Aelita and Jeremie were taking a break from the Super Computer in Jeremie's dorm. "You're lucky that Mr. Delmas decided to let you try to make up your homework." Aelita noted as she and Jeremie sped through the pile of papers, scribbling down answers.
"I know. And with this, maybe Patrick will be sent back." Jeremie breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tired of me already?" The two turned to the door to see Patrick entering the dorm room.
"What are you doing here?" Jeremie stared at him.
"This is my dorm room. I have stuff in here that I need." He walked to a cabinet and pulled two books out. "I'll leave you two alone since you're doing homework, finally." Patrick left the room again.
-( ( • ) ) -
Yumi and William were in the gym, training. She unleashed a roundhouse kick, and he caught it.
"Good, you're getting better." Yumi smiled as she managed to flip, kicking him with her free foot, therefore releasing her other foot and allowing her to complete the flip.
"That smarts." William groaned after catching his balance as he resumed his stance.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich was with Sissi in the rec room, watching one of her soap operas.
"So Lupita's ninth husband was actually her third husband but with a different name and a moustache?" Ulrich raised an eyebrow.
"No, he was her fourth husband. The third one was Antonio and he was the one who died on the plane while his second wife Monica was giving birth to the daughter of Lupita's seventh husband, Jorge."
"Oh, I get it." Ulrich lied, shaking his head while Sissi wasn't looking.
-( ( • ) ) -
Alex was with his two usual friends watching a movie. The three had 3D glasses on and screaming could very plainly be heard for 10 seconds straight while they listlessly shoved popcorn in their mouths.
-( ( • ) ) -
Odd was walking through the woods, bored. He had vowed to stay away from Aelita as much as possible, so as to not mess things up with her and Jeremie. After a couple of tries on Sissi, he had been threatened by Ulrich to leave her alone.
As he walked, he soon came to the Hermitage, where the front door was open.
"Who's in there?" Odd asked nobody in particular. He tip-toed to the nearest window and silently looked in. Jim?
"Mr. Delmas, I'm not sure what to look for." Jim was standing at the bookcase. "We don't even know if he left it exactly here."
"He might not have, but if he has Aelita looking for it, I'm sure she's at least been here." Mr. Delmas lifted a shelf. "I found something." An aged set of papers, stapled together, sat behind the shelf. "I can't make any of this out."
"It looks like formulas." Jim looked at the paper over Mr. Delmas's shoulder.
"What are they doing?" Odd leaned against the glass, trying to get a better look inside.
"Definitely formulas for something." Jim began to flip through the first few pages with his back to Odd. He stopped on one page with the Eye of Xana on it.
"Xana's symbol, not good." Odd ducked down and began to think. "That has to be important." He stood back up and looked through the window again. Jim and Mr. Delmas were no longer there. "Where did they go?"
"Odd Della Robbia?" Odd turned sheepishly to Mr. Delmas.
"What are you doing here, Odd?" Jim barked.
"Um, uh, what are you doing here?" Odd took a couple steps back.
"I'm the adult. I ask the questions." Jim crossed his arms, crinkling the rolled-up papers.
"I was just, uh, can I see that?" Odd pointed at the paper.
"Why would you want to see this?"
"It looks interesting and I might be able to figure some of it out." Odd grinned.
"How long were you watching us?" Mr. Delmas demanded.
"Well, I, uh, followed you out here, wondering what you were doing." Odd laughed a little. "Curiosity killed the cat."
"And it got the Odd detention." Jim grabbed Odd by the arm and the three went back to the school.
"But it's a Saturday and this isn't even school property! You can't punish me for being here, it is Saturday and I can go wherever I want!" Odd whined, but his pleas fell on deaf, rather uncaring ears.
