulder as Odd finally managed to latch his arms around Aelita's waist.
"Geez, Odd, you're almost as bad as Jeremy," Aelita commented, slowing down so that Odd could maneuver himself into a better position. The hybrid, however, had no idea what Aelita was talking about.
"Huh, what do you mean?" Odd asked, confused by the reference.
"Oh, nothing," Aelita shrugged to herself. "I'll tell you about it later then you can give Jeremy a hard time about it as much as you want."
"Um, okay," Odd replied, still unsure of what he was agreeing to. "Speaking of friends, William's the other guy you told me about, right? The one who comes to Lyoko to help you fight monsters?"
"That's right," Aelita confirmed. "He's going to meet us at the tower. Jeremy's planned a little trip to your world for us, so it looks like you're going to be able to give us that grand tour you were talking about after all."
"So to summarize, how much do we know about this Odd character anyways?" William shot over his shoulder as he climbed up the ladder leading to the factory.
"Pretty much everything I've told you so far," Jeremy shouted up to the older boy as he gripped one of lower rungs of the ladder before heaving himself up. "From what we can tell, he's the guardian of his virtual world similar to how Aelita is to Lyoko. Strange things is, he doesn't seem to able to interact with the towers, the network, or even manipulate the virtual landscape."
"Maybe that's just an Aelita thing," William suggested, offering Jeremy a hand and pulling him up onto the bridge. "After all, Odd's the only other guardian we've encountered so far. Besides, you said he was armed, right? Maybe he doesn't need creativity as much as Aelita does."
"Perhaps," Jeremy conceded, shoving his hands into his pocket as he walked towards the factory. "But still, you'd think as the guardian of a virtual world he'd have...well...more."
"Eh, maybe he does but he doesn't know about it," William shrugged as he walked over to one of the three ropes that hung from the factory's ceiling.
"Or he hasn't told us," Jeremy suggested as William swung down to the factory floor, Jeremy coming to a somewhat less graceful landing beside the older boy.
"What makes you say that?" William asked, raising an eyebrow, as the two boys walked over to the elevator. Jeremy shrugged, not quite sure of the reason himself.
"I don't know. I just feel like there's more to him than he's let on."
"Or that he knows," William defended Odd again. "After all, he said he woke up in a tower with no memory. There's no reason we shouldn't believe just that. Besides, didn't you tell me that's exactly what happened with Aelita?"
"Well, yes," Jeremy conceded, pressing the descent button in the elevator and standing still as the door closed shut and the elevator shuddered to a start. "There's just something...I don't know."
"Well I have an idea," William suggested as the elevator continued its journey. "Aelita's been spending a lot of her free time on Lyoko with him. Maybe that's why you're so suspicious of him."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Jeremy snapped, starting to form a good idea of what the older boy was implying as the elevator ground to a halt.
"I'm just saying its a possibility," William replied, raising his palms towards Jeremy, who was busy inputting the password for the computer lab.
"Look, if you think I'm jealous -," Jeremy began as he walked over to the supercomputer interface before being interrupted by William.
"You said it, not me," William shot back. "Now, you gonna send me to Lyoko or not?"
"Fine," Jeremy muttered as he took a seat at the console and William headed down to the scanners. "Conversation was starting to get out of hand anyways."
With that, Jeremy began to prepare the virtualization process for William. He also began to run up the hologrid program so that he could begin monitoring Lyoko.
"When is he gonna get here anyways?" Odd asked, throwing a pebble off the edge of the grassy platform. Aelita rolled her eyes at the feline's impatience.
"They'll be here soon," Aelita informed her restless friend, who got up from where he was sitting to walk over to her. "It takes a little while to get from Kadic to the factory."
"If you say so," Odd shrugged before gesturing over his shoulder with a thumb. "Anyways, where's the tower for - what was it, Forest Mountain?"
"Yes, Forest Mountain," Aelita confirmed before answering Odd. "And as for the tower...it was destroyed by Xana."
