Author's Note: Oooo...the story is getting interesting! I say, I think you will enjoy this chapter, and it is longer than the last one. Allyfromcali (I love how that ryhmes!), thank you for the review! I always love new reviewers. Speaking of those, Keiko Nishidera (I just read The Samurai's Garden for English class and there's a girl named Keiko in it, lol!) mucho gracias for the compliment. J-lyoko, your questions wouldn't necessarily bore me; I just wouldn't answer a lot of them because I want you to see for yourself! Caralynne (yay for new reviewer!), you are right. I haven't seen CL in a long time (waiting for new season) and I'm not THE biggest expert on it or anything, so my stories are often not at all accurate (most of the times in the case of the techincal stuff, like lifepoints and powers). But I'm trying my best. And if by flashbacks (funny you should mention that; I'm writing an original fiction in which the whole thing is one giant flashback) you mean writing the new characters' histories, don't worry, I will do that soon (hopefully) and you will get to know them better! I might even take that suggestion and use a flashback to tell some of their past. Sound good? Okay! Now, READ.

"OW!"

This word was exclaimed four times as four figures dropped down unexpectedly from midair onto the hard orange ground. They all had been unprepared for it, so they had all landed rather violently on their butts. Angela rubbed her backside resentfully then stood up carefully, only to almost sit back down at what everyone else was wearing.

Lori seemed to be a cat. Her hair was up in a tight bun (which Angela realized, was the same way her hair was done up) and placed on her head were two black cat ears. Lori was dressed up all in black, with a black tank top ending well before her belly button and black tight pants, which had an black whip hanging from the black belt on it. She also had a swishing black tail. Finishing off the ensemble were black gloves and black shoes that looked light and made for jumping, but they had lethal heels that were sharp but not that long. Lori seemed to notice none of this, but she did look around to see Ian.

Ian was dressed similarly to what Odd looked like. However, he wasn't purple, but in shades of gray and he had a bow and a quiver of arrows strapped onto his back. Ian, however, looked a bit confused as he gazed blearily around. Then he saw Charlie and gave a start. "Whoa, dude, is that you?"

"What?" Charlie snapped irritably, not noticing yet that he was dressed just like Ulrich, except he was in shades of blue and had a sword in a sheath to either side of him. He also seemed to have a retractable staff tucked into his waistband. All in all, he looked like the perfect human weapon. Of course, his facial expressions weren't quite there yet as he was goggling at Angela.

Angela herself didn't seem to notice how regal she looked. She was dressed awfully nice for the fact that they were in Lyoko to do some hard fighting. She was in a tight traditional Chinese dress that stopped just before the knees. The fabric was a dark rich blue and the pattern was complicated, with golden threaded dragons intertwining with light pink cherry blossoms. She had on very small blue shoes that looked as though they could have been silk slippers. Her hair was in a tight bun and was pierced through with two hair pins that made an crossing X. At the ends of each hairpin was a small dangling strand of beads that glittered in the artificial light.

"And what are you staring at?" Angela asked Charlie. Charlie seemed to snap out of it a little bit and swallowed a couple of times, afraid he had offended her. But he felt relief wash through when she smiled at him slightly.

"All right, gang," Jeremie's voice came ringing through the air, making a ripple of tension go through the four standing in a circle on the artificial landscape of Lyoko. "I'm sorry about the rough introduction to Lyoko and I'm sorry that your first time there is the real deal, but you have to bear with me. Now, the quick explanation I gave you was, in a word, crappy, so I'll have to guide you through this first time a lot. Just make sure that you trust me."

"Like we have a choice?" Lori muttered under her breath. She glanced around her with a distrustful glance. "So where do we start?" she asked louder than before so Jeremie could hear.

"Well, start looking where they disappeared." Jeremie then proceeded to guide them towards the general area.

When they got there, all they saw was more of the sandy color of the region. Nothing else could be seen. Angela stared blankly around, watching some wind swirl up some of the dust on the ground. It made a nice, complex spiral pattern that chased itself around and around. Then it settled down again, leaving the surroundings bare and motionless. Not to mention boring.

