Chapter 12:

Chapter 12:

Strange Places

As Evan, Yumi, and Aelita were on their way to the mountain region, Brad could help but comment, "If we keep going like this, we'll be done in no time."

"Don't talk too soon. Carl and Odd still have 10 hours left before they can re-enter Virtua." The three in Lyoko stepped out of the tower. "I've already scanned the area. There are only crabs, but there's lots of 'em."

"How many?" Evan asked.

"Well, that depends. Do you want just those in your path, or all of them?"

"All please."

"20."

Ulrich gaped. "Are you serious?"

"Let me continue. There are 20 crabs in this region, but only five of them are on the path you have to take. The others are spaced around on other rock formations."

"So what you're saying is that instead of one batch, we have to deal with monsters the whole way?" Yumi asked.

"Yep. It's going to be a gauntlet."

"Just like 'Gauntlet: Dark Legacy.'" Brad interrupted. "Here's a tip. Don't bother with the other crabs. Only battle those that are in your way."

"Will you stop talking about video games for once?" Evan asked in annoyance. "Let's go."

Odd walked over to the cooler. "Hey, Jeremy, what time is it?"

"12:08. Why?"

"Good. Time for a midnight snack."

Yumi laughed as she was running. "It's incredible how he can think about his stomach in the middle of all this." They turned a corner in the path. As soon as they did, dozens of energy bolts from both sides peppered the ground; everyone jumped back around the turn.

Evan looked at her. "You want to try the shield thing again?"

"You don't need to," Brad argued. "Just keep running and the crabs shouldn't be able to hit you. Trust me. I've played tons of games that have levels like this."

"Will you shut-up?" Carl almost screamed.

"Hey, it's worth a shot. Listen, Yumi goes first. She can take out the five crabs on the path with her fans. Aelita can go after her, and Evan goes last so that he can block any shots that may hit."

Jeremy thought for a moment. "You know, it's actual not a bad idea."

"You can't be serious," Zen remarked.

Jeremy began running a test program. "No, if they can keep their speed up, it will be hard for the crabs to get an accurate shot." The test finished: positive. "They should be able to make it.

Aelita looked at the others. "It's worth a shot." The each nodded.

"Go as soon as the bolts let up. Give yourself a one-second distance behind the one in front of you."

For a second, the bolts stopped, and Yumi took the chance. She charged into the open. Right after, Aelita charged, followed closely by Evan. Bolts rained down on them from crabs on nearby rocks, but all them flew through the gaps in their line of hit the ground. Evan kept two Ukemis circling overhead in case he needed them. Up ahead was a crab completely blocking their path. It charged its gun and fired two shots. Evan's Ukemis took the hits, and Yumi threw on of her fans. It skimmed the ground before coming up and slicing the monster's mark. It exploded right in Yumi's face.

They kept going, barely slowing down. "It's a good thing that this isn't real life, or I'd be extremely tired," thought Yumi.

They turned a final corner and saw the tower. It was in the middle of a crescent formation of rocks. Two crabs were blocking the entrance. Yumi took out both fans, but Evan called to her from the back. "No, I'll take these." He fused two Ukemis into one and sent it ahead. Yumi could see that it wasn't going to hit; rather it was going right between them.

Just as it was passing, Evan screamed again, "Rupture." The Ukemi violently exploded, shoving the crabs out of the way. They staggered long enough for the three to rush through and enter the tower, bolts continuing to shower around them. Everyone stopped to catch their breath and Aelita floated up to the top of the tower. "Hey, Zen," he wheezed. "Can you send me another Ukemi?"

"Downloading."

Evan laughed as it appeared. "I love surprising them like that."

"Well, that pretty much takes care of Lyoko," Jeremy said. "I'll bring you back in, Aelita."

"Kreilin is already waiting for you in the cave region," Zen told them. "Enter the data-stream."

Jeremy turned around. "There's not much I can do from here." Odd was slumped over the cooler, sleeping, with a half-eaten Twinkie in one hand. Ulrich was leaning against the wall with his eyes drooping. "Get some sleep, Ulrich. There's not telling how long Yumi will last."

He nodded and lay down on his back. He was asleep in seconds. Jeremy turned back just in time to see Yumi and Evan disappear. "Hey, I've lost contact."

"Sorry," Zen said. "You cannot interact with them in Regalis. I can provide you with a map, though, and you can still talk to them." A screen opened on the computer, labeled "Cave" along the top. Two green dots appeared at the end of one long tunnel. "I can also provide video feed." An image of a massive cave structure blinked onto the screen.

"This is incredible," Yumi commented.

"Yeah, it is," Kreilin said as he stepped around a stalagmite.

"I don't like this place," Evan said. "I don't have enough room to fly. Let's go." They all set off.

"There are no monsters in the immediate vicinity. Take the next right, then two lefts. Follow that corridor to the tower."

"Thanks, Zen."

The tunnel they were in opened up into a massive cavern, with stalactites and stalagmites. It was somewhat dark and difficult to see. Along the walls, many more tunnels disappeared into the darkness. Yumi gaped at the huge structure, completely awestruck. Droplets of water spattered against the floor and created many echoes. "Is the entire sector like this?" she asked in wonder as she followed the others.

"Pretty much," Kreilin answered. "It's a bunch of tunnels that connect many caverns."

The group traveled in silence most of the way. The entered the last tunnel that would lead them to the tower when Evan stopped. "Something's not right."

"What do you mean?" Yumi asked.

"This entire way and no monsters? Xana's got to be up to something."

Three blips appeared on Jeremy's map. "Watch out! They're coming from the walls."

Everyone leapt back as a massive object erupted from the floor. It filled most of the tunnel and continued flying right up through the ceiling. "What was that?" Jeremy screamed.

"I have no idea," Carl answered in just as much shock.