"What!? How!?" Odd shouted, shock racing through him as he gazed up at the tower he and Aelita were standing next to. He had always seen the tower's as impenetrable and unyielding, always safe havens from monsters and blizzards. To hear that they could be destroyed sent a tremor of horror through the boy.
"Xana used a pair of megatanks," Aelita replied, gazing towards Forest Mountain. "My...our creator, Franz Hopper, was attempting to make contact with the others and I. Needless to say, Xana was not enthused at the idea."
"Why? What's this 'Xana' got against you guys and Franz Hopper anyways?" Odd asked, morbidly curious to know more about the menacing and obviously very powerful Xana.
"We stand in the way of him and the real world," Aelita explained, taking a seat on a nearby rock and wrapping her arms around her legs, looking somewhat disheartened. "If he gets past us then there would be no one to stop him. Who knows how much death and destruction he could cause."
"Oh," Odd breathed out, an expression of uncertainty flitting across his face as he tried to think of a way to comfort the young elf. "Well...then I guess its a good thing I came along!" Odd exclaimed. "Now that you guys have some help - well, some more help - we'll take down Xana in no time!"
Aelita gave Odd a grateful smile before laughing, her voice like chimes in the wind. "I guess everything hasn't been as bad as I've made it out to be," Aelita admitted. Odd raised an eyebrow in a question to which Aelita responded. "Well, if Xana hadn't infected me with a virus then we would have shut down Xana and the supercomputer - and you along with it."
Now it was Odd's turn for silence as his mind contemplated his near miss. Before either of them could break the silence, however, another voice did.
"Well, I hope you two haven't missed me too much," Jeremy's voice came from above, eliciting a startled yowl from Odd as he leaped up into the air, still not used to hearing Jeremy's voice come out of nowhere. Aelita giggled at the feline's antics before responding to Jeremy.
"Well, I can't speak for Odd, but I haven't been away from you that long have I?" Aelita teased. She could just imagine Jeremy shaking his head.
"I guess not, but anyways," Jeremy replied. "William will be arriving soon. I hope you guys are ready to head to the Ice Zone."
"Ice Zone?" Aelita raised an eyebrow at Jeremy's name for Odd's virtual home.
"Well, its full of ice. Besides, do you have a better name for it?" Jeremy protested. Aelita shrugged, however Odd seemed to have an idea of his own.
"Yeah!" He shouted out. "How about Odd's Amazing Winter Wonderland! Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"Quite a mouthful though," a new voice came from behind Aelita and Odd, followed by a light thud. Odd whirled around to face the newcomer, while Aelita did so much slower and calmer, recognizing William's voice.
"'Sup, Aelita," William greeted the virtual girl before turning to face Odd. "So I'm guessing you're Odd, then? Name's William."
William held out his hand to Odd, who just stared at it for a moment before giving Aelita a confused look. "You shake it," Aelita informed with a small smile. A light dawned on Odd's face and he took William's hand and shook it.
"Well, nice to meet you , William!" Odd exclaimed.
"Likewise," William smirked as he lowered Zweihänder to the ground. Odd's eyes widened as he finally noticed the massive blade.
"Wow, big sword," Odd commented. William glanced down at Zweihänder fondly before turning his gaze back to Odd and chuckling.
"What?" Odd asked, confused at the source of William's amusement. William shook his head.
"Oh, it's nothing," William assured the feline. "It's just that your getup looks like its from Kung-Fu Commando."
"What's that?" Odd asked. William shrugged.
"Eh, it's just a video game. Lyoko's way cooler though."
"Yes it is, and where we're going is even cooler," Aelita interrupted the conversation of the two boys. "That is, if we ever manage to get there."
"Alright, alright, we get the hint," William drawled, sharing an amused glance with Odd.
