"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

-Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Huh. If had I written that dictation I would have phrased it a little differently. Maybe, "Keep your friends close and your virtual enemies closer." Who were my virtual enemies? Krabs, buzzing monsters, stuff like that. I was once one.

I was once a Krab. I was once a follower of XANA. Not against my will. Scary, huh? Well, it's true. And I hope it never happens again. This story is about me Ulrich, who was once a follower of XANA. Who is now virtually my enemy.

"Laser arrow!" Odd yelled as he dodged a Krabs shot.

The Krab exploded with a satisfying boom. Odd yelled to Aelita. "Hey Princess! The fields clear!" Aelita looked over to Odd. "The towers open!" Odd yelled.

The thick forest of the forest region was being disturbed by the laser fire and the battle crys comm\ing from the battle. Yumi threw her fan at one of the Krabs and I felt a shockwave of pain coming from my shoulder. "Ah! Ouch!" I exclaimed. I looked behind me at Yumi who had hit me with her fan.

"Are you against me Yumi?" Ulrich I asked, partially kidding.

Yumi put her hands up in question. "I don't know what happened. I can't imagine actually hurting you in Lyoko."

I jumped up high and landed on a Krab to pierce the XANA eye, but before I could, the Krab wobbled it's legs and I fell off. "Whoa!" I expected to hit the ground quickly after falling since Krabs weren't exactly huge and it wouldn't take long to fall off. But I kept falling. "Ahhhh!"

Thump! I landed on a platform that seemed to be a mile from where I was. "Oooooh..." I was laying flat on the ground with my eyes closed, but then I opened them. The high ledge where the fight was did seem to be a mile up. I could barely here the sound of the battle from down there. I had to find a way to get up.

"Jeremy?"

"Ulrich! Where are you?"

"I'm stuck on a lower platform Jeremy," I explained. "I don't know how to get to the top. And the battle is going on up there, and I'm not there to help. Know a way to get up?"

"Nope."

"Big help Jeremy."

"But I could revirtualize you in the top."

"Great!" I was bordering on jubilation over a silly battle.

"But," said Jeremy, "I've never exactly tested this feature..."

"jeremy! Do it! Please! I've got to get up there!"

"And you know how when we found lyoko, XANA infected a couple things and may have wrecked-"

"JEREMY!"

"Causing a-"

"JEREMY!"

"Revirtualization!"

I felt like my body was being pulled from my current position, and I saw my body as I flew away really fast. Then, I bright, blinding light, and then just blue. Slowly my sight came back, and I was on the ground in the fight.

"Ulrich!", Yumi exclaimed. "Where were you? Aelita's in the tower now!"

"Tell you later. Now let's go!"

After long, tiring fight, I just sat there. "Aelita's almost done entering the code." Jeremy said nonchalantly.

It was kind of strange to Return to the Past. I always remember what happened during the time that was rewound. I was about to wonder why when Jeremy's voice came from the sky.

"Return to the Past now."