Ian, on this note, was getting very bored. He had heard all the sounds of battle over the communicator and was hoping to get some fighting action himself. However, at this rate, he could have taken a nap and nothing would have changed or been disturbed. He yawned and looked around for someplace to sit down.

Charlie was looking around as well. "I don't see them. It also doesn't look like they are anywhere nearby. Are you sure this is where they disappeared?"

Jeremie on the other end sighed. "Positive," he muttered gloomily. How could he forget? This had never really happened before but whenever one of them got lost in Lyoko, Jeremie always knew at exactly what point they vanished. He couldn't afford otherwise. He loved all his friends dearly and would do anything in his power to get them back. However, at this point, he was already running out of ideas of places to look.

Back in Lyoko, the four teenagers scouted around with their eyes, not really daring to move away unless Jeremie gave the say so. Ian was the only one who didn't care. He had spotted a small boulder that he could sit comfortably on to wait. It wasn't too far away from where the rest of the group was standing, so he made his way over.

Suddenly Ian hit something in midair, hard. He bounced back and fell over onto his back. "Ian!" Lori practically screeched, running over to him. Ian rubbed his head and then stared incredulously in front of him.

The air in the spot where Ian had hit began to ripple as if it was liquid. Ian watched with wide eyes as the rippling grew and grew until a whole sphere was rippling in midair. Then, suddenly, the rippling faded and shimmering into view was a dangerous looking orange ball. Suddenly, all around the four teenagers, the air was rippling and three other orange spheres swam into view. Ian straightened up with the help of Lori and looked around with a confused expression on his face. Then he stood up again. "Well, that makes me feel a little less like an jackass. I thought I had just run into air."

Jeremie back on earth watched the appearance of four dots on the screen in amazement. Then he almost jumped up and down in happiness. "Great job, gang. You've found our original warriors." Then his heart sank. It won't help. They can't do anything.

Angela looked at the one of the orange balls distrustfully. "This thing kind of looks like an big orange ball to me." She leaned in and squinted at the surface of the ball. It was constantly shifting and moving, lines of a light orange constantly writhing like a nest of snakes. The sight of it made her skin crawl and she shivered slightly. Then she saw something darker that seemed to be inside the ball. She looked closer and saw something that made her stumble back. "T-They are in the b-b-balls…" she stammered.

Clamors of disbelief followed. The other three each went up to a sphere and looked inside. Then came gasps and low whistles of amazement.

Jeremie nodded his head slowly and sadly. "The orange balls are called guardians," he explained, as much to the four in Lyoko as to Cynthia who was standing next to him, absorbing everything. She might as well, he thought. She'll be in my place one day. One day soon. "They are a very effective way of imprisoning someone. This was something Xana thought up with the original Lyoko that we thought we had shut down. Anyway, these have also evolved to have the ability of becoming invisible initially. Anyway, the worst thing about them is…"

"Well, I'm sure we can just burst their bubble, if you'll excuse the pun," Ian was saying, interrupting Jeremie before he could finish. Ian drew his bow and an arrow and placed it on the bow like a pro. Then he pulled back the string and launched it straight and true…only to bounce off the protective covering of the guardian that was impenetrable. Ian looked crestfallen.

"Let me try," Charlie volunteered, not hearing Jeremie trying to get a word in before he did so. He drew one of his swords and rammed in against one of the guardians that was near him. The sword clanged against the surface of the guardian and the sword bounced back with the same amount of force that Charlie had put into his initial swing. The sword vibrated so much from the bounce back that Charlie couldn't hold on and had to drop the sword. The sword stopped vibrating once it hit the ground, so Charlie picked it up hastily and then slipped it back in its sheath. "That's weird."

Jeremie was getting just a bit frustrated on the other line. "No it isn't weird if you had just listened to me. I was going to say that you can't penetrate a guardian, hence its name. It can't be smashed open or, for that matter, damaged outwardly. The only way you can get the people inside out of it is to create a fake copy of the person. For that, you'll need Aelita's powers, which are currently trapped in a guardian." Jeremie sighed and leaned back dejectedly. Why was everything so intent on going against him?

Angela listened to Jeremie's little outburst and first sat in silence. Then she blurt out, "So what are we going to do?" She immediately felt bad for saying it. It was a pointless question in their case, as it was apparent there was nothing they could do.