"Okay then," Aelita nodded, satisfied, before turning her gaze up towards Jeremy. "Jeremy, we're going to enter the tower and head towards the Ice Zone."
"Alright, Aelita, you're clear from this end so go when you feel ready," Jeremy replied, a few key clacks audible in the background.
Aelita nodded to herself, clenching her fists in determination. Looking back towards Odd and William, who nodded their support, Aelita squared her shoulders and walked into the tower with Odd and William close behind.
William let out an involuntary gasp as he walked through the side of the tower, the walls rippling around his form as he did so. Once through, William rolled his shoulders in discomfort, somewhat disconcerted by the experience. Odd shot his new friend a glance.
"First time?" The hybrid guessed, noting William's reaction to entering the tower.
"Yeah," William nodded, making a face at the odd sensation. "Was it like that for you the first time?"
"Uh, I guess so," Odd replied, rubbing a paw against his neck. "I kinda fell through the wall my first time, so I was more surprised by that than anything else."
"Speaking of falling," Aelita commented as she walked towards the edge of the platform. "That's exactly what we're going to have to do in order to get to the Ice Zone."
With that said, Aelita lifted her arms level to her shoulders, closed her eyes, and leaned over the abyss below before plunging down into its depths. Odd and William rushed to the edge and looked down.
"Does she always do that?" Odd asked, glancing at William while pointing down into the chasm below. William shrugged.
"No," he replied. "Usually she doesn't give you any warning at all."
The two boys stood on the edge of the platform for a time before Jeremy's voice came at them.
"You guys going to go anytime soon? Aelita's already in Odd's tower," he informed.
"Um, age before beauty?" Odd gestured to William, unsure of where he had gotten the saying from as always. William glanced at the hybrid, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"Okay," William shrugged, a relieved look crossing Odd's face. "But you and Aelita were in stasis so you're older than me by at least ten years!"
Odd's relieved look changed to one of panic as William slapped him on the back, causing him to plummet down into the depths of the tower.
"Don't worry!" William called, amusement filling his voice as he heard Odd's scream, before jumping down after the hybrid. "I hear cats always land on their feet!"
Aelita stood in the center of the platform, a hand resting on her hip as she waited for the two boys to finally arrive.
"What's taking them so long?" Aelita asked, a touch of impatience working its way into her voice.
"Just some...pre-flight jitters," Jeremy replied. "They should be arriving soon."
No sooner had Jeremy said this than Aelita began to hear a vague yelling, followed by Odd flying out of the chasm and landing on the platform on all fours, looking a little frazzled from the ride but otherwise alright. William was the next to arrive on the platform, albeit much calmer than Odd.
"See?" William told Odd with a smirk. "I told you cats always land on their feet."
"Well it didn't help that you pushed me!" Odd protested, glancing at Aelita for support. The pinkette, however, just looked innocent as always, deciding to stay out of this. "Some friend you are!" Odd protested before turning his glare onto William. "Do you people always do things like this? Push other people off of ledges or startle them so much they almost fall off themselves?"
"Well, I'm not sure what that last one was about," William replied, glancing at Aelita, who feigned ignorance. "But, yeah, pretty much - at least when there's not any actual danger. By the way, did Aelita tell you about the time she materialized a boulder above my head? It was my first time on Lyoko, too."
"Are you still going on about that?" Aelita shook her head, her earring swaying about. "That was ages ago."
Odd looked between the two before shaking his head. "You people are crazy! You want the five star tour or not?" William glanced over to Aelita.
"I'm afraid I'll have to take you up on your offer later," Aelita replied. "Jeremy and I have some work to do in the tower. I'm sure William will be happy to go with you though."
"Sure thing, let's see this 'Amazing Winter Wonderland' of yours," William affirmed. Odd shot a questioning look at Aelita, but she gestured for the two boys to go on without her.
"Okay then," Odd shrugged, somewhat disappointed at having one less person to share his home with. "Let's go, William."
