Chapter 12

Back in...Purple

The lab was eerily quiet after the recent hack. The entire gang stood silent, motionless. No one said a word. Jeremy was shocked the most. After all he tried to do, the Supercomputer was still attacked. How could that be? The security in the supercomputer was highly advanced. Only anyone with the right access code could enter it from the outside. And then the virus protection program was constantly on. He should know. He and Aelita created it.

The computer beeped and a map of Lyoko came on. What Jeremy saw was unthinkable.

"Oh my god!" Jeremy replied.

"What is it?" Yumi asked in a raspy voice.

"It's Lyoko. It's different."

"What? How is it different?" Odd asked

"There are... 5 more sectors."

"Where did those come from?" Ulrich asked as he looked at the holomap in the center of the room.

"They must have always been there, just locked away." Jeremy replied as he started to type away at the computer so he could get some information on the new sectors. Aelita watched as the name of the sectors came up on the screen. She stared at the names of the five new ones.

"There's a Volcano sector. Looks like it's mostly a volcanic sector with lava and a few eruptions. There's a Cave one. It appears to run directly under the forest sector. An Ocean one. It's kinda underneath the Ice sector...."

"You mean like the digital sea?" Odd asked.

"No, this one is an actual sector. It has a floor and everything in it." Aelita replied as she stared at the picture of the map.

"There's a ... City???" Jeremy said as he looked at it.

"Wait. Why a city?" Ulrich asked.

"It looks like it's the memory center for the supercomputer. It's just that the memory is staked like a city. And there's a Sky sector too. It looks kinda like a level from Super Mario Bros. Instead of the Ground, you're in the sky. But it looks the most dangerous."

"Why's that Jeremy?" Aelita asked

"It looks like your father never finished it." Jeremy replied as he took off his glasses. "It looks like most of these sectors were never really finished. The closest ones are the City and Volcano."

"So what did the hack do? So far it extracted some info and revealed five new Lyoko maps. Kinda like a map pack from X-box live." Odd said.

"It looks like the hack inputted something. And that something landed in Lyoko. It landed in the desert sector." Aelita said.

"So do we investigate it then? It looks like its just standing there's." Ulrich asked.

"Maybe we should wait a while. Besides, we should really ask William anyways." Jeremy said.

"Why him? He's not part of our group." Ulrich protested.

"Like it or not. He knows about the supercomputer. He's part of it. And since he's part of it, he should be here in case we make a decision." Jeremy said.

Yumi suddenly remembered the horrible things she said today. Why would William come to the factory anyways, after what she said?

"I'll call him and ask." Aelita said as she got out her slider phone.

"He... won't answer." Yumi said "I kinda said some things today that I shouldn't have. He overheard and I kinda... hurt him a little with my words."

Jeremy and Aelita stared at Yumi. This was the first they heard about it. They saw William earlier when Jeremy gave him back his phone. And he did look a little down. But they couldn't understand it.

"Did you go and apologize?" Jeremy asked.

Before Yumi could answer, Ulrich walked up next to her and spoke for her. "We'll go later. I'll help her say it. I kinda should apologize a little too. I think its time we all put the past behind us."

Yumi turned to Ulrich with a smile. Ulrich returned the smile as Jeremy turned to the computer as it beeped again.

"So should we go to Lyoko then?" Odd asked

"I kinda don't want to go. I mean after all the last time..." Aelita said as she stuttered off.

"Well we don't have to send the whole army. Maybe just two of us." Yumi said.

"Okay well in that case, who..."

"ME!!!!!" Odd yelled, interrupting Jeremy. "I'll go and check it out!!"

"How did you know that's what I was gonna ask?"

Odd thought about the question for a minute and finally answered. "I guessed."

Jeremy rubbed the back of his head as turned back to the monitor. How could Jeremy explain to Odd in terms Odd could understand? Odd had always had problems understanding Jeremy's explanations, so why would this time be any different?

"What if it's a virus Odd? I don't know what it could do to a human. What if you go to Lyoko and I can't bring you back? You would end up devirtualized and gone forever."

Odd put his hand to his chin and tried to explain his reasons to Jeremy. He knew that whenever he gave a reason to Jeremy, Jeremy would wonder if he was joking, so he had to place his words carefully.

"Well I understand that but think about it. We have no idea what that thing is right? What if it starts to use the supercomputer like Xana did? And we just sit here and do nothing. Besides, we haven't been to Lyoko for seven months. Sure that's a pretty long time and all, but I'm sure after a few seconds I'll remember my moves. I don't think it will matter. If it looks like there's trouble then just pull me back."

The rest of the group looked at Jeremy as they waited for his response. Jeremy chewed on his cheek nervously as he made a decision.

"OK. But first sign of trouble and I bring you back. Anyone else?"

Aelita put her hands behind her back. She wasn't really sure if she should go or not. She wanted to, but there was still that fear in the back of her mind. She didn't want to go, but then again she didn't want to put her friends in harm's way.

