Author's Note: Well, you guys didn't have to wait too long so I see no reason for Palantiri to make a little trip over here, unless she just wanted to come and say hi and talk about the weather and stuff. I mean, a week is substantial enough, considering all the homework I still have not done. (Hehe...bad me.) Anyway, I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. I know, it was evil with the cliffe but any good writer always has to use them sometimes, even those ones that get published in which you just turn the page to begin the next chapter to slake your curiosity. But you have no such luck here, sorry guys. J-lyoko, how could you think that the old gang couldn't play a big role! Does the word "training" come up in your head? Haha...you silly goose. New reviewer: Gijinka Renamon (with a totally awesome possum pen name). WELCOME and thanks for reviewing everyone. Enjoy!

Yumi landed a bit abruptly on the virtual floor. She had to spread out her arms to get her balance. Her heart sank as she realized that Ulrich might have been right on the phone, that her technique was indeed slipping. Then she straightened up to realize she had landed on an inclined plane, which accounted for the unsteadiness. She immediately, out of habit and necessity, began scanning the surroundings for any signs of trouble. For the moment, all was quiet.

She heard a groaning that could only have come from cat man Odd. She looked to her left to find Odd sprawled on the ground very amateur-like. She laughed as Odd got up too, rubbing his behind as he did so. "Someone could have warned me that was about to happen."

Yumi smiled. "Come on, old veteran. We've only just begun."

Odd grimaced. "Yes, I was afraid you would say that." He got up and joined Yumi in scanning the horizon. "Say, where's Ulrich and…?"

Yumi suddenly spotted a dust cloud coming their way. That was never good. She squinted her eyes and shielded her face from the virtual sun beating down on them. She made out two figures running toward them frantically. One of them had the glint of the sword in his hand.

"Come on, Odd, let's go."

"Ah, man."

They ran down the inclined platform, their fast footsteps crunching heavily on the desert's sandy floor. Yumi was amazed that she could still run almost as fast as she used to while she closed in on Ulrich and Aelita. As the cloud got bigger, she saw that Ulrich and Aelita were waving frantically. The cloud seemed to be coming from behind them.

When they were within hearing range, Yumi finally made out what they were screaming about. "RUN! RUN!"

"Run?" Yumi suddenly was aware of the shaking of the ground beneath her feet. She highly doubted that just Ulrich and Aelita running could create an effect like that, along with the cloud of dust. She turned around slowly and ran. Odd, grumbling about running all the way here and now having to run back, started to slowly pick up the speed next to her.

He was running faster than all of them in a couple of seconds. They soon realized what was chasing Ulrich and Aelita, although they had a hard time believing it.

Whinnies and thumps of millions of hooves filled the eardrums of the four of them as they raced for their lives. Yumi's mind felt like it wasn't working properly as she rounded a bend formed by a odd protrusion of desert rock in the middle of the flat open area. She heard ringing neighs from above and realized that some horses had run up the protrusion and were jumping off of it, still in hot pursuit of her and her friends.

The thundering was now punctuated by the hard thumps of the horses that came flying off the protrusion. Yumi ran faster still, although she felt that she was tiring quickly. She risked a glance at Ulrich, who had his sword drawn, but looked like he liked the idea of running better than using his naked sword. When he caught sight of Yumi's desperate face, however, he knew that they couldn't keep running forever.

Ulrich tried his best to convey a message to Yumi through his eyes. Her eyes flickered back that she understood partly what he wanted her to do. He started to curve toward her and she responded by cutting away from Odd and Aelita, splitting the original group of four to two and two. The pack of wild horses followed suit, splitting right down the middle, as if they had been cut from a cake, one half of the horses curving back around to follow Ulrich and Yumi.

Yumi was tiring. She knew that Ulrich was too. She kept pace with him as they wound back around the way they had come. She saw the pack of horses running in front of them and looked at Ulrich sharply. Is he insane? She slowed down a little bit to see what he was planning to do, hoping beyond hope that it was not what she was thinking.

Unfortunately, it was. As if he hadn't been out of practice ten years, Ulrich leaped gracefully onto the first horse in front of him. Then, as if he was doing a complex Irish river dance on hot coals, he skipped his way across various horses' backs, making his careful way to the other side. Yumi, with no time to hesitate, followed his lead.

About halfway across the thundering herd, the sound of painful animal cries and explosions could be heard. Yumi felt a sudden heat flare up behind her. She didn't risk a look back but she could imagine what had happened. The horses that had curved around to follow them had had no time to slow down when they saw their fellow horses. Therefore, the only way to go was straight ahead, and that had been right into the other horses.

Yumi collapsed as she leapt off the last horse's back. Ulrich's arms were waiting to soften her fall, but if Yumi had wanted to collapse like a maiden in distress into them, she would be disappointed. Ulrich's strong arms just straightened her right back up again. As soon as Yumi was steady, Ulrich's hands went to his sword. He drew it in a flash and was charging right back toward the horses. Yumi screamed his name as a warning, but if he heard, he gave no indication.