With that the two boys made their way out of the tower, William shuddering once more as he passed through the permeable wall.
"Alright, Jeremy," Aelita called up, who had remained silent, waiting for the others to leave. "Let's get to work."
William rolled his shoulders yet again as he stepped out of the tower. When his gaze set on the landscape in front of him, his eyes widened at the sight of the vast, imposing ice-covered land.
"Whoa," William breathed as he surveyed his surroundings, which gleamed and sparkled from the cloudy but still bright sky. Odd stood a little ways ahead of William, paws on his hips as he proudly surveyed his homeland. Finally, after sometime of staring out into the crystalline landscape, Odd sighed.
"As awesome and beautiful as Lyoko is," he pondered out loud. "It's good to be home."
William walked over to his new friend and glanced over the side of the icy cliff before turning back to the hybrid, sheathing Zweihänder in the movement.
"Alright then, how 'bout that tour you were talking about," William said, snapping Odd out of whatever thoughts he had. The hybrid's pondering expression changed to one of enthusiasm in the blink of an eye.
"Okay then! Welcome to the Slippery Slopes!" Odd exclaimed, spreading his arms wide to indicate the entire plateau. "Home of some of the best ice slides you've never seen - but soon will!"
"And where are these ice slides of yours?" William asked, mouth quirking at the hybrid's enthusiasm. Odd began to walk away from the icy ledge. As William began to follow, however, a buzzing noise familiar to both of the boys began to fill the air.
"Wazps!""Hornets!" Odd and William exclaimed. The two whirled around to come face to face with a whole swarm of the creatures, at least two dozen in all.
"Jeremy, Odd and I are about to be surrounded by a whole swarm of hornets!" William attempted to inform the group's de facto leader. He received no response, however.
"Um, yeah," Odd started, eyes wide at the sight of so many wazps. "I think Aelita said something about not being able to contact your friend Jeremy from any place but the tower."
"When did she say that!?" William asked Odd, incredulous that the scatter-brained hybrid had heard something that the older boy had missed. Odd rubbed the back of his neck.
"Uh, before you arrived," he replied, jerking his attention towards the approaching group of hornets. "Don't worry about that, though. I bet we can take these flying creeps."
William said nothing as he drew Zweihänder slowly, white energy crawling up the massive blade. Rolling his eyes at his stoic friend's seriousness, Odd cocked both his wrists.
"Bet I can take down more wazps than you," the hybrid grinned to the dopplesoldner. William looked over to Odd with a smirk.
"We'll see about that!" He said, returning Odd's challenge. With a swift movement, William swung Zweihänder through the air in front of him, releasing a massive wave of pure white energy. The wave slammed into a half dozen hornets, devirtualizing them. Odd gawked at the spectacle for a second before firing off a volley of his own.
"No fair! That's cheating!" Odd protested even as his first volley decimated an equal amount of wazps. William shrugged.
"Eh, what can I say? When you've got it, you've got it."
"You and Aelita are practically the same person just with different color schemes!" Odd retorted.
"Hardly, just wait 'till you get to know us better, then you'll really see the differences," William replied before the two boys were finally engulfed in the swarm, which was still a dozen strong even after losing half of their number. The battle to follow was one without words as arrows collided with wazps, laser bolts flew through the air, Zweihänder swished back and forth cutting the monsters in half, and the two boys avoided the acidic pools of liquid dispersed by the hornets. In a matter of seconds the battle was over as quickly as it had begun. Odd and William surveyed the surrounding landscape, eager for more due to the sheer exhilaration. Finding nothing, Odd turned to William.
"Ten wazps, beat that!" He boasted triumphing, holding his fists up in the air. Needless to say, he had not counted the wazps prior to the fight.
"Easily, fourteen," William grinned back in return. "There were twenty-four hornets in all. I guess math is not your strong point, huh?"
