(=======================================================================)
Episode 81: Straight to Heart
(=======================================================================)
Almost 2 months did wonders for the students, what had been day in day out of seeing each other constantly made tensions high, and not having seen everyone for a while made things easier, the warriors however had mostly remained at Kadic, Jeremie had opted to stay behind to monitor the supercomputer and to work on tracking XANA, Aelita and Yumi had nowhere to go, the later had tried contacting any family she had no responses, Ulrich had gone home for the summer break and had gotten the biggest mouthful from his parents possible, Odd and William had gone off camping together, it was Williams Idea to make Odd feel better, Dallas hadn't shown back up, but the others were still hopeful, things had changed yet again, they'd all moved up a year, despite their records being less than clean, Yumi and William had actually finished school and had started the College program at Kadic, which meant they'd have to be working harder, whilst the others were now in their final year of school.
(=======================================================================)
Jeremie was sitting as he usually was behind the computer in the factory, Ulrich was laying on the ground with his hands behind his head, Aelita was sitting cross legged opposite Yumi who was sitting legs extended and was still wearing Dallas's tattered and damaged jacket over her usual clothing, the two girls were playing Go, the elevator doors opened causing everyone to turn and look as William and Odd stepped out,
"Welcome back campers" said Aelita as she gave a small wave, "Two months without us" said William as he stretched and dropped down with the girls, "did you miss us ladies" said Odd in his cheerful attitude, Yumi chuckled and said "Forget it you could have stayed away 3 months, XANA attacks zero", Odd smiled as he looked at Jeremie and said "A nice quiet summer huh", Jeremie turned his head and said "I was hoping…" but before he could continue William and Odd started laughing, "It's not funny" said Jeremie as he turned back to the screen, "what's with his voice" asked William as he laid down laughing "His voice broke over summer" said Ulrich, Jeremie crossed his arms as he said, "ever since XANA managed to escape the super computer and access the internet, we haven't heard anything, even Adam hasn't been around", Odd walked over "No news is good news right" he asked, but Jeremie shook his head, "That's what you think I trust XANA as far as I can throw him, which is why I just reprogramed the supercomputer, from now on we'll know where the big bad is hiding" said Jeremie, Odd patted him on the back and said "that's great Einstein but how is that gonna help", Jeremie rolled his eyes and said "Well first off we can find out how he's gonna try and use the internet" as he carried on typing launching the program into a demo version, "Then you send us in after em, so you can crack a few heads" said Ulrich punching his own hand in excitement, "That's about it, but getting you into the internet isn't all that easy, so first let's get a handle on what his scheme is" said Jeremie as he narrowed his eyes and carried on typing, "There we go" said Jeremie as he hit enter and a window opened showing the super computer connecting to every Wi-Fi server in America "Yeah, it's started" said Jeremie, Odd clapped as he said "well let me remind you we have to pick up our class schedules before lunch", Jeremie rolled his eyes and stood up rushing towards the elevator as the others had already started making their way there.
(=======================================================================)
Evelyn sat laying on her bed, she was reading a magazine that would get her in a lot of trouble with the staff, there was a knocking on her door,
"Come in" she said as she stuffed the magazine underneath her pillow, then Adam stepped in, "Jesus" she said looking at his more rough and rugged appearance, the colour in his jacket had faded and his hair had clearly grown to an almost absurd length, now down to his shoulders but still slicked back, he'd remained clean shaven though, "Been a few months" said Evelyn with a laugh, Adam rolled his eyes as he sat down on Sissi's bed, "any luck with finding the weapon" asked Evelyn, Adam shook his head as he threw his hand in his hair, "Nada, XANA couldn't even get a fix, 2 months wasted" he said as he collapsed backwards, "you know Sissi's missed you" said Evelyn jokingly but Adam just raised his arm and flipped her off, "by the way you need a shower" added Evelyn, Adam stood up and sniffed himself, "Jesus I smell like Nicholas on a good day" Said Adam as he walked out of the room, "Pick up my schedule will ya before I get in trouble" he said.
(=======================================================================)
As the warriors grabbed their school schedules they watched as a new student stepped out of Delmas's office, he was of medium height for his age, wearing a turquoise button up shirt over a blue T-shirt, with brown cargo pants, his hair was black and a little messy, his skin was naturally tanned and he was distinctively attractive, he was carrying a bad over his shoulder, the chatter in the hallway was broken as Nicholas and Sissi walked through the corridor,
"No Classes on Saturday morning meaning that on Friday night" started Sissi, Nicholas spoke up and said "We can go to the movies", Sissi grinned and chuckled saying "Forget it, It means I can go to the movies", then loudly to everyone else's embarrassment she walked towards the Warriors, "Here comes trouble" said Aelita, Sissi waved her schedule in her hand as she said "Hello Ulrich dear, we're in the same class again", Aelita turned her head to Yumi and whispered "I called it", Ulrich stepped away from Sissi, "And the year starts badly" Said Ulrich as he moved to grab Yumi's arm leaving Sissi annoyed "excuse me" said a smooth Spanish accented voice, Nicholas turned around to see the new student talking to him, "Are you" he started before looking at the piece of paper "Nicholas… Pola cough" he said trying to pronounce Nicholas's last name, "It's Poliakoff" said Nicholas pointing at his chest with his thumb, the new kid smiled as he held out his hand "My names Hector Ramirez, I'm you're new roommate" said Hector as he tried to be cheerful, but Nicholas was far from happy, "Great I'm stuck with the new guy" he said as he walked off, "You uh gonna show me to our room" said Hector enthusiastically oblivious as he followed after him.
