A/N: And the main story continues again! This is a little more adventurous though haha. Enjoy the read and thanks for the continued support!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!

Jeremie and Aelita were waiting for their friends in front of ELITA's entrance. The only place that was both spacious and classified enough to test the virtual reality game was the lab that the geniuses often frequented. It was a private lab which required a special card to access the large room.

They had all agreed to meet at eleven o'clock in the morning. Jeremie and Aelita wanted to explain how the game worked first. The plan was to eat lunch afterwards before actually starting the test run.

"Hey guys," Yumi greeted. She noticed the two were holding hands and found it simply adorable. "Looks like geniuses really do stick together," Odd remarked as he arrived right after Yumi. Normally they would have let go of each other, but this time Odd's joke was so bad that they figured it embarrassed him more than them. "Odd," Yumi shook her head, "that one was really bad." He put his hands behind his head and grinned. "Yeah, let's blame it on the freezing morning," he told them.

"Do you two know where Ulrich is?" Aelita inquired after the still absent brunet. "Nope," Odd said. Yumi shook her head once more. "It's only a few minutes after eleven now. Let's go inside and wait in the lobby," Jeremie suggested and opened the front doors of ELITA. Everyone followed him in.

They used the coffee machine in the corner and each got a warm drink. All of them wrapped their hands around their own cup in an attempt to battle the cold. "Anything special going on in life?" Yumi casually asked.

"I asked Kelly to live with me, although Yumi might have already known that." Odd glanced at the taller woman who smiled upon hearing the familiar news. "That's a pretty big step for a scrawny person," Aelita joked. "Hey, hey, hey, that's getting old you know! I've been working out lately," he fended off her remark by showing of his non-existent muscles. "Odd, it's alright. You'll get there," Aelita's fake sympathy had him glaring at her. They started a staring game in the middle of Odd's story. Jeremie interrupted them. "Ahem, so what was her answer?"

Odd broke off their staring contest. "Oh, she agreed and we've started living together since the end of last week," he concluded. "And how is it?" Yumi was curious. "Strangely difficult," Odd admitted, "I haven't really adapted to constantly having someone around. You know how I never really tidy up until it cannot be overlooked anymore, but with Kelly it's like every day is cleaning duty for me. She's really picky with her food as well and says we shouldn't buy too much. But I can't live without my fully stocked fridge! Things like that," he explained. Aelita and Yumi were trying not to laugh at Odd.

"I would like to see you guys try," he pointed at Jeremie and Aelita. "By the time we will, I hope you'll still be in one piece," Jeremie countered. Yumi snickered and Aelita giggled. "Ladies, you're really not kind today," Odd faked being hurt.

"Sorry I'm late," someone announced. They turned their heads to find Ulrich had entered the building. "No problem. We were just listening to Odd's rambling," Jeremie dismissed it. Ulrich looked amused. "About Kelly?" Yumi and Aelita nodded in unison. Ulrich's gaze lingered slightly longer on Yumi. It didn't slip by the others, but no comments were made. "Yes Odd, that's very different from bragging all the time huh," Ulrich told his best friend. Odd just stood there and crossed his arms. "Really, guys?"

"Okay, let me lock up and activate the security system for the entrance again and then we'll head upstairs," Jeremie cut in.

Once they were upstairs, Jeremie gave them a simplified explanation of the theories behind their work. He kept it as short as possible, mostly because of prior experiences he had with telling them the 'boring' stuff. After that they ate lunch outside. When they returned, Jeremie continued. "So, similar to the scanners, we have developed these small discs that have the same effect."

Aelita showed them the discs. The three of them were puzzled, yet fascinated by the electronic devices. "They look like frisbees," Yumi commented. "You must be careful upon using them. They're still very delicate and not water resistant. It's a results of our first prototype, but it does the job. Later on, we will design and develop improved versions," Jeremie told them. Aelita nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it's not difficult to activate. You will need to set up your login identity first by scanning your finger in the left bottom corner of the display on top. It will then ask you to state your name and to give a password. The latter will be done by voice recognition, so it's important you do that correctly. Your name can be entered in the display. Your first name would suffice. Once all of that is done, you will be able to play the game. Every time you start up this device by pressing the top right corner of the display, it'll ask you for your name and your password. Then it will simply scan your body, much like the scanners, and you'll enter the game," Aelita explained.

"Is it safe though?" Yumi asked.

"I'm positive there aren't any programming errors. We used the data we collected from all previous materializations to Lyoko, which includes your digital structures. There will be no problems," Jeremie confidently claimed. Aelita once again nodded, backing up her partner.