"What!?" Odd exclaimed in disbelief, running through the battle in his mind to see if William had, indeed, scored more monsters than him. To his dismay, he found that William had. That left only one question unanswered. "What's math anyways? And what does it have to do with fighting?"
William stared at Odd before shaking his head. How was he supposed to explain math to someone who had apparently no idea what it was? Instead, William decided to change the subject.
"Nothing, you can ask Aelita if you want," William replied, sure that the girl genius would be perfectly capable of explaining math to Odd. "Now, where were these ice slides you were talking about?"
Odd raised an eyebrow at the change in topic, the purple markings on his face moving with it, but he shrugged it off and gained a mischievous look as he noticed something behind William. As William turned to see what Odd was looking up, the hybrid pushed the dopplesoldner forward into the concealed hole in the icy ground. The same hole, in fact, that Odd had first fallen into all that time ago. As William slide down the ice tunnel with an elongated yell of surprise, Odd couldn't help but laugh at the older boy.
"Hey, I think I'm starting to see why you guys like doing this!" Odd called after William, his voice echoing against the ice. "It's pretty funny!"
Once he was sure William was far enough down the ice tunnel, Odd hurled himself after his friend with a whoop of exhilaration.
"Okay, that didn't work. Try the other access port," Jeremy informed Aelita as she poured over the tower's interface. She did as Jeremy asked. A whoop of excitement from his end informed Aelita that her attempt had been successful.
"Alright! I've got access to the tower! I should be able to scan the surrounding area now," Jeremy announced ecstatically. Aelita let out a small smile at the boy's enthusiasm. "Okay, got it! Huh...Odd and William are fighting a swarm of hornets. Looks like they just can't stay out of trouble."
"Should I go and help them?" Aelita asked, concerned for her friends' safety, especially Odd as he was presumable like her in terms of being devirtualized.
"No, their fine," Jeremy replied. "In fact, they just took care of the last monster just now. Besides, now that I have access to the tower, the materialization program will work when William gets devirtualized. As for Odd, I'm sure he's gotten out of plenty of tight scraps before. I wouldn't worry about it to much."
"Huh, you're telling me not to worry?" Aelita asked. "After all those times you spent worrying yourself to death over me and William? You're telling me not to worry."
"Uh, well, yeah," Jeremy ventured. "I guess all your lectures and pep talks sunk in."
"I guess so," Aelita replied skeptically before turning back to the interface. "Anyways, we better get back to retrieving as much data as possible. I can't wait to explore the Ice Zone with William and Odd."
"Wooohooo!" Odd shouted as he whirled in a series of loop-de-loops around the ice tunnel. He could just barely hear William's shouts ahead of him over his own whoops of exhilaration. Of course, whether William's shouts were from excitement or something else, Odd couldn't be too sure. Eventually seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, Odd flipped himself onto his paws, pushing off as he slid off the ice ramp. Somersaulting through the air, Odd landed on all fours, skidding to a halt over the slippery ice.
"Hey, William! Where are you?" Odd shouted, twisting around and around in order to find William. A series of muffled shouts came from within a nearby snow drift. Walking over to the pile of snow, tail twitching in amusement, Odd leapt back as William's massive blade emerged from the drift, plowing away half of the snow that surrounded the dopplesoldner. Incidentally, while Odd had managed to avoid William's blade, he did not manage to avoid the small avalanche of snow caused by William's action.
"Waaah!" Odd yowled as he was half-buried in snow. William smirked as he pulled himself out of the remainder of the snow bank.
"Ha! Serves you right for pushing me into a hole," he remarked as he walked over to Odd, offering the hybrid a hand. Taking it, Odd was pulled to his feet by William and both proceeded to brush the snow off of them.
"Hey, at least admit it was fun!" Odd insisted. William chuckled before glancing back towards Odd.
"Alright, it was fun," William conceded. "A little."
Odd rolled his eyes at William's stubbornness and was about to reply when he was interrupted by the disembodied voice of Jeremy.