(=======================================================================)
Odd and Ulrich had moved to the cafeteria, the former having only eaten canned food and whatever he and William managed to fish, he was looking forward to a nice oven cooked meal from his all-time favourite cook, and as a welcome back for students it was Pizza, Odd was about to tuck into the pepperoni pizza when the others walked over looking sombre,
"Who died" asked Odd as he looked up, then Ulrich nudged him, "have you two checked your schedules" asked Jeremie as they sat down with their food, "No not yet, I don't really want to think about school right now" said Ulrich as he took a massive bite out of his slice of Pizza, "You're gonna get a shock" said Yumi as she sat next to Ulrich, "You're not in the same classes as us Odd" said Jeremie, this caught Odd off guard as he dropped his pizza slice onto his plate, "What" he asked starting to tremble, "If XANA attacks what'll we do without him, we're already a man down until Dallas gets back" said Aelita as she began to cut into her slice with her knife and fork, "It was already complicated with William and Yumi, but now it's gonna be impossible to stay coordinated" said Jeremie, Odd slammed his hands down on the desk and said "that's just great and with this timing", then Odd stood up, "Odd are you…" started William but Odd stormed off, "what's with him" asked Ulrich, but the others didn't know, William looked down but remained silent.
(=======================================================================)
Nicholas reluctantly opened the door to his room, Hector stepped in and looked around, the room was empty after Herb had moved out, he stepped towards the unmade bed and threw his bag down,
"Looks homely" said Hector as he opened his bag but Nicholas remained silent as he stood in the doorway with his arms folded, "Nicholas you messy bastard" said Adam as he walked over having just washed, "you look worse than normal" said Nicholas with a laugh, Adam whilst having a mission to do had actually missed his regular company, "Whose this" asked Adam as he noticed Hector putting his clothes away, "New roommate" said Nicholas as he rolled his eyes, Adam smiled as he stepped inside "Make sure Nicholas actually uses deodorant" said Adam as he patted Hector on the back, "Adam Scylla" he added as he held out his hand, Hector looked at it before reluctantly took it "Hector Ramirez" he replied as he carried on putting his clothes away, "Looks kinda cute" said Evelyn as she stood at the door, "why doesn't everyone come in" said Nicholas as he threw his hands in the air in frustration "My sister Evelyn" said Adam as he pulled out his cigarettes "Thanks I uh… Guess" said Hector as he moved to start making his bed, Adam laughed as he walked out, "come meet us later, you'll show him won't you Nicky" said Adam as he patted an increasingly frustrated Nicholas on the back.
(=======================================================================)
"But it's important" said Odd to Delmas's secretary, but she wasn't really keen on listening to Odd, as his reputation preceded him for being a delinquent "I'm sorry Odd, but Mr Delmas isn't seeing any students today" she said, Odd turned around and held the back of his head, it was heavily important that he saw Delmas, "Jesus Christ" he said as he looked at the door, then the secretary walked out of the room with a pile of paper in her arms, "Needs must" said Odd as she left the room, he darted towards Delmas's office, "No Coffee, right…" started Delmas as the door opened, "Odd what're you" he continued but Odd walked up him, "I need to be put back in the classes with my friends" said Odd, Delmas shook his head, "I'm sorry Odd but it's out of the question" he said as he adjusted his glasses "Sir… have you not been told" asked Odd as he began to tear up slightly, "I know about the counselling Odd, but the choice wasn't mine" said Delmas as he looked at Odd, "Well whose is it" asked Odd, Delmas looked down, "It was Jim's it was his choice to separate you from your friends" he replied, Odd nodded and stormed off out of the room.
