Hey all! So Sky had a con this week so I took a turn editing again this time. (As Ivy... That was quite a change!) I am sorry that this chapter turned out so massive... I promise next week's will be shorter. I hope you guys like it. Feel free to review and let us know how we're doing.

Ivy took refuge in her usual place while the dorms were off limits during the day - the classroom. Crying in the bathroom invited gossip, and the library had too many potential witnesses. Classrooms were safe enough, if you knew how to handle yourself, because no one showed up as early as she did, not even the teachers. It was only once she was seated in her usual place with her light brown hair hiding her face that she allowed a tiny, ragged sob to escape her lips. The same thought kept running through her head again and again. 'He hates me.'

For the life of her, Ivy could not understand it. Michael was never known to be particularly pleasant to anyone, this much was true, but he seemed to nurse a special hatred only for her. Up until now, Ivy had always tried to be at the very least polite to him, but everything that she said or did was rejected and mocked. And now, it seemed, his roommate had decided to harass her as well. It was bad enough not to have any friends here, but dealing with Michael on top of everything, it was all becoming a little bit too much.

By the time the literature teacher had entered the classroom, Ivy was in control again. She stared at her notebook in front of her and did not say a word as the teacher began to set up, nor did she acknowledge the curious stares of the students who had witnessed the events of breakfast. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the navy blue form of Michael's sweatshirt as he entered the room. He passed by her desk without acknowledgement.

So the day passed. Ivy did an admirable job of looking anywhere but at Michael for the duration of the morning, including Mr. Belpois' class when they were seated beside each other. Michael either did not notice Ivy's red eyes and her skin blotchy from tears, or simply pretended not to. Silence stretched between them, tense and poisonous.

The only event worthy of note happened after Mr. Belpois' class. A frazzled-looking Mr. Belpois stopped Ivy after class. He attempted to flag down Michael as well, but the boy ignored him and stomped out of the door. Mr. Belpois sighed heavily. "Ivy. We're starting your training tonight. Given the events of last night and what may be to come, we feel it's important to begin right away."

Ivy nodded wordlessly, her stomach tightening with mixed excitement and a thrill of anxiety.

"There's a tunnel in the park, through the sewers. I went and checked this morning and it is still accessible. I know it's not the most glamorous means of transport but it never let us down when we were kids. You and Michael will go there after dinner to meet Yumi and Aelita at the factory."

Her heart sank. She had hoped that when Mr. Belpois had said "you" that he had meant that she and Michael would be training separately. All she said was, "Smart move, bringing the one that caused Michael to go all quiet."

Jeremie could not help but laugh. "Yes, well," he agreed with a smile, "I'll have to ask Yumi how she does it. It certainly is a useful trick."

Ivy returned the smile, but added firmly, "I am not going to get Michael, though. You can do that." She cast Mr. Belpois an apologetic look, then turned her back on him before he had a chance to argue.

"Be careful!" was all Mr. Belpois called after her. "Jim may be getting old but he's still as watchful as ever!"

oOo

By 20:30, Ivy had returned to the mysterious factory that she had been trapped inside of for most of the previous night. Michael had been very late to meet her at the entrance of the sewers, but Ivy had waited for reasons she did not entirely understand. When Michael had finally shown up, he was using his iPhone as a flashlight. Clearly, Jeremie had either not given Michael the same warning about being cautious, or Michael had just forgotten. Ivy considered reprimanding him, but decided that her anger with him trumped the desire to tell him off for something that might have come to pass, so instead had just climbed down the ladder without a word.

Now the two of them were in the elevator, standing far apart from each other as the descended into the lab. All of Ivy's excitement from this morning had evaporated, and she was dreading the next several hours that they would spend together. 'This should be an interesting training session,' Ivy thought unhappily.

The doors to the elevator opened to reveal the lab. Instantly, Ivy's attention was drawn to the mechanical implement in the center of the room. While the night before it had no immediately apparent purpose, tonight it was alive and projecting a hologram of what appeared almost like suspended jigsaw pieces in four different lines, all surrounding an orb at the center. She walked toward the hologram, staring at it with fascination.

"That's Lyoko," a soft voice said. Ivy jumped slightly. She had forgotten that Yumi and Aelita were here. Aelita, who had spoken, was seated in the chair in front of the computer, and smiled gently at Ivy when she looked over at her. Ivy smiled back, her anxiety ebbing slightly.

