A/N: If you don't understand by now that knowledge of the core Code: Lyoko universe doesn't matter for this fic, I'm telling you again. This fic is a very distant AU of the Code: Lyoko series, as such the characters' genders, living situation, age, and other such items are at my mercy.
And thank you Eragon4Life and Angels 'n Dreams for reviewing..
Chapter 4: The Morning Of
(Jeremie)
Jeremie wakes up in a cold sweat. That had to be the most realistic dream he'd ever had about that girl. A few seconds later his phone goes off and he picks it up, he doesn't recognize the number displayed on the caller ID feature of his cell phone. He decided to answer it anyway. Picking up the phone he hears the voice from what he thought was a dream. Aelita's voice sounds over the phone.
"Gather your friends and meet me in the main room of the Kadic Lyoko Complex. You and your friends just helped me and my virtual counterpart stop XANA, a demonic computer virus, from setting off the nuclear power plant near Kadic."
Jeremie's eyes fly wide open and he quickly calls Ulrich and Yumi, figuring that Odd was with Yumi. He tells them to meet them at the factory that they dreamed about. The others were probably wondering how the hell he knew that they had the same dream he did. Jeremie takes off running through the halls and hits the staircase with precision, not missing one landing as he practically flies down the stairs and out into the courtyard, he runs straight through the park and to the old abandoned factory, the cover for the Kadic Lyoko Complex. Odd and Yumi arrive a few seconds later, Yumi somewhat winded and Odd looking like she's ready to run another couple kilometers. Ulrich appears soon afterward.
Jeremie leads the group into the factory and standing there in the center of the ground floor was the robotic Aelita from their latest dream. The four of them look at the Aelita standing before them and before they can ask any questions Aelita begins talking to them.
"Welcome back, my friends. The four of you are the new guardians of Lyoko. As such you are welcome to use this facility for any purpose you see fit. Everything here is immune to the effects of Lyoko's Towers. This includes myself, the factory equipment you see behind me and the elevator on my right. Follow me."
Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd and Yumi all follow Aelita in a daze, this is utterly amazing. Odd finds her voice first as they walk toward the boiler room of the Factory section of the Kadic Lyoko Complex.
"So that dream I had last night that ended in a bright white light wasn't a dream."
Aelita makes a noise that sounds somewhat like a giggle.
"No, Odd. That was real...it was supposed to happened...later today in fact. We were fast enough to prevent the destruction of the city. One of the effects of disabling the towers launches a return to the past, we literally go back in time to the morning of the day the tower is activated. XANA, the demonic AI that is currently in control of Lyoko, all six hundred and seventy-five complexes and fifteen thousand sectors. Each Complex has an Aelita ACA and Aelita.EXE. This complex is designated as Complex Zero, most of XANA's attacks originate here, it is also the smallest of the Lyoko complexes with only five sectors."
Aelita leads the group through several rooms, ending with them in the Holo-projector Room. Ulrich finds his voice next.
"So this is one of a global network of facilities? Man, that's...insane. Are there other groups like this one...or has XANA activated the other facilities yet?"
Aelita smiles sadly and looks at Ulrich. She answers his questions.
"Yes, this is the original facility, also where XANA was exiled to the virtual worlds of Lyoko. XANA was originally a master hacker, he was feared by most of the governments of the world, he created and built the super computer that is on the third basement floor of this complex. Lyoko cannot be shut off and is protected from damage by a strange energy shielding. XANA has activated one other facility, the Smith Center Lyoko Complex, there's only two warriors there, one has the call-sign Otritzi, and the other's call sign is Elazul, they're very skilled at what he does, and they've got access to five hundred of the sectors, you may see one or both appear in this area sometime in the future, Otritzi's working on a way to travel through the network."
Aelita closes her eyes for a second, listening to her virtual counterpart for a bit before opening her eyes again.
"My virtual counterpart wants to know what your group's call-signs will be, and you are to expect an e-mail from Otritzi, he tends to know much more than he really should."
