Things were better in the group. Aelita and Jeremie had been working hard, and were ready to destroy Super Computers. Odd had been avoiding Aelita, and trying to help Ulrich and Yumi.
"So, Sissi, the new Jessica Blue movie came out. Want to go?" Odd smiled goofily.
"Odd, you know Ulrich and I are together." Sissi shook her head.
"So? It doesn't mean you're exclusive." Odd reasoned.
"You know that kind of logic is what's causing the drama with Jeremie and Aelita."
"Maybe, but hey, he might not want to go to the movie. I know he doesn't like those kind."
"And you do?" Sissi raised an eyebrow, remembering his movie he made of her about her being Godzilla.
"Hey, a guy needs a break from horror and action. Guy meets girl, falls in love, it's what we're all looking for, right?" Odd scooted a bit closer to Sissi.
"Odd!" The Italian boy snapped away from Sissi as Ulrich stormed over. "What are you doing?!"
"Just asking my friend if they want to go see the new Jessica Blue movie." Odd backed away as Ulrich got closer, knowing he screwed up.
"Well, I already have the tickets and was looking for my girlfriend since she didn't answer her phone." Ulrich stood protectively by Sissi.
"Oh, I put it on the charger, sorry." Sissi took Ulrich's hand in hers. "But if you want to go now, we can."
"It's the seven o'clock showing, so we have time for homework, and stuff." Ulrich smiled at Sissi, making her flush with emotion.
"Have fun, you two." Odd strolled away as Ulrich glared.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie clicked around on a screen with Aelita by his side in the Control Room. He had a wireframe of the Skidbladnir in one window, and the coordinates of one of the Super Computers made by Xana.
"We aren't sure what this one does, but that means we need to destroy it more than the ones we do know about." Jeremie explained.
"Are we ready to go now?" Aelita studied the screen.
"Almost. Let's just make sure with a couple more test runs."
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich and Sissi were in the theater, watching the movie. "Ulrich, um, you'll probably think I'm crazy but, um, can I tell you something?"
"Sure, what is it, Sissi?"
"I'm scared."
"What? Why?"
"Xana. Seriously. Sometimes, like, it's like I see the attacks that go on, and I wonder, what if I'm the one who gets targeted next time? What if I die?"
"Sissi, that's a perfectly reasonable fear." Ulrich assured her; he could relate. "But that's why we have to fight. To make sure he doesn't win and take over the rest of the world."
"I just feel like a coward, you know?"
"Sissi, I'm not going to call you a coward, but the others might. You should probably keep it to yourself. Just remember that being scared is normal, but the fact that you keep fighting Xana anyway is why you're no coward."
"Thanks, Ulrich." Sissi grinned and turned back to the movie.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie ran the last test. Eight wireframes of various shape and color, each in the shape of a Lyoko Warrior with their respective colors. Jeremie's was blue, Aelita's was pink, Yumi's was red, Ulrich's was yellow, Odd's was purple, Alex's was green, William's was cyan and Sissi's was white. He tapped a key and every wireframe began to form into realistic versions of the Lyoko Warriors, however Alex's, William's, Sissi's and his own all were replaced by question marks, indicating they had never been translated, but probably could be without any issue.
"We're ready. Let's call the others. Aelita, be sure to make sure that Alex's Nav Skid doesn't have that smelling thing any more and the new one for Sissi is fully operational." Jeremie got his cell phone out and began dialing as Aelita took his place and checked the Nav Skids.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich felt his phone vibrate and took it out. He began to whisper in a hushed voice, "What? Is Xana attacking?"
"No. We finished the Translation program and we're going to destroy a Super Computer." Ulrich sighed.
"I'm on a date with Sissi."
"You know what is more important. See you two soon." Jeremie scolded. Ulrich hung up and tapped Sissi's shoulder, and whispered the news in her ear.
-( ( • ) ) -
The Lyoko Warriors were all on their way to the Factory. William and Yumi were together, coming from the gym. William was trying to learn Pencak Silat so he could be a better warrior.