"Okay, testing," Jeremy's voice came, causing Odd to jump into the air once more. He swore he was never going to get used to that. "Alright, Odd, William, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Einstein," William answered, shooting an amused look at Odd, who glared back, defying him to say something. "What's the news with the tower?"
"Well, Aelita's managed to...how should I put this...unlock it," Jeremy replied before elaborating. "I now have the ability to scan the surrounding plateau. In addition, I can now virtualize and materialize you from this specific area of the Ice Zone."
"Wait, what? You mean you couldn't materialize me just a while ago?" William asked, shock all too apparent in his voice as he thought back to the swarm of hornets he and Odd had encountered.
"Yeah, but don't worry," Jeremy consoled his older friend. "Even if you had been devirtualized, as soon as Aelita unlocked the tower, I would have been able to materialize you."
"And if she hadn't been able to unlock the tower?" William challenged.
"Um, then we wouldn't be having this conversation either way," Jeremy replied, avoiding the question. "Oh, and by the way, you might want to get out of there. My scans are picking up a tarantula heading in your direction."
"A tarantula? You don't say?" Odd said, a sly look in his eye. "I wonder if it's the same one that shot me into the tower and off the platform."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Jeremy asked while William gave Odd a questioning look.
"Didn't I tell you guys how I got to Lyoko?" Odd asked, swearing that he had. "A tarantula got a cheap shot on me and knocked me through the tower wall and off the platform. Then I found myself outside another tower, in a forest, with two megatanks!"
"Yeah, I was there," Jeremy reminded Odd. "Besides, I thought you told Aelita that there had been three tarantulas?"
"Oh, well, I might have exaggerated slightly," Odd admitted, remembering he had told the tale with five rather than three.
"Just slightly, huh?" Came Jeremy's voice again as sarcastic as ever. "Anyways, you wanna get a move on? That tarantula's closing in."
"Nah, we got this," Odd dismissed with a flick of his paw. "Right, William?"
"Yeah, sure," William affirmed, eager to take down a tarantula. "Just try not to get yourself killed okay?"
"Pffft," Odd waved off. "You might want to worry more about yourself."
"Well, worry about things later, the tarantula should be in sight now," Jeremy informed the two boys, a screeching roar in the distance confirming his statement. Odd readied his laser arrows, balancing on the balls of his feet as he prepared to dodge any laser fire from the tarantula. Meanwhile, William hefted up Zweihänder, gripping the massive sword in both hands. Finally, the tarantula charged into view, altering course and letting out another menacing roar as it noticed the boys. Once close enough, it lowered onto its hind legs and raised its front two.
"Cover me," William ordered Odd as he rushed forward with Zweihänder by his side.
"You got it," Odd replied, running sideways to the tarantula all the while unleashing a flurry of laser arrows which, while impacting the beast, did little more than distract the tarantula. The monster let out a confused volley of laser bolts, switching between each boy. William continued to rush forward with Zweihänder while Odd provided cover fire. Eventually, the tarantula decided to focus on the nearest threat, much to the chagrin of William, who was devirtualized by the sudden onslaught of laser fire.
"NO!" Odd cried out in dismay before charging at the tarantula in rage while unleashing his remaining arrows in a furious onslaught. The tarantula stumbled back as its mark was hit by a half dozen arrows. Odd ignored his triumph as his rage faded and he fell to his knees, staring at where William had been devirtualized.
"Jeremy...," Odd began. "It's William, he's..."
"Been devirtualized, yeah, I know," Jeremy replied. Odd was shocked at the boy's apathetic tone.
"How can you act so...so - he was your friend!" Odd shouted, enraged by Jeremy's seeming lack of care for William.
"Odd, what are you talking about?" Jeremy asked. "Didn't Aelita - or William, for that matter - tell you that it was alright if he got devirtualized? That was the whole reason we asked him to join us in the first place!"
