Author's Note: Thank you again for all your great reviews! I love you guys! And I told you that I would update sooner this time. Who's good? Yep, that's right. (Tee-hee.) Anyway, I'm going to have Palantiri thank her muse Leafwood for me (you know what I'm talking about, hun). Also tell her that she is correct in the pairings. Unknownyumi, I have read and reviewed your story (check your reviews!) and I have also kind of granted your wish of having them find Lyoko in this chapter. And thanks to J-lyoko (sorry for messing up your pen name but they wouldn't let medo the "at" sign)for replying my email! All you guys that reviewed are great. I hope this chapter length satisfies you more. As always, read and enjoy to the fullest!
"And the crowd goes wild," Lori said calmly as she placed a hand on her hips and gazed at the person on the other side of the net with a slight smile. He bent to pick up the birdie and then straightened slowly, his forehead beaded with sweat. Lori was sweating herself. The match had been tougher than excepted, sending her shuffling all over her side of the court. Whenever her opponent had backed her up a considerable distance from the net, he would hit a soft one that barely cleared the net, sending Lori scrambling back up to get it. She had done the same, making both of them breathe hard and play hard.
"And you deserve it," the boy said with a grin, bending over to get underneath the net, crossing over to Lori's side. Lori's cheeks suddenly burned with something other than the heat that she had generated from the game. Her stomach also started fluttering nervously as the boy handed her the birdie. She took it and almost dropped it when his fingers brushed hers. Thankfully, he turned to look towards the door while she recovered herself.
Lori shut her eyes tight and tried breathing deeply. No, no. Get a hold of yourself, Lori. You are not going to do this...
"Well, would you get a load of that? Charlie's a chick magnet!"
Lori turned, surprised by the comment. She followed the boy's line of view and saw a group walk by the gym doors. She was surprised again to see Angela as part of the group.
The boy she had just played glanced over his shoulder at her with a glint in his eye. "What do you say to paying a visit?"
Lori almost grinned but caught herself in the nick of time, allowing only a small smile. She found herself smiling a lot around this mysterious boy. "Sure, why not?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charlie suddenly let out a groan next to Angela. Puzzled she turned to look at him. "What's up?"
"Ian, that's what," Charlie answered, indicating with his head behind him. Angela turned to see two people, a boy and a girl, stride up to them coolly. Her body suddenly also became rigid when she identified the girl. She wanted to keep walking but she stood her ground. Charlie seemed to hesitate beside her, but he stopped too.
Ian opened his mouth and was just about to rap off something witty to Charlie to embarrass him when the girl beside him spoke first. "Why, hello Lori! What a surprise!" Ian closed his mouth into an irritated frown. He usually was the one who spoke first in these confrontations. Man, Charlie sure found a sharp girl.
Lori, however, was just as prepared. Her answer was like a bullet. "Charmed, I'm sure," she said in a mocking manner. "So," she continued, "where is this happy group headed off to?"
Ian's breath was almost taken away by the sharpness of the other girl's response. "Wouldn't you like to know?" They are totally dominating this conversation! I need to put in my two cents worth!
"Actually, we are dying of curiosity!" Ian said politely, gazing at the black haired girl diagonal from him. Her gaze shot at him as well and their eyes locked for a moment. Ian smiled nicely. "Do tell!"
"Save it scum." Charlie brought Ian's gaze off the girl. "I know you aren't interested."
"Actually," Lori interjected. "You are mistaken. Why don't you let us join you?"
Angela couldn't believe this conversation. It was as if they were filming a tense scene from a movie with all their lines memorized off a written script. Even so, she felt a bit excited so she jumped back in. "Sure, why not?"
Everyone was suddenly silent as Angela finished her words. She loved it when she said a stunning thing that completely was unexpected. She smiled kindly, as if she was going to invite them to a stately luncheon. "If you two are so compelled to see what we are going to see, then go ahead and come long. We welcome you." With that Angela turned on her heel and ushered the blonde haired girl in front of her to start walking again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Um, are you sure its such a good idea?" Cynthia whispered quietly into Angela's ear so that only she could hear.
Angela shrugged. "Why not? The more people the better right? Then if something happens down there, we'll have a bigger chance of surviving." Angela winked, as Cynthia looked up at her in a worried expression. Even though Cynthia knew Angela had said it light-heartedly, Cynthia felt worry descend on her heart like a stormy cloud. However she continued walking and the group trouped behind in silence.
A few minutes later, they entered the grassy park but under a gray sky, everything looked dismal and blended together like a watercolor painting. Cynthia immediately left the main path and turned into a grassy area that was hidden from view by trees. The four behind Cynthia picked their way carefully over fallen logs, roots poking out, and various low plants that threatened to trip them. They concentrated on their footsteps, always surveying where they'd put their feet next. Cynthia, however, slipped over the natural obstacles like she was born to do it. As Angela watched Cynthia hop over a camouflaged tree log like a nymph fairy, she realized that although Cynthia claimed she was afraid of coming out here, she must have done it quite often to know the path so well.
