THREE DAYS LATER…

"Hey Aelita, anything unusual happening?" Jeremy asked.

"If by that you mean anything from Xana then no, but I'm getting a weird signal in the desert region…I'm going to check it out." Aelita replied.

"Okay, I'll have the others on stand-by…just in case it's a trap."

LYOKO-DESERT REGION:

"I know that signal's around here somewhere, I'm close…I just know it." Aelita said to herself, she carefully looked around. Around some rock formations she sensed the signal strongest of all, that's when she found it, a small metallic disc with a CD in it and a button on the side, when she pressed the button a hologram of a person in a heavy white robe appeared, he had black hair a sliver eyes…by the expression on his face he looked both worried and terrified about something. "I hope somebody finds this," the stranger in the message said to himself, he continued: "Listen, Lyoko is in serious trouble…I can't say a lot in this message, but here are a few things you should know. I'm being hunted right now by a group known as LEGION, it's a group of hackers who wish to take over Lyoko. They will accomplish this by using their Towers of Minion…sadly this is all I can tell you for now, I hope to get back here is soon as I can and explain more."

With that the message ended, Aelita played it over a few more times…then she sensed it, a new tower…only it didn't feel like Xana, but some new power. "Jeremy can you hear me?"

"Aelita…what's going on, found anything?"

MEANWILE, IN A DINER ABOUT 10 MILES OUT OF TOWN:

It was a usual day for one of the waitresses, just another bunch of truckers passing through…that's when she spotted him, 3rd from the end of the row, white trench coat with a black shirt underneath, blue jeans, and black shoes. He had long black hair that looked like it hadn't seen a pair of shears in several months (picture Sirius Black from the 'Harry Potter' series and that's what his hair looked like), not to mention that his face was wind burned. She came up to him and said, "Well look what the road brought us, what will it be dearie?"

The stranger looked up at her and said, "Blue plate special, and some tea if you have any?" that's when she noticed he had silver eyes, like someone had shrunk down a pair of dimes, put a black spot in the center of them, and placed them in the retinas of this person. He smirked and replied, "Let me guess…you're surprised by my eye color."

"Well dearie, not like we haven't seen are share of crazies, but it's in the stories they tell that explain them…so what's your tale to tell?" the waitress replied in question.

The stranger gave a deep sigh and responded, "Let's just say I'm a person whose running from the poor choices he's made in the past." The waitress shot him a faint smile and said, "Okay…how about your name honey?" The stranger responded, "Roderick…But my friends call me Roger, a few pet names too…their favorite is Oni."

The waitress poured Roderick his tea and said, "Oni? If I'm not mistaken…Oni of Japanese for—?" Roderick nodded and completed her sentence; "Japanese for Demon that's right…and with my eye color, kind of fits doesn't it?" The waitress nodded in response and handed Roderick his meal, he ate it in silence…then she asked, "How old are you? I'm guessing you're not old enough to drink yet." Roderick nodded and replied, "I'm 17 years old, I'll probably be looking for a High School…not to mention a place to stay." The waitress looked at him and said, "You're only that old…someone your age shouldn't be out on the road?!"

Then the waitress had a thought and said, "Wait…maybe there's a way around you're housing problem, you see I know the principal of the High School, and he knows the principal at this one academy…it has it's own dorm rooms…only problem is the school is for kids younger than yourself, but the High School principal has been waiting for the academy to do him a favor, and you could be what he's been waiting for."

Roderick pulled out a couple of tens from his wallet and said, "Keep the change." The waitress then said, "Wait, how about you spend the first couple of nights with me, just until we get the thing settled." Roderick turned around and said, "I'd like that…as long as you can cook, I'll clean up after myself before I leave."

LYOKO-DESERT REGION:

Aelita had gone in the direction of this new power and saw a tower, but not like the ones Xana usually activated…this one was made out of some sort of new type of material, and differently shaped (kind of shaped like Isengard). "Jeremy…are you seeing this?"

"Yeah…it's a tower, but none of the like I've seen so far, different signal emission too…but let's lay low for awhile until we're sure what we're looking at." Jeremy replied.

Aelita then left the area…not aware that she was being watched by the eyes of Warlock, "Now who was that?" Warlock asked himself, soon a person in a tattered gray cloak and steel mask appeared from behind Warlock and said, "Well isn't it plain to see Warlock? She's like us, maybe we can get her to join us…and if not, perhaps we'll have to apply some force." Warlock turned to him and said, "I like the way you think Dark Angel."

MEANWHILE…

Roderick got back on his motorcycle, the waitress had given him her address and a extra house key…as Roderick headed back on the road he thought to himself, "Don't worry Roderick…nothing strange has happened yet, you still have time to react. Plus we would they even think of setting up here?"

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What are these strange towers in Lyoko? And what has Roderick so worried? Find out in the next chapter.