-( ( • ) ) -
An hour later, Odd was sitting in the library, working on a plan. He saw Mr. Delmas take the paper with him, so it was most likely in his office. If he could convince Sissi, or have Ulrich convince Sissi, to get that paper...Who knew what was on it? It had to do with Xana, that was certain. Yes, that should decide it for Sissi. She was a Lyoko Warrior now, she'd do anything to beat Xana, Odd was sure.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich and Sissi were leaving the rec room just as Yumi and William were leaving the gym. They walked past each other, without a wave, hello, or even a fleeting glance.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie and Aelita were done with most of Jeremie's missing homework, when they heard a beeping alarm. "Super Scan." Jeremie reached for his laptop and opened it. "It's one of those new Sectors, the one between the Mountain and Desert Sector. Call Ulrich and Yumi. I'll call Odd and Alex."
"Okay." They got their cell phones out and made the calls.
-( ( • ) ) -
"Okay." Ulrich shoved his phone in his jacket pocket. "Sissi, I'm sorry, but it's Xana."
"I can't believe this." she spat. Ulrich didn't respond to Sissi, running to the sewer entrance instead. "Ulrich!" Sissi ran after him.
-( ( • ) ) -
Odd felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fumbled with it for a moment as soon as Jim looked away and saw the SOS XANA message. "Uh, Jim? I need to use the bathroom." Odd held his hands between his legs and made a strained face.
"Hold it. You still have two more hours." Jim ordered.
"I can't!" Odd got up and rushed out of the library.
"Odd!" Jim got up and started to go after Odd, then stopped. "Well, when you got to go, you got to go. I remember when I worked at the...There's no one to hear about it. I'll wait for Odd to come back."
-( ( • ) ) -
Yumi and William ran for the sewer entrance in the woods.
-( ( • ) ) -
Alex sighed after looking at his phone. Skye gave him an exasperated look.
"Don't tell me." she sighed. "You have to go."
"Bye." Mathieu briefly said.
"Um, I'm sorry." Alex got up and quickly exited the theater.
-( ( • ) ) -
Xana took over a Scanner. The doors closed, and when they opened, his fastest, most agile monster emerged from the smoke.
-( ( • ) ) -
The Lyoko Warriors met in the sewers and were soon running at full tilt for the Factory.
"We better have a return." Alex sighed, not wanting his friends to get any more angry than they already were at him for running off all the time.
"I hope so too." Odd agreed. He didn't need nor want more detention.
"Let's hope not." Aelita disagreed. She and Jeremie, on the other hand, didn't want to have to go through the homework again.
-( ( • ) ) -
The Dark Angel stepped onto the bridge in front of the Factory. It flexed its wings and sharpened its claws on each other, waiting for its targets.
-( ( • ) ) -
The Lyoko Warriors soon got to the end of the sewer passage and took the ladder out. As they ran across the bridge, the Dark Angel leapt down from the roof of the Factory, spread its wings to slow its fall, and landed gracefully in front of the Warriors.
"Okay, this is bad." Jeremie backed away.
"I have been sent here to destroy you." The Dark Angel extended its claws at the Warriors. "Prepare to die."
"You sure are full of yourself." Odd got in a boxing stance. "I bet you won't be able to beat me." Odd did some boxing footwork.
"Let the others go. If you get past me you can go after them, Xana." Alex pushed past Odd.
"What?! I was gonna take him!" Odd whined.
"I'm bigger and stronger than you." Alex shot back, glaring at Odd.
"Your proposal is acceptable." The Dark Angel lunged at Alex behind his back, and he barely ducked in time after Aelita pointed and gasped.
"Go!" Alex gave the Dark Angel an uppercut as it soared over him. "I'll handle this loser." Alex swung again and missed.
The Lyoko Warriors ran past and take the elevator down to the Control Room.
"Hurry to the Scanners, we don't know how well Alex will handle the Dark Angel." Jeremie sat in the chair, which circled around to the control panel as the others continued to the Scanner Room.
"We're ready, Jeremie." Ulrich, William, and Odd stepped into the Scanners.
"Transfer Ulrich, Transfer William, Transfer Odd. Scanner Ulrich, Scanner William, Scanner Odd. Virtualization." Jeremie pulled up the next two ID Cards. "Transfer Aelita, Transfer Yumi, Scanner Aelita, Scanner Yumi, and virtualization." The five landed in a new Sector, as Jeremie promised.