Odd was coming from the skate park. With his upgrades he could beat any one at anything. Grinding, flips, spins, he had mastered them all. Nobody could hold a candle to him, except maybe Sam. But she wasn't there, so there was no way to find out. He dialed Samantha's number as he ran to the sewer entrance.
"Hey, Sam."
"Hey. What's up?"
"I was wondering, when are you coming to town again?"
"I don't know, maybe before the end of the school year?"
"Sweet! I wanna see if you can do better than me at skating." Odd laughed as he ran.
-( ( • ) ) -
Alex was in the weight room when he got the call. With his upgrades, he could lift more and pedal faster on the exercise bikes than anyone else. It wasn't all about being the best; he mostly just wanted to keep the build he had, and not lose his muscle and end up obese in the future. That wasn't his style; his style was keeping in shape and having lots of muscle. As he pulled his green jacket around his shoulders and left the weight room, Skye came up to him.
"Hey, I was wondering if we could-"
"Sorry, Skye, not now. I'll make it up to you and Mat later." Alex panted as he ran off. She looked at him as he left, obviously annoyed. Odd ran off all the time too, and he ended up cheating on that one girl with his own cousin. What a freak. She shook her head and walked away.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich and Sissi went the normal route of the elevator to the Control Room this time. "You know, Xana is getting in the way of me and Sissi's relationship." Ulrich complained when the doors opened.
"If you weren't dating that wouldn't be a problem." Aelita chirped. Ulrich and Sissi stared daggers at her.
"Pot calling the kettle black." Ulrich growled.
-( ( • ) ) -
Alex arrived next and went straight to the Scanner Room.
"We aren't ready to virtualize just yet." Aelita's voice floated through the speakers.
"Alright." Alex climbed up the ladder and waited in the Control Room as William and Yumi arrived.
"Why are you so sweaty?" Sissi wrinkled her nose.
"I was working out." Alex said matter-of-factly. He recieved several strange looks. "What? I have to stay in shape somehow."
"Well, can't you just walk on the treadmill a few times a week and not eat foods that are bad for you?" Sissi reasoned, getting strange looks as well. "What? Why are you looking at me that way? It's what I do."
"Yeah, but then I'd just be scrawny like Odd. And he's a twig. He can barely lift his own dog."
"You guys are weird." William stated flatly.
"You just noticed?" Yumi looked at him with fake surprise.
-( ( • ) ) -
Odd made it and took the elevator to the Control Room.
"So we're going to destroy a Super Computer?" Yumi crossed her arms and leaned back.
"We're going to try. We don't know what kind of defenses Xana will have. But the plan is to destroy a Super Computer." Jeremie explained as he pulled up the transfer bar and ID Card selector. "And if this works, I'll be able to send you right into the Skid Hangar."
"So who gets to go and destroy the Super Computer?" Odd piped up.
"I'm thinking you and Yumi. Aelita will be needed in case Xana activates a Tower and Ulrich will be able to handle any monster sent." Jeremie planned.
"And William, Sissi and Alex?" Odd looked at the three as he said their names.
"They've never been to Earth through Translation, so I don't want to risk it quite yet."
"Well I'm ready." Odd held his hand over the button to take the elevator down.
"This should be interesting." William sighed as he got on, followed by the other five.
They took the elevator down to the Scanner Room. "Transfer Aelita, Transfer Yumi, Transfer William. Scanner Aelita, Scanner Yumi, Scanner William. And...virtualization." They landed right in the Hangar where the Skidbladnir was. "Did it work?"
"Yes, Jeremie." Aelita smiled warmly, though he couldn't see. "You did it."
"I'm going to send the rest of you in groups of two. Transfer Odd, Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Odd, Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization." Ulrich and Odd landed near the others. "Transfer Alex, Transfer Sissi. Scanner Alex, Scanner Sissi. Virtualization." Alex and Sissi soon landed, and Sissi landed on her feet for the first time.
"We're all here, Jeremie." Yumi looked upward.