"Okay, that's all fine," Ulrich started. "But you informed us before that we're testing the limited edition. What's the difference between this game and the other one?"

"This game has five more sectors. Every fifteen minutes the environment will randomly change, affecting the gameplay. You'll have to take into account how much variation this game offers. Constant awareness is actually a must. However, you guys shouldn't have any problems with that. Oh, by the way. In the limited edition, you'll need at least a pair of players to play the adventure mode. If you're soloing, then you can only use the training mode," Jeremie answered.

"And," Aelita emphasized, "You need a stable internet connection to communicate with each other."

"So we can talk to each other?" Yumi asked.

"Yes, it will be like standing next to each other in real life. But communication requires the network, otherwise you won't be able to hear one another," Aelita said.

"Wonderful, we don't have the best Wi-Fi connection at home," Odd complained. "The router always flips. We've already called for the internet provider for help, but we're scheduled in for next week Tuesday. Can you believe that?"

Nobody responded to his question.

"So, carrying on," Jeremie announced. Odd rolled his eyes. "The rest is pretty much the same as I explained before. Are you guys ready?"

"Sure am," Ulrich said.

"Well, I am," Yumi said.

"Of course I am!" Odd exclaimed.

"Wonderful. The more players in the team - with a maximum of five - the more difficult the levels are. In the next update, we will add a function that allows you to choose your difficulty regardless of the amount of players. For instance, when you're a team of two, you will be able to set the difficulty to the one used when you're a team of five," Jeremie said.

"Cool. One more thing, Einstein," Ulrich said. "Can you also train together? As in, against someone else?"

"No, that's not possible yet. We really want the fundamentals of the game to work perfectly before implementing other functions. The option to train against other players will be added in the next update as well. We still have time. The basics need to be finalized first," Aelita said.

"Great!" Odd complimented. "You guys are actually really outdoing yourselves. The whole idea is awesome. How did you come up with this?"

"Well, we figured the adventures we've been through weren't all bad. Lyoko was a mind blowing piece of work and we found that it would be a waste to let its' complexity and beauty wither away only because we shut down the super computer," Aelita admitted.

"We are also well aware that you guys have missed the adventures we had. It was definitely not easy to move on. We know. However, I believe all of us have been able to put the past involving X.A.N.A behind us now. Aelita and I wanted to make you relive the thrilling feels, but without the saving the world part," Jeremie added.

They all laughed at that.

"Then the question remains. Who wants to start?" Aelita asked while holding out one of the discs.

Yumi, Ulrich and Odd eyed each other. "Rock, paper, scissors?" Yumi suggested. The males nodded.

"GO!" They each put out a hand. Odd showed scissors. Ulrich showed rock. Yumi showed scissors.

"I guess I'll see you later," Ulrich said as he stepped forward.

"We'll skip the identity configuration. You can all do that at home using your own devices. I'll hand them out later. For now, you'll use the ones for testing," Aelita calmly stated.

"Good luck," Odd teased Ulrich.

"I'll start up a holographic display of where you will be. We can keep track of you that way," Jeremie notified them.

Ulrich got materialized successfully. As did Yumi and Odd. They looked around and saw a vast area of desert with rocks strewn all across the place. "This brings back memories," Yumi spoke for the three of them. The males nodded. "Hey, Einstein. How come we're not wearing any outfits or anything?" Odd asked. His habit of directing his speech upwards hadn't been broken from when they usually conversed with Jeremie on Lyoko – when they weren't under attack.

Aelita answered. "That's part of the setup process. Since we're testing, let's use our old data to give you outfits." She typed in a few commands and their outfits changed to their old Lyoko attire. "Wow, talk about nostalgic," Yumi said, once again speaking for everyone.

"We'll do a test run of three levels. Easy, intermediate and difficult. Each of them will last half an hour. But first we need to give you some weapons. Any preferences?" Jeremie inquired.

"If we can get back our Lyoko outfits, can't we have the same weapons too?" Ulrich commented.

"You can, but the idea was to test different weapons. We have about twelve of them. Although a lot of them are bladed weapons," Jeremie hesitated and looked at Aelita. She smiled at him and then spoke through her microphone.

"I think it's best if we just randomly hand you weapons for each difficulty that we want to test. That way, you'll experience a majority of them. Our intention is to merely test the game. You guys don't have to win," Aelita told them, but was prepared for the arguments of their friends.