Yumi leans against the wall and asks one question.
"Did getting virtualized change our bodies in any way? I've been hearing voices since this morning and I even heard some rather disturbing stuff as Odd and I came here that Odd couldn't hear."
Aelita looks relieved. She answers that question truthfully.
"Yes, it does change you. The four of you were given powers by your virtualization. Odd, I believe your hearing and reflexes have been improved and you probably noticed your claws too. Jeremie, I believe you can cause yourself to fade for short periods of time, and Yumi, your Psionics have been unlocked. Ulrich, no doubt you realized that you can run faster than you used to, try using your triplicate and Supersprint techniques sometime, if I'm right it will also work in this world. It's what we call the Lyoko effect, any being that finds its way into Lyoko for any reason is altered."
Odd smirks and remarks, "That is nice, I'm a cat girl now...I only hope my dog recognizes me. Is there any way to fully transform into our Lyoko selves?"
Aelita responds quietly.
"There is...but do not use it unless there's a tower activated...it wakes XANA."
Odd nods solemnly and asks.
"Is there any way to prevent a XANA attack?"
Aelita again responds quietly.
"No, I'm afraid that we have no way to circumvent a XANA attack. And the return to the past program only allows us to live the time during XANA's attack like the attack never happened in the first place. I'm sorry you have to experience this...if there was another way we would have used it long ago."
All four of them smile softly at the downcast ACA and Jeremie responds for the group.
"Don't feel sorry for us, we came to help you and your virtual self of our own accord. We brought this upon ourselves, all you did was ask for help. We responded to the call."
A loud ding sounds from the terminal of the Holo-projector. A window pops up with a message from Otritzi.
(Odd)
Odd jumps four feet into the air when the message alert goes off. She calms herself and rubs her arm, trying to calm herself down. The group walks over to the terminal and reads the message.
The Message
Dear Kadic Lyoko Group
This is Otritzi. What happened...I was training on Lyoko when I felt the Return to the Past program activate from your end. You know doing that boosts XANA's power...what was his attack?
Please respond.
Your ally,
Otritzi.
End Message
Aelita responds to the message and another one pops up on the screen.
Second Message
Go to Lyoko, I'm going to be waiting for them in the Mountain region of your system. Watch your backs from now on and keep your promises to Aelita.
End Second Message
Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie and Yumi all walk over to the elevator and go down one floor to the scanner room and enter the scanners.
"Transfer, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Jeremie...Scanner...Virtualization."
Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Jeremie land on a plateau in the mountain region when they see another being, obviously male with headphones resting around his neck and a black tank top with black jeans and a pair of what looked like crimson wings coming from his back, he even had crimson tail feathers tipped in a gold color, fade into view, as if he had teleported there before any of them have a chance to say anything he asks one question.
"Has the Kadic AelitaR briefed you on what Lyoko is yet?"
Yumi responds first, assuming AelitaR is the ACA that they were talking to a few minutes ago.
"She told us some of it...she also told us a little about you...but how are you here? She said that you didn't have the ability to travel between Lyoko complexes yet."
The being closes his eyes and responds with a quiet tone.
"I can travel between Lyoko Systems...I just can't be devirtualized while I'm not at my home system and my powers are diminished outside of the Smith Center Lyoko system...which has two hundred and fifty regions...but it controls half the United States. I have to be heading back now, just be careful with your AelitaV...never let XANA's monsters get a hold of her. Specifically one known as the Scyphozoa. It's purpose is to remove Aelita's personality and take control of her...it is also capable of trapping any Lyoko warrior inside of Lyoko...permanently, avoid it like the plague."
As the being finishes talking AelitaV runs up to the group and calmly tells them they are about to have company. A voice echoes down from above them.
"Incoming Hornets, Kankrelets, Blocks, and Krabs from the cave behind AelitaV's position. Get ready for a fight, XANA's pissed. Otritzi, why did you have to tell them about XANA's Scyphozoa? You know XANA doesn't like us talking about it."
