"Blah" – French/Lyoko speech
"Blah" – English
Blah – thoughts
Chapter Three: Impossible
Jeremie couldn't stop staring at the screen. He watched as Aelita's avatar card disappeared. It just wasn't possible. It couldn't be! Aelita couldn't be gone!
But her missing life points proved true. Aelita was gone.
He still couldn't wrap his mind around it. Jeremie even launched a full scan of Lyoko. Nothing!
Ulrich confirmed his fears. "I'm sorry Jeremie. I'm so sorry."
"It wasn't your fault, Ulrich," Yumi immediately reassured. She knew Ulrich would be beating himself up over this. He was the only other one on Lyoko. Asides from that Harry, that is.
Jeremie straightened in his chair. "You should have tried harder!" he screamed into the microphone. Yumi flinched. She'd never seen Jeremie so angry.
Odd stepped up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Cool it, Einstein. It wasn't Ulrich's fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's XANA's." It was rare that Yumi saw Odd's serious side. Normally, it was Aelita that calmed Jeremie. But now…
Jeremie sighed and put his head in his hands.
A window appeared on the screen of the supercomputer. Yumi looked up. She gasped.
The image she saw was that from a web cam. In the frame were two girls: one with bushy brown hair and equally brown eyes and the other with auburn hair and dark green eyes. The redhead was seated in a black, plush, computer chair. The brunette stood next to her. They were both staring into the camera.
"Aelita!" Odd gasped.
Jeremie looked at the screen, his eyes wide. But then he smiled. He laughed lightly. "Do you realize you nearly gave me a heart attack?" he asked his pink-haired beauty (well, redheaded actually).
Aelita laughed. It was a beautiful sound. Hermione glanced at her. It was obvious she had no idea what was going on. "Of course!" Jeremie realized. "When you recovered your human memories, you became just like us!"
"How do you mean?" Harry asked from Lyoko. "What's going on?"
"I'll explain later," Aelita assured them. "Jeremie, have you found their friend yet?"
The blonde nodded his head. His round glasses slid down his nose a little. He pushed them back up. "Yes. I've tracked him down to the Forest Sector, but he's not answering anything I tell him."
"XANA must have trapped him somehow," Yumi suggested.
"Maybe," Jeremie muttered. He began typing on the keyboard. "Ulrich, you go to the Forest Sector and see if you can find him."
"What about me?" Harry asked. "Ron's my best friend!"
"It's too risky for you. Aelita, could you materialize him?"
"Okay." Aelita looked down at the keyboard on her computer and typed commands. She finished, and glanced away from the camera, presumably at the scanner there. Jeremie could hear the scanner working. Aelita gasped.
"What's wrong?" Jeremie asked.
"Harry didn't materialize!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry questioned. He seemed annoyed.
"That doesn't matter right now," Jeremie insisted. "Ulrich, your Overbike is just below you. Get to the Forest!"
Ulrich and Harry reached the bottom of the room, where the Overbike hovered. The brunette hopped over the back. The wizard followed, albeit a bit clumsier. Ulrich pressed one of the handlebars and steered the bike downwards, out of the opening.
The screens of data surrounding him never ceased to amaze Ulrich. He heard Harry shift behind him.
"This reminds me of one of my cousin's computer games. Is it really like that?"
"Kind of. Unfortunately, it's more dangerous than that," Jeremie explained. "There is a malicious virus inhabiting Lyoko, called XANA. For whatever reason, XANA wants to take over the world. We haven't figured out why. But what we do know is that Franz Hopper, Aelita's father, created Lyoko and XANA."
"XANA attacks the earth sometimes," Aelita continued in English, probably for Hermione's benefit. "When it does, a tower on Lyoko activates. Our job is to go to Lyoko and deactivate those towers."
"When XANA attacks, it attacks us almost directly," Ulrich said. He steered the Overbike to the eastern data stream.
"Sometimes, it tries to wipe all of Paris off the map," Yumi added.
"But there's no way XANA can stop us!" Odd cheered. Ulrich had the feeling the blonde had pumped his fist into the air. Typical Odd.
The eastern data stream thinned before fading completely, leaving an empty hole in the screens of data. Ulrich soared through. The landscape was completely different. Thin trees dotted the area, most of them stretching from the digital sea to the sky, both of which were light green. The ground was more like a system of paths, all of which were narrow and winding. All of it was green, like grass, but was as smooth as the Ice Sector.