Yumi, meanwhile, was sitting with her back to the wall, just as Ivy and Michael had done the night before, her nose buried in a textbook. As Ivy watched, the woman held up a finger to indicate to them to wait, reading to the end of the section before marking her place and turning her attention to the two students that had just emerged from the elevator. In one glance, she seemed to have taken in the body language and the distance between Ivy and Michael and made an assessment of the situation. Her mouth thinned into a determined line.

"Thank you for coming," Aelita said now, addressing them both. "I know this might seem a little bit sudden to start training tonight, after having just learned about all of this yesterday. However, after this morning we all thought… Well, Jeremie in particular thought that you guys should start learning right away."

"This morning?" Ivy echoed back blankly.

Aelita glanced down, and it seemed to Ivy that she was a little bit embarrassed. "When we realized you were on Lyoko, well… we panicked. We brought everyone back, when we really shouldn't have, especially not me. As far as we knew, there was an active tower and for some reason the superscan was not picking it up. If you'll recall, I went back early this morning." Together, Ivy and Michael nodded. Ivy remembered Aelita leaving in the middle of the conversation the night before, accompanied by Ulrich, who had been relatively quiet throughout the long explanation. "We searched every sector. There was no activated tower. XANA had to have deactivated the tower himself sometime after we left Lyoko, without launching an attack at all."

"But that's not true," Michael pointed out, speaking for the first time, as far as Ivy knew, since this morning. "He messed up my phone when I was in class."

"Yes, that's right," Yumi agreed. "But that was before the tower was deactivated. More importantly, why would XANA bother doing this? It doesn't make sense."

Aelita picked up the conversation again. "Precisely. Jeremie feels that XANA used your phone to get his attention. While we have no proof of this, it's not an impossibility, and if XANA was trying to get our attention on purpose…"

"... he's bound to have something nasty planned," finished Yumi.

"Which is where we come in?" Ivy inquired.

"Right." Yumi gave a nod and got to her feet. "If the battle against XANA is going to be starting again soon, the truth is that you two and Jeremie are going to be able to get here the fastest. Tonight is when we find out what you can do."

This time when Ivy was confronted with the prospect of getting into the scanner, she only hesitated for a moment, looking first at Yumi then at Michael. Knowing what to expect made the process much easier. However, she was surprised to find when she opened her eyes that she was not looking down upon a desert, but suspended above a land of white instead. "It's changed," she gasped, but did not have time to think anything else because she found herself plummeting to the ground. Beside her, Michael tried to catch himself and stumbled, and Yumi landed perfectly. Ivy landed flat on her back.

"Oof…" Ivy stared up at the sky for a moment before sitting up slowly to find Yumi offering a hand. She gave the woman a small, embarrassed smile, and glanced over at Michael in time to see him look quickly away from her. She rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Where are we going, Aelita?" Yumi called up to the sky as Ivy got to her feet.

"Thirty degrees north," Aelita reported back. "There's a good place to train and a convenient tower nearby."

Yumi gave a nod that Aelita could not see, then took off in what Ivy assumed was the correct direction, gesturing for them to follow.

It was a minute or two before Ivy heard it - the strange whirring and stomping of something large and mechanical. She had just enough time to wonder if they would be facing more Bloks when the creatures came into view. Three huge, pale green creatures with four long legs, a disc-shaped body, and what seemed to be six eyes on the front of its head. "What are those?" she heard Michael ask.

Yumi looked at the monsters, then back at her two pupils. "Krabs," she said simply. "Jeremie and Aelita style, of course. You won't find any monsters on Lyoko unless there is an active tower somewhere, so today we had to make our own."

"Okay," Ivy said, readying her weapon and feeling a faint flutter of excitement and nerves. "How do we beat them and what do we have to be careful of?"

"Aim for the Eye of XANA," instructed Yumi. "It's on the top of their heads. As for what to be careful of… Don't get hit by the lasers, and don't stand directly underneath them." With that, she folded her arms and stood back to watch.

"Alright then…" Ivy said, mostly to herself. She was just wondering what Yumi was talking about with the lasers when the Krabs opened fire. Ivy dove out of the way, sprinting off to one side and trying to find a good position to use her staff. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then threw her staff like a javelin, aiming for the eye on the top of the creature's head. To her surprise, it found its mark on the very first try, and the creature exploded.

A flash of blue-white light attracted her attention. Michael was trying his own luck with another Krab, but not having the same success. She sprinted over to retrieve her staff, only to find herself pinned down by fire from the third Krab. "Crap," she muttered, ducking behind an outcropping of ice to try to re-strategize.

