Prologue

It was a usual mission to Lyoko. Nothing had changed. XANA was still the threat as always, and the Lyoko warriors were more than prepared. So why did today feel different? Why did today feel off? For Jeremie Belpois, the date signified something. Today was the anniversary of Aelita's materialization. Today was the day that he would finally get up the courage to ask her out. Finally, he would no longer be the laughing stock of the group. At least, he hoped he would. He had finally gotten the courage to virtualize himself onto Lyoko a few short weeks ago. Nothing too special, except for his innate fear of the scanners. For you see, Jeremie had a case of Claustrophobia, and any enclosed space would haunt him to know end. However, Ulrich Stern and Odd Della Robbia, his two best friends in the entire world, had decided to come with him. Jeremie's form had looked something like Aelita's, except for the pink being replaced with blue, and his hair becoming longer and browner than blonde. Puzzling as this was, he didn't mind, as he felt he was finally a full-fledged member of the group.

It soon came time for the virtualization process. Aelita had started up the process, sending the boys in first as was the custom nowadays. They landed in the middle of the mountain sector, Jeremie standing up as Ulrich drew his sword. Odd looked around, reading his laser arrows for fire. "All things look clear. Alright girls! Come on down!" Jeremie said, reaching Aelita through the headset.

Aelita smiled as Yumi walked the elevator. "Roger that, I'm starting up the delayed virtualization program." Her fingers typed away on the supercomputer as windows cropped up, revealing hers and Yumi's data card. Pressing enter, she hopped out of the command chair and walked towards the elevator. She had gotten used to the usual jerks that the old conveyer system had given, making her feel more alive than she ever had on Lyoko. "Ready Yumi?"

Yumi smirked at the pink haired AI, "Of course." She said as the scanner doors closed on them. Soon they were beside the three men in the middle of the mountain sector. "Well, shall we get going?" Yumi asked as she pointed towards the edge of the sector.

Ulrich and Odd smirked. "Let's go" Ulrich said as he led the others.

Jeremie ran with Aelita, still getting used to the idea of running not actually tiring him out, as there were no muscles to exercise. His body was in prime physical condition, save for his biceps. "Hey, Aelita… May I ask you something?" He asked as the pink haired hair girl looked in his direction.

"Certainly Jeremie, what's on your mind?" Aelita asked as they slowed to a stop.

Jeremie started to cough, becoming more embarrassed as they stopped at the edge of the sector. "Uh… it can wait." He stammered as he rubbed the back of his head.

Aelita giggled at the boy who had managed to materialize her. Humans were still an enigma to her, and she could tell that Jeremie would be an enigma that she wanted to figure out for herself. Something about him just spoke to her, and she would find out what it was, even if she didn't fully understand human emotions.

Odd coughed, trying to get the two lovebirds to snap out of their trance. "Excuse us, you two. But we'd like to get to Sector 5 if you don't mind."

Yumi and Ulrich nodded in agreement. Jeremie sighed and linked with the supercomputer, opening the program that contained the file for the transporter. Come on… SCIPIO. And with his mental link broken, the transporter came into view as the team huddled around one another. Soon the transporter took off, flying and following the cables that connected the mountain sector to the heart of Lyoko. Combing through the bits of data that made up the wall around the sector, the Death Star like Celestial Dome came into view. The transporter flew in through the entrance, snaking through the passage ways and finally coming to a stop in the Arena. Spinning for a few more seconds, it stopped so it could deposit the Lyoko Warriors before disappearing.

"Alright, we all know the objective by now. Find the key to disable the countdown." Ulrich said as he prepared for his super sprint.

The wall opened and all five members started to run towards the Core Zone. Doors flew open as they continued their trek, wondering what puzzles awaited them this go around. "I give 5 euros that XANA has some new monster that he's just dying to introduce to us." Odd chuckled, hovering next to Yumi.