"They had a right to know. Positions, everyone!"
(Yumi)
Jeremie activates his power and disappears for a bit, getting into sniping position atop a rock on the opposite side of the plateau. Odd runs up to a nearby wall and climbs up to where she's positioned over the entrance of the cavern Aelita came out of. Otritzi moves the headphones around his neck up so they cover his ears and he assumes a fighting stance, folding his wings behind him, his hands appearing to catch fire. Ulrich draws his sword and Yumi pulls out both of her fans and prepares to start blocking. The first set of Hornets to come out of the cave met quick ends via Jeremie's sniper rounds. Ulrich triplicates and he and his clones super sprint into the cave, leaving behind a golden trail of energy as they zip into the cave, Ulrich coming out alone a few seconds later. The voice from above echoes down to them.
"Nice technique Ulrich, You wiped out all the Kankrelets and Blocks in the cave, but why did you run from the Krabs?"
Ulrich tries his best to keep the humor from his voice and quips.
"I hate seafood."
A pair of Krabs march out of the cave only to fall victim to Odd's ambush, each Krab gets a pair of Laser arrows to the symbol on it's top, exploding in unison. The voice from above echoes down in a light tone.
"Good shooting Odd, I'm going to materialize the four of you after you get AelitaV to a deactivated tower, she's taken a few hits. The closest one is to the south of you, you should be able to see it in the distance."
Otritzi bows respectfully to the group and fades out, teleporting away. Odd, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi all begin heading toward the tower, followed closely by AelitaV. As the group nears the tower they look to one another and then sigh. Life takes interesting twists and turns, they were just a group of misfits in at boarding school a few days ago, now they are protectors of a virtual world that is home to an entity capable of destroying the whole world. Yumi's suddenly reminded of an American song she heard some time ago, Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Aelita enters the tower and a few seconds later the group is materialized on Earth again. They all sigh and walk into the elevator. Mission accomplished...for now.
(Ulrich)
Ulrich and Yumi walk into the schoolyard from the park. They had been conversing about finding a hidden passageway or two that would lead them to the Factory, they knew there had to be several...Aelita told them of one passageway the led to the park just inside of the Kadic Academy walls.
The four friends had been searching the school yard for other such passageways but were unable to find any feasible hidden passages. Yumi and Ulrich were searching the area around the dormitories when Ulrich stumbled upon a hidden door beside the boiler in the basement utility room that led to the sewers where they had left their skateboards and Jeremie's scooter.
The two of them smile and high-five, Yumi whips out her cell phone and calls Jeremie, hoping that him and Odd haven't gotten into trouble. Ulrich knows that Odd wouldn't go too far with her crush, she wants to keep him as a friend at least. Yumi pulls the phone away from her ear as Ulrich hears a loud "YES!" come from the phone.
Yumi holds the phone close to her ear again and begins hurriedly answering questions from the other end of the phone...Ulrich didn't paying much attention to what she says...he's too busy staring at her, she is beautiful in his eyes...he can't help himself. He walks toward her and stops himself just short of wrapping his arms around her, wonders how she will react to what he's about to do. Yumi ends the phone call and looks at Ulrich, noticing how close he's standing to her. He smirks at her.
"I was wondering when you were going to finish that call."
Ulrich leans forward and wraps his arms around Yumi, she stiffens in his arms but then loosens up when he complements her.
"You're beautiful. No matter what Sissi or anyone else says, I think I'm in love with you. Sissi never stood a chance."
Yumi wraps her arms around Ulrich and plants a kiss on his cheek.
"I'll try to remember that when Sissi starts trying to act like you belong to her. Want to take our relationship to boyfriend/girlfriend status?"
Ulrich smiles into her hair and replies softly.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Yumi and Ulrich break apart and Ulrich walks Yumi back to her room before heading home for the night. He's feeling pretty good right now, he and his friends had just found a secret universe buried inside of a global network of supercomputers and he now had the girlfriend of his dreams.