(=======================================================================)
Back in the cafeteria the others were still eating, William was cherishing the pizza for as long as he could having become sick to death of fish,
"Jim wants to start up a basketball team this year, seems he played pro ball" said Ulrich as he sat back down with another few slices, "But he'd rather not talk about" said the group knowing what Jim would respond with when asked causing them all to laugh, "hello" said a voice which angered Yumi as she leant forward, "Hiroki, what do you want" she said as her little brother stood in front of her, "just wanted to say hello, aren't you gonna introduce me" said Hiroki as behind him stood another boy that was his height, with brown hair a baseball tee that was white with red sleeves and light blue jeans, his face had several red marks from allergy's, "NO" said Yumi getting angry at her little brother, she knew he was really the only family she had left and it was her fault their parents were currently in a Japanese prison but she didn't like him bothering her, "I was gonna introduce my roommate, Johnny" said Hiroki with a smile as Johnny blushed and waved, Yumi however wasn't amused as she replied "Just because you've made a friend doesn't mean you have to follow me around", Hiroki got a little frustrated and he stormed off with Johnny in tow saying "You're sisters really gorgeous", Hiroki turned and looked at him saying "Dude" angrily, Jeremie set up his laptop and was tapping his finger on the table as he watched the super scan do its magic, "So anyway, me and Odd were sitting by the lake tryna catch a fish, and the only thing throughout the first week he manages to catch is a boot" said William causing the others to laugh, "He's that bad at fishing" asked Aelita, William smiled as he finished a slice of Pizza, "Oh he improved, but it took some time" replied William, whilst on the screen the scan finished with the America region but as luck would have it XANA's logo appeared, it'd been located "Yes, fantastic, the super scan has located XANA" said Jeremie as he packed away his laptop, Aelita put down her knife and fork, "Wait up I'll come with you" said Aelita as she ran after him, William finished his slices and said "I'd better go find Odd" as he noticed the mood and not wishing to be the third wheel, Yumi leant towards Ulrich and placed her head on his shoulder, "Ulrich I think there is something we need to discuss" she said, Ulrich's heart began to race, then it got worse as there was a loud noise that most would describe as being loud and obnoxious, "Ulrich dear" said Sissi as she walked over with her group in tow, Hector was hanging back a bit as he didn't feel too comfortable, Ulrich and Yumi stood up not wanting to deal with her, "I just arrived and you're leaving, how come" she said as Ulrich and Yumi passed her, "Guess" said Yumi as she decided to stick out her tongue to annoy Sissi, "Whose the Japanese girl" asked Hector as he narrowed one eye, "somebody in love" said Nicholas trying to embarrass him, but Hector was unfazed "Nah, more a professional thought" he replied as Sissi got angry at Yumi's remark.
(=======================================================================)
Odd had made his way to Jim's abode; he was holding a folder in his hands as he stopped and composed himself before knocking on the door,
"Jim" he said as he waited, then he heard Jim reply "Just a Minute" then the door opened, "Oh Odd" he said as he stepped aside "Come in" said Jim as Odd stepped in "What can I do for you" asked Jim as Odd took in the small room, and noticed the TV paused on what appeared to be an old movie that appeared to date back to the late 80's it had a figure in that was clearly Jim but the face almost seemed to recognise him of someone else, "Odd" asked Jim, Odd snapped out of his gaze "Oh sorry, I need to be put back into the classes with my friends" said Odd, Jim moved over to his sink and began and turned it on, "I'm sorry Odd, I feel it's best for your grades that you and them were split up" said Jim, Odd looked down and said "Were you not told about the consoling", Jim splashed some water in his face before looking at Odd, "Consoling?... what consoling" he asked confused, Odd sighed and handed Jim the folder, Jim took it suspicious of Odd, then he began to mutter as he read it saying "oh that's a big word" then his eyes shot open as he finished reading it, "Odd… I had no idea" said Jim as he closed the folder and handed it back to Odd, "see, I need to stay with my friends" said Odd as he turned back towards the door, "Odd" said Jim causing the aforementioned to turn around and look at him, "If you promise me that you'll try a little harder in class, I'll see that you're back with your friends" said Jim with a smile, Odd began to tear up as he ran back and hugged Jim, "Thanks Jim" he said, Jim was confused by the gesture but patted Odd on the shoulder, "Also Jim what's this" asked Odd as he looked at the screen moving away from the teacher, "paco the king of disco, I must have made it some time ago, don't really remember doing it TBH" said Jim as he sat down and handed Odd the VHS box, "Please don't tell anyone about it" said Jim as he looked down a little ashamed, Odd smiled and said "Don't worry I owe you one".
(=======================================================================)
William had given up on finding Odd, as he'd been unable to locate him despite searching everywhere that he was known to frequent, but he'd had no luck, William unlocked the door to his room as he didn't feel like going to the factory, suddenly his phone vibrated and he pulled it out expecting XANA to be attacking but it was an email from one of his old school buddy's,
"Long time since they messaged" he said to himself as he opened the email, "What?" he said to himself as he clicked on the video, the video itself wasn't of the best quality but it was clear to make out what was in it, the video showed what appeared to be a nightclub, but not a traditional dance floor nightclub, but one more suited to more sophisticated audiences but instead of a stage for scantily clad laddies to be dancing there was a boxing arena, with two fighters inside one was large and muscular with a Mohawk the other more average but a lot quicker as he jumped in a two footed lunge attack towards the larger fighter causing his mouth to erupt with blood, "Jesus Christ" said William as the surprisingly small crowd cheered, William closed the video feeling like he'd seen enough, "Arsehole probably only email to spread the word" said William he was about to delete the email but decided against it as he was morbidly curious, "Glad I got away from those arseholes" said William to himself as he sank back into his chair.