"Get on the platforms. Alex, you get the leftmost platform closest to the Skid, Sissi, you get rightmost. The rest of you can have your usual platforms." They soon appeared in the Nav Skids, with Aelita in the main chassis.
"Oooh, my little pod has white lining around the glass." Sissi cooed.
"Mine has green." Alex said with a grin.
"They aren't 'pods', they're Nav Skids, and Sissi, you're going to need to get used to the controls." Jeremie chided.
-( ( • ) ) -
Aelita piloted the Skidbladnir out of Sector 5 and soon dropped into the Digital Sea. "We're ready, Jeremie."
"When you exit Lyoko, take the server at ninety two degrees west and fourteen degrees north." Jeremie waited for a response.
"Uh-oh!" The second the Skidbladnir exited Lyoko, strange Kongres and Sharks with darker coloring fell upon them. "Jeremie, Xana was waiting for us with some upgraded pets!" Aelita cried as she released the Nav Skids.
"Watch out!" Ulrich fired a torpedo, and it hit a torpedo fired by a Dark Shark. "They're everywhere!"
"There's too many of them!" William fired a torpedo but missed.
"We've got to get out of here!" Alex shouted to the others as a Dark Kongre fired lasers at him and he dodged.
"Help!" Sissi tried to steer out of the path of a torpedo, narrowly missing it.
"Stay calm!" Yumi ordered as she fired a torpedo and destroyed a Dark Kongre.
"Jeremie, what do we do?!" Aelita tried to fly away but a Dark Kongre blocked her path.
"Try to get away!" Jeremie pulled up the Super Scan and the power grid of the Super Computer. "Maybe I can activate a Tower and use it to power your shields." Jeremie worked as the Lyoko Warriors fought.
"No!" Sissi screamed as her Nav Skid shook violently. "I'm hit!"
"You're not hit!" Ulrich saw a differently colored Kalamar on the belly of Sissi's Nav Skid. "Stay still!" Ulrich fired a torpedo and missed as the Dark Kalamar dragged her to the side to dodge.
-( ( • ) ) -
In the Super Scan, a Tower came up, glowing green. Jeremie had activated it. "Come on, shields. Aelita, are your shields getting the extra power?"
"No!" Aelita wailed as another Dark Kalamar appeared. It landed on the Skidbladnir and started to drill into it. "We can't fight them! There's too many!"
"Get back to Lyoko!" Jeremie heard a beep and looked at the monitor. "No, no!" Jeremie saw that Xana was trying to take the Tower he just activated. "Get back to Lyoko and get out of the Skidbladnir!" Jeremie fought Xana's attempt, but knew it was only a matter of time.
"Help!" Sissi's Nav Skid rumbled again. "I can't move!" She pushed on the lever, but the Nav Skid stayed still.
"Sissi!" Ulrich dove towards her, seeing the Dark Kalamar on the bottom. Not trusting his aim with a torpedo, he pulled up and crashed into the Dark Kalamar, knocking it off of Sissi's Nav Skid.
"Watch out!" Odd fired a torpedo and hit the Dark Kalamar on the main Skid. It wasn't destroyed, but swam away instead.
"What do we do?" Alex saw Sissi start to float away.
"I have an idea." William swam up to Sissi and gently rammed into her. He knocked into her again, moving her towards the entrance to Lyoko.
"Good idea." Yumi pulled up alongside him and pushed her again.
"Keep them off of Sissi." Jeremie unlocked the entrance to Lyoko so the Warriors could get in.
"Jeremie, can the Nav Skids handle being in the Digital Sea without being attached to the Skid?" Aelita swam around, trying to shake off two Dark Kongres.
"We never tried it, but they should be safe without the Skid's shields. The Digital Sea is basically what you're in now, so I wouldn't see why it wouldn't, but if anything happens, I don't know what to do." Jeremie crossed his fingers for good luck.
"Guys, help me." William and Yumi kept pushing Sissi's Nav Skid along, but a Dark Kalamar approached, ready to attack.
"Time for a fish fry." Odd fired torpedoes at the Kalamar.