The new Sector had a dusk sky with a calm aurora borealis on display, and small glowing particles floatjng about. It was pristine with deep green grass on black rocky platforms. Some rocks floated needlessly in the air, too small to support anyone, and small ankle-deep streams of pure water flowed right through several platforms, ending in small cascades that faded into vapor long before hitting the black Digital Sea below. Semitransparent white trees, pale tall crystals and a few black rocks littered the ground.
"What's up with this Sector?" Odd looked around, startled.
"I'm not sure." Jeremie replied.
"Things are so surreal." Sissi watched one of the waterfalls. "It's so pretty."
"Then you'll have to be careful." Jeremie stated simply as he sent the vehicles. "I'm done upgrading the Overwing to look like the Overcycle does, and I'm going to work on the Overboard next."
"I want to try this thing out." Odd climbed on the Overcycle and pressed the engage button. His helmet and glowing lights were purple, as was to be expected.
"Nice makeover. Love the black." Yumi said with a laugh as she stepped aboard and engaged the new, sleeker Overwing. The Eye, not necessary signifying Xana much like the back of Aelita's ID Card showing a pink Eye, glowed with Yumi's signature red on the front of the Overwing, the center dot being the red dot that was already on the Overwing. Another matching Eye was on the part of the Overwing that the rider stood on. Yumi found herself with red and black goggles, rather than a helmet, as well as metal plates locking around her feet. "Very nice."
"Where do we go, Jeremie?" Aelita asked as she got on the Overboard.
"Go west. You shouldn't be too far." Jeremie watched as the Lyoko Warriors headed on treacherous ground for the activated Tower.
-( ( • ) ) -
Alex ducked a swipe from the Dark Angel. "See, you can't even touch me." He ducked again and punched it in the stomach.
"I am merely playing." The Dark Angel fired a continuous laser, searing Alex's shirt and leaving a burn on his chest.
"You play pretty rough." Alex winced as he held the wound. "No!" He jumped away from a slash and his arm was cut open. He clutched at his burn with the injured arm, still, and held the injured arm with his other arm, crossing them.
"I am done playing." The Dark Angel swiped again at Alex's head, and he barely ducked. "I suggest we both stop holding back. On Lyoko, you have an advantage of your friends and powers. Here, you have neither."
"I don't need my powers to beat you." Alex snarled as he kicked out.
"And your friends?" The Dark Angel taunted as it flapped its wings and backed away from the kick.
"I'd love to have their help right now."
-( ( • ) ) -
The other Lyoko Warriors finally got to the activated Tower and the guard. "He just sent the Scorpion." Aelita looked around. "Jeremie, do you see any other monsters on the screen?"
"Not yet. But be careful. The last time Xana used the Volcanoid, it came from nowhere."
"Who needs to be careful when you have me?" Ulrich pulled a sword out. "Aelita, give me a couple minutes to destroy the Scorpion. Odd, watch out for any other monsters."
"What about us?" Yumi put a hand on her hip, referring to herself, William and Sissi.
"I don't need you. Jeremie should probably stop sending you three, you're useless on Lyoko. Only Odd, Alex and I can fight Xana's new monsters and we need Aelita for Towers. Maybe Sissi can come since she beat the Volcanoid and can heal." Ulrich leapt off of the Overbike and landed in front of the Scorpion.
"He's such a, a...a snob. William, Sissi, let's leave him to the Scorpion so he can get whooped." The three pulled back and waited.
-( ( • ) ) -
Alex backed away from the Dark Angel on the bridge. "No!" The Dark Angel lunged forward and slashed the already injured Warrior across the chest, and he screamed out.
"It's over. Prepare to be killed." The Dark Angel grabbed Alex by the neck by squeezing it between its hands, the blades protruding from halfway down its fingers easily capable of cutting his neck and letting him bleed out. The monster lifted him over the side of the bridge, and its Eye began to glow, ready to incinerate him with a laser and drown him by dropping him afterwards.