Ulrich landed the Overbike on the ground but kept speeding through the forest. There was nothing like the exhilaration of riding a motorbike, weaving between obstacles. Flying was okay, but racing was better.
"Okay," Jeremie said. "I've traced him forty-five degrees north of your position."
The brunette nodded and turned the vehicle to the left on the next path. The journey was surprisingly calm. There wasn't a monster in sight. He weaved through the trees until he saw an imperfection. This imperfection was blue, brown, and fiery red at one end. It was lying on the ground and proved to be very long. It wasn't just an imperfection. It was a person!
"There he is!" Harry shouted in Ulrich's ear. The samurai winced a little. He then applied the brake and slowed. Just when it was slow enough, Harry jumped off and hurried to Ron's (it could only be him) side. The boy had fiery red hair and wore a blue tunic with brown khaki trousers and brown boots. A darker blue belt hung around his waist. There rested a sheath with the hilt of a sword peeking out.
Ulrich approached more slowly. This was easy. Too easy. He searched the area for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing. Something was wrong.
"Jeremie, we found him, but this is way too easy."
"You're right," Jeremie confirmed. "Three Tarantulas are heading your way."
Harry flicked his eyes up and caught sight of three rather skinny creatures with four very long and spindly legs, thin bodies, and long noses where the eye of XANA was clearly visible. Six slits above their snouts proved to be eyes.
He summoned an energy field and threw it at the Tarantulas. His aim was off by a couple of feet. He threw another and this time managed to graze the one on the right. It fizzled with green electricity and exploded.
"Harry, I'm programming the Overwing for you. Use it to get to a tower."
Harry glanced back at Ulrich. The brunette reflected lasers with his katana and dodged around others. "What about Ulrich? I can't just leave him!"
"He can take care of himself. Just go!"
The silver Overwing formed just before him. Harry hoisted Ron over his shoulder. He noted that it seemed much easier than it normally would have been. It must be because of Lyoko, he decided. Harry decided to ponder on it later as he dodged a flash of red. He propped the redhead up at the front of the scooter and jumped up behind him. With that, the Overwing sped off.
"Which way to the tower?" Harry asked.
"Keep going north," Jeremie answered.
All was silent for a second before-
BANG!
The Overwing shook violently. At the last moment, Harry pulled it away from a tree. The side of the vehicle brushed the obstruction. The Overwing shook again. The silver disappeared. All that was left was a wire frame. Soon, that disappeared, leaving both wizards to fall to the ground. They rolled.
Harry climbed to his feet. Four of those Hornets from earlier circled around him. He glanced behind him. Ron still hadn't moved, and was leaning against a tree. Harry thought the monsters were after his friend. No. They were after Harry.
"I could use a little help," Harry muttered. He summoned an energy field and cast it at one of the monsters, which curled around it.
"Ulrich's been de-virtualized!" Jeremie exclaimed. "You're on your own!"
Harry swore.
Hermione widened her eyes at Jeremie's statement. Why hadn't Ron awoken? Harry needed his help! Then she realized. There was still one person that hadn't been to Lyoko. "Send me," she murmured in English. "I can still go."
"You are sure?" Aelita asked. Her French accent was strong. Hermione couldn't believe she'd just noticed it.
"Ron and Harry need me. You can't send anyone else, can you?"
Aelita shook her head. "Jeremie, Hermione wants to help."
Hermione heard Jeremie sigh. "We've gotten ourselves this deep. Why not go further?"
"Step into ze scanner," Aelita told her.
"Will it hurt?" Hermione knew she sounded childish. She didn't care. All of this was like something out of a science fiction novel. She'd never read one. She'd always thought there was a better use of her time then reading about different planets and aliens of all kinds.
Aelita smiled kindly. "No. All you need to do is stand still."
Hermione eyed the scanner. She took a deep breath before stepping inside. She turned so she was facing the redhead. Aelita typed a few commands, and the doors closed. Gusts of air billowed under her robes as the scanner hummed to life. The light of the scanner brightened. She closed her eyes. Even with them closed, the light was so bright.
Her body felt numb. Blearily, she opened her eyes. The forest stretched out before her. The sounds of laser blasts reached her ears. She fell and landed on her bum. She stood. What appeared to be grass wasn't. It was smooth like the metal tube she had just been in.
Another laser burst brought Hermione back to her senses. She turned and saw Harry and Ron's still form surrounded by the monsters she'd heard about. What could she do? She ran a hand through her hair, but the motion was stopped by something soft. She pulled at it and inspected it. It was an arrow with a pink-feathered tail. Hermione reached back and found a bow.