Once they all reached the grassy part hidden from view from the path, the going was easier and pretty soon all of them saw the peculiar manhole that stuck out like a sore thumb against the yellowish-green grass. Without hesitation, Cynthia pulled back the manhole cover and descended. Angela went in next. Then Charlie slipped down. Lori climbed down after Charlie and Ian rounded out the crew, carefully slipping the cover back in place when he was all the way in. For some reason, he had a feeling that this place was best kept as a secret.
The stench was overwhelming as they started their way down the sewers. The water flowing next to them was a dirty color and rats gazed at them with beady red eyes as they passed. Angela looked around, a bit nervously, but more excited than nervous. Yup, this is definitely a good novel backdrop.
They continued along and noticed a small opening in a break in the wall at one point. Each person looked curiously at the opening as they passed. There seemed to be a hazy yellow light farther into the opening but no one dared stop to investigate. They continued on, their footsteps echoing off the walls slightly and none of them speaking.
For a few more minutes they continued through the tunnel, jumping over a few spots were the concrete broke. It took quite a while and they were all silently thankful when they reached the end. They spotted another ladder, much like the first one they had descended, going up to another cover. This one wasn't a regular manhole cover, however, and Cynthia demonstrated this when she got up to the very top. After a while of figuring out, she slid back the cover and a feeble watery sunlight filtered in. In the same order as before, they climbed out of the tunnel and stood looking at the sight before them.
"What is all this?" Ian asked in a breathless voice, gazing at the bridge before them that connected to a huge, run-down looking building.
"It looks like an abandoned warehouse," Cynthia said with awe in her voice. They all started in a walk for what seemed like the entrance. When they reached it however, there were more wide eyes. The five of them stared down at four pieces of rope that were apparently there for sliding down to the bottom level. As Lori inspected the drop, she spotted a rusty looking elevator to the right. Curiosity taking hold, she turned to the others.
"So, are we all going to just stare or are we going to go down and see what's in there?" Without waiting for an answer, she jumped out and grabbed hold of the nearest rope. Immediately it swung forward with her weight and she slid down, jumping off and sliding to a stop right in front of the elevator. She gazed up at it, straightening from her bent position. It looked worn and it seemed to not have been in use for years. I doubt it still works.
She turned back toward the ropes when she heard the sound of sliding bodies and thumping landings. Angela followed her down, along with the little blonde girl with glasses. Next came the black haired boy and then the last boy with lighter hair. They all stood for a moment, just staring at the elevator.
Then Cynthia stepped forward and pressed a big red button that had an arrow pointing down beside it. To everyone's amazement, the elevator shuddered to life and the heavy metal door slid upward, revealing the elevator's interior. Cynthia walked into the elevator and turned around. "Shall we?" she said cordially and waited as the rest of them deliberated what to do. Finally, all of them stepped forward and boarded the elevator.
Down they went. As they descended, Cynthia noticed a keypad in the corner of the elevator near the drop down door. She stared at it puzzled. It was then that she realized they would need a code in order to access some floors of the building. But no code was needed for the first floor. The door opened up willingly and before them merged a very empty room.
The five of them filed out in an orderly manner and crowded around just outside the elevator door. There was a circular area before them that was slightly not level with the rest of the floor. It had creases in it, like it could open up but it made no motion to do so.
"Um...so what's supposed to be in here?" Lori ventured.
As if on cue, the circular part of the floor slid open. The five of them stumbled back in surprise as a huge, golden, and glittering object came sliding from the open circle. It was two heads taller than all of them and it seemed to be glowing with power and electricity. A little compartment in the odd looking structure slid open. Before it did so, Charlie caught a glimpse of an odd symbol: a bull's eye with little points sticking out of it.
Inside, a lever was revealed. They all leaned in a little as one to get a better look at it, but no one made a move to go forward. Angela stayed staring upward at the big golden object before her. This just keeps getting better and better.
She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Cynthia stepping forward toward the lever. Cynthia bent closer and examined it again, almost nose to nose with it. Then, to everyone's horror, her hand reached out for the lever.
"NO!" all four of them yelled as one. Startled, Cynthia jumped and her hand dropped away from the lever.
"What? I just wanted to see what it does."
"That's not such a good idea," Ian said quickly but trying to suppress the fact that he had just been scared out of his wits. "We don't know what this...thing...is. We have no idea what that lever could do. We'd better leave it alone." Three other heads beside him nodded in agreement.
Cynthia almost chuckled. You big babies. Not so tough now, are you? She turned to gaze up at the big glittering object. "Actually, I think I might have an idea of what this is."
After a moment of expectant silence, Lori prompted, "Well...go on."
Cynthia masked her all-knowing smile. "I have a feeling this weird thing is kind of like a computer chip, only really big, of course, and really golden and shiny. But not only that, its some kind of computer program. I don't know what computer its on," here she turned slightly toward Angela and Angela gave her a wide-eyed, understanding gaze back, "but it's on a computer. And it's a strong program." She turned back to the golden object and pointed at the lever. "And that is the lever to turn it off and on."
"So who left it on?"
Angela's quickness surprised everyone at first, but then they started thinking about her question. Who, indeed, had left this "program" on? Why did they leave it on? What was it doing there, in a warehouse, for goodness sake?
"Maybe, if we go down to the other levels of this warehouse, we can find out, or at least get some clues." Cynthia headed for the elevator again. After a moment, the others followed. They watched as the golden program was shut away from their gazes.