Author's Note: I don't usually write these but this time I had to. I'm so sorry Shevie! Now that I think about it, you're right, I was a bit too stereotypical. Thank you for pointing that out and next time I'll try to make it more realistic. But I did it kind of for a reason because its how my story unfolds. And can't you just imagine Jim falling asleep when he isn't supposed to? I can. Plus you can find out what's wrong with Lyoko faster if Jim was asleep rather than awake the whole time. So...sorry to offend anybody and I'll try to change my ways (thank you very much for all my reviews, by the way)! Now without further ado, the next chapter...

"What's wrong?" was the first thing I said when I burst into the room which contained the super computer Jeremy always used to virtualize us. Three heads looked up and all were creased with worry.

"Let out early, huh Yumi?" Ulrich asked. I just nodded and pushed Odd a little to the right so I could squeeze between him and Jeremy in his swivel chair. They were all looking at Aelita.

"What's happened?" I asked frantically, looking at Jeremy and then at Aelita.

"Nothing big, actually," Jeremy said, typing something into the computer. "Aelita, can you explain?"

"Sure, Jeremy," Aelita said in her soothing voice. It was so nice and comforting (not to mention calm) I relaxed a little. "It seems that the monsters in Lyoko are disappearing."

"What?" I said, leaning back a little as if to absorb the impact the statement made. "Disappearing? How?"

"We're not sure, but I've seen it a couple of times. I'm not sure if its good news or bad news."

"I have a hunch," Jeremy said, typing a few more things in. "But I hope I'm wrong." He stopped typing and leaned back into his chair. We all looked at him expectantly.

"The only way an monster from Lyoko can disappear is if it is killed. That is the only possible way we know of. But I don't think Xana would have programmed his monsters to kill each other randomly. So, I fear the worst." Jeremy gazed thoughtfully at the computer screen and then continued. "Perhaps Xana has found a way to materialize his monsters."

I stepped back in horror, as did Odd and Ulrich. Aelita gasped. "Oh Jeremy, that's terrible!" she exclaimed. Jeremy sighed and closed his eyes.

"That's the only reasonable explanation. Otherwise, how else can they be disappearing?" Jeremy shook his head. "Well, whatever the case, keep your eye out for pulsations or anything else unusual."

Aelita nodded. "Of course."

"We'll keep in touch," Jeremy said. Aelita nodded and then the screen in which her face had appeared switched off. Jeremy pushed himself off his chair and started for the elevator. The rest of us followed, mulling things over.

"But where would they go, Jeremy? If the monsters were materialized by Xana, I mean," I asked. Jeremy shook his head. We all filed into the elevator.

"I wouldn't know. There could be millions of places he would send them." We started moving steadily upward.

"What I'm thinking is how are we going to fight the monsters now?" Ulrich said gloomily. "In the virtual world we at least had our virtual abilities. Now we have nothing to fight them with if they really were materialized."

"And what if they attack the school?" Odd added hurriedly, not wanting to feel left out in asking unanswerable questions.

"Yes, these are all good questions that we must deal with, but what I really need to know is why would Xana do this? What is his purpose?" Jeremy paced around in a little circle in the elevator. The elevator shuddered to a stop and its doors opened again. We all filed out.

"Whatever he might be doing, we have to look out for it." I walked out into the bright daylight and blinked.

"Well, I'm off," Odd said, running across the bridge. "I have to feed Kiwi before he starts whining. And let me tell you, his whining gets pretty loud."

"We already know, Odd," Ulrich stated.

"Oh right, well, see you later!" Then he was climbing down the manhole that was the entrance to our tunnel that we used to get to the warehouse.

"I have to go too," I said, starting after Odd. "Homework. Not much but I still have to do it."

"I'll go with you," Ulrich said, walking beside me. "Hey, I though your detention was an hour."

"It was but it turns out that Jim falls asleep in the middle of it and doesn't wake up until the hour is already up. So we snuck out early."

"We?"

"Well, these punks were there and they acquainted me with the idea." For some reason, I needed and wanted to change the subject. I stopped and turned. "Jeremy, you coming?"

"Uh," he said, turning back toward me. "Sure, in a second." He bent down. "Have to tie my shoe!" he said with a slight laugh.

"His shoe looked fine before," Ulrich stated the truth.

"Oh well," I said and slid down into the tunnel, not bothering to use the ladder. Ulrich followed. But I didn't move ahead. "Wait," I told him and climbed back up. I popped my head out barely. I watched as Jeremy looked around to make sure no one was looking and then run back inside the warehouse. "I knew it," I declared when I jumped back down. "He's going back to talk to..." me and Ulrich exchanged smiles, "...Aelita!"

Laughing, I grabbed my skateboard where it had been propped by me earlier, got a running start and jumped on it. In no time I was propping it back up next to Odd's and climbing up the ladder to push open the next manhole. I climbed out and crawled onto the grass surrounding it. Ulrich climbed out a few seconds later and then we ran though the trees for the main road to the school buildings.

Unfortunately, we were met by bad luck.