(=======================================================================)
Ulrich and Yumi walked towards one of benches on the path leading up to the school, no one really walked there during lunch time so they had some privacy which they really needed,
"We should be alone here" said Ulrich, Yumi stepped away nervous as she pulled Dallas's jacket tighter, "What was it you wanted to talk about" asked Ulrich, Yumi turned back to him "What do we do" she asked, Ulrich's heart began to race as he placed his hand to it feeling Dallas's tags, "What do you mean" asked Ulrich nervously, Yumi moved forward and kissed him, "Don't worry I don't want us to break up, I love you too much, you're the best part of my life" she said as she sat down on his lap, then raising her eyebrows to tease him, "Then what is it" asked a now calmer Ulrich, "What do we say when we see Dallas" said Yumi, Ulrich looked down not sure what he wanted to say, "Well what can we do, he's lived his life, one that we've not really been a part of" said Ulrich unsure of himself, "We can't ignore who he is" said Yumi, Ulrich began to run his hand through her hair, "I know but even if we can manage to accept this, will he accept us" pondered Ulrich, it was a question both deemed impossible to answer, Ulrich was technically younger than Dallas, as the later would turn 16 first even though he was barely a couple of months old, suddenly Ulrich heard his phone ringing and he grabbed it a little annoyed that their discussion was broken, "Hello" he said slightly infuriated "Jeremie" he said as he heard Jeremie's voice, Yumi stood up looking at him, "Okay, we're on our way" said Ulrich as he hung up.
(=======================================================================)
Odd pressed the button and the elevator raised and he stepped inside
"WAIT UP" shouted a voice that belonged to William, the aforementioned ran along the bridge and as he reached the ropes he jumped and shouted "SUPERSMOKE" and disappeared before reappearing on the factory floor, Odd smiled and pressed the button on the elevator and the door closed as he crouched and said "Catch up" William laughed and said "Cheeky bastard" as he took a few steps back before running and jumping engulfing himself in the Super smoke and appearing inside the elevator "What the hell" said William as he laughed, Odd smiled and said "a nice bit of power practice for you" William rolled his eyes, "you son of a bitch" he said as punched Odd in the arm but felt his hand hurt, "What the hell" he added as he shook his now sore hand, "That's one of my powers" said Odd as he laughed, William grabbed his hand, "I swear I told you" said Odd as the door opened and they walked into the computer room, Jeremie and Aelita looked at them, "Learned about Odd's armoured skin" asked Aelita, William rolled his eyes, "You sent out the message to the others" asked Odd as he moved next to Jeremie, the later nodded as he typed "Ulrich and Yumi are on their way" he replied as he clicked his fingers as they'd locked up again.
(=======================================================================)
Ulrich and Yumi had arrived at the factory and were descending in the elevator the mood hadn't improved between them and they were still unsure of what they needed to do and had remained silent, the door opened and the two stepped out, Jeremie looked back at them and could tell how they were feeling,
"There a problem" he asked, Ulrich looked down before looking at Yumi "No, no problem" he said hiding his own pain, "Great that's a relief" said Jeremie not picking up on their personal issue and turned back to the computer screen, "Great head for the scanners everyone else is there already" added Jeremie as he began typing, Yumi smiled as best she could as Ulrich stepped back into the elevator, Yumi quickly hugged him as the door shut, with tears beginning to form in her eyes, "Its fine" said Ulrich as he ran his hand through her hair which had begun to over grow, the door opened again and Yumi wiped her eyes, "Are you okay" asked Aelita as she stood up from the hatch "Yeah, I'm fine" said Yumi as she wiped her eyes, William and Odd didn't buy it though as they stepped into a scanner, "Ready guys" said Jeremie as he selected their ID cards, "Scanner Odd, Scanner Aelita, Scanner William, Scanner Yumi, Scanner Ulrich" said Jeremie as the five began to spin and rise, "Transfer Odd, Transfer Aelita, Transfer William, Transfer Yumi, Transfer Ulrich" added Jeremie as they felt the blast of air, "Virtualization" he finished as the five's blue squared outlines appeared and gained Detail and dropped to the ground, "Okay guys to the end of the sector" said Jeremie as their vehicles appeared and the Baton on Ulrich's belt, he grabbed it and nervous extended it, "You okay" asked William, Ulrich didn't answer as he mounted the Over-Rider, William stepped away and onto the Over-Bike, "I won't scratch it" said William trying to cheer up his friend, "What's with him" asked Odd as he looked at Yumi but she didn't answer either, "Let's go" said Yumi as the four vehicles moved off.