"You can leave that to us," Odd said, crossing his arms. The others followed his pose. "Yeah, sure, go ahead. We'll show you," Ulrich agreed to Aelita's suggestion. Yumi eventually shrugged. "We'll be here all day like this. You can choose whatever you think is fine. We will be able to handle it," she said. "Great," Aelita replied.

Shortly after that their programmed weapons appeared before them. Yumi suddenly found herself in possession of arrows that were positioned in a bag that was strapped to her back. Before her lay a bow. "Nice." She picked it up and immediately practiced her posture. Odd had about twenty throwing knives strapped across his chest. "I guess you trust my aim," he said. "Oh, throwing types get respawned fifteen seconds after they're used. However, you have to follow the order they're numbered in," he heard Aelita warn them. Ulrich was presented with a fighting stick. "Not my forte, but it'll do," he grumbled. Yumi looked amused and Odd looked ready to tease him.

"Shall we make a competition out of this? The one to destroy the most monsters, will treat everyone to dinner!" Odd excitedly announced. "What about Aelita and Jeremie then?" Yumi asked. "Odd, let's not play stupid games. Please focus on the task at hand," Jeremie scolded. "Hey, relax. This won't cost you anything. We're just having fun," Odd assured him. Aelita giggled. "Let's have it their way. We will be able to gather the necessary data anyway," she convinced Jeremie. "Okay, fine..," he gave in.

"Let's have our geniuses bet on who they think will win. If they're wrong, they also pay alongside the loser between us," Ulrich suggested. "Deal, but I won't disclose who I vote for," he said. "Neither will I," Aelita said. "That's only fair," Yumi accepted it.

"Let's begin!"

The first level was easily cleared. At first, Yumi struggled a lot with her bow and arrows. However, she quickly got it under control and was hitting nearly all her targets afterwards. Odd's skills with laser arrows had come in handy. He expertly used the throwing knives and had a close to perfect hit rate from all the monsters he had fought against. Ulrich was the one who had been at rock bottom after the first test. He had been able to handle his weapon. However, monsters wouldn't die instantly after having been attacked once. Ulrich wasn't able to make use of the area compared to the location of the monsters. He placed third, five points behind Yumi.

The second level ended quite differently. It had been a turning point. Ulrich had received two maces and had ruthlessly made his way throughout the entire area. Yumi had gotten to experience the shurikens. She had been frustrated that she had to wait for the respawns until she could go again, but there was nothing she could do about it. Ulrich and Yumi both had perfect hit rates, which resulted in the misery of Odd. The latter had been given a spear. "Maybe you simply weren't clever enough?" Ulrich told him. "I mean, there had to be a better way than throwing it every time," he said. Odd ignored him, temporarily sulking. Yumi laughed.

"Okay, guys, we've collected the necessary data. But the data gathered from the last test may be helpful to us, so if you could keep up we'd be grateful," Aelita kindly relayed the information.

"No problem, princess," Odd answered. "I can't lose!"

"This level is different from the others. It's not the last test for nothing. Your HP will be halved during certain stages in the game in order to decide how much you level up. If you succeed, you level up twice. If you fail, you level up once. These levels are the only ones in which a fixed amount of monsters has to be defeated. It does not depend on the amount of players," Jeremie explained. "So, this is one of those levels. Good luck."

"Great, such vagueness," Ulrich rolled his eyes. He eyed Yumi. They had all been having so much fun that he almost forgot his true purpose. He wanted to ask her what had happened earlier this week. At work, Ulrich had been so busy that he hadn't found an opportunity to sit and talk with Yumi like he wanted to. He had figured today was his ultimate chance. It was weekend. There was no work – of course there was, but it could wait a little. And most important of all, no distractions by other employees. Ulrich only had to find a moment to be alone with Yumi.

Despite Jeremie's claim, the third test was over in a flash. That was probably because of the choice of weapons. Ulrich had a katana in each hand. Yumi was equipped with tessen fans. And Odd had been making unexpectedly fine use of a pair of daggers. "Okay, that was quick," Jeremie's comment made them smirk in satisfaction. "It might be my fault. I made it easy for them with those weapons," Aelita said, feeling a little guilty. "No, it's fine. We can use this to improve these levels. I'm actually glad it went like this. I saw some errors we can fix," Jeremie put his hand on Aelita's back. "Don't worry. It went well." Aelita smiled.

"You can come back now," Jeremie refocused. "Just devirtualize each other, since you can't log out without an identity. For the record, it's not like this in the actual game. This is only because it's the test run and I'm letting you do it," he clarified.