"I'm not really into calamari." Alex mock-complained as he unleashed a torpedo of his own as Aelita, Ulrich, William and Yumi slammed into Sissi, knocking her into the Lyoko entrance. Aelita swam in after her, and the remaining Warriors slowly filed in.
Aelita flew near Sissi, trying to attach her to the Skid. "Guys, keep her from moving." Sissi was floating away and slowly spinning, making it impossible for Aelita to attach her.
"Okay." Ulrich flew in front of Sissi and she hit him. Odd came up from below and stopped her from spinning. Aelita flew next to Yumi and felt the thump of the Nav Skid connecting to the Skidbladnir.
"Guys, we're not out of the fire yet. Xana's taken the Tower." Jeremie leaned back in the chair as Xana took over.
"Where is it?" Aelita waited for the others to attach to the Skidbladnir.
"Mountain Sector."
-( ( • ) ) -
Aelita flew out of the Digital Sea and steered towards the Mountain Sector, noticing three unfamiliar masses in the process of being created; one green, one gray and one red. They were in the spaces between the existing Sectors, plus the Lagoon Sector, which was between the Desert and Forest Sectors. Aelita noted the fact that the Lagoon Sector was brown, like the inside, and was composed of several disfigured geometric shapes of varying sizes with passages winding through and around them.
"Jeremie, it looks like Xana wants to make new Sectors."
"Doesn't surprise me. More Sectors means more Towers. Be careful."
As Aelita hovered over the Mountain Sector, Jeremie saw monsters appear on the screen. "Be careful. Xana's sending some new Mantas."
"How are the shields?" Aelita looked around, unable to see the Mantas. "Will they hold?"
"They're regenerating. Almost eighty percent right now." Jeremie watched the screen as the Mantas got closer.
"There they are!" Sissi saw them coming from behind.
"They're black instead of blue." Yumi noted.
"Like my personal upgraded Manta when I was Xanafied. Guess it was the first of many upgraded monsters to fight upgraded Lyoko Warriors." William watched them flying closer to the Skid.
"Can we fight them in the Nav Skids?" Alex gripped the controls.
"They can't fly like the Skid can. Aelita, set it down and I'll Energize them onto the Sector." Jeremie ordered, bringing up the Energization program.
"Trying. The Mountain Sector wasn't made for this." Aelita grunted as she maneuvered the Skid between several large rocks and cliffs. She saw a larger platform with a Tower on it. "I'm going to set down over there."
"Okay, loading, one second." Jeremie hit the enter key and the Lyoko Warriors, minus Aelita, formed on the platform. "Aelita, get the Skid to the Hangar. I'm sending the other vehicles, they'll cover you guys. Get ready for a surprise."
"Ready and waiting." Ulrich unsheathed his sabers. The vehicles began to form, one at a time. The Overbike was first, and he got on it with Sissi.
"Leave the Princess alone, fish faces!" Odd jumped on the Overboard and took off, firing Laser Arrows at the Dark Mantas.
"Let's go." William got on the Overwing and waited for Yumi to follow.
"Sissi, are you okay?" Ulrich glanced back at her.
"I, it..." Sissi shuddered. She knew she had been closer to death than any other time, and it was just what she had feared and what she had confided in Ulrich at the theater earlier that day. The Dark Kalamar had almost killed her.
"I'll keep you safe." Ulrich growled protectively.
"Come on, Yumi." William flew over to Yumi and extended his hand to her. "I'll protect you too." Yumi knocked his hand away.
"I don't need you to protect me." Yumi got on the back of the Overwing and they took off.
"Um, Jeremie, Odd left before I could get on. I need a vehicle, I can't use Lightspeed for that long without devirtualizing myself." Alex looked at the sky.
"I said a surprise was coming, didn't I?" Jeremie pulled up a seperate vehicle window, and something new began to form both in the window and on Lyoko.
