Chapter 5: Found one…found the other…

As the three made their way to the man-hole cover, they saw a dome made up of brush and foliage. They could hear barking and wondered what in the world was going on.

Making their way around the dome, that measured about 9 feet high and about 20 feet in diameter, they saw a person sitting against a tree covered in dirt and blood.

"Kurama!" They seemed to all yell at once.

Kurama lay against a tree, his clothes torn in various places. He had numerous cuts, scratches and bites on his arms and legs.

"Hey, it is about time you showed up." Kurama said with a weak smile.

"What happened?" Odd asked, checking his friend over.

"I am fine, just a little drained is all and dealing with stubborn human emotions." He said. The dogs had managed several times to bite through the brush and almost get out, forcing the red head to use more spirit energy to maintain the dome. XANA had also tried to control him several times, forcing Youko to emerge and take control. Kurama went to stand and ended up leaning on Ulrich and Odd as they each grabbed an arm and placed it over their shoulders.

"I saw Jeremy heading to the factory last night." The red head told them. "The dogs are possessed by XANA and I knew I needed to keep them away from the school, so I detained them in there." He used his head to motion to the dome. "I thought you all would be following soon."

"Sorry, we didn't know anything was up until this morning when we learned Jeremy wasn't in his room and according to the school never was." Odd said.

"So he did not come back last night?" Kurama asked.

"No. We need to get to the factory and see if he's there." Aelita said, her voice matching her panic.

"Okay, shall we go?" Kurama said, pushing off the two boys and making his way to the man-hole cover.

Yumi ran up to the others and had heard some of the conversation. "Fill me in on the way." She said, catching her breath and seeing Kurama. "Wait, shouldn't you get medical attention?" He asked him.

"I will be fine. My spirit energy is returning and the wounds are healing." Kurama said, reaching down to remove the cover.

Making their way to the warehouse, Ulrich filled Yumi in on the events.

When they got to the computer room, there was no sign of Jeremy, though the computer was up and running.

"Aelita…do you know what this means?" Yumi asked, noticing a series of dots blinking on the screen.

Aelita made her way over and gasped.

"What is it?" The others asked and came over to see.

"There's someone in sector 5, I don't know who. I need a moment please?" Aelita took the seat. After a few minutes of hitting various buttons, she shook her head.

"It's Jeremy."

No one said anything, for their mouths were hanging open.

"I only know it's him because of his signature from the one time he went to Lyoko. He's not moving, so he may be being held. But he is in sector 5." She told them.

"Let's go." Ulrich said and was heading to the door when Yumi spoke up.

"I'll stay." She said taking the seat as Aelita got up.

Ulrich turned back around. "We need you."

Turning her head, Yumi said. "You need Aelita more, she will need to deactivate the tower and I've run the computer before. And besides…you have Kurama." She added with a smile to the red head.

"Hn." Ulrich said, causing the said red head to smirk at the boy who reminded him so much of his fire demon friend.

"Shall we?" Kurama said and motioned with his hand towards the elevator.

"Just like old times." Odd said happily, entering the lift.

Ulrich didn't say anything as the door closed, taking them to the pod room.

a)a)a)a

Landing in the forest region, they immediately headed to the coordinates Yumi gave them, meeting no resistance as they made it to a ledge overlooking the void.

"Okay guys…I'm entering the code…Scipio." Yumi voice was heard.

Kurama looked up to see a white sphere, with the black logo on it, make its way towards them. It seemed to be spinning at a high rate of speed as it got closer. He only heard Odd say. "Hang on…this is going to be bumpy." Before the sphere engulfed them.

Kurama felt like he was caught up in a tornado of sorts, as he had a sensation of tossing and turning, not being able to figure out which way was up or down. He felt a jolt as the sphere came to a stop, the whiteness fading as it left them at their new destination. He saw a vastness of crystal blue before his stomach did a flip, followed by dizziness and nausea that overpowered his senses, he fell to one knee and at the same time felt bile in the back of his throat. He was never one to get sick from this sort of thing and he mentally cursed himself. 'Don't be so down, that 'possessing' took a lot out of us.' He heard Youko say. Reaching into his hair, he pulled out a seed, which he placed in his mouth. He bit it, breaking into the juice, before placing the rest under his tongue.

Odd looked over and knew exactly what was going on with the fox, for he had a sense of nausea as well. Placing a hand on his stomach, he said softly so only Kurama could hear. "Welcome to sector 5."

Ulrich had seen the fox turn white before falling to his knee. He knew Odd had the same problem every time they came here and could not pass up the opportunity at having a shot at the spirit fox.

"What's wrong, you going to up-chuck fox… can't handle the ride?" He smirked.

"You need to get going guys, the clocks ticking and you have less than three minutes." Yumi voice was heard. "There's also been a tower activated in the mountain region, so make it quick with the rescue." She added.

"No pressure…really." Odd said to no one in particular.

Kurama watched as Ulrich and Aelita took off running towards an opening that had appeared in one of the bluish walls. He was getting ready to stand when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I can't handle the ride either and I've been doing this longer than you. But, I'll tell you what, when I do feel like I'm really going to up-chuck." Odd said with a smile. "I'll make sure I do it on Ulrich for ya…deal?"

Kurama let one of his wicked grins play across his face, 'now that I would like to see', he gave Odd a nod and they both took off to catch up with the others.

End Chapter 5