"Ohhh it's been so long since we have done that. Let's go together on three. And with that, I mean on three," Odd began and laughed. "I know I always annoyed you two with that." He grinned. "So it's one, two, hit and -," Odd didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. Ulrich had mercilessly stabbed him into the real world.

"Someone was eager," Yumi folded her arms. "Should we go on three then?" She asked, completely disregarding the atmosphere.

"Einstein, can you cut off communication for a while?" Ulrich requested. Yumi frowned.

"Why? It's better if you come back first," Jeremie was confused as to why he would want that.

"Just do it," Ulrich ordered.

"And I'm telling you, it's better to regroup here first," Jeremie wanted him to understand his point of view. Aelita put her hand on his shoulder. "Five minutes is all we'll give you. We cannot hear you, but you can hear us," Aelita said before pressing the key that deactivates the link with in-game communication. She then took of her headset.

"Why did you do that?" Jeremie couldn't believe it, as he too took of his headset. "You know it's safer to get them out first." Aelita stared at the holographic display. "I don't think Ulrich would have asked if it weren't anything serious," she stated. "Yumi has had tough times as well. If they want some space and privacy, we can give that to them as their friends." Jeremie followed her gaze and watched the display as well. "Should we shut that off as well?" He asked, upon seeing his two friends conversing. "Yes. We can always monitor the dots on-screen," Aelita pointed out. Finally, Jeremie typed in the command to close the holographic display.

Odd returned a few minutes later. "Hey, should it really take this long to return to Earth?" He complained. "It took me pretty long. If I'm not wrong, this is usually a matter of seconds, right?" Aelita and Jeremie had already noticed and exchanged worried looks. "Let me look into that really quickly," the blonde-haired responded. "That doesn't sound good," Odd was now worried as well. "Why aren't Yumi and Ulrich back yet?"

"Ulrich's request. I think they're talking. It is probably the reason why he acted like he did when he devirtualized you," Aelita informed him.

"But with this probable issue, isn't it better to manually dematerialize them?" Odd asked.

"I'm trying Odd. It isn't working," Jeremie answered with audible frustration. Aelita reached for her headset again and activated the link with in-game communication once more. "Yumi, Ulrich, I'm sorry. We might have a problem. Please devirtualize each other as quickly as you can. You need to come back," she sounded desperate.

"I think it's too late for that," Yumi answered. Ulrich and Yumi had basically been transformed into holograms and weren't able to slice, cut or stab each other. Their short conversation had been effectively put on a hold. "What do you mean Ulrich?" Aelita asked. "Let's just say, monsters are closing in on us and we're practically holograms that don't look like holograms," he answered.

"Can you move?" Jeremie joined in.

"Yes..," Yumi said. "But I think our weapons just evaporated into thin air." She stared at her empty hands.

"Try to move to an area that's less open. Go south. Do your weapons work on the monsters? Oh wait, you don't have them anymore. Can they hit you?"

"Well, let me try," Ulrich sarcastically began, right when one monster managed to hit his arm by throwing one of his hands. "Nevermind," he sighed, rubbing his arm. "How come they can hit us?" Yumi was suddenly afraid. "It's a virus. Someone sabotaged the game Aelita," they heard Jeremie say. "That's impossible. It has been optimally secured," they heard the pinkette reply.

"Guys, can you figure that out later. We don't want them to die right?" Odd came between them.

Jeremie stared at Odd. "Right." He composed himself and spoke up again. "Ulrich, Yumi, find some place to shelter yourselves. You're in the mountains, so heading south will do. Aelita and I will find a way out." Aelita put her hand over his and squeezed. "I promise we'll get you out soon," she said.

"Please hurry," Yumi pleaded. Ulrich pulled her along as they ran to find a safe place.

"We will," they heard Aelita say before a crackling noise could be heard.

They all knew what that meant. No more communication.

"Great, just great," Ulrich said. Yumi had fallen silent.

They had reached a cave that was out of sight for most monsters and hoped they could hold out until Jeremie and Aelita had found a solution. He looked at Yumi and saw her huddled against the wall. Ulrich went to sit beside her and held her close to him. "We'll be fine. It's nothing we haven't been through before. Let's have faith in our geniuses," he told her. She leaned in closer and nodded.

Ulrich stroked her hair while he suddenly thought about something. If there really was someone who wanted to sabotage this game, were they out to get ELITA? Or were they out to get someone else?

A/N: This chapter was really just for the test run. Next time we'll have the YxU parts :P. Leave your thoughts?:)