Hi, me again. Really sorry about the wait! The next chapter will be the last, and it will be out before Christmas. In fact, it will be out on a specific day that will be mentioned at the end. Sorry if this is a little rushed, but try to enjoy!
Chapter Nine: X.A.N.A. Returns
"You ARE okay, right?" Odd asked Ulrich, yet again. "You don't have the burns anymore?" Ulrich just shook his head.
"Still," Jeremy said, "this is bad news. Whenever X.A.N.A. attacks, he's going to be trying to kill people. That means we've really gotta be quick about getting him shut down."
"Aw, it's not that bad, Jeremy," Odd replied, waving off the comment. "Besides, when you do the return to the past thing, everyone will be all back to normal. Right?"
"Maybe," Jeremy replied, but not enthusiastically. "And I'm not sure that I want to try it out."
"Oh, calm down," Natalie said. "That's not going to happen. We won't let it."
Everyone was at lunch, enjoying a wonderful meal of… Well, school food. Jeremy already had out his computer, typing while talking to the others. Yumi had gone home for lunch. Suddenly, an screen suddenly appeared on Jeremy's lap top. It was Aelita.
"It's X.A.N.A. again," she said, sounding somewhat harassed. "These pulsations… They're back."
"Right," Jeremy said with a decisive nod. "Odd, Ulrich, you come with me. Natalie, you call Yumi and tell her to meet us there." All three of the other teens nodded, getting up and breaking into two groups.
Natalie ran to her room, where she quickly called Yumi via her cell. The three boys went out into the park, taking the much shorter plumbing route to the factory. It wasn't long before they were inside. They all made it to the elevator, where Jeremy pressed a few buttons. The ascended up to the floor holding the supercomputer, and finally up to the floor with the pods that sent them to Lyoko.
"Alright, guys," Jeremy's voice rang as they climbed inside. "We've gotta do this and do this quick. I'm sending you to the forest region."
Jeremy typed on the computer, bringing up a screen with Ulrich's form in Lyoko.
"Transfer, Ulrich," he said, loud enough for them to hear. "Transfer, Odd," he said when the same screen featuring Odd appeared.
The two instantly found themselves falling. Both landed easily on their feet, taking in their surroundings. It looked mostly like some kind of dense forest, but Aelita was nowhere to be seen.
"Aelita?" Ulrich called out, but there was no answer.
Near the school, a bright blue van sat abandoned next to a street light. No one was walking up and down the street, and the road was abandoned. All three colored lights on the street light lit up brightly before turning an inky black. The black slithered from out of the light bulbs and issued into the air, like some kind of dense smoke. It lowered to the van, squeezing under the hood of the car. Within moments, the engine roared to life, suddenly speeding and swerving down the street.
Okay, the next chapter will be much longer. Promise.
Next chapter due: by December 21