Chapter 9 Enter the Network Graveyard
A.N. – Finally we reach the chapter that everyone has been waiting for, the network graveyard! The Lyoko Warriors will encounter past evil programs and creations. But what else will they encounter? Time to find out! To get clues for our mystery man guessing game, go back 4-5 chapters to get clues! Episodes for enemy reference –specters Ghost Channel, ant program Marabounta.
Short Summary – The warriors enter the network graveyard after Jeremy briefs them on the mission. But upon entering, all contact with Jeremy is lost. The warriors are on their own for once and must find Aelita by themselves. Will they find her or met an ally in the barren wasteland?
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko. I am just a fan of the show.
Lab, Early Mourning
The warriors, or what was left of them, ran through the dark streets of Paris to get to the factory. This time the mission meant more. This time it was not protecting Aelita but rescuing her from the clutches of Xana and Anti-Xana. Over the last four hours, Jeremy and Laura worked nonstop to find a way into the network graveyard. Jeremy now believes he has it. When they all reached the entrance, they all headed down to the lab.
"Good, you're all here. Here's the rundown: I have a way to virtualize you directly into the network graveyard. The calculations I ran show that you can safely enter without the risk of being lost" Jeremy said.
"Is there bad news?" Yumi said.
"Unfortunately, yes. When you enter, I won't have any contact with you. It will be all up to you to rescue Aelita and make it back to the real world."
"How do we fight?" Ulrich said.
"You should still have your Lyoko avatars. When you leave, you should retain your human forms. You won't come out in your Lyoko uniforms."
"Okay, how do we get in?" William asked.
"Via the scanners. Me and Laura are trying to get a video feed to see what we are dealing with. Remember, even if we see you, we can't contact you."
"You guys all ready?" Laura asked.
They all agreed and headed down to the scanners. Jeremy entered the new program into the scanner memory and the supercomputer recognized it. "Okay, you ready for a new location?" Jeremy said.
"Ready" they all said in unison.
"Okay then. Next stop, the network graveyard."
Yumi and William were transferred first and then Ulrich and Odd. As the process went like usual, the warriors knew that they would not land on Lyoko. Where they would now land is completely unknown.
Network Graveyard
Everyone arrived in the network graveyard safely and everyone was all relieved to see the others there as well.
"Glad to see you all made it" Yumi said.
"So are we" Ulrich replied.
"I guess now we have no contact with Mr. & Mrs. Einstein anymore?" Odd said.
"Only one way to check, Jeremy can you hear us?" Yumi said. There was no reply. "I guess not."
"Where are we exactly?" Ulrich said looking at the network graveyard.
He looked and saw a barren wasteland that looked like it was made of data bits. Everything also had a light shade of blue. He saw may dead programs float about knowing this is where dead programs end up. None were lethal enough to do anything to them, but they must avoid everything just in case. But looking around, nothing looked sinister enough to be a stronghold where Anti-Xana and Xana were keeping Aelita.
"Either it is staring us in the face, or they hid their base really well. I can't see nothing that stands out" Ulrich said.
"I'm willing to go with option number two" William said.
"Then this is hopeless. This place is endless and goes on for miles. How we suppose to find Aelita here?" Yumi said.
"By searching every landmark" Ulrich said. "Let's begin" he said as he dove off the edge like an Olympic diver. At this moment, his vertigo didn't bother him.
As all the warriors reached the ground, they began to search all landmarks that were bid enough to house a base.
Lab
"Laura, how is it coming along with that connection?" Jeremy said.
"Almost there" Laura said.
Laura worked out a few calculations and sent them to Jeremy and video popped up on his monitor. It was also centered on the warriors.
"Good, now we watch. I just hope they're ready."
Network Graveyard
As the warriors continued to search, they found no trace or no evidence on where to go to find Xana and Anti-Xana's base. As they were walking, they came up on a bunch of people standing around like zombies.
"There are other people here?" Ulrich said.
"Impossible. There is no way to here from the real world" Yumi said.
Ulrich walked up and looked at one person. "Look like Jeremy!?"
"Impossible. Einstein wouldn't virtualize himself here and leave Laura with the controls" Odd said.
Suddenly every one of them turned around. Each one had different features that set them off from today.
"Uh guys, do you remember this!?" Yumi said as they advanced towards them.
"No, what do you guys do!?" William said.
"Before we met you, Xana trapped us in another virtual world at his mercy" Odd said.
"Jeremy and Aelita helped us escape" Yumi said.
"And Xana made it look like the real world so we though we would be home, while in reality it was all fake" Ulrich said.
"What does that have to do with these guys?" William asked.
"Meet the specter copies from the simulation bubble."
The Jeremy was the leader of the group. Soon all stopped but three of them advanced. The ones that continued to move were copies of Jim, Herb, and Nicolas.
"Nice to see our old friends again" Yumi said.
They soon turned to more evil and sinister forms and showed the true power.
"They still have the power that Xana gave them!?" Ulrich said.