(=======================================================================)
It had felt like forever since any of them had been in the ice sector, and despite their time away, it wasn't a return they were looking forward to, Odd moved towards Ulrich as he almost appeared to be staring off into space,
"You okay buddy" asked Odd, Ulrich snapped out of his daze and nodded, "You worked out a way to get back into our class" asked Ulrich as he tried changing the subject, "Yeah, I'm back in" he said, Yumi slowed down to be level with him, "How'd you manage that, did you Blackmail Jim?" she asked, Odd shook his head, "Nah" he replied as he swerved, "Then how'd you do it" asked Aelita, Odd was about to speak but decided against it, as he didn't want to talk about the consoling William realised and moved forward "I'll…" started Odd but William suddenly shot past saying "Odd race ya" Odd smiled and darted off after him, "He's hiding something" said Aelita as she looked up at Yumi, but they chose to ignore it, "better if we focused on the mission" said Jeremie, Aelita nodded as they came up the edge of the sector, The Over-Rider and the Over-Wing pulled up to Odd and William whose race had come to an end, "Okay we're hear Jeremie" said Odd as he looked up, "Great get into position and I'll enter the code" replied Jeremie as he began to type in Scipio, the transport sphere appeared and engulfed the warriors before shooting off towards sector 5.
(=======================================================================)
The eventual return to the spherical sector wasn't one that they'd hope would come so soon, nor was it what they suspected as their return mission, the dome began to light up as the transport module opened up letting them out, unlike their numerous previous travels Yumi no longer felt woozy from the travel,
"So where are all these monsters" said Ulrich as he began to draw his Katanna, Jeremie quickly typed trying to find them, "That's weird" said Jeremie as he sat back for a second, "What's wrong Einstein" asked William as he looked up, "All the monsters are in a room below you" replied Jeremie as he began typing again, "A what" asked Odd confused, Jeremie was just as confused, "one we haven't been to before" he answered, the others looked at each other, "What're they doing there" asked Aelita as she moved towards the exit of the room, "the fuck should I know, you're the ones on site" replied Jeremie as the wall opened up, "How do we get there" asked Yumi, Jeremie looked at the screen and did his best to interpretive, "I think you access it through the celestial dome", looking at the exit the 5 quickly rushed out onto the bridge as the second wall unfolded before them, Aelita uncharacteristically took the lead towards the room, "Remember guys deactivate the timer otherwise its game over" said Jeremie reminding them, Ulrich quickly broke out into super sprint and passed Aelita, before he stopped with the others stopping behind him, the room as usual was large, this time the configuration had the floor separated in large pillars that arose from the bottomless pit and were at varying different heights, "It's almost eerie to see it empty" said William as he held his sword forward, Odd looked around and held his hand above his eyes, "Key in sight" he said as he looked at the other end of the room, Odd took a few steps back before running forward and lunging forward towards the furthest pillar he could reach, Odd came up short and dug his claws into the pillar as he began to slip down, but he recovered quickly and began to climb up, "I thought I had my A game going" said Odd as he climbed onto the platform, Yumi quickly flipped onto it next to him, followed by the others next to her, Aelita looked down at him and said "I'll go get it", Aelita quickly ran forward as the others watched on as she jumped between the platforms and rushed towards the key, Jeremie watched the timer, "five" he said as Aelita jumped and dived towards the key, "Four" added Jeremie, Aelita landed below the key, "three", Aelita jumped up towards the key "Two" Aelita smacked the key "One" said Jeremie as the key was activated, "There" said Aelita as she dropped down, "Great job Aelita" said Jeremie, Aelita smiled as the room began to reorganise, "I think you guys should get here ASAP" said Aelita, William disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared next to Aelita, as Ulrich, Yumi and Odd rushed towards them, Yumi back flipped between each platforms whilst Ulrich simply sped up between them, Odd leaped in a very feline movement between the platforms, but again he managed to fall short and miss the last platform, Odd quickly dug his claws in again, "ODD" shouted William as he and Ulrich rushed forward, "Your hand" said Ulrich as he knelt down and extended his arm, Odd looked down as another platform was rushing up towards him, He quickly jumped up and grabbed Ulrich's arm just missing being struck by the ascending pillar "looks like you got your Z game going" said Ulrich as Odd brushed himself down in a force of habit.