"We…are…such…idiots…" Yumi mumbled to herself as she ran after Ulrich. Out came the fan as she expertly threw it before she had come to a stop. The fan's speed was breath taking, faster than Yumi had remembered it. It whizzed through and exploded a whole line of wild horses before retracing its deadly path to slice up a few more. Yumi caught it and glanced at the fan with wonder before she immediately threw it again.

Meanwhile, Odd and Aelita were still running, distancing themselves farther and farther from the other two. Aelita had no idea where they were supposed to be going, only that if she stopped she was dead. She would have tried closing her eyes to try and concentrate, to try and scan the terrain ahead for any sort of advantage her and Odd could exploit, but it was too risky. She could only feel herself drain her energy away.

Then, Jeremie's voice sounded in their heads, the voice of a savior. However, the voice of the savior didn't exactly bringing news worthy of exultation.

"Aelita! Odd! Slow down! The path ends in a sheer drop straight ahead!"

"WHAT?" Odd screamed in terror. He would have given anything to be back on earth at that moment.

All right, Aelita, do or die time. Without an explanation, she grabbed Odd's arm, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't try to question her and just steer them in the right direction. Aelita closed her eyes and concentrated, a hard task considering she was running from wild horses of Xana's creation. Her mind fanned out, probing the terrain ahead, a useful little scheme she had unlocked while surfing through Xana's memory in the towers. Now it proved to be the second savior.

She found that Jeremie was right, that the land just dropped away into nothingness a little farther ahead. There was no way around it as to turn back was to get trampled. But she gritted her teeth and pushed her mind out farther. There she hit the jackpot. She found a tiny little floating island a little bit off the sheer drop they were about to reach. However, in order to get there, they would need a miracle.

Aelita prayed for one and then opened her eyes. She found that the drop was practically right in front of them. She also found that her tiredness hit her like a wall. However, she pushed it down the best she could and, among all other things, she started speeding up.

Odd looked at her like she was crazy. Wasn't it smarter to save your energy? But Aelita still had her hand on Odd's arm, so now as she sprinted to her fastest speed, she pulled Odd along, causing him to sprint also. The drop accelerated nearer and nearer and nearer…

At the last moment, Aelita hummed a few desperate and shaky notes. A little extra strip of land appeared right in front of them. She let all her energy go into those last few feet as she lengthened her stride and pummeled down that short runway, remembering the track and field unit they did at school all those years ago. Pushing off the very edge, they leapt into the open air. Shrill whinnies sounded a moment later as multitudes of the heavy wild horses went tumbling off the edge. The whinnies became a cacophony of noises as more and more fell to their doom.

Aelita herself was worried of losing altitude too fast too soon. She resisted the temptation of closing her eyes, something Odd was not hesitating to do. Aelita's eyes scanned the mist until finally the island burst abruptly into view. They hit it with painful accuracy, the landing knocking the breath out of both of them as they skid to a sprawling stop. Aelita was sure that if they had landed with this force in real life, they would have broken every single bone in their body. They also would have been dead.

Both of them didn't move for a few moments, listening to the pitiful cries of the horses die down. Aelita then slowly made herself roll over, wincing at the pain that shot up and down her body, originating in her ribs. Pain was a regular occurence in her real life now and she had gotten used to it. So, at first, she dismissed it as regular. But then she would have sat bolt upright if it hadn't been for that pain. This is Lyoko. No pain, no feelings, no nothing. Until now. Either Lyoko was screwed up or Xana was getting good.

"Jeremie," Aelita croaked.

"Yes?" the response was immediate and laden with concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alive," Aelita responded, edging herself up into the upright sitting position and rubbing her ribs tentatively. "Jeremie, how many more life points do I have?"

A few moments later the results came in. "I can't believe it. You have already lost ten and Odd has lost forty! How did that happen? You guys were fine!" Jeremie's voice wandered off as he started surfing around the Xana program, trying to find any plausible explanation.

However, Aelita already knew. With a groan, she straightened herself up, her mind now reeling as well. "Xana is smarter now, Jeremie," she wheezed. Her lungs felt like they had been brutally stabbed. "Lyoko is more real than we had taken it for. It has changed and evolved."

"That's no good news for us, I presume. Ow, ow, ow." Aelita walked forward to the source of the voice. Odd was lying on his back, hands covering his stomach and ribs. Aelita helped him up to his feet. He slumped over onto her, leaning heavily on her for support. "I don't think I can walk."

"Come on, Odd. Fight the pain. This is Lyoko, so even if it has gotten realistic, you can't let that be your excuse." Aelita straightened Odd's back and helped him walk a few steps. After a while, Odd could hobble around on his own.

"Jeremie, where are the others?"

Jeremie's voice floated down to them again. "They had doubled back. They are running in search of you now."

Aelita nodded and took a deep breath. "Tell them to stay where they are. We'll come to greet them." Then, with one last shuddering breath, she closed her eyes and began to hum.