"Umph.." Hope said climbing on the rock wall first. "See, the trick with rock climbing is that you gotta know where to… go and… reach…" he said grabbing a good grip and pulling up.

"Well, I'm im pressed, Hope." Jim said. "Didnt take you for a mountain climber with the lack of muscle mass and all."

"I get by." Hope said. "And what, am I gonna climb this all by myself?"

"Right, we need more on here. Belpois, follow after todays climbing champ." Jim said.

Jeremie gulped as she slowly climbed after Hope but after a few minutes he fell to the mat with the class laughing.

"The only exercise you get is clicking your computer mouse. Hit the bench, Della Robbia, go after Hope." Jim said.

Later in the cafe…

"Be honest here guys, I'm not gonna be good at any single kind of sport. I'm just not athletic." Jeremie said.

"Hey, it isnt that hard." Hope said. "Though I shouldnt be egging on…"

"Maybe we could hit the wall together." Odd said.

"No way. Besides, me and Aelita are still busy putting on the touches to the Skid." Jeremie said. "This is the Digital Sea we're talking about. We still don't know a whole lot about it."

"But the whole point of a Maiden Voyage is actually getting on the water and doing it." Luffy said.

"But we're technically going underwater, but it would still be exciting." Ranma said.

"It;s a good thing too. Evac drills are going on and classes are canceled. You guys can go run a practice run this afternoon." Titanica said.

"Sounds good." Ulrich said.

And so…

The group arrived in the factory as the skid was being prepped and ready for departure.

"So… you didnt bother to make extra nav-skids for us? Were on this team too, Jeremie." Hope said.

"It takes months just to make the one ship. Besides, there is one extra that can let someone ride in." Jeremie said.

"Okay. Any takers for the extra nav-skid?" Hope said.

"Yoo hoo!" Lacy said in a diving suit. "Diver Lacy reporting for duty."

"You are so daring and funny at the same time. Its why I'm gonna send something to Cece later on." Hope said.

"Oh. What is it? Is it that letter saying to make me a permanent member for the reason to spread the knowledge of the circus? Of course you wouldn't send that. Cece doesn't like receiving letters." Lacy said.

'

"Oh… I didnt know that. But the thing is, I wanted to keep you on the team not just for circus promotion, but because of what we both do." Hope said.

"Uh…" Lacy said.

"You do...feel the same right?" Hope asked.

"Uh….diving time!" Lacy said heading down to the scanners.

"She just ran without a clear answer." Hope said.

"What did you expect? She's a circus girl. And they don't technically stay in one quiet place for long." Damien said.

"DOnt worry about it too much. I'm sure she gets it." Jeremie said.

"Yeah. Sure." Hope said stuck in thought as they saw the group virtualize and enter sector 5 as well as the Skid.

"Initiating launch." Aelita said as the Skid then slowly took off and into the air.

"We have lift off, guys." Jeremie said.

They saw the skid go out of its hangar and into the desert sector.

'Okay, now pull it back." Jeremie said.

"But you said we were doing a run." Lacy said. "We haven't even gotten in the water yet."

"SHe's right. Seems like a waste if we don't use it for its intended purpose." Aelita said.

"The Job of Lacy's is to make people smile…" Hope thought. "Jeremie, let em do it."

"All right. Dive in." Jeremie said as the Skid dove right into the digital sea. Within it, they exited Lyoko and was floating web pages and upside down buildings.

"Whoa. Its freaky down here." Lacy said.

"Its still cool." Odd said.

"Okay, bring it back now." Jeremie said before warning went up. "Uh oh. We've lost all navigation."

"Uh, and what does that mean?" Black Star asked.

"If they don't have a nav system, they'll keep floating until the skid runs out of power. Then itll break up and they'll fall right into the digital sea." Jeremie said.

"And Lacy's on board. If Cece and Dennis and the rest of the circus find out, they'll murder me." Hope said.

"There are programs I can run, but by the time all of them run, they'll be in the drink. But, I do have a disc to fix this back in my room. I'll have to run and get it." Jeremie said.

"But evac's still on, you'll get caught." Hope said.

"I have to try." Jeremie said running off. "Take the monitor while I'm gone!"

"Us? O-kay…" Hope said. "Jeremies… going out to get something to help. Just hang tight."