(=======================================================================)
The wall opened up and the group rushed through into the next area, the elevator passed them by at a rapid pace,
"Jeremie we're at the Elevator" said Yumi as she looked down over the edge but stepped back as the elevator shot past them again, "That's great, there are more and more monsters in that mysterious room, I've got a bad feeling about this" said Jeremie, William looked down as the elevator rushed upwards, "Okay now" said Aelita as she gave him a joking push as she and the others jumped onto the elevator, it quickly ascended towards before scraping to a halt, then the wall opened up and they rushed out before stopping at the outer sphere, "We're here Jeremie where do we go to crack some monsters heads" asked Ulrich as he looked around, Jeremie looked at the other windows, "Head for the south pole of the dome, that should be the entrance" said Jeremie as he rubbed his chin, Yumi looked down and said "Vehicle's Jeremie", Jeremie snapped out of his daze and began typing "Coming up" he said, Odd looked around at the silent, "Maybe that's were XANA holds his Annual Monster ball, cause up to now, we haven't seen any" said Odd, but he had spoken too soon "Look" said Ulrich as he and William drew their blades, Two Mantas moved into view from around the hemisphere, they quickly opened fire targeting Aelita but Yumi drew her fans and blocked them, Ulrich quickly threw his Katanna towards the two whilst Odd fired several Laser arrows, the Katanna missed but swung back to Ulrich's hand, whilst Odd's laser arrow struck and destroyed one of them, "There we go" said Odd as he back flipped "There's the A game" he added as he blew the non-existent smoke from his finger pistol hand gesture "Move out" said Jeremie as the vehicles spawned, Ulrich started to run to dive with the baton but he stopped at the edge almost falling off as he got cold feet before he stepped back and extended it, "Nervous" asked Yumi, Ulrich looked down without responding, Yumi and Aelita stepped onto the Over-Wing, whilst Odd mounted his Over-Board, William stepped onto the Over-Bike, "Yumi, Aelita you two head for the entrance, the rest of us will take care of the Manta" said William, Ulrich turned his head and looked at him, "Hey I'm ground leader" said Ulrich, William rolled his eyes "What he said" said Ulrich as he shot forward after the Manta, William and Odd followed after it, the Over-Wing moved downwards towards the entrance, The manta however began to purse them, with another one patrolling the entrance, it moved away to start attacking the warriors, "Hang on Lita" said Yumi as she drew her fan and began blocking the shots from the Manta, Yumi quickly adjusted her trajectory and moved straight towards the creature, it quickly dodged and avoided the Over-Wing and the others behind it, but it turned around and was now following after the others, "Great real great" said Ulrich as he looked back, then he looked moved his fingers to the break, "You two take care of this one" said Ulrich as he slammed on the break drawing his Katanna, he suddenly sliced through the pursing manta causing it to explode, but Ulrich had stalled the engine and the vehicle was now just floating, "I'LL CATCH UP" he shouted, Odd and William remained focused on the Manta as Yumi and Aelita made it to the entrance, it was a large bump in the base of the sphere the passage way would routinely open and close like a large mouth, "You're there can you see the access" said Jeremie as he watched on the map, "Yeah Jeremie it's pretty hard to miss" replied Yumi as he circled around it as it closed, "Great go on in" said Jeremie, Aelita looked back at the pursing manta before Yumi circled around and managed to get inside the entrance, The Manta attempted to follow but it smacked into the now closed entrance and began to drop before it moved towards Odd and William, "What're you guys going, Yumi and Aelita have entered the passage" said Jeremie, Ulrich had managed to restart the Over-Rider's engine and was moving at a rapid speed to help the others, "We're working on it Jeremie" he said, William looked at the Manta "We can't do this all day" he said as he looked at Odd, the later shook his head, "Go to the entrance I'll help Ulrich" he said, William looked back but nodded as he moved away towards the entrance, Odd quickly moved towards the Manta and opened fire with his arrows, "I'm all out Jeremie" said Odd as he heard the clicking, "I hear you Odd" said Jeremie as he began to type and reload Odd's arms, the Manta passed Odd it was clearly more focused on Ulrich deeming him a more important target, "I'm through Jeremie" said William as Jeremie finished typing, "Okay Odd you're fully loaded" said Jeremie, Odd quickly began to fire at the Manta, the arrows were getting close but were still missing "Odd I have an idea" said Ulrich as he circled around and pulled up alongside him, The manta followed after Ulrich and moved towards the two, but they moved aside before speeding towards the entrance, the Manta followed and as Ulrich and Odd barely made it inside the sphere, the Manta tried following but the entrance closed around it destroying the creature.