Michael was coming closer to where she hid from her opponent Krab, searching for cover. She watched as a laser struck him squarely in the chest, and he landed flat on his back. Groaning, he fumbled with the tracking device on the side of his head, trying to activate it and get to his feet at the same time. He managed the tracking device first, and used it to take aim at the Krab's leg, sending another blue-white bolt from his gun. Whatever had come out of it, the Krab's back leg was instantly vaporized. The creature tottered and fell, leaving the eye exposed, but also leaving Michael facing the underbelly, which Ivy could now see was not solid but was some sort of tightly-closed mechanism. As she watched, the mechanism shifted, and Ivy suddenly remembered Yumi's warning not to stand under them. It must be some sort of weapon. And Michael, still in a half-crouch, wasn't going to be able to get up in time.

Ivy bolted out of her hiding place, taking the opening that Michael had given her. She stabbed her staff hard into the Eye on the top of its head, then backed away just in time. The creature's legs twitched then it, too, exploded. Panting a little, she gave Michael a smile. "Good job," she said.

He stared at her, then slowly, hesitantly, he returned the smile. In the time that it took for her to register that this was the first time that she had ever seen him genuinely smile, the expression had disappeared, replaced by fear. "Hey, watch it!" he called out, pointing behind her.

Ivy started to turn, remembering the third Krab, but too late. A laser struck her in the back and she fell forward onto her hands and knees. She scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could while clutching her unwieldy staff, ready to defend herself, but she need not have bothered. Michael had placed himself between her and the monster, and had managed to dispatch the final Krab. He turned to her now, replacing his gun in its holster and seeming to debate something. At last he just looked at her, not smiling now but not hostile either. "You… You should be more careful," he said gruffly.

"You think?" Ivy gave him a little smile. "But thanks."

"Good job," Yumi said, walking over to them before their conversation could continue. "You work well together… when you are working together. Neither of you seem very familiar with your weapons yet, particularly you, Michael - though I suspect, Ivy, that that first throw was not so much skill as a natural talent and a lot of luck. We will need to practice a lot more with those, but perhaps no more monsters tonight. You've both been hit, and you are low on life points."

"Lifepoints?" Michael asked.

"Lifepoints," Yumi repeated. "You have a limited number. Once they run out, you're devirtualized. And take it from me, it is not a pleasant experience."

"Both of them took one hit, so they each have sixty lifepoints left," Aelita informed them from the lab.

"All right, Aelita. My old training spot with Ulrich was around here, wasn't it?" Yumi asked, scanning the surroundings.

"That's right," Aelita confirmed. "About 300 meters away, on the platform to your right."

"Come on, you two," Yumi said, gesturing to her two charges. "We don't need vehicles for such a short distance. Besides, any Lyoko warrior needs to know how to jump from platform to platform. Be careful not to touch the water." She jumped off of the main platform onto a bridge of smaller pieces of ice that connected the two platforms.

"Why not?" Michael asked as the two of them followed. "What's down there?"

"The digital void." Something about the way that Yumi said these words gave Ivy pause.

"What's wrong with the digital void?" inquired Ivy as she followed in Yumi's footsteps, Michael bringing up the rear.

"Well…" The woman hesitated, then shook her head. "We will talk about it some other time. Just take my advice, stay on the platforms. Okay?"

Ivy glanced behind to exchange a look with Michael. "Okay then," she agreed.

At last, they climbed onto the main platform. Ivy could see at once why Yumi had chosen this for training. It contained a large open space, and was surrounded by high walls with a few ice "steps" for climbing and jumping, even potentially for target practice. "All right," Yumi said, turning to them and looking the two students over. "Have either of you had any previous training?"

"Training? Like what?" Ivy asked.

"Combat. Martial arts, self defense…" Yumi gestured vaguely.

"Oh. No, not really," she answered, shaking her head. Michael just shrugged.

The Japanese woman sighed. "Okay. Ulrich or I can work on training you in Pencak Silat during your free time."

"Pancake-what?" echoed Ivy.

"It's a form of martial arts," Yumi explained. "We can go into more detail about it when you actually start to learn. Let's see… Aelita, should we do an analysis on their weapons, do you think?"

