Zero to None

A/N: Okay, no memory this time either. XD Reasons are the ones from yesterday and the fact that I'm recovering from that cold and so just want to get on with the chapter. XD I'm not sure yet if there'll be one next chapter, either. XD More so stuff in the present happening. XD Thanks for the reviews, everyone! X3

Onto the chapter!

"Bringing monsters to a race isn't fair!" Odd yelled to Rhys as he raced for the core. He knew he'd have to find a different way in rather than their normal route since he didn't have a vehicle.

"Everything goes in my race!" Rhys yelled from atop a Manta. "I'm really enjoying watching you struggle…"

Odd shot off three laser arrows as Creepers appeared in front of them. "Oh, so adding monsters to the list of things that are holding me up is fair?"

Rhys laughed as he pulled up a timer and pointed at it, "You've only got a minute left!"

Odd snarled and pumped his legs harder. He knew he had to at least try to make it before his time ran out.

-Ulrich-

He sighed as his dad's car pulled up.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow," Jeremie said as he patted Ulrich shoulder lightly.

"We'll make it work with Lyoko and you'll be alright, okay Ulrich?" Aelita asked him, giving him a quick hug along with a smile.

Ulrich gave her a small smile and waved at the two before he got into his parents' car. He pressed his forehead against the glass as his dad began speaking.

"When we get home you'll follow your mother up to your room and unpack. You won't leave your room until I call you downstairs. Is that perfectly clear?" his dad asked him.

Ulrich saw his dad look into the mirror as Ulrich nodded.

"Everything is going to be alright, honey…" his mom told him, turning around to face him and giving him a small smile.

Ulrich nodded. He knew that it wouldn't and she was just trying to keep up his resolve, but it wasn't working. Especially not with the cut that was running along his mother's jaw and the bruises on her eye and cheek.

"The house is still a mess so watch your steps when we get inside," his dad stated as they pulled into the driveway about six minutes later. "You'll have to walk about eight minutes to get to school in the morning so make sure you leave the house in enough time. I don't need you being late."

Ulrich grunted in reply and opened the door, grabbing his bags. When they got inside the floor was covered in packing peanuts, empty boxed, full boxes, and stuff that still wasn't placed. The majority of things that they owned were already placed, but a few things weren't.

He followed his mom up the stairs to his room and saw that all the boxes of his stuff from home had just been laid around the room haphazardly.

"Don't worry sweetie… Your father is going on a trip tomorrow and he won't be back for a few days so, unless that gets cancelled, we'll be good for a few days…" she told him hugging the brunette.

He gave a quick nod and hugged her back.

-Jeremie-

"So, what did you think of Jeanette?" Aelita asked him as the two walked to the factory to work on a program.

"She was nice… She kind of acted like she was hiding something and was really shy and clumsy, but other than that she was nice to be around," he replied.

"Jeremie, Jeanette was really Xylia. Odd materialized her here so that you might get a chance to know her. He really wanted to be there when Ulrich left, but he needed to get her back to Carthage so that she wouldn't pass out," Aelita stated as the wind began to pick up a bit.

"So you're saying that you guys went behind my back to prove your point?" he asked her, looking over in her direction and frowning.

"I'm sorry, but we had to... What Xylia has told Odd all has seemed to be fact. You can check her DNA and digital envelope and see that Xana is there and that there is a virus in her brother. I found his card this morning and didn't tell them."

Jeremie nodded and the two were silent the entire way to the factory.

-Xylia-

"Odd..." She whispered as her eyes slowly blinked open to reveal Odd on the ground of Carthage, along with her, and her brother standing over them.

"I'll be nice and I'll give you one day to see your friends once again because it may be a long time before you see them, if ever," Rhys told Odd with one of his deep-throated evil laughs. For an eight year old, he had a pretty deep voice. Though, that could be on account of the virus.

"Odd, what did you do…?" she whispered as consciousness gripped her once again.

"Your brother said that if I got you to the core of Lyoko in three minutes that he'd let me leave. If not, and if I refused, he'd take me as his prisoner…" he explained, looking at Xylia with sad eyes.

"There isn't a way to the core without some sort of vehicle or flying thing to get down there!" Xylia yelled at him as she got up and was going to lunge, but swayed.

"I would've given him a way to get down there had he even made it to the spot he needed to be to," Rhys said as he walked toward the two. "Odd, you have till four o'clock tomorrow to get back to Carthage and meet me here or else I'll kill Xylia." He grabbed his sister's arm and disappeared.

-Odd-

When he was devirtualized by Jeremie he gave him and Aelita a quick rundown of what had happened.

"So now you're going to be helping Rhys unless we can defeat him and get you back?" Aelita asked, the worry evident in her voice.

Odd nodded and stared at the floor. "And I can't just ditch meeting him where I'm supposed to because he has Xylia…"

"You've gotten yourself into quite the predicament, my friend," Jeremie stated as he typed on the supercomputer. "We'll try our best to get you back as soon as possible, though."

Odd nodded and leaned against the wall. "I'll probably tell Ulrich and Yumi tomorrow when they get here…"

A/N: I know it's shorter than the others, but oh well. XD I got what needed to be gotten across in the this chapter and the next one might be a bit longer. XD

Read and review!

~MoonlitxAngel