"You do realize you just jinxed us, right?" Yumi asked rhetorically as they approached the main hall of the Core Zone. Sure enough, a new form of creeper was there waiting for them. Decked out in plated armor, with a scope attached to its Eye of XANA, it looked mean, vicious, and was ready to pounce. "Damnit Odd!" Yumi cursed as she readied her fans. Aelita stuck behind the others to cover herself, as she had no offensive power or weaponry to speak of. Ulrich readied his saber, preparing to block the incoming blaster bolts. Jeremie simply stayed still, waiting for the moment to unveil his power.

The creeper had enough of the waiting game, and quickly shot an assortment of laser fire in the general direction. Ulrich tried his best to block the bolts, but this new creeper had somewhat of a machine gun mount instead of the traditional laser attachment. Ulrich saw his blade knocked away from his hands and he quickly braced himself for the worst. This was when he noticed that nothing had happened. Instead, a wall of energy was laced around them. Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich and Odd looked towards Jeremie, who held his hands up, projecting a shield around his friends.

His look started to strain. "Yeah, this isn't for the faint of heart guys, I can't keep this up long… Yumi, get ready to hold off that creeper!" he ordered as she got in a defensive position.

"Copy that!"

And with that, the shield had been lifted and Yumi quickly started to absorb laser fire from the creeper. Ulrich saw an opportunity to retrieve his sword and ran for it. The creeper noticed this however and shifted his attention. Instead of firing the regular laser bolts, the creeper's scope attachment zoomed in and out, as if he was waiting for the most opportune moment to fire. What came out of its mouth was not the traditional laser fire, but a blast struck Ulrich straight in the back. He fell and writhed in agony. Pain being felt everywhere in his body, he didn't even notice that his once yellow tunic had been replaced with black and grey. His hand band soon matched.

Odd looked horrified, and quickly leapt up into the air, going to claw the creeper in the throat. "This is for Ulrich you monster!" He yelled as he prepared his claws. However, the creeper was more than prepared and shot Odd with the same blast. He flew backwards and landed right on his back, contorting his body as the same color change happened to his outfit. Gone was the purple and yellow, replaced with black and grey. His skin even became more pale than usual.

Aelita quickly sat up and tried to use her creativity on the beast. Jeremie slapped her hand away. "No Aelita, it won't work. That armor needs a blade to penetrate it." He looked around and noticed Ulrich still had not picked up his weapon. Sorry about this Ulrich, he through to himself as he ran towards the discarded sword. "Alright you freak, show time." Jeremie said, noticing that he sounded out of character. He charged with a fury that was unheard of. However, even his strong-willed attempt had been anticipated, as the creeper shot him point blank in the chest. "Darn it all…" He spewed out as he dropped to the floor. Just as Odd and Ulrich, Jeremie shook uncontrollably as his blue tunic turned jet black, with the white parts turning black grey and his blue moccasins turning jet black as well.

Yumi had enough of the freak show, and decided it was time to end the monstrosity that had crippled her friends. "Alright, play time is over." She took out her double fans and quickly threw them towards the Creeper's neck. Instantly it was vaporized into the disgusting sludge that had made up its composition. "There's the key! I'll be after it, you check on the others." Yumi ordered Aelita as she started to run towards the blocks that made upstairs for the key. Just as she had started climbing the stairs, the key was activated, and the walls of the Core Zone changed. No more countdown meant more exploration, and it was an exciting time, for all five members could finally be together to journey through this marvel. That is, if they survived what the creeper had done to them.

The boys finally stopped writhing in pain and stood up slowly. Jeremie was helped by Aelita while Ulrich and Odd pushed themselves off the ground. "How do you feel Jeremie?" Aelita asked, worried of what the change in color meant for the boy she had grown fond of.