(=======================================================================)
"We need to trip the mechanism" said William as he and the two girls stood by what appeared to be the key, but its location was unusual, "Wait for the others, there is an unreal amount of monsters waiting" said Jeremie, Aelita began to pace back and forth almost annoyed, then Ulrich and Odd moved up from the abyss in front of them, "Hi how are you" said Odd proud of himself, "Took you long enough" said Aelita causing Yumi to chuckle as the former presses the button, as it sank into the wall the stairs began to flicker into life before similar to the virtualization process a blue square outline formed before gain detail, Aelita who was strangely head strong lead the charge with Yumi following after her, "Is it me or has she become strangely more confident" asked Odd, Ulrich shrugged his shoulders as he looked at William "No idea" he added before the three rushed off up the stairs, atop of them Aelita and Yumi stopped, the new room was massive, bigger than any room they'd previously seen in sector 5, the wall wasn't smooth as it had several blocks sticking out, ranging from shot and fat to long and thin, "We're here Jeremie" said Yumi as she took in the scope of the room, the others stopped behind them, "Can you see the monsters, What're they doing?" asked Jeremie, the warriors looked up to see the biggest swarm of monsters they'd seen in a long time, numerous creepers and mantas, surrounded what appeared to be appeared to be an image of Lyoko surrounded by two cubes which rotated on two different diagonal axis, "They're firing at some sort of blue ball" said Ulrich as he pointed upwards, Jeremie tapped his finger on his seat's arm rest, "If XANA wants it destroyed then it's gotta be important" said Jeremie, William drew his sword as Odd said "Okay its down with the creepers", the others nodded in agreement, "I'm gonna try and find out more about that sphere" said Jeremie as he began typing, whilst on Lyoko a voice the warriors had been dreading to hear "WELL, WELL IF IT ISN'T THE WARRIORS" shouted Adam as he dropped down into view, then he looked at Ulrich and Yumi saying "Well most of them" suddenly every bit of anger that Ulrich had been struggling to keep within himself for almost 2 months flooded out as he drew his Katanna and charged at Adam, "Ulrich no" said Yumi as she tried to stop him, Adam grinned as he drew his sword and blocked Ulrich's Swing but Ulrich had put more power behind it than Adam ever anticipated and was knocked backwards in the parry, "Come on he's bought us some time" said Yumi as she and the others began to move up the protruding pillars, Aelita once again strangely took the lead, "Is he gonna be okay" asked William as he stopped and looked back, "He's seeing red, not much we can do" said Odd as he carried on hoping upwards towards the monsters, Evelyn who was reloading her musket "stop them" she said as he pointed at the two swarming manta's "Jesus more of them" said Aelita as she carried on hopping almost undeterred by her weakness, the two Manta's began to open fire at them with William holding his sword out to block the shots, whilst on the floor Ulrich was swinging violently at Adam who was doing nothing but blocking the blows almost as if he was teasing Ulrich, the later was managing to keep his strength but his lack of control was making him all too easy to predict, "Not bad" said Adam as he parried the next swing and side stepped to stand behind his opponent and before Ulrich could react Adam used his wrist blade and stabbed him in the back, "But nowhere near as good as your son" said Adam as he grabbed Ulrich and held him as he devirtulized, Ulrich managed to turn his head seething with anger as he watched Adam grin.
(=======================================================================)
The heavy manta fire hadn't deterred the spirits of the warriors and they pressed on regardless of the bombarding lasers, Yumi stopped and drew her fans ready to draw the fire of them,
"Go on head for the sphere" she said as the Mantas took the bait and moved in for a closer attack only to be blocked by the fans, as the Manta's moved away to circle back around Yumi stepped back before jumping and leaping onto the second Manta's back, she quickly slashed inwards with her fan, before jumping off as it exploded, her fans like boomerangs returned to her and naively she pocketed them but the remaining Manta fired into her striking her and knocking her to her knees, then Evelyn raised her musket and aimed at Yumi, but Adam moved up and waived at her, "SHE'S MINE" he shouted as he drew his sword, Evelyn still suspicious aimed her regardless, as Adam was about to swing downwards, Odd watched from the other side of the room raised his arm, "Laser Arrow" he said as he fired at Evelyn, the arrow struck Evelyn's wrist and she jerked up wards pulling the trigger, the bullet rocketed through the room and struck Adam clean in the forehead knocking him backwards, "You bastard" yelled Evelyn as he pointed at Odd, a few Creepers turned their attention to him, Yumi stumbled to her feet ready to move again but the Manta had circled around and fired a laser at her finishing the job it had started, "no" said Yumi as she devirtulized "Yumi" said William as he looked back, Aelita once again moved ahead whilst the creepers seemed distracted with Odd, he quickly dodged by flipping away before landing next to William, "Forget it, concentrate on our Monster friends" said Odd as he raised his arm again, he fired a single shot and it sped across the room and struck one of the creepers that was focused on him destroying it, "Finally my A plus game" said Odd but he'd let his guard down as the Manta circled around again and fired at Odd striking him causing him to fall forward and devirtulize upon impact with the ground, "Shit, Jeremie it's just me and Aelita" said William as he rushed upwards to try and catch her, The manta turned its attention to her "Super Smoke" said William as he dropped down into a cloud and moved at a rapid pace, emerging sword first to block a manta shot, the creature fired several more shots, but William managed to block "Stay behind me" he said as the creature moved too close and turned but William held out his sword and sliced into the under belly of the beast and it flew away before exploding from the damage.