A little ways down the tunnel, three large worms dug themselves out of the walls. They were each about six feet wide and had gaping mouths. "Monsters scanned. Worms. No weapons or weak points detected."

"No weak points," Evan repeated to himself. "Perhaps it's time to try my new weapon." A devilish grin formed over his face.

"No, Evan," called Brad. "You know you can't do that without killing yourself."

"In that case, you better get ready for virtualization." Evan turned to Yumi and Kreilin. "Get back into another tunnel."

"I'm confused," Carl said. "What move is Evan talking about?"

"It's his Ultima," Brad stated. "One super attack that fries everything. Including the attacker."

"Crap."

"You're telling me," Brad nodded. "The first time I used mine, I almost killed Kreilin."

"I said, get back," Evan said again, starting to get annoyed. "I know what I'm doing." The worms shook and screeched, challenging them to come closer.

"I think we should listen to him," Yumi said before turning and running. Kreilin waited a moment and followed.

Evan saw them go and fused his Ukemis into one. He closed his eyes and held it up to his chest. The floating orb started to glow white and slightly increased in size. Evan crunched his face in concentration. The worms screeched again. Evan's eyes flew open and he thrust the orb forward, DBZ style. "ULTIMA BLAST!"

A giant explosion shook the caverns. Yumi peeked around the corner. A massive, white blast erupted from the tunnel. She pulled back in before her face got fried. After a few seconds, the light faded out. Yumi and Kreilin ventured back into the tunnel. The only things left were several craters. The worms and Evan were nowhere in sight. "Did Evan make it out alright?"

"Yeah," Evan answered. "Man, that thing really drains ya'. Brad's on his way to the moon sector."

"Alright." Kreilin and Yumi ran around the craters and into the tower at the end of the tunnel.

Jeremy checked the timer. Odd had about eight hours left and Ulrich had yet to go in. Yumi's life points were down to forty. He turned to Carl next to him. "Can you take over for a while? I need some sleep."

"Sure. I'm kind of nocturnal anyway."

Jeremy slunk out of the chair and lay on the floor. "Oh, do you know how to virtualize Ulrich?"

"I'll have Zen show me how," he said as he took Jeremy's seat.

Jeremy lay his head down and left Carl as the only conscious man in the room.

Yumi and Kreilin stepped into the moon sector. She looked around, once again admiring the new territory she was in. It basically looked like the moon (go figure) with many craters. Brad jumped out of a crater and ran towards them. Well, actually it was moon bouncing. Yumi jumped experimentally. Without using too much force, she went almost seven feet into the air. "I can get to like this."

"You get used to moving around after a while," Brad said. "The tower is that way." He pointed in a direction. It was hard to tell which way seeing as how they were on a moon. "There are two groups of rollers coming from that direction." He pointed in a direction about 70 degrees from the first. "I suggest we get some distance before they catch up."

"Not much of a talker when it's not about video games, are ya?" Yumi asked as a joke.

Brad took it very seriously. "I can, actually. But in here, it's mostly business for me."

With that, he turned and left them to catch up. Yumi turned to Kreilin. "You get used to that, too." He started after Brad.

"Hey, Zen, can you get me my Overboard?"

"On its way."

The board materialized in front of her. She jumped on and gave chase. She soon came up beside Kreilin. "Need a lift?" He smiled and jumped aboard. She flew up to Brad. "Care for a race."

He also smiled. "Why not?" He curled into his ball began flying through the craters. Yumi flew alongside, trying to keep up. To a casual passerby, they would look like a ship and dolphin as Brad flew up out of one crater and landed into another.

Zen broke up the fun. "Rollers incoming."

Brad came to a stop and stood up. Yumi continued circling until she saw them. The rollers simply looked like several tiny orbs rolling along the ground in a line. They were two of them, one running close behind the first. She came down next to Brad. "Those rollers don't look very tough."

Brad snorted. "But just taking out one isn't enough. You have to destroy the entire line."

"So one roller is just one orb? OK, maybe this will be harder than I thought."

Brad took the hammer off of his back. "They like to jump up and slice through the midrib area. The trick is to get them as they pass. Your fans should do nicely."

Yumi could tell that she wasn't going to like this one as much. The rollers jumped out of a crater and came rolling toward them over a plane. "Give your fans a try."

Yumi let a fan fly. It dipped close to the ground and destroyed two rollers easily. Without slowing, the other five moved together to form a new, slightly smaller line. The line suddenly jumped toward Yumi's chest. Brad ducked and rolled out of the way. Yumi just ducked. The first line flew over her head, but she forgot about the second line. It quickly followed and cut through her calves.

"Yumi, you've only got twenty life points left," Jeremy warned. "Be careful."

"Try attacking them from the side," Brad suggested.

The lines turned for another pass. This time, Yumi knew what to do. The first line jumped. She rolled to one side and threw a fan. It connected with the passing rollers and continued threw, slicing the entire line. She caught the fan with a flourish. "Yeah."

"Watch it, Yumi." Without warning, the other line cut through Yumi's legs. She crumpled in a soft scream and vanished.

"I hate these things," Brad whispered under his breath. The second line turned to him and jumped into the air. Brad pulled his hammer back and swung a full 360, smashing every last roller. "Annoying little things." He holstered his hammer and continued to the tower. "Have Ulrich join us."

"Man, Brad," Carl said. "You need to add some fun to your fights." He turned to wake up Ulrich.

"Thanks, but I'll do my job the way I want to."

"Ulrich, your up."

Ulrich jumped a little, and then wiped his eyes. "Sure."

He walked over to the elevator were Yumi was coming out. "Good sleep?"

"Sure, whatever."

A/N: Thanks to everyone that gave me monsters. Check my forum for names if you want to use them. But I can still use a few more, so please keep posting.