"Doing it as we speak," answered Aelita. Sure enough, Ivy jumped slightly as her staff issued a slight humming noise, and saw Michael look around at his pistol. "Results coming up now." There was a slight pause as Aelita skimmed the data. "Michael's weapon is a type of ray gun. The intensity of the charges that it fires depends on how longs he holds the trigger. There does not appear to be any limit to how many times it may be used, but it takes longer to recharge after each use. The recoil also depends on how long he holds the trigger, so Michael is probably going to need a lot of practice before he can accurately use his weapon."

"What about mine, Aelita?" Ivy asked, looking up to the sky.

"As you already know, your weapon can be used as a spear. It also appears that you can create vines to wrap around your opponents by hitting the staff on the ground. These vines are poisonous to the touch. This seems to double as your special ability."

"Special ability?" Michael asked. "Don't I have a special ability?"

"You do." Aelita's voice sounded uncertain now. "It's very unclear here. The program confirm that you have one, and that it somehow affects your weapon, but any more than that, I can't tell you. I'll ask Jeremie to take a look at it. Maybe he'll know."

The boy visibly wilted at Aelita's words. Despite his attitude the past couple of days, Ivy could not help but feel bad for him. "I'm sure we'll figure out your ability soon, Michael," she said soothingly.

Michael shrugged, suddenly the same sullen and bad-tempered boy as always. "Whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway. Are we done now?" This last comment was directed at Yumi, and was not so much a question as a demand.

"No," replied Yumi sharply. "I thought that we should have the two of you spar for me to get a better assessment of your abilities."

Michael looked from Yumi to Ivy and then back again. "Fine," he said shortly, turning to face Ivy. The atmosphere suddenly changed, becoming very tense.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Michael," Ivy said, preparing her staff and eyeing him warily.

No sooner than she had said this then Michael sprang forward, grabbing the arm with the staff and trying to twist it behind her back. Taken by surprise, Ivy struggled against him, but his grip was very tight. She knew that she had no chance to get away like this, so focused her energy on holding onto the staff for dear life and waiting for an opening.

This opening came a moment or two later. Michael had been so quick to act that he had not bother to retrieve his weapon, and now was trying to hold onto her arm and get the gun at the same time, his left hand scrabbling for it clumsily. His grip on her arm loosened, allowing her to rip herself away from him. A distant memory of childhood gymnastics lingered. She hoped it was enough. Ivy backflipped away from him, surprised and relieved when she managed to stick the landing. She slammed her staff into the ground, sending vines toward Michael, but she did not stop to see if he was tangled in them, continuing to move to make herself a difficult target.

She heard a small explosion, and looked back to see Michael aiming his gun at his own feet. The vines had wrapped around his ankles, and he had used the pistol to vaporize them. She sent more at him. "Better hurry up now. That poison should get rid of your lifepoints pretty quickly," she teased, smirking.

The boy let a noise of surprise and annoyance, dodging out of the way of vines that had sprung up and were reaching like tentacles toward him, trying to trip of bind him. Ivy was certain of victory… the next moment she was knocked off of her feet by a shockwave from Michael's gun. "Nice hit, Michael," she muttered, mostly to herself, as she tried to get to her feet. Fortunately Michael had found his way impeded by more vines, giving her time to recover.

But not enough time. Michael's hand found her shoulder, and he pulled them both over. Recovering first, he slammed her arm with the staff against the ground, then pinned her to the ground with his legs, drawing his gun and placing it briefly on her temple. "I… win…" he panted.

She considered struggling, but she knew that she was beaten, so instead Ivy went limp. "Good… job…" she replied, looking up at him. "Aren't you.. going to shoot?"

Michael blinked at her. "Of course not… Why would I?" He replaced his weapon and released her arm, rolling off of her. The boy was grinning from ear to ear. "You did great," he commented, now sitting beside her.

She stretched a bit as she sat up, slightly perplexed by the reappearance of Michael's cheerful self. Evidently he was not as sore of a winner as he was a loser. "You too," she said, giving him a small smile. "That gun has some punch. How long did you hold the trigger?"

"I didn't," he replied, then paused. "How long do the poison effects work, do you know?" he added, suddenly sounding a little nervous. "I don't want to be disappearing out of nowhere."

"Um… To be honest I don't know," Ivy admitted guiltily.

"Michael has about forty lifepoints left," Aelita informed the group at large. "It seems to decrease about ten lifepoints per minute."

"Well, great," Michael said to the sky, a touch sarcasm in his voice. Ivy smiled. The sarcasm was much more familiar, coming from him. "Is there any way to, say, stop it?"

