Odd barely dodged the attack in time. Seconds after the monster clanged her tails together, a wave of purple electricity was sent straight for him. He heard it hit the ground with a crackle. He looked back at Therizino. She charged towards him. Odd jumped in the air and landed on her back.

Odd wrapped his paws around her long neck, interlocking his fingers on the other side and held on tightly. Therizino thrashed around, trying to shape him off. It was like a rodeo, except the horse was an electric monster. Therizino started to throw her back into the wall. This did not deter Odd, who still hung on. When she fell to the ground on her back, Odd turned himself so he was now hanging on the front of the monster.

Therizino glared down at him and shook her head in wide turns. Still the half feline warrior wouldn't let go of her. She snapped her jaws at him. He was out of reach. Finally, she stuck her tongue out and shot a bit of electricity at him. This finally caused Odd to fall to the ground. She raised her paw to strike him, but she stopped when Odd raised his.

"Wait." Odd said as he stared up at her. "I want to know something, remember?" He gave her a weak smile. "Why do you hate me?"

Therizino stared at him. Her paw remained frozen in the air. She looked confused. It was like she didn't expect him to ask that again. For several minutes, there was nothing but silence between the two. She didn't strike down on him. He didn't try to get up. Their eyes remained locked, almost like in a staring contest.

Odd waited for her to answer. He studied her facial expression. It was filled with surprise at first. He noticed it slowly changing to contemplation. Would she finally tell him the truth? Would he now know why she hated him? He saw her eyes begin to narrow slightly. Her mouth was parting. He waited to hear what she had to say.

"You miserable cat boy..." Therizino said through gritted teeth. Electricity sparked out of the corners of her mouth. Odd could see her raised paw tensing further, preparing to strike. "You should know what you did!"

In a second, her paw struck down towards him. Odd rolled out of the way. He winced as he heard the large sickle smack against the flat surface. He looked over and saw that it had dug deep into the floor. If he had been laying there a moment ago, he would be in that same situation.

Odd jumped to his feet. "I don't see why you can't just answer my question. Oh well. Laser Arrow!"

Therizino twisted her head to the side. The arrow barely grazed her. She lowered her head and pawed the ground. "You will have to do better than that, you stupid furball!" She charged towards him.

"I plan on it!" Odd shouted as he rushed towards her on all fours.

sss

Aelita moved through Section Five. With Jeremie's direction, she managed to navigate to a part of Sector Five she doesn't remember being in before. It was further up than she had gone in earlier trips. She found herself walking towards a peculiar spot with a faint glow on the ground.

"Jeremie, I think I found it. There's something glowing here..." Aelita said as she approached it.

"Stop! Wait. It should come up." Came Jeremie's instructions.

Aelita paused, a few feet away from the glowing section on the ground. After a few seconds, a ray of light shined up from it. Just as Jeremie predicted, a floating window appeared above the ground. It was no different than any other interface she had seen while in Lyoko. She walked up to it to get a better look.

The screen was blank except for a flashing symbol. She put her hand on it. Some phrase flashed quickly, too fast for her to see. It didn't matter, because now it showed her name and asked for her to input the password. She typed in Lyoko and waited for the console to grant her access to what she wanted. She was shocked when something else happened.

The console started to glow red and it flashed repeatedly. A large lock symbol appeared around the floating screen. Tangible, but what it represented was clear enough. On the screen, a phrase flashed.

Warning! Wrong password! Attempted security breach! Lock down! Lock down!

Aelita took several steps back. The flashing continued, increasing in intensity. Then it started playing a sound, something like a siren, only scarier sounding.

"Jeremie! What is happening?" Aelita called out.

Jeremie's voice was filled with panic. "It's a trap! Aelita, get out of there!"

That was easier said than done. The walls around her were starting to move. Aelita froze, wondering what was going to happen. She saw the walls move around her and secure themselves back in place. Her eyes widened. She was going to be locked in here. She began to run back the way she came. The walls fell all around her, trying to trap her in one place.

