It was a late night at the factory as Jeremie and Aelita were working hard to put the finishing touches on a big project, a virtual submarine that would allow them to dive down deep into the Digital Sea. Jeremie then looked at the flash drive.
"Well, no shame in it.." Jeremie said plugging it in.
The familiar face of Alter Ego popped up on the screen.
"Hello. I am Alter Ego. I did as you planned Mr...wait, you're not Mr. Flux." Alter Ego said.
"Flux? You were reprogrammed for Flux's use?" Hope asked curiously.
"I was reprogrammed to be a virus against the mastermind yet still function as an AI. Now, where is he?" Alter Ego asked.
"Uh, he… Kinda, sorta… ripped a hole in space time. A big one. And he also gave you to me as a thank you." Hope said.
"Understood." Alter Ego said for a second. "There. I am fully ready to help you and your friends now, Mr. Hope." Alter Ego said.
"Just hope will do. After all, I was a friend of the guy who made you." Hope said.
"Yes. Mr. Flux told me what had happened to my master. But, I won't let it get me down. I am here to assist you in anyway I can." Alter Ego said.
"That's more like it." Jeremie said. "Can you finish doing calibrations to our virtual ship?"
"Of course." Alter Ego said. "Running now. Hangar programmed. Now finishing on ship."
"Its getting pretty late, lets head back." Yumi said as they did so.
The Next morning…
"Oh for crying out loud, they couldnt just leave that thing alone after lights out?" Hope said.
"Yep, Jim caught em red handed even though your AI was finishing up. They were still worried about. If they don't finish it manually by 4, the things gonna collapse into itself like a black hole." Rise said.
"So, what is it exactly Jeremie and Aelita are hit with?" Hope asked.
"A whole afternoon in the library studying with GI Jim watching them." Yosuke said.
"This is gonna be a problem." Yu said. "If they cant be at the factory, who knows what will arrive to destroy it?"
In the Skid Hangar
A massive teair was ripped open as someone dropped out of it. It was a thin man with a turban on his head as he looked all over the area.
"Strange. This is not where I intended to go. Where is the red stone?" he wondered. "I wonder...if there's a power source I could use inside this sub?" he wondered as blades came out of his body.
It was at this moment that creepers came up the elevator into the hangar and saw him.
"Strange creatures." he said as the creepers just stared at him. "Creatures of this strange place, I am the leader of the Pillar Men. My name is Kars. Bow to me if you value your lives."
Outside in the realworld…
"Are you sure this is where those two friends of yours wanted to meet up, Joseph?" Hope said in the woods.
"They said they'd be here. Obviously, they came here, as Law said." Joseph said.
A rift then tore right open.
"Yes! Here they...what?" Joseph said as walking out was a frog looking ninja and a taller man with hair covering one of his eyes.
"Its been a long time since I've been to this place.' the frog said.
"Greninja." Hope said. "And who is this?"
"Its only been a few years and you don't even recognize an old ally?" he asked.
"Ah, I'm just playing ya...Sasuke." Hope said. "Man, you've really changed though and… is that the Rinnegan?"
'Yes. A lot has changed since we last met." Sasuke said showing a prostetic arm.
"A lot indeed. So, I assume you came to ask me something?" Greninja asked.
"It's… about Blaziken. Youre tight with him. Why is he so interested in yumi? DO you know his reasons?"
"Ah. So that's what this is about." Greninja said. "Let's discuss this somewhere else."
Inside of a nearby restaurant, the four sat down and ate.
"Hope, tell me. How much do you really know about the kingdoms?" Greninja asked.
"A lot, pretty much. Ive been to the warrior universe and also saw Yaksha, Nixtorm and Dragnor myself." Hope said.
"That is only little. Originally, the kingdoms originated in the 5th universe. But due to our conflicts, our world cracked into 18 pieces, representing the 18 kingdoms. Perfect Links have always been beneficial to us. Blaziken had a partner, her name was Rose. We fought against one another when Ignis and Fontaine entered conflict." Greninja said.