"I don't think so. I don't think we've tried to heal people. I could try." With that, Aelita went quiet.

"Yes, please do. I would much prefer to stay around." Michael was glaring at the sky now, but received no answer. Ivy could not help but smile more, and all of a sudden she felt awful.

"Hey, Michael… I'm sorry for dumping my breakfast on you…" she said quietly

Michael shifted uncomfortably. "I… s'pose that it might sort of have been my fault. Maybe." His face reddened slightly and looked away. "I.. I'm sorry for... being like I am… It's just all that I know how to do, okay?"

"Apology accepted. I know how your mouth moves faster than your mind sometimes. But your words still hurt." This last part she said so softly that it was nearly inaudible.

"'My mouth moves faster than my mind'?" Michael echoed in injured tones. "I wouldn't go as far to stay that. But… I understand. And I… I feel bad I just…" He struggled for words, still not looking at her. His whole face was scarlet now.

"Sorry Michael." She was fighting to keep back a laugh at how bad Michael was getting at this, and how easily his pride was wounded. "But that was the best way to put it."

His eyes flicked to her face, but he looked away as soon as he noticed she was smiling at him. The boy shook his head and stood up abruptly. "Come on." He hesitated, then offered her his hand, just as Yumi had when they first arrived on Lyoko today.

Ivy nodded and stood up, a little too quickly. She stumbled forward, steadying herself on his arms. She felt him tense against her, and his expression was quite stricken, but he waited until he was certain that she had her balance before stepping way. "Y-You should be more careful," was all he said, refusing to meet her eyes again.

"Yeah." She found her own voice was a little shaky with surprise. "Sorry, Michael."

"Good job, you two."

Ivy nearly jumped out of her skin. She had almost forgotten that Yumi was there. Now her own face reddened as she realized that she had been watching her whole interaction with Michael. "Th-Thanks," she mumbled, wishing that she could disappear.

"But not perfect," Yumi added, her tone business-like. "Michael, your technique with the gun was very good, but that as a big risk to take, shooting an ally. You could have devirtualized her. You should work to determine how much your power ranges. Also, you lost a lot of time with the vines and you became easily distracted. Your initial attack was not well thought out, for you could not attack and hold onto her at the same time.

"And you, Ivy. You had a good idea to keep moving so that you would be difficult to target, but you lost track of your opponent. I noticed this while you were fighting the Krabs, too. While Michael lacks patience and planned poorly, he has thus far stayed aware of his opponent at all times. Also, your weapon may be powerful but it comes with the drawback of having to stop to use it, which leaves you extremely vulnerable. You will have to plan accordingly in future battles.

"Both of your lack finesse, and you will need practice. In spite of this, you both did very w-" She was cut off by a yelp of surprise from Michael as his body suddenly dissolved and he disappeared into a shower of pixels. "Well," she finished, shaking her head.

"I kept his lifepoints going for as long as I could," Aelita said apologetically. "I'll bring you back in as well." Ivy nodded, and the world dissolved around her. A moment later she found herself standing in the scanner once more.

Michael was in the scanner across from her, sheet-white and sweating buckets "That blows," he complained to Yumi, leaning against the scanner and panting. "Isn't there any way you can make it smoother?"

"When you're devirtualized? No, not as far as we've found." Yumi shrugged, stepping delicately out of her scanner. "You get used to it."

Up in the lab, Ivy was surprised to find that Jeremie had joined them while they were on Lyoko. Aelita appeared to be lecturing him as the elevator doors opened. "... told you to go home and rest, Jeremie."

"We will," Jeremie assured her. "Once we give them the booklets."

"What booklets?" Michael asked loudly as they got out of the elevator.

Jeremie waved them back. "Don't bother," he said. "You're set for tonight. You did very well, so I hear. I am just here to give you these."

He handed over a pair of what Ivy would qualify as a small book rather than a booklet. Ivy thumbed through the booklet. The contents seemed to be of complicated computer code. Beside her, Michael gave a groan. "What is this?"

"We want you to be, if not completely proficient, at least familiar with the workings of the supercomputer," Jeremie explained. "So read it, know it."

"Why?" Ivy inquired. "Aren't you going to run the supercomputer?"

"I intend to, yes, or Aelita can. We just want to be prepared in case you ever need to… to operate it without us. If anything ever happens to us." Jeremie's voice was somber.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Jeremie -"(The man's face darkened considerably at not being addressed as "Mr. Belpois") "- sorry to say, but you worry WAY too much."