"What's that?" Alex approached the blue wireframe and waited for it to completely materialize. It was a sleek two-wheeled vehicle with a long body and intricate black and transparent designs, and a seat that appeared to be quite comfortable. There were niches along the back to put the rider's legs in, and handlebars on the front that the rider would reach past the windshield to hold, with buttons the side of either handlebar. One to activate flight controls, and one to engage the vehicle. The windshield was popped up like the hood on a car and locked in that position for some reason. Several fins and pieces of armoring decorated it and seemed to give it a bit more combat effectiveness. It seemed to require the rider to sit in a laying position, unless there were two riders in which case the pilot would have to ride in a half-lay half-sit position.
"Do you like it? I started working on it when you joined the group. It wasn't a huge priority since there were still enough vehicles, but when Sissi joined I worked overtime to get it done. I call it the Overcycle."
"It's beautiful." When Alex stepped on and pressed the button on the left handlebar, the windshield went from its disengaged position to lower over his head and fit seamlessly with the front of the two-wheeled bike. A green and black helmet matching his clothes formed from a wireframe out of thin air, steel plates activated and locked his legs in the leg slots, and green energy flowed in the transparent parts, giving it a glowy look. "With these colors, I'm inclined to think you made it just for me."
"Oh, no, the colors of whoever rides it will be there. The black is there to make it look sleek." Jeremie explained. "There can be two riders, too, if you didn't notice the second and third set of leg slots under the seat so you and the passenger can sit motorcycle-style. Then the helmets will have their own colors, and the plasma on the Overcycle itself will be mixed colors. I plan on giving the other three vehicles a similar makeover."
"I love this one. It's mine. Nobody can touch it without permission." Alex joked as he revved the engine, making the Overcycle purr.
"You sound like Odd." Jeremie laughed as Alex took off after the others, leaving behind a green trail that dissipated a few meters behind him.
-( ( • ) ) -
"I bet I can destroy more Dark Mantas than you can, Odd." Ulrich charged his swords. "Watch."
"I can beat you any day." Odd aimed at a Dark Manta and fired a Laser Arrow. Ulrich leapt off of the Overbike, letting Sissi take over, and landed on the Dark Manta that Odd fired at. He blocked the Laser Arrow, then destroyed the Dark Manta himself. He sprung off of it and landed on another, destroying it as well.
"Hey, jerk, you're cheating." Odd fired at a Dark Manta that was too far for Ulrich to block, and destroyed it.
"You're just slow." Ulrich went for a Dark Manta, but a small bullet-like capsule impacted it and destroyed it before he could. Ulrich landed on a cliff face and used Super Sprint to spring off of it and back to the main path.
"What was that?" Odd looked around and saw Alex on the Overcycle. "Aw, what? When did you get that sweet bike? I want a ride!"
"Ha, suck it!" Alex laughed from under the virtual helmet, his longcoat billowing behind him, as he drove with one hand and fired with another. "Why are you guys going so slow? These vehicles are pretty much the same speed and I'm already caught up."
"To have fun." Odd laughed as he sped up the Overboard.
"Well, I guess since none of us can deactivate Towers..." Alex reasoned as he aimed at a Dark Manta flying overhead. "We can enjoy killing off these Mantas while we wait for Aelita."
"Dorks." Yumi rolled her eyes as she flung a fan at a Dark Manta and sliced the Eye, destroying it.
-( ( • ) ) -
Aelita piloted the Skidbladnir into Sector 5. "Jeremie, I'm going to the Arena. Be ready with the Transporter." Aelita Energized herself out of the Skidbladnir and took the Elevator down, and was greeted by reddish Creepers. "Oh, look, more Dark monsters. Xana's definitely been upgrading his pets to fight our upgraded Warriors. It's kind of getting old. We eventually should just start calling them by their old names instead of this Dark nonsense" Aelita sighed to Jeremie, who remained silent, as she destroyed one with an Energy Field.
-( ( • ) ) -
Odd, Alex and Ulrich had destroyed all of the Dark Mantas, and Sissi had gone around healing the injured Warriors. "With the four of us, who needs Yumi and William?" Ulrich joked, back on the Overbike.