She strung the bow and nocked the arrow. She raised both and pulled the string back to her cheek. She aimed at the Hornet swarming around Harry's head and released the arrow. It sailed through the air and pierced the side of the Hornet. She watched as Harry summoned what she knew to be an energy field and throw it at the injured monster. It exploded.
With that, the duo took care of the other three with little effort.
Hermione knelt down next to Ron. Why hadn't he awoken? Why was he unconscious? She drew Ron's body into her arms. She never imagined it would be so easy to carry the tall and lanky boy.
"The tower's over there," Harry pointed. In the distance, Hermione could see a cylindrical structure almost as tall as the trees. The majority of it was white, but the base was brown and bulbous. Wires ran from them and as far as she could see throughout the sector.
With that, the duo ran. Hermione expected her legs to start protesting, or her breath to become short, but neither happened. Before she knew it, they reached the tower. Now what?
Harry voiced the question. Aelita answered. "All you have to do is walk through it."
Hermione understood. The tower was similar to the magical barrier at King's Cross station. She took a breath (though she really didn't need one) and stepped through the large, brown bulb on the tower.
She blinked open her eyes. Everything was blue and a perfect cylinder. Bright blue computer windows filling with zeroes and ones lined the darker blue walls.
"Hermione?"
The brunette jumped at the voice. She glanced down. Ron's blue eyes were open, blinking confusedly at her. "Where the bloody hell are we? Why are you carrying me? Put me down!"
"Next time you need saving, Ronald, you can save yourself!" Hermione unceremoniously dropped Ron.
"Long story short," Harry said after a roll of his eyes, "we're somewhere else on accident. You fainted, so Hermione carried you."
"I hate to cut the reunion short," Jeremie interrupted, "but someone might be missing you. Aelita?"
"On it!" The sounds of tapping keys reached Hermione's ears. Blue squares floated across her vision. The queer feeling of pins and needles covered her. She blinked. When she opened her eyes, the yellow of the scanner greeted her. The doors slid open. Hermione stumbled out.
"Aelita?"
"Yes?"
"Why did Ron faint when he went to Lyoko? Did I do something wrong?"
"No. You did everyzing right. Ron is a Pureblood, yes?"
"Yes. Why would Ron being a Pureblood have to do with anything?"
"Jeremie and I were zinking zat Ron had barely been around any sort of technology of zis kind. As he was sent inside ze computer, his body did ze only thing it knew to do: It shut down."
"I suppose that makes sense." Hermione tried to comprehend it. Maybe – one day – she would. But definitely not today.
Aelita began typing again. After another moment, Ron reappeared, his green face clashing with his flaming hair. He sat against the wall and took great breaths.
The scanner doors closed again. Hermione could hear motors whirring inside. The doors slid open. They were empty!
Aelita's green eyes widened at the lack of a figure. She spoke quickly into the microphone. Hermione could only catch a few words. "Harry, are you still there?"
"Yeah. Something wrong?"
The redhead was silent for a moment. "I don't know yet. Let me try again."
"How can Harry understand her?" Ron whispered to Hermione. His breath tickled her ear.
"Er – whenever someone speaks into that microphone, their speech is turned into data, which is understood by computers. We were just inside that computer, so that was why we could understand everything said. Now we're outside the computer, so now we don't."
"What's a microphone?"
"I'll explain later."
At that moment, the doors slid open again. Again, they were empty.
"Jeremie, we have a problem," Aelita reported. "Harry's still not returning!"
"I see," Jeremie responded. "I'm running a scan. Harry, stand still for a moment." All was silent for a moment. Hermione held her breath. "I finally discovered what the Scyphozoa took from you: It stole your DNA sequence code."
"My what?"
"DNA sequence code. This is basically what makes you human. It's what enables you to return to earth. Without it, you're stuck there."
"What?!"
"What's wrong?" Ron asked.
"Harry's stuck there."
"Why?"
"Later."
"Just stay in the tower," Jeremie continued. "You'll be fine in there."
"So I'm just going to sit here while everyone else figures everything out for me?"
"Knowing us, you will not be bored for long," Aelita said.
A/N: Oh, my gosh. Has it really been since October? I'm not even going to count the months.
On another note, thanks for your support! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon!
Original chapter three word count: 517
Original chapter four word count: 874
Current word count: 2,480
God bless!