Jeremie shook his head, something felt different. He felt, stronger, and more capable than before. "I feel… great. Almost like nothing happened." He said as he looked towards her. "In fact, I think I could go for this!" He picked her up in his two arms and swung her around. He laughed as he was finally letting go of his fear and shyness. Aelita would go out with him, for he knew it was bound to happen. Aelita started to giggle as Jeremie spun her around.

"Jeremie stop, we have to go collect more data." She finally said, still giggling from the event that Jeremie had put her through. He reluctantly put her down and went to check on the other two male warriors. "You guys alright?" He asked, extending his hand.

Ulrich grabbed it and felt a rush of power flow through his body. "I think I'm experiencing something similar to you, Jeremie." He paused. "I feel powerful, and stronger." He grabbed his saber, sheathing it as he joined Yumi. "Worried about me?" He winked at her with a smirk.

"Ulrich Stern, where do you get off doing that?" She laughed as she looked at his headband. Even that piece of his clothing had turned black.

Odd finally got up and shook himself. "Alright, anyone want to tell me what the hell just happened?" He cursed as he joined up with the others. He began scratching his head, waiting for an explanation.

Aelita broke the silence. "Come on guys, we can examine this later. Right now, we have to get to the elevator and get to the Celestial Dome." She started running when she noticed that the three boys all out paced her and Yumi. She looked dumbfounded, wondering why they were left in the dust.

"Okay… moody much?" Yumi said to herself as she and Aelita ran through the doorway leading to the elevator.

Jeremie, Odd, and Ulrich all stood by, waiting for the girls to show up. "Did it just bother anyone that we ran at super speed?" Jeremie asked his friends, picking his finger nails.

"Now that you mention it, where are those girls?" Odd asked, looking back in the direction from where they came. What seemed like an eternity only happened to be about 10 seconds before the girls caught up with the boys.

Aelita looked at Jeremie, who looked coolly back at her. "Jeremie, when did you get super speed?"

"I don't know, must have been one of my dormant powers."

Aelita shook her head. That wasn't a dormant power. He would know instantly of what abilities he had on Lyoko. This whole mess was confusing, though she hoped it would solve itself when they reached the Celestial Dome.

Yumi and Ulrich rode on one side of the elevator, waiting for it to stop. When it did, the three boys once again had the urge to sprint the short distance. Yumi remained dumbfounded. "Alright guys, enough showboating. Let Aelita access the terminal so we can get out of here."

Ulrich stood watch, waiting for the Flying Mantas to hatch. "Come on, you ugly beats. I'll show you what for." He whispered to himself.

Aelita accessed the terminal, downloading new restricted data that had not been previously accessible. Looking up files for new monster types, she quickly forwarded the packet up to the Supercomputer, knowing that the data would need to be decrypted as soon as it arrived. "Alright, this was a short trip, but I've found some new monster files and what XANA seems to be planning. Let's head out!" She ordered in a bellicose voice, shaking the entire area.

Jeremie looked at her scornfully. "You want to wake the Manatas up?!" He chastised as he logged into the supercomputer to pull up the vehicles. Just as he did, the Mantas hatched and began patrolling around the Dome, looking for the warriors. "As if on cue…" He and Aelita jumped on the OverCar, a two seated variant of a dune buggy. Engaging the hydraulics, the wheels popped up and began to fly just as the OverWing, OverBike, and OverBoard all before it.

Yumi blocked several incoming shots with her fans, hoping to deter the Mantas away from the tunnel they were going to. "You'd think by now they would have caught on to our strategy."

Odd shot the Manta that tailed him point blank. "I hate being tailgated you overgrown sack of lard!" He yelled at his dead target. The tunnel opened and deposited our heroes back towards the mountain sector.

Aelita hopped out of the OverCar and ran into the tower as her materialization process started up. The others all dematerialized, signaling that the mission was a success.

…Or had it been…

Aelita Stones

Jeremie Belpois

Ulrich Stern

Yumi Ishiyama

Odd Della Robbia

Sasha Harrison

Code Lyoko: Dark Ambitions.