"Hey, William can hold his own and Yumi can whoop Xana. And hey, it's nice having a third cute girl with us." Odd laughed as Yumi overheard and glared at him. "Come on, Yumi, it was a joke."
"So she's not cute?" William's comment earned him an elbow to the ribs from Yumi. "I didn't mean it like that."
"If you guys can stay focused, we need to deactivate the Tower." Jeremie scolded, waiting for Aelita to arrive in the Arena so he could send the Transporter.
-( ( • ) ) -
The other Lyoko Warriors caught sight of the Transporter and steered over to it. "Princess!" Odd flew down and stopped. "Need a ride?"
"Of course, Odd." Aelita walked over to the Overboard, but caught sight of the Overcycle. "Whoa, Jeremie, is that the new vehicle?"
"Yeah, what do you think?"
"It's very...green." Aelita wrinkled her nose.
"That changes depending on who's riding."
"Wanna give it a try?" Alex pressed the button on the left handlebar with his thumb, disengaging the helmet, leg supports and glowing, and putting the windshield in its raised position. He shifted himself to a sitting position.
"Sure." Aelita jogged over and swung a leg over, and Alex pressed the button again. The leg slots closed with steel and the windshield lowered. Alex's green and black helmet formed, as did Aelita's new pink and black, and green and pink energy flowed through the transparent parts, bouncing off of each other like a lava lamp.
"You comfortable?" Alex asked.
"Yeah." Aelita smiled under the pink-tinted visor of her helmet. "Jeremie, where's the activated Tower?"
"Go east. You're not too far." Jeremie watched the green blips and Aelita's yellow take off.
-( ( • ) ) -
Monsters virtualized at the activated Tower. The Dark Angel and two faded teal Megatanks with an extra band around their equator, with Eyes of Xana along the band. Of course, the true one on the inside was its only weak spot.
The Lyoko Warriors soon approached the Tower. "This should be easy. I'll take the Dark Angel. Odd, you take a Dark Megatank while the Alex takes the other Dark Megatank. The others can help." Ulrich leapt off of the Overbike, leaving Sissi, and landed gracefully in front of the Dark Angel.
"Ulrich Stern, you will find this battle will be much harder than it looks." The Dark Angel swung a claw at him.
"You'll be gone in under two minutes." Ulrich attacked the Dark Angel with his swords.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired at a Dark Megatank's fake Eyes. He hit one, but did no damage. It opened and fired a horizontal blast. Everyone pulled into the air in time except Sissi, who didn't know about the flight controls. The Overbike was destroyed and she skidded across the ground.
"What the heck..." she grumbled as she came to her feet and watched the Lyoko Warriors in the air. "I can't fly, you know!" Sissi cried as the Dark Megatank charged another blast.
"Electrokinesis!" Alex launched green lightning at the Dark Megatank, but it closed before he did damage. "Damn!"
"Help!" Sissi wailed.
"Try saying words that mean fly or go up. It might work, could be one of your powers. There's soar, glide, ascend, elevate, escalate..." Jeremie suggested.
"Um...Fly, up, soar, glide, lift, raise, ascend, elevate..." Sissi began to float into the air and glow white with Ascend but didn't notice. "Rise, escalate, hover, hey! I'm flying!"
"You've been flying since you said Ascend!" William yelled as he charged his Zweihander.
"Energy Field!" Aelita threw an energy orb at the other Dark Megatank. It rolled forward and she missed. It opened up and charged a blast.
"Gotcha!" Yumi threw her fans and hit the real Eye, destroying it.
"I'm sick of the whole 'Dark' naming thing. Let's call this an Ubertank. I mean, what's next? Dark Dark Angel?" Odd declared.
"Ubertank?" Alex scoffed, incredulous.
"Yeah! It's perfect."
"It's been one minute." The Dark Angel taunted Ulrich. "Xana's next creation will destroy you." The Mountain Sector rumbled.
"Signals, from a Super Computer." Jeremie began to trace the signal.
"What was that?" Sissi could feel something in the air.
"Uh, Yumi, what's that?" William pointed at something.