"Not by you!" Alex grabbed the Dark Angel's arm, the one being used to hold his neck, as he pushed his legs off the bridge supports. They both fell over the edge and into the water. Alex slowly managed to swim to the stairs by the waterfront, but the Dark Angel's claws made it impossible for it to swim.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie heard the elevator running and looked at the doors. "I might have to run." He took the headset off and ran to the passage out of the Control Room, and peeked around the corner.
When the elevator doors opened, Alex's voice rang out. "Jeremie?" The young genius stepped out from his hiding place and ran to the chair in front of the control panel.
"I'll scan you. Looks like he cut you up pretty bad."
"Yeah." Alex pressed the button and moaned as he leaned against the elevator walls.
"Transfer Alex, Scanner Alex, Virtualization." Alex landed on Lyoko in the new Sector.
"Whoa, this place is totally weird." Alex looked around.
"So I've heard. Go west, you're not far from the others. Odd's on your beloved Overcycle so you'll have to go by Lightspeed."
"Got it." Alex soon became a green blur as he ran, his Life Points slowly ticking down.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich dodged the Scorpion's tail and slashed at it, but missed. "He's a lot faster than he looks." Ulrich swung again and missed again.
"Need our help after all?" Sissi offered.
"No." Ulrich slashed once more.
-( ( • ) ) -
The Dark Angel sunk to the riverbed and walked across to the wall of the waterfront. It dug its claws into the side and started to climb up.
-( ( • ) ) -
As the others watched Ulrich fight the Scorpion, the new Twilight Sector rumbled. "There's something on the screen." Yumi and William turned just in time to watch the Volcanoid form from a red wireframe. "Be careful!"
"Aelita, stay back. We'll distract it." Yumi ordered as she and William dove on the Overwing. When closer, Yumi disengaged the Overwing so she could jump off. William gripped the steering handle and engaged it once more, forming his cyan goggles.
"Be careful, Yumi." William ascended on the Overwing, formulating an attack plan.
"Hai!" Yumi flung her fans. When they got close, they bounced off of an invisible shield. "This is bad." Yumi backed away as the Volcanoid came loser. "We need help, Jeremie."
"Alex is on his way." Jeremie offered, watching the blip that was Alex slowly get near the other blips.
"Let's see if I can break the shield, like I broke the Megatank's shell." William disengaged the Overwing and stepped to the edge, with one hand on the steering handle. "Here goes." He jumped off, with his Zweihander raised over his head like a flag.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired at the back of the Volcanoid, but hit the shield. "Einstein, is there any way around the shield?"
Ulrich dodged the Scorpion's tail and slashed it across the chest. The Scorpion roared and fired a laser at him. He blocked it with his swords, then attacked the Scorpion again.
"Die!" William charged his Zweihander as he fell. When he got close, he swung his Zweihander like an axe and slammed it into the shield. Sparks showered and the shield began to dent, and he broke through. He cut through the right leg of the Volcanoid, and fell with his blade wedged in the ground.
"Great job, William!" Sissi floated down to the Volcanoid and began to drain it, but it battered her away.
"Thanks." William smiled as he tried to get his sword loose. He never saw the blast coming from the Volcanoid's large laser port, and he devirtualized back to Earth.
-( ( • ) ) -
The Dark Angel made it out of the river, and it flapped its wings, soaring to the Factory entrance.
-( ( • ) ) -
"That was amazing, William." Jeremie congratulated William over the intercom as the elevator began to run. "Wait, uh-oh." William was still in the Scanner Room, and he hadn't pressed the button, Jeremie could see from the security camera. He pulled up Alex's communication window, where his ID Card showed him looking down the barrel of one pistol, aiming at nothing with the other one at his side, rather similar in pose to one of Ulrich's old cards. "Alex, what did you do to the Dark Angel?"
"I threw it in the river. It couldn't swim because of those claws." The equalizer bars adorning the communication window hopped up and down as he spoke.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I saw it sink to the bottom myself."
"Where it could have walked along to the side and used its claws to climb back up?" Jeremie was incredulous.