"I'll go."

Yumi and Aelita looked at Ulrich as he stood with his arm raised. Yumi gave Ulrich a look of concern. She obviously didn't want him to go.

"Hey, wait a minute. What if Jeremy's right? Why would you two go in there without knowing what it is you're gonna run into?" Yumi said in a panic stricken voice. "You two should think this over."

"I don't need to, Odd's right. If we sit in here and do nothing, then that thing might attack and we won't stand a chance. At least on Lyoko we can investigate it." Ulrich responded as he looked into Yumi's black eyes. He usually did when ever he talked seriously to her.

"OK fine, I'll go with you two." Yumi said. "At least there's safety in numbers." Yumi walked over and stood next to her boyfriend. If he was gonna put himself in danger, so would she.

"Wait, I'll go to." Aelita said, trying to hide how nervous she was.

"No Aelita. I know you wanna help, but it's obvious you're nervous about the whole thing. Maybe you should stay here, in case we need some help. Besides, if we do run into trouble, we wouldn't want you to get so scared that you stiffen up like a board." Ulrich said as he tried to explain to Aelita. "In the mean time, if we do get into trouble, just enjoy the show."

Aelita tried to protest to Ulrich's decision, but figured that he was right and decided to sit out this time. She simply gave them a faint smile as they made their way to the elevator. Aelita turned around and stared at the floor dejectedly. She felt useless to the others. And what was worse was that if anything did happen, how could she live with it? She was suddenly snapped back to reality as Jeremy said her name a couple times. He looked at her and assured her that they would be all right.

"How can you just be calm about this?"

Jeremy got out of the chair and walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Aelita hadn't noticed that she was starting to shake a little.

"It's obvious that since your dad died, you grew a fear of the supercomputer. I admit, I'm a little nervous as well, and so are the others. But we got through worse before. We'll be fine."

Aelita looked at Jeremy. She managed to calm down and stop shaking. Maybe he was right; maybe there wasn't anything to worry about. She stared at Jeremy for a while and started to lean forward. Jeremy also slowly started to lean forward a little as their faces got closer and closer. Aelita closed her eyes as Jeremy closed his eyes as well......

"Hey!!!! Wake up you two!!!" Odd shouted from the intercom, interrupting their moment.

Jeremy stopped right in front of Aelita's face as he slowly turned to the Computer. Both their faces were as red as can be. Jeremy walked over to the computer as Aelita stood by the chair next to him. He brought up the scanner program and typed in the commands. Down in the scanner room, the three cylinder-like booths hissed and opened, revealing an orange light inside of it.

"Ladies first." Ulrich said as Yumi walked into the first one. She turned around smiling as the door closed on her.

"Like you said, ladies first." Odd joked as Ulrich stepped into the scanner. The door closed as Ulrich gave Odd a look of death.

Finally Odd stepped into the last one as the final scanner closed and the room went dark. The only light came from the three scanners as they started to hiss and hum in a loud swirling noise.

"I'll drop you guys off at the desert sector, just about a mile away from the target. First sign of trouble and I bring you guys back." Jeremy announced as he began to activate the virtualization sequence.

"Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Odd, Scanner Yumi. Virtualization!!!!"

Inside the Scanner, Ulrich felt his feet leave the floor as he felt a warm tingling sensation run through his body. He closed his eyes as the light inside the scanner got brighter and brighter. Finally he felt his whole body go numb as the light faded. Finally the tingling sensation left his body as he opened his eyes to reveal a large desert landscape. Ulrich landed on his feet as he slowly stood up and looked around. The place really hadn't changed that much.

Ulrich heard the buzzing sound of something being virtualized. He turned to see Odd and Yumi land right behind him. Yumi was still in the same red and violet costume she was in last time. When Jeremy designed their costumes, Yumi didn't want to part with her geisha design. She thought it represented her culture and family. It wasn't till she designed it herself that she felt better. She wore a pair of reddish pink shoes that resembled a pair of tennis shoes. A gray brace on her midsection that held her fans in place. And instead of the white make up she wore before, her face was as plain as her face on earth, save for a light hint of blush. Her fans hadn't changed much. They could be flung like a Frisbee and could come back to her like a boomerang. Its edges were usually smooth, but when she threw them, they glowed white and could cut through anything. She had the option of changing weapons, but she preferred her fans anyways. They were really the only thing that hadn't changed from her original outfit.