"I don't know. Jeremie, there's something weird on Lyoko." Yumi watched as whatever it was began to take shape.
"Um, I'd avoid it for now, until we figure out what it does." Jeremie continued following the signal. A hissing sound slowly began above him. "What's that noise?" He looked around, but saw nothing. "Gotta keep working."
"We don't have time to find out what it does." Yumi and William dove on the Overwing at the new monster. When they got closer, they could make out what it was. "It looks like a mini Kolossus but weirder." Yumi held her fans, ready to fight.
"You're right, I think. I only have vague memories of the Kolossus. But I don't think it looked like this." William circled around the monster, taking it in as it slowly formed from a red wireframe.
"No, it didn't." Yumi looked for the Eye.
The new monster was tall, about the size of an Ubertank and a half. Its bulk was supported by two large tree-like front legs and a thinner tail in the back for balance. There was an Eye, but no Eye on the left arm, or in this case, leg, like the Kolossus. The Eye it did have was white on a black, rock-like head with lava flowing through the cracks above a red laser port. The back of the stony body glowed red like a volcano.
"Rosetta!" William slashed his Zweihander, launching an energy blade at it. He hit it across the legs, but did little damage.
"Stay still!" Yumi spun her fans like frisbees, but the monster batted them away with a leg.
"This is bad!" William stared at the monster, unsure if he could hit the Eye while on the Overwing.
"Two minutes." The Dark Angel fired a laser and hit Ulrich in the chest. "Not as strong as you thought?"
"I'm probably stronger than I think, but my speed could use some work." Ulrich swung at the Dark Angel and missed. Ulrich sprung backwards and his sabers glowed red. "Crescents!" He swung his sabers wildly, firing three red crescents of blazing energy at the Dark Angel, which dodged by twisting and bending abnormally.
"Let's try something different." Odd flew down on the Overboard between the new monster and the Ubertank. "Come on, big guy, what do you have for me?" Odd aimed at the new monster. He heard the Ubertank open and begin to charge a ring of energy. "Let's see how strong you are." Odd turned upwards on the Overboard as the horizontal ring fired from the band around the Ubertank and spread out.
"Wow." Aelita watched the Ubertank shockwave hit the monster, but did nothing to it.
"This new monster is practically invincible." Alex observed. "Time to do something shocking."
"No, you idiot, don't!" Sissi yelled from the skies as Alex pressed the button on the Overcycle, releasing his legs and disengaging the helmet. He drove straight at the new monster and jumped off at Lightspeed, his hands sparking with green energy. He landed and managed to hang onto its back as the Overcycle crashed into the creature harmlessly and was destroyed. He sent as much electricity as he could into the monster, but it rolled back and crushed him instead of being destroyed.
"Damn!" Alex cursed as the Scanner doors opened. "I got owned..." He frowned as he took the elevator up to the Control Room.
"Don't try and fight it. Focus on the Dark Angel and Ubertank. After they're gone, the rest can distract this new monster." Jeremie instructed. He wiped sweat from his brow. "Why am I so tired?" he murmured.
"Energy Field!" Aelita threw an energy orb at the Ubertank, which rolled away from her.
"William, go after the Ubertank. I'll distract the new monster." Yumi ordered.
"You got it, Yumi." William jumped off of the Overwing. As he fell, he raised his Zweihander over his head, ready to swing it like an axe.
-( ( • ) ) -
As the elevator doors opened, Alex wrinkled his nose. "What's that smell and why is everything tinted green?" He circled the room to Jeremie's chair, where the younger of the two blondes was passed out. "Jeremie!" Alex put on the headset nervously. "Guys, um, Jeremie is passed out and there's something in the Factory, it's all green and it smells funny."
"Take Jeremie up to the top floor." Aelita ordered on Lyoko.
"Right." Alex pulled Jeremie over his shoulder and coughed, his eyes watering and his body already growing weak. He managed to press the elevator button in time to go up as he went into a violent coughing fit and set Jeremie in the corner of the elevator.