"Okay. Hey, the lighting, it changed." Yumi said as the sea turned from a calm blue to a bloody red.

"Huh? I think we're coming back up to Lyoko." Lacy said as they saw a large sphere in their line of sight.

"Thats no Lyoko." Hope said.

"He's right. Its something different. Most likely a result of what XANA's been doing with the data he took from me." Aelita said.

"Got something just ahead on my scanners." Kazuichi said.

"I see em. What are they, some sort of eel?" Ulrich asked as they saw sinister looking eels ahead.

"They must be XANA's little watch dogs, or watch fish." Lacy said.

"They're some kind of Conger Eels." Odd said.

"Call em Kongers then." Hope said before getting a warning. "Heads up, they've got you sighted!"

The Kongers began firing as the Skid as it started taking evasive action.

"Not good. They're gonna send us right into the drink." Lacy said.

"Damn it Jeremie, where are you?" Fuyuhiko asked. The elevator then opened up.

"Here! I'm here!" Jeremie said in a hurry as he put the disc in. "Disembark your nav skids and defend the main ship."

"On it!" they said as the smaller compartments disembarked and began firing at the kongers. While they kept missing, Jereime bought enough time to debug the program and get them out. The skids then reconnected and they were safe.

Later…

"We never wouldve thought the world network was a real live ocean." Jeremie said. "And that sphere you encountered, definitely a product of whatever XANA is planning for the world."

"Could be a dome or something. Aelita may be right." Ranma said.

"We won't know until we enter it, after some repairs to the skid of course." Aelita said.

"Right but...what were you doing back there, Jeremie?" Luffy asked.

"If I told you guys what I was doing while you were on the network, you would never have believed me." Jeremie said.

"Let me guess. You did a little rock scaling on the dormitory roof." Odd said.

"Huh? How did you know that?" Jeremie said.

THe group was then laughing.

"Oh, Einstein. You can be hilarious when you really wanna be." Odd said.

Hope the approached Lacy.

"Hey, about what I said earlier, I…" Hope began.

"Hope, I'm flattered you wanna keep me with you, but the thing is...I'm a one circus girl." Lacy said.

"I know. I know you have a job to do and… I know the circus means a lot. I just figured my ideas and the circus, what with smiles spreading and making people happy and dark times, matched." Hope said.

"You really are a charmer. But the thing is, I love performing more than fighting. I just wanna make the people happy with acrobatics, not punches and kicks." Lacy said.

"Yeah. I know. And I did my part in toning your eating down. Only by a little, though." Hope said. "But dont worry, even if you go back to performing, I'll always remember you being a great member while it lasted."

"Funny thing. I wanna leave, but I feel like if I leave right now, something horrible is going to happen to you." Lacy said.

"Why is that? Dont tell me, you actually like traveling with the guys and me?" Hope said.

"Its not that. Call it a sixth sense. But I feel like something big is about to unfold in this world." Lacy said.

Meanwhile in a cold lab on the other side of the world, there were three tubes with three robots inside. An alarm the blurred as the tubes broke.

A screen then flashed with XANA's symbol before three names appeared.

"Freeze Man, Shade Man and Cosmo Man, repaired, rebuild, ready to serve Lord Xana." it said.

"Ah. It feels good to breathe once again. And we have a new purpose….kill the heroes." Shade man said as the three stood, each bearing XANA's symbol.

"Not kill them." Freezeman said. "Lord Xana only needs the girl, then he takes over the virtual world."

"The girl he can have. I have my eyes set on another target. The one who buried me the first time!" Shademan growled.

"I feel your anger, Shade Man. I was angry when that boy interfered with my plans as well. Though my anger is turned to Bass for destroying me." Cosmo Man said.

"Then we serve Lord XANA by eliminating the major problem to his rule: Hope the Victor." FreezeMan said.

"Why the blue wimp? Hes done nothing." Cosmo man said.

"Speak for yourself. He's like a rat. Corner him even the slightest and he fights back with full force. I've seen enough examples of this." Shademan said.

"He is strong. He even beat me one on one." Freezeman said.

"Then we're in agreement. The blue menace dies first." Shade Man said.

"One question though…" Cosmo Man said. "How do we get outta here?"