(=======================================================================)
"I don't believe it" said Jeremie as he scratched his head, "William, whatever you do you've gotta stop the Creepers and Evelyn from destroying the sphere" he added as the elevator opened letting Ulrich, Odd and Yumi out, "Why" asked William as he and Aelita ascended together with the former blocking the lasers, "Because that's the heart of Lyoko" said Jeremie as he was still amazed by his discovery, "The direct access to all the core programs of the virtual world" added Jeremie as the three behind him moved forward, Yumi had her arms around Ulrich trying to calm him down, "if the monsters destroy it, its game over for Lyoko and us" finished Jeremie, then it hit William and Aelita, "the sphere has only two protective layers, and the first one just blew" said Jeremie as the first cube exploded leaving only the second one left which began to spin at a more rapid pace, "Come on" said William as he began to run up the pillars, "Take this you ugly son of a bitch" he said as he jumped and swung his sword through the neck of the creeper, "one left" said Aelita as she rushed next to William, "and the bitch" said William as he looked at Evelyn as she struggled to reload her musket, William said "super smoke" and dropped into his cloud and moved towards the remaining Creeper he exited as he swung down but the creature fired at him, as the blade sliced into the monster William was also devirtulized, Aelita rushed upwards until she was level with the Core of Lyoko, it was only here and Evelyn, the later jumped down so the two were face to face, "Its over Aelita, your fathers work ends here" said Evelyn as she raised her musket and pointed it towards Aelita, whilst in the computer room Yumi leant forward "Jeremie she's defenceless" she said practically screaming, "Watch" said Jeremie confidently "Aelita it's your turn now" he added, Odd was confused "Her turn for what?" he asked, whilst on Lyoko Aelita smiled and raised her hand and suddenly a pink energy sphere formed in her hand "What the fuck" said Evelyn as she pulled the trigger and shot Aelita, but it was too late the sphere fired from Aelita's hand and struck Evelyn, the two devirtulized each other, "but how can Aelita have done that" asked a very confused Odd, "Over the break I upgraded Aelita's ability's, she's now perfectly capable of fighting like you guys" said Jeremie, then Yumi noticed the screen, "Jeremie look at that" she said as Aelita's ID card drained out.
(=======================================================================)
Jeremie frantically typed he was starting to panic as Aelita seemingly disappeared from existence,
"no, no, no, no this is bad, she's been devirtulized" said Jeremie as he stopped typing unable to continue, "Are you saying that…" asked Odd, but he didn't have to finish "That's right… I… I can't believe it" said Jeremie as he held his head in his hands, but then he noticed something on the screen, "What's going on" he asked as he lent forward, he recognised the window from when the others were devirtulized, he leaped out of his chair and rushed towards the ladder, "Come on hurry up" he said as he began to climb down as fast as he could, "Is he okay" asked Ulrich as they followed after him, "I dunno" replied Yumi as she began to climb down, Jeremie had rushed over to the scanner Aelita had taken, it opened to show Aelita standing there, "You realise you almost gave me a heart attack" said Jeremie as he took a deep breath, the others were just as shocked, Aelita jumped into Jeremie's arms enjoying the hug she raised her legs, leaving Jeremie shocked he was able to carry her, "could somebody tell me what's going on" asked William as he looked at the others, "Well it seems that even if Aelita losses all of her life points she won't disappear forever" said Odd, Jeremie looked at them still holding Aelita's hands, "Of course I was too dumb to think of it before" said Jeremie as he looked at Aelita with a small blush beginning to form, "Ever since you recovered your human memory you're exactly the same as us" explained Jeremie, Aelita smiled at the thought, "We don't need code earth anymore to bring you home" said Jeremie as he hugged her without a moment of hesitation, "That'll really help now that XANA is on warpath to destroy Lyoko and stop us finding him on the net" replied Aelita as Jeremie pulled away from the hug, "That's great Aelita you're now a full fledge Lyoko Warrior" said Yumi causing Aelita to blush.
(=======================================================================)
Jeremie sat alone in his room, he watched Dallas's unmade and empty bed, he kept tapping his feet together, he'd hoped Dallas would show up to resume the year, even if he was gonna be delayed to take his time, but even with school starting the next day no one had seen nor heard from him, his daze was broken as he heard a knock at the door, Jeremie turned around to his computer and started typing as he said
"Come in", Ulrich opened the door as he and Yumi walked in, "Dallas still aint back" she asked as she looked at his empty bed, "I'm afraid not" said Jeremie as he turned back to face them, "Jeremie I think it's time we started searching for him" said Ulrich as he lent against the wardrobe, "What would you suggest" asked Jeremie as he looked at them, "file a police report" said Yumi, Jeremie looked down, he didn't want to get the law involved as it might mean bad news for them, "Are you sure that's wise" asked Jeremie as he turned around and quickly typed bringing up the police website that he'd practised hacking into, Ulrich looked down and said "Jeremie we want our son home".
(=======================================================================)
Authors note
Thanks for reading sorry about the delay between this and the last chapter, I needed to take a break, just to let Season 2 sink in, and because I had been working from around 10 at night till 6 in the morning for 4 weeks straight to get the last 10ish chapters of Season 2 finished and it was really taking its toll on my health, and it's taken me a further 2 weeks to fix my sleep schedule, but I hope you've enjoyed the start of season 3, overall I plan for this to be a self-contained season, but I'm hoping for it to tie into the bigger plans I have going forward.