"And let me guess… she didnt come out of a battle alive." Joseph said.
'She shielded Blaziken from an attack from Ignis's own troops. She perished that day. He felt responsible for her death and left Ignis, branded as a deserter. I left soon after seeing this. I was discharged and left a free warrior. As for Blaziken, he obsessed over her for a short time until he saw this." Greninja said showing an old paper with the heroes being in Ambrosia.
"That's when the guys found the eternal kingdom." Hope said.
'After seeing her face, he began to look for her all over. I followed out of worry for his own being." Greninja said.
"But why does Blaziken only want Yumi?" Hope asked.
"Answer me this, when you found that alternate pokemon kingdom, what was one thing you constantly noticed of its warriors?" Greninja asked.
"They all looked like alternate versions of us." Hope said.
"Yes. Its called the Universal Other Rule. It states that each universe has at least one version of someone else from another universe. This was the last picture of Rose." Greninja said showing it. Hope looked in shock to see it was an older version of Yumi in a kimono. "Do you understand now?"
"Extraordinary…" Joseph said.
"Now i get it." Hope said. "You think Yumi can help you continue your link with rose…"
Blaziken was behind them.
"..Blaziken." hope finished.
"You didnt have to reveal it so soon, Greninja." Blaziken said.
'You have been locked inside a cycle of sadness for far too long, old friend. I am simply trying to help." Greninja said.
"You cant just be inside yourself. Just… just tell her you wanna link for real." Hope said.
"No. I will only approach her when she shows the same amount of trust in me as I do for her." Blaziken said before leaving.
"Well, that was.." Hope said before getting a message. "Trouble."
He answered his comm. "What is it?"
"Of all the times for it to happen, the Skid is under attack. And Jeremie also told us… some other signal is there." Ulrich said.
"What did he look like?" Hope said.
"Its a signal hope. You can't exactly see those." Rise said.
"Whatever it is, it is a living thing. But its something….inhuman." Naoto said.
"A Pillar man." Hope said looking to Joseph. "Youre finally up."
Back in lyoko, WIllam rode into the hanger with a trio of mantas and landed near Kars as the Creepers didnt prime their lasers at him for some reason.
"You are not welcome here." William said. "Now begone or be destroyed!"
"Finally. Someone with some backbone." Kars said.
"Hmm. Are you with the warriors...or are you alone?" William asked.
"Alone." Kars said. "I seek a power source for immortality."
William smirked after hearing this. "See this sub? Destroy it and you will be rewarded for your efforts." William said.
"Very interesting." Kars said.
"Fire!" William said as the creepers charged their lasers and fired.
"Feel the sting of my Light Slip Blades!" Kars said unleashing cutting attacks against the sub, only for them to be blocked by a shield.
"Keep hitting it! The shield will quickly fall if we keep attacking!" William said.
"Strike and conquer. Of course." Kars said.
"Kars!" a voice shouted as he looked to see Joseph and Hope arriving on the elevator.
"Yes. I remember you. The boy from the mine. How fortunate we meet again, Jojo." Kars said.
"I was right. Of course the Pillar mens leader would come running for the Skid if it meant obtaining power." Hope said.
"And you...you are nothing but scum under my boots. Begone!" Kars said unleashing a cutting wave at them.
"Dodge it! Blocking it will only lead to death!" Joseph said.
Hope evaded the attack as Ulrich and Odd arrived from above.
"You distract Willam and that other guy. I'll take the creepers." Odd said.
"Yeah." Ulrich said as the split up getting into Kars and Willams line of sight.
"Hey big shots." Ulrichs said as they turned to him. "Wanna mix it up a little?"
Ulrich drew his swords as William returned to silence and hefted his own blade. Kars ignored Ulrich as he kept on Joseph.
"All of this can be over if you simply tell me where the Super Aja is." Kars said.