"What was I supposed to do? It was about to mutilate me and I took both of us into the river. It's not like I could just swim down and beat it up some more with the way it cut me up. I'm lucky I made it to the Factory." Alex defended.
"What do I do?!" Jeremie threw his hands in the air.
"You might want to run, Einstein, William." Odd advised while firing Laser Arrows at the Volcanoid.
"I'll handle it." William assured Jeremie, having climbed up the ladder just as the elevator, with the Dark Angel on it, stopped at the Control Room.
"I will tear both of you apart." The Dark Angel scraped its claws on each other, wiping off some of Alex's blood.
"Alex beat you and I can beat you." William jumped at the Dark Angel, a dumb move considering it could spear him easily. Instead, it ducked, and he went flying over. The monster turned and came down on him, ignoring his screams.
"I have to do something." Jeremie looked around and saw his Ghost Buster. "I hope this works." He picked it up and approached the Dark Angel.
-( ( • ) ) -
"Eat metal!" Alex reached the group and sprung off of a rock, and fired three bullets. One of them landed in the Eye of the Volcanoid.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd, too, hit it in the Eye.
"Drain!" Sissi fired her small ray, just as she had in order to protect the Nautilus from Mantas when Ulrich returned. She aimed well and hit the Eye.
"Hey, something's happening." Yumi narrowed her eyes. The three who had hit the Eye, plus Yumi, backed away as the Volcanoid roared, convulsed and sparked.
"Watch out!" Odd jumped at Yumi, knocking her to the ground as the Volcanoid exploded violently and devirtualized Sissi.
"Whoa!" The shockwave from the blast hit Aelita as she circled above the Sector on the Overboard. She tumbled off of it and began to fall to the Sector floor.
"Princess!" Odd bounded on all fours and caught her. "Are you okay?"
"I think so." Aelita looked into Odd's eyes as he smiled. If she had been on Earth, she would have been blushing. "Um, set me down, please."
"Don't want me to carry you to the Tower, Princess?" Odd laughed as he set Aelita down.
-( ( • ) ) -
"William!" Jeremie brought the Ghost Buster down on the Dark Angel's back and wings. Energy sparked around the Dark Angel just before the Ghost Buster exploded. Electricity coursed through Jeremie and he screamed, pushed away by the blast.
"Your toy will not harm me." The Dark Angel stood up, blood dripping off of its claws.
"Aelita, hurry up..." Jeremie backed away slowly.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich continued to battle the Scorpion.
"Gotcha!" Yumi cried as she threw her fans at it, but Ulrich slashed them away.
"I don't need your help." he snarled.
"Stop being such a snob!" Yumi yelled back.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired at the Scorpion and hit it on the Eye. It roared, then exploded.
"Odd, I said I didn't need any help!" Ulrich stormed towards him threateningly.
"Well, I wanted to help anyway." Odd turned to Aelita. "Your castle awaits you, Princess." Odd bowed.
"I didn't need your help." Ulrich cut Odd down and devirtualized him.
"Ulrich, what is your problem?" Yumi shouted. He swung at Yumi but she ducked.
"Knock it off!" Alex growled as Yumi backed away.
"I don't need anyone's help! Franz made me better then any of you!"
Aelita shook her head and ran into the Tower as Ulrich continued to yell.
"Tower deactivated." The panel displayed that Code Lyoko had been entered. "Jeremie?" Aelita looked at the ceiling, waiting for a response, but got none. "The Dark Angel, we need one." She pulled up the program. "Return to the past, now!" The white bubble burst out, reversing time.
-( ( • ) ) -
Odd hurried to the Hermitage, running this time instead of wandering. He threw the door open and looked around the shelf Mr. Delmas had moved for the papers.
"Here it is." He looked it over. "Strange. Xana's basic programming, maybe?" Odd shook his head. "I wish Franz gave me more mental upgrades than physcial." Odd crammed the papers in his pocket and hurried out the back door of the Hermitage as Jim and Mr. Delmas walked in as they had before the attack.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich sat at a seperate table with Sissi during dinner, ignoring everyone he once considered friends.