"Wha...," Odd began before thinking back. In the heat of the moment, he had indeed forgotten that Aelita had told him something along those lines. He fell backwards onto the snowy ground, letting out a ragged sigh of relief. "You people are going to give me a heart attack, you know that?"
"Well, then it's a good thing you're virtual then," Jeremy joked. "No heart to have a cardiac arrest."
"You really need to work on your jokes, Einstein," Odd huffed, picking himself up into a sitting position. He had no idea what a 'cardiac arrest' was, but, from what he'd heard of Jeremy, it probably just meant 'heart attack'. Of course, then again, Odd wasn't quite sure where he had gotten that expression from or what a heart attack actually was.
"Whatever," Jeremy muttered. "Just head back to the tower. Aelita's waiting for you there. We'll continue our expedition into the Ice Zone tomorrow."
"Whatever you say, Jer," Odd replied, getting to his feet and brushing off the snow from himself before heading back up the hillside. He was somewhat disappointed by the brevity of their journey to his home, but he figured that Jeremy just didn't want to risk Aelita being devirtualized. Either that or they had something else to do in the 'real world'.
It was dinnertime before William brought up Aelita's absence from the school.
"Hey, Jeremy, where's Aelita at anyways?" William asked the younger boy as he sat down across the table, setting his meal down in the process. "I haven't seen her since our little expedition."
"That's because she hasn't been here since our 'little expedition'," Jeremy answered, picking at his meal. "She said she wanted to show Odd around Lyoko some more."
"Nothing wrong with that," William remarked. When Jeremy didn't respond he continued. "You shouldn't be so worried about it."
"Me? Why would I be worried about Odd and Aelita?" Jeremy asked, shooting an indignant look towards William.
"You know very well why," William accused. "And it's ridiculous. So Aelita's spending some of her free time with Odd instead of you. Big deal. It doesn't mean anything. And besides, think about it this way. Odd's the only other AI Aelita has met so far. At least, the only other one not trying to kill her. It's only natural she'd want to spend some time with him."
"I know," Jeremy conceded, sighing in defeat. "I just...I don't know."
"Hey," William placed a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "It'll be fine, trust me."
"Central Forest, Eastern Forest, Western Forest, Northern Forest? Who came up with all of these names anyways?" Odd asked as he leaped from tree, enjoying the chance to practice his acrobatics. Aelita watched him with amusement as she walked on the forest path below.
"Jeremy did, for the most part," Aelita called up to Odd. "Though I was the one who decided which direction was North."
"He's not very imaginative is he?" Odd remarked from his perch on one of the branches of a nearby tree. Aelita glanced up, shooting him a look before answering.
"I wouldn't say that," Aelita countered. "He's just more practical when it comes to naming things. Besides, he's only been to Lyoko once before, so it's not like he's been able to really see any landmarks he could name each section after."
"Well, he could've asked you," Odd suggested as he jumped from his branch, somersaulted through the air, and slid down a tree trunk in a spiral, claws etching lines onto the tree.
"Well, I have named some places, you know," Aelita countered. "Take the Marsh and Forest Mountain for instance. I named those."
"Well, those are the only ones with original names," Odd commented before adding slyly. "That is, except for Aelita's Forest."
Aelita shied away from the name, ducking her head in embarrassment. Odd's tail twitched in amusement.
"Why don't you like that name anyways? Isn't it kind of cool that you've got a whole forest named after you?" Odd asked, before humming to himself as he rubbed his chin. "Though, it probably be cooler if the whole place was named after you, huh?"
"Oh, goodness no," Aelita replied, shuddering at the thought. "It's not that I don't like Jeremy naming my forest after me. It's sweet in all. But it's just so weird to say. I feel like I'm talking in third person when I call it by name."
"Oh, yeah," Odd rubbed the back of his neck. "I hadn't thought of that. I guess it would be kinda weird. Though that reminds me, who named this place Lyoko anyways?"