"Even if we'd tell you, youd still have no way of getting out of here with out being Materialized. Since you came directly from reality in a time rift, Jeremie cant bring you out." Ulrich said blocking willams strike.
"Why would I want out?" Kars said.
"Because the Super Aja is still in the real world, Kars. Or has being king made you think someone like me has it?" Joseph asked.
"I don't think you do have it." Kars said. "But you know who does have it. I'll not kill you right away, rather, I will slice off one limb at a time before I get my answer."
Before he could slash again, machine gun bullets hit him. He turned to see a large figure with their face hidden with a machine gun coming from their chest.
"Whos that guy?" Hope asked.
"Begone!" Kars said slashing at it, only to slice off their hat to reveal a face with metallic parts. Joseph recognized this man.
'It can't be….Von Stroheim!" Joseph said.
"Who?" Odd said dispatching a Creeper.
"He's the one responsible for the Pillar Men's freedom in the first place. But, I thought he had died." Joseph said.
"Oh, Jojo. You shouldn't underestimate us germans. German Science is truly the greatest in all the world!" Stroheim said.
"Damn Nazis." Hope said.
"They made him into a mechanical man. A cyborg!" Joseph said.
"So what do you want here? If you freed the Pillar men, you have nothing left." Hope said.
"Far from it, I've come to destroy Kars!" Stroheim said firing the machine gun in his stomach once more.
"You are wasting your…" Kars said before a laser fired from Stroheim's eye, piercing a hole through Kars hand.
"You no like? You shouldn't. I used your weakness to light against you. My eye has an ultraviolet light cannon inside." Stroheim said laughing.
"Okay, thats cool." Hope said.
Odd dispatched the last creeper. Kars then looked to the three mantas.
"Dont just float there you flying creatures, do something!" Kars said as the Mantas fired on the five.
"Ah. Fishies all upset? Then have a fry!" Stroheim said firing at the mantas destroying each one.
"Kars is distracted. So this is my chance." Joseph thought as he moved swiftly at Kars and used his Hamon to slice off his leg. Kars quickly fell off the edge but not before grabbing his leg as he fell deep down.
"Hmm. Well, this was unexpected." Kars said before reattaching his leg. "I'll let you live today, Jojo, for a little while longer." he said slashing a rift open below before falling inside.
"He escaped." Stroheim said.
"Anf just in time for me to finish the program on the skid, too." Jeremie cut in.
"So its finished? But how did you…?" Hope asked.
"Yumi called in a favor from her little brother. He used Kiwi to get us out." Aelita said.
"Oh, and we'll bring you back now, Joseph. The comrades you mentioned never showed up though." Jeremie said.
"Ah. Well isn't that heartwarming. I guess they had better things to do." Joseph said.
"It isnt like Caesar and Lisa Lisa to leave you hanging, is it?" Hope asked.
"I suppose they're just tracking the Pillar Men on their own." Joseph said. "Not that I mind, of course."
"Speaking of, I should continue the hunt for Kars." Stroheim said turning to leave.
"Good luck, Stroheim. Nice to know not all Germans are evil in ways." Hope said.
"You know I'm german, right?" Ulrich asked.
"Oh, uh… you never told me." Hope said.
"Oh come on, it wasnt obvious?" Joseph asked. "Anyone with a good German language knowledge knows what his name means."
"My face is red." Hope said.
Back in the real world in the Hermitage…
"So, I think its time to name our ship." Jeremie said.
"Yeah, because Melanie isnt a good name." Hope said.
"I think I have a good name." Aelita said holding a book on norse mythology. She opened it to a picture of a boat. "It tells of a ship that would always reach its destination no matter what."
"The Skidbladnir." Jeremie read.
"Thats a weird name to pronounce." Lacy said.
"But it does fit for some reason. I like it." Yumi said.
"Yeah. Sounds really cool." Ulrich said.
"Okay. But we can call it the Skid for short." Odd said.
And thus, the Skid was made. Its purpose, to go where no one has before...Into the depths of the Digital Sea.