Aelita kept running as fast as she could. The walls were gaining on her. She didn't know how long she had before she would be caged like an animal. A shot fired at her foot. It forced her to stop. She looked over and saw that XANA sent a couple of Creepers her way.

"Energy Field."

Aelita let the ball of pink energy charge in her hand. Then she throw it at one of the Creepers. It hit dead on, causing it to explode. She was about to fire another one, but she looked behind her and saw the walls were only about a foot away now. She broke into a run.

"Jeremie!" She said while she ran. Up ahead, there was a ledge. "Hurry! Bring me in!"

"Right!" Jeremie started typing away at the keyboard.

Aelita stopped at the edge of the cliff. She looked down. She was really high up. She turned back to the walls. They closed in on her now, encasing her completely, except for a wall on the edge. A wall moved in towards her, pushing her further and further towards the edge.

"Please..hurry..."

The wall pushed her closer and closer. She slipped and fell down. She grabbed the edge with her hands, desperately hanging on. Her eyes widened in terror as the walls pushed onto her hands. She tried not to scream. She struggled to hang on, her grip slowly slipping, her hands pushed closer and closer to the edge.

"Jeremie..."

Then it happened. The wall pushed her hands so close to the edge she was just hanging by her fingers now. It continued to push until she could no longer support her own weight. Her fingers slipped off. She plummeted down.

"Jeremie!" She called out.

"There!" Jeremie's voice was heard as Aelita broke apart.

sss

Odd dug his claws into Therizino's leg. She howled as he cut her open. She grabbed him by his foot and tossed him away. He hit against the wall in a thud. She lunged towards him, mouth agape. He leaped out of the way, allowing her to crash into the wall. She was dazed for a moment, shaking her head, but she wasn't done yet. She reared onto her hind legs and let out a roar.

Odd fired more Laser Arrows at her. A few hit her in some places, like the neck and legs. Others, she managed to dodge or he had misfired. Despite all the arrows he managed to hit her with, she wasn't slowing down. She didn't show any signs of losing energy, no signs of her close to being destroyed. He gritted his teeth. What would it take to make her back off?

After dodging another blast, he started climbing up a tall platform. At least he would now have a height advantage. It didn't take him long to realize he was wrong. He heard a scraping sound. He looked down and saw that Therizino was climbing up after him. Her large sickle claws supported her weight as she scaled up with him.

"Oh great. Someone else who can climb. How could I have forgotten?" Odd muttered to himself. He sped up his climbing, trying to put distance between him and Therizino.

The red monster narrowed her eyes. She put her left paw up, digging her claws deep into the structure. A bolt of electricity danced around her paw and her eyes glowed slightly.

Odd felt a sharp jab in his head. He winced and froze where he was. His world was spinning again. He wanted to hold his head and lay down, but if he did that, he would fall down. He continued to climb up. As he did so, the pain increased. And it spread to his chest again. He let out a gasp of agony as his heart started beating faster again. Hyperventilating, he hugged the surface of the platform tightly, his body shaking in pain.

Then he did something Therizino did not expect. He let go and whipped his body around, much like a feline. His eyes were wide in anger and pain. His paws were hooked, the claws heading towards her. Odd landed on Therizino's head. He dug his claws deep into it. The red dragon, taken aback by this attack, threw her head back and roared. She lost her footing and they both plummeted back down.

Therizino landed on her back in a loud thud. If there were dust around her, it would all be kicked up by her weight. She looked up and saw Odd standing there. He was still trembling in pain, but he was fighting it, pointing his gloved hand to her forehead, where the Eye Of XANA was.

When he hesitated to shoot, Therizino glared at him. "Why don't you do it? Finish me if you are brave enough!"

"You still haven't answered my question." Odd said, not moving his arm an inch. "Tell me the reason you hate me."

Therizino let out a hiss. She glared up at the boy, her teeth bared. Silence remained between them for several moments. Slowly, a creepy smile spread across her long muzzle. She let out a dark chuckle. "You are going to let me die, aren't you?"

The phrase froze Odd where he stood. That phrase..it was familiar... His mind began to flood with memories as he remembered.