Soon the fury of Xana was unleashed upon them.
"I got this" William said as he used his super smoke ability to evade all of Xana's blows. He finally got to the Jeremy. "Sorry, but you're not the real Einstein!" he said as he took one blow and got rid of the Jeremy.
"Nice job William" Ulrich said.
They continued their quest.
Lab
"They survived that quest, but something worst might be coming" Jeremy said.
"What do you mean?" Laura said.
"Long ago, I made a program I called the Marabounta."
"You sent an army of ants to Lyoko? What kind on mad scientist are you?"
"Not ants. I made a program the functioned like it, but in malfunctioned and I couldn't shut it down. So, my friends had to kill it at the source, and I believe tat it was all teleported to the network graveyard."
"So, they could possibly in danger?"
"If those ants grab them, they'll be trapped forever."
Network Graveyard
As the warriors continued to search all landmarks, they came across nothing. They decided it was time for a break.
"I don't even know how long we've been here. It seems like forever. I can't even tell where we started." Ulrich said.
"Yeah, but we got keep on going. The longer we wait, the more opportunity Xana and Anti-Xana have to escape" Odd said.
"It's terrible to even think about" Yumi said.
"Yeah, even if Aelita doesn't compromise, she'll be tortured in order to get them what they want" Ulrich said.
Base of Xana and Anti-Xana
Aelita was still unconscious from the travel from Lyoko straight to the network graveyard. In this time, Xana and Anti-Xana took advantage of this opportunity. They strapped her to the table and waited fro her to awake. That request would come soon as Aelita awoke.
"Where am I?" Aelita asked.
"In our base in the network graveyard" Xana said.
"It's so good to see you again Aelita" Anti-Xana said.
Aelita immediately felt anger in her soul starring into the face of her worst enemy. "You fucking bastard! I never thought I would ever see you fucking face again!" she said angrily.
"And I though I would never see you again! But the tables have turned this time! Instead of you leaving alive, me and Xana will!" he said as their portal machine was revealed.
"We'll use your memories to find a suitable place to enter Earth and then activate our machine, teleporting us straight there" Xana said.
Aelita now knew she was in trouble.
Warriors Location
The warriors were about ready to recover from their break and continue, when they heard a strange noise.
"Anyone else hear that?" William said
"Yeah, and I don't like it" Ulrich said. Ulrich decided to peek out and see what it was. He saw nothing. What he didn't notice what was right above him. Then something dropped. He saw a piece of black smug. He immediately though of a specter ghost. But then he had a flashback.
Flashback (comes from episode 36)
Ulrich was virtualized into the forest area and landed on a blok. He jumped in front of Aelita and started to slash at the Marabounta, defending Aelita.
Network Graveyard
Ulrich suddenly realized; they were in trouble. "We got to move, now!" Ulrich said.
"What is it!?" Yumi said.
"Marabounta!" Ulrich said running.
"What is the marabounta!?" William said while running.
"One of Einstein's early programs for fighting Xana. It went haywire and attacked us and we destroyed it" Odd said.
Lab
Jeremy and Laura watched as their friends tried to escape the endless pursuit of the marabunta.
"I didn't think I would ever see that thing again!" Jeremy said.
"What is it?" Laura said.
"The marabunta. An early program I created to try to weaken Xana and make our life easier. But Aelita had a Xana virus inside her that linked her to him, so the program thought she was apart of Xana's gang. So, we had to destroy it, because the program bugged up and I couldn't terminate it."
"What would happen if they get caught?"
"The marabounta would consume them and entomb them before wiping them out. And if that happens there, they'll be permanently bound to the network graveyard, not being able to leave."
Network Graveyard
The warriors continued to try and evade the marabounta but every ground they gained it was right behind them.
"I guess this is it for us" Yumi said.
"Yeah, well at least in the end we're all friends" Ulrich said.
Suddenly the marabounta stopped. And the head sphere went flying past them and into a hand. The hand crushed it and the marabounta disappeared.
"You should be more careful, but then again that thing hunts anything" the mysterious man said.
The warriors got into battle positions. "So, are you are mysterious mystery man?" Yumi asked demandingly.
"No, I am a friend. If I was an enemy, you think I would help you."
"You have a point."
The warriors all lowered their weapons.
"Come on, we have to save Aelita, or more specifically you do."
"Why not you?" Ulrich asked.
"Because I am bound to the network graveyard. When I arrived, I immediately died and now I can never leave. So, my advice don't lose you life points, or you'll end up like me!"
"Who are you?" Odd asked.
"I'm surprised you don't know already. I want to help Aelita. That should be enough." The man removed his hood. "I'm Franz Hopper."
To be continued…
A.N. – So Franz Hopper has made his appearance. A reviewer mentioned him and I though maybe he can help them. But how, well you'll just have to wait till the finale of the network graveyard arc. Next time, rescuing Aelita. will they succeed or fail again. Find out next time! PM me with story ideas if you have any! Don't forget to review with questions or comments! Stay safe and healthy out there! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97