-( ( • ) ) -
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired at the Dark Angel, while Ulrich continued firing Crescents. The Dark Angel simply couldn't dodge everything and was soon hit in the wing, throwing it off balance.
"Super Sprint." Ulrich ran with such great speed, Odd missed it when he blinked. He opened his eyes to see Ulrich slashing wildly at the Dark Angel and destroying it.
"Good job man. Let's handle-" Before could finish, William landed an incredible strike on the Ubertank. With the momentum from his fall, his swing was so powerful, he broke through the outer shell and destroyed the Ubertank.
"Wow." William took a few steps back. "That was cool."
"Try that on the new guy." Odd aimed at the new monster. "Laser Arrow!" He fired and hit it, but did little damage.
"Super Sprint." Ulrich took off, and when close, he struck the front leg of the new monster. It fired a large, powerful laser from it's port, but Ulrich was fast enough to dodge.
"Aelita, go and deactivate the Tower!" Sissi cried as she managed to float down to the new monster and put her hands on its Eye.
"On it!" Aelita ran to the activated Tower as the rest battled the new monster. She rose to the second platform and scanned her hand on the panel. "Tower deactivated." The Lyoko code flashed across the panel and the binary screens that composed the Tower wall fell around her.
-( ( • ) ) -
The elevator door opened like a garage door, and Alex instantly fell out, unconscious. Both he and Jeremie had several skin lesions covering their fainted bodies.
-( ( • ) ) -
The new monster finally exploded, flinging Sissi off. Her hands continued glowing with the stolen Life Points. "Now what?"
"Surely draining it isn't the only way to destroy it." Yumi crossed her arms.
"We might need a return, who knows what happened to Jeremie and Alex." Aelita launched one from the control panel in the Tower.
-( ( • ) ) -
In the Control Room, the Lyoko Warriors all stood around the inactive Holomap. "If Xana has Lyoko blocked by all those Dark monsters, then Franz can't contact us any more." Jeremie watched the monitor from his chair. "Which explains why he hasn't sent any new information since bringing Ulrich back."
"And that new monster, where did it come from?" Aelita inquired, having been on Lyoko and unable to research the beast. Jeremie pulled up the screen from earlier.
"The Super Computer we were going to destroy, the one we didn't know what it did. Some of these Super Computers discovered aren't being used for anything, yet."
"But that new monster, we couldn't hurt it until Sissi drained it dry." Yumi bit her lip, just imagining an attack where Sissi wasn't available.
"A blast from an upgraded Megatank didn't do squat. Whatever that thing is, we can't hurt it normally. Just like the Kolossus." Ulrich growled as he clenched his hands into fists.
"Volcanoid." Everyone turned to Odd.
"What?" Sissi tilted her head.
"New monster, new name. Volcanoid."
"What does it mean?" Alex looked from Sissi back to Odd, who shrugged his shoulders.
"It just came to me. Maybe something to do with the Norse mythology? There is a lot of stuff in my head that I don't understand."
"Really?" Jeremie looked at Odd quizzically. "Part of the upgrade?"
"It has to be." Odd smiled. "Well, what do we do Einstein?"
"If we want to leave Lyoko, we need either a way to travel without going into the Internet, or find a way past all of those monsters." Aelita observed.
"If we upgraded the shields and engine on the Skid maybe we could out run them. If we-" Jeremie began to ramble and type on the control panel, but was cut off by a cough from Yumi.
"Uh, homework, and my parents. I have stuff to do. Can we speed it up?"
"Well, we don't need you guys for this. If you want to leave, go ahead." Jeremie waved a hand dismissively.
"Well, dinner's almost here again with that return." Odd patted his stomach.
"And Sissi and I can go finish the movie." Ulrich held up his tickets from earlier as he and Sissi walked to the elevator.
"I have to go meet Skye by the weight room, with that return I can work out some more and this way I won't have to explain myself leaving her in the dust." Alex followed Ulrich and Sissi, as did Odd.
"I...have no reason to go other than I can't help and I'm bored." William and Yumi were the last to board the elevator and leave the Factory.