Jeremie sighed and leaned on his cupped hand. Even if he had a whole army to send to Lyoko, nothing would help. He was trapped. He couldn't believe it. The first time back to Lyoko and Xana had already figured out a way to outsmart him. At this, rage boiled through Jeremie and he slammed his fists down on the keyboard, making Cynthia flinch back. Jeremie immediately felt sorry for doing it. He had scared the girl and had almost broken the keyboard. Jeremie took deep breaths to calm himself. He couldn't lose control. Not yet.

Back in Lyoko, the group was looking dejected as well. With nothing to do, most of them drifted off. Only Angela stayed semi-alert and she was the only one that saw a blur of a figure streak by. She straightened up at once and looked around. No one was there except for the other three. She gazed back down at the ground again, but looked out of the corner of her eyes, fully alert now. It was then that she felt the fans that were strapped onto her legs, hidden underneath the dress she was wearing. She reached down discreetly and took out one of them, then opened it, examining the cool blue color and the razor sharp edge. She knew she had another one just like it but she couldn't place her finger on exactly how a couple of fans were supposed to help her. Then she saw the movement again.

This time, she saw that it was clearly a boy her age that had popped up again. He had been loping swiftly around the other side of the guardians. Angela scanned him quickly to see if he would pose an imminent threat, and then she saw the knife he was holding.

"Watch out!" she screeched. Startled, everyone turned toward her, including the boy, but he didn't slow. Without thinking she flung the fan toward the boy as she would a Frisbee. The boy became startled and hesitated, wondering whether to speed up or slow down to try and avoid the whizzing fan. He succeeded in doing none of the above as the fan caught him square across the chest. As he flew back, however, he chucked the knife straight forward.

Angela felt like screaming, but she couldn't get out a sound. Instead, she threw herself flat on the ground, ducking to avoid the knife that she was sure was coming for her. Her friends also ducked, not throwing themselves down as she did, but squatting and covering their heads. Angela squeezed her eyes closed and wondered what would happen once the knife sliced open her back.

CRACK! Angela forgot to be scared and looked up when a hideous breaking sound rang through the air. What she saw filled her with amazement and at the same time made her feel like a fool.

The knife had not been directed at Angela, like she had originally thought. It had been directed at one of the guardians. The knife hit home and unlike the efforts that Charlie and Ian had expended, this knife penetrated the guardian nice and deep, sinking down all the way to the hilt. Then the guardian started to shiver and then it started to crack. Pretty soon is was only a blur of unrecognizable orange. Then, unexpectedly, it exploded into tiny fragments that scattered all over the ground and the four teenagers.

Angela watched in amazement as the person that had been in the guardian fell to the ground. They all gathered around the limp individual. Angela recognized her as the one who had yelled at her before she ran off to the scanner room. But Angela felt no anger toward the lady. Now Angela desperately wanted to help her. But with no way of doing so, she just looked on at the unconscious figure helplessly.

Suddenly, a whizzing sound could be heard. Angela saw to her surprise that the fan she had thrown was whizzing back to her. She reached out a hand and caught it effortlessly. She also noticed as she did so that the boy that had thrown the knife was slowly hobbling toward them. He had a hand on his chest, and Angela felt a flash of guilt as she realized that she had hurt him before she even knew what she was doing. He walked up to the teenagers and, saying nothing, leaned over the individual that was lying knocked out at their feet.

Close up, the boy seemed a year or so younger than the new warriors that had just come to Lyoko. His garb was simple, a plain white T-shirt and baggy cargo pants that were a khaki color. Ian regarded this new arrival with surprise and interest. Here they were, all dressed up in elaborate outfits and this guy came in with a T-shirt, pants, and tennis shoes. It was as if Ian, Lori, Charlie, and Angela were at a costume ball and this guy had just walked into the wrong building, intending on originally going to a casual school dance.

The boy paid them absolutely zero attention as he bent over the woman. His blond locks hung in his eyes as he took his fingers and gently placed it on either side of the woman's temples. He closed his eyes and the air almost seemed to hum with energy. It was either him humming or the air; the others couldn't tell. Then, all of a sudden, the buzzing died away and the boy got up gracefully…and waited.