Aelita gave Odd a curious look to which he responded to by holding up his paws in defense. "Not that I don't like it," he assured the girl. "I'm just curious."
"Well," Aelita shrugged. "Lyoko was named by the man who created it: Franz Hopper."
"You and Jeremy have mentioned him a lot, but I haven't really heard you say all that much about him," Odd remarked, his eyes catching sight of a nearby tangle of tree branches and vines that looked like they would make an interesting climb. He restrained himself, however, as he waited to hear Aelita's reply.
"Well, that's because we don't know that much about him," Aelita replied, thinking back to Franz Hopper's encrypted diary. "And so far he hasn't contacted us again yet."
"Eh, don't worry," Odd said, trying to comfort the girl. "I'm sure if he had something important to tell you guys, he would find a way to do it. If he's as smart as you guys make him out to be."
"He is," Aelita replied, sinking deeper into thought. Odd looked about, searching for something that would improve the virtual elf's mood. Eyes alighting on the nearby tangle of branches and vines, a grin spread across the hybrid's face.
"Hey, Aelita, you ever climbed one of these trees?" Odd asked. Aelita was startled by the out-of-nowhere question. She frowned as she thought of the answer.
"Um, no, not really," she replied, gazing over to the blond. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason," Odd replied. "Bet you can't beat me to the top of one, though."
A small smile crossed Aelita's face at Odd's challenge. "You're on," she announced before racing off to the nearest tree. Odd charged after her.
"Hey, that's cheating! We're supposed to start off at the same time!"
"Hold the line!" The samurai shouted to the duplicate beside him. The two were busy deflecting a barrage of laser fire from a small group of bloks. So far, the samurai and his clones had managed to block off all but two passages that led to the tower. The other open passage was where his second doppelgänger stood watch. Recognizing that the bloks' attack was probably a diversion, the samurai signaled to the warrior next to him to begin pushing forward. Slowly but surely, the two samurai made there way towards the bloks, even managing to take out two of them by deflecting their laser bolts back at them. Finally getting close enough, the samurai triggered his super-sprint and surged forward towards the center blok. "Impact!" He shouted as he leapt onto the top of the blok, plunging his sword into one of its eyes and jumping away, hurling his katana into the eye of another. With the last two bloks distracted by his feat, the samurai's clone followed in suit. Unfortunately, the clone was obliterated by the last blok even as its sword plunged into the monster's eye. With the conflict over, the samurai surveyed the quiet battlefield, walking over and picking his sword up off the ground and sheathing it. His moment of rest was not to last as a yellow blur signified the arrival of his other duplicate. "Report," the boy instructed his replica. As his clone responded through hand signals to him, the samurai's worst fears were confirmed. This attack had indeed been a distraction, as two iron spheres were on there way to his last line of defense - the tower. And if they cut him off from it, he was doomed.
The geisha wormed her way between the rocky crevice before her. Due to the time she had spent inside the towers, she had become somewhat out of practice with moving through her mountainous home. Seeking to correct this, the girl had concluded her study of the crystal panel for the present. Now, for the moment, the geisha was determined to pick up where she had left off and finish exploring the Eye. After that, she would then move onto the next plateau - and the tower accompanying it. Stepping out into the open on the outer edge of the Eye, the geisha froze at the sound of an ominous rumbling. Staying still and quiet, the geisha glanced around the rocky terrain, searching for the source of the menacing noise. She found it in the form of what appeared to be a smooth boulder rolling towards her. She soon realized that this was no boulder but instead a construct of metal. Her fears rose when the metal boulder ground to a halt, a ring of eyes deployin as it opened up to reveal a sickeningly red interior of entrails. In the center of the tendril-like mass was a single eye - the same eye that was on all of the creatures she had fought before. Whipping out her fans, the geisha readied herself for the monster's assault. The geisha, though, was not prepared for the wave of crimson energy that shot from the monster and surged towards her with lethal intensity.