Odd was still... Odd, in a sense. He was basically a giant purple cat. He even had the tail, ears, and claws of a cat. No one ever understood why it was that Odd was a cat on Lyoko. But for some reason, when it came time to change it, he practically said no. He preferred to stay purple and fuzzy. When Ulrich first met Odd, his hair was long and laid back. After their first trip to Lyoko, he decided to gel his hair into the same shape he had on Lyoko. But the good side was that it did have its advantages. Odd could hear things exceptionally well. Both Odd and Aelita had excellent hearing. They could hear a Block zooming in for a head shot from miles away. Plus Odd was amazingly well balanced. Possibly from the tail that Ulrich couldn't help but laugh at the first time he went to Lyoko. Another helpful use for the amazing cat man was his claws. Odd could literally climb up certain surfaces, like sand, trees, and rocks. The only thing Odd changed when they redesigned their costumes was the outfit he wore. Instead of having a sleeveless shirt, he opted for a full body suit. Something like a superhero would wear. His weapons though were the offset. He fired arrows at his enemies. And last time Ulrich checked, cats weren't firing arrows at the dogs that chased them. Still, when it came down to it, Odd was really the one guy who could get the job done if he was by himself. He should know; Odd brags about it all the time.

"Ahh, how I missed this place. The air, the ground, yup. Things change." Odd spoke out loud as he looked himself over.

Yumi and Ulrich stared at Odd for a second before Yumi finally spoke out. "Odd, you do know this place never changes, don't you?"

"Yeah, I was trying to make all this feel better."

"I have to admit, I kinda missed this place." Ulrich said, to which Yumi nodded.

Yumi pulled her fans out of their straps as she flexed them and unfilled them and frilled them again. "I'm not sure how long it's gonna take to get used to our powers."

Yumi was suddenly startled by a quick snapping noise, followed by a rock nearby getting hit with several gold arrows. The shot left a scorch mark where the shot hit. The mark was suddenly coved up by black and green mesh-like wires, and replaced by fresh new ground.

Yumi and Ulrich turned to see Odd holding his left hand and smiling. "Actually, I think I remember."

Ulrich pulled out his pair of katanas. He flipped one so that he was now holding the blade, and threw it in the air, only to catch it behind his back. "I got my groove back." He said as he flipped the other katana with his fingers.

Back at the lab Jeremy and Aelita watched with a slight grin on their faces. It was just like old times again. Even when they where fighting Xana, they still had some good times as well. To them, Lyoko wasn't a threat. It was a part of them. It was what brought them together. And it was Lyoko that made their friendship as strong as ever.

"Are you guys ready for your vehicles yet? We do have a strange object about a few kilometers from your position."

On Lyoko, Odd looked at the sky, which was usual when they where trying to talk to Jeremy, since it always sounded like his voice was coming from the sky. "I forgot all about my Overboard. Go ahead and send it."

In the lab Aelita watched as Jeremy typed in the commands for the Vehicles. Three separate windows pooped up on screen showing the vehicles were prepped and ready.

On Lyoko, there was a whirling, buzzing noise, as the three vehicles appeared just in front of them. A motorcycle like bike with one wheel, a large saucer shaped board with a kind of swan like shape in the front, and a purple surf board that floated above the ground. Like Odd, it had a purple cat design on it.

Ulrich jumped on the Overbike as he revved up its engine. The engine roared alive as the sound brought back a flood of memories to him. Yumi stepped on to her Overwing as it started to buzz loudly. And Odd jumped onto his Overboard and listened to the two engines in the back hum loudly.

"Ahh my old board. How I missed the old girl." Odd said as he turned to face the direction that the unidentified object was located at.

"All right guys. The object is at the crater, approximately three kilometers from your position. It's just standing there. And I still can't get a glimpse at it." Jeremy said as the three warriors took off in the direction that Jeremy specified. "Aelita says for you guys to be careful."

"Ahh don't worry, we'll be back for dinner in no time. After all, it's shepherds pie tonight." Odd said as he drifted from side to side a little ways above Yumi and Ulrich.

Halfway across the desert, Xervix turned his attention to the direction that the gang was approaching from. He knew that it was a matter of time till they arrived. He slowly made his way towards a Block that was still immobile. His hand started to glow orange and black as a thick oily substance left his palm and dripped slowly onto the block. The block started to shake violently as the symbol on its eyes began to glow. Slowly its body started to crack and shatter, as red streaks and cracks raced around its body. Pieces of the monster started to fall onto the ground.

Xervix walked over to the Kankrelats as he performed the same thing to them as he did the Block.

Their small bodies started to expand and grow rapidly. Their bodies also began to crack and shatter.

Suddenly the block stopped shaking, as its body turned gray. Suddenly an arm broke out of the Block. It was long and slender, and at the end of its hand was a short barrel with a cylinder on its end. The barrel glowed brightly as the rest of the monster's body broke loose from the blocks old body. It stood straight up as it turned to face Xervix. It was human shaped; its face looked like a dull metal hubcap. It had one black eye in the middle of its forehead. The eye looked crystal-like and was slender and dagger like. Its body was slender. It had two hands. One hand had three fingers, while on the other hand was the short blaster that it carried like an arm cannon. Its body was V-Shaped and looked like a jagged stalagmite. Its legs were bent like a chicken's, and its skin was almost rock-like. Yet it looked organic.

Xervix faced the direction that the gang was approaching.

"Now.... FACE ME!!!!!!!!!!!"