Note: As the end of the year approaches, it presents us with the opportunity to look back at all we've done during the year. Of course, December is also the month for Christmas, so everyone needs to worry about the holiday season. However, when we're not worrying about what's going on in the world, we can just relax and do whatever we want. That includes reading stories on here, trying to see if they're good or not. Not every story might be festive, but they don't have to be. After all, isn't it better to write what you want instead of chasing trends?

Before we get started, I should warn you ahead of time: this is not a Christmas chapter. Missed opportunity? Not really, although it would be fun to write. Now that I've said that, it's time for chapter twelve.

Chapter 12: The Flame

It had been two days since the Virtualization gone wrong, and Jeremy was still working on fixing it. He looked over the coordinates, doing whatever he could to prevent anyone from being sent to a video game instead of Lyoko. The fact that a portal to the virtual world was on the same computer as games from the MSDOS era made it far more likely for the Lyoko Warriors to get sent to a game instead of one of the Sectors. With that in mind, Jeremy made sure to not let a mistake like that happen again. If it did, then someone would have the misfortune of landing in DOOM again. Once was enough, because the game was just that violent and brutal.

As he looked through the data from the Fire Sector, Jeremy found the code for the wormhole that caused the Lyoko Warriors to head to it through the Ice Sector. Once he looked through the data, the spectacled blonde entered the coordinates for the other Sectors, starting with the Forest Sector. It managed to be a success, and he moved onto the other ones. When that was over with, the teen worked on a way to Virtualize everyone into the Fire Sector. Even if he couldn't find a way to protect their bodies from its damaging environment, he still could find a way to send them there. This time, Jeremy made sure he put in the correct coordinates, hoping that it would be a success.

"This has to work!" Jeremy told himself. "If it doesn't, then I'll have to get them out of another jam!"

Meanwhile, at the Belcher family residence, the kids were thinking about how crazy the previous mission was. Not only did Jeremy mess up a Virtualization, but nearly everyone ended up in an early 90s computer game. Louise almost envied them, seeing that they had to fight demons and zombies instead of X.A.N.A's usual monsters. Gene was shocked that it even happened, but he wondered about the possibilities that could happen if Jeremy wound up entering coordinates for a different game. Tina was glad to know that her tutors were alright, but was fearing ending up in DOOM herself. One could only imagine facing pixelated monsters in real life, their pixels swapped out for realistic features.

Bob was on the couch with Linda, watching some TV. Like his kids, he was thinking about how nuts the last mission had been. While the Lyoko Warriors had been sent to DOOM, the Belcher patriarch wondered how differently the mission could've went. The supercomputer could already send people to a virtual world, but it also possessed the capability to send people to video games. As such, Bob feared Tina, Gene, and Louise being sent to a video game by accident. It was bad enough they had to deal with X.A.N.A on a daily basis, but being put in a video game instead of being Virtualized would have been especially dangerous.

Noticing the look on Bob's face, Linda decided to speak with him.

"Are you alright, Bobby?" Linda asked.

"I'm fine, Lin." Bob spoke. "I was just thinking about the next Burger of the Day."

"Are you sure?" She said. "Because something else seems to be on your mind."

"Well, the kids and I played a violent video game yesterday." He said. "It was from the early 90s."

"Contra? I hear that was a big deal."

"It wasn't Contra, this one came out much later."

Before Linda could say anything else, the phone rang, causing her to pick it up.

"Hello?" She spoke into the phone.

"Mrs. Belcher, is your husband there?" Jeremy's voice came out of the line.

"Sure, I'll hand you to him." Linda said, turning towards Bob. "It's for you, Bob!"

Taking the phone from Linda, Bob spoke into it.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Belcher, are you doing anything at the moment?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, I was just thinking about the next Burger of the Day." Bob spoke. "Why do you ask?"

"I've corrected the error that happened yesterday!" The spectacled blonde said. "Virtualization for the Fire Sector is now possible!"

"That's good to know, I guess." The brunette said.

"Are you and the kids coming by today?" The teen asked.

"Sorry, Jeremy, we're kinda busy today." The grownup said. "Maybe some other time."

"In that case, I'll see you when we have a new mission."

On the other end of the line, Jeremy hung up, ending the call. After that, Bob handed the phone to Linda, who set it down. She looked at her husband, wondering what Jeremy wanted to speak to him for. Was it about how the kids were doing under tutorship? Did the teen just want to speak to the Belcher parents? If so, what did he have to say to Bob?

"So, what was that about?" Linda asked.

"Well, the kids are getting better at school work, so we don't have to worry about them flunking." Bob lied.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes." He said.

"That's great! My babies are getting smarter!"

"They definitely are."

The next day, the Belcher kids went to school. Once they stepped inside, Gene hoped to meet up with his friends in order to show them something he had been working on. Louise was intent on speaking with Jeremy, given how Bob had mentioned being called by him. Tina just wanted to get through the day, secretly wishing that there wouldn't be a X.A.N.A attack. Even if there was, she hoped that it would be something quick and easy. Of course, things might go differently, considering that they're fighting an evil AI on a daily basis.

As they went through the school, the Belcher kids were unaware that a gust of black smoke was moving around. This wasn't a gust of smoke, however, as it was sentient and capable of moving when no one saw it. Once someone passed it by, the gust floated towards Ms. Schnur, the school's receptionist. It floated directly above her head, then it started to circle around her. Before she could move, the old woman received some of the being's smoke in her eyes.

Letting out a groan, Ms. Schnur removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. After that, she put her glasses back on, only to feel something pasty on her hands. Disgusted, the old woman looked at her hand, only to find something hanging off it. Trying to get it off proved to be painful, almost as if she were pulling a scab that had not completely healed yet. Once she stopped, the receptionist looked around, only to see that her office was turning a bright orange with hints of red, looking as if it were on fire. This, compounded with how her hand seemed to be melting, caused Ms. Schnur to scream.

Entering the library, the Belcher kids saw Odd speaking to Mr. Ambrose. The librarian was rather annoyed with the teen, visibly wishing for their conversation to be over. However, upon seeing Tina, Gene, and Louise, the blonde went to go speak with him. As his tutoring did not begin until the end of the day, he had plenty of time to kill.

"Tina!" Odd spoke. "What are you doing here with your brother and sister?"

"We're here to do some research for a project." Tina said.

"A pretty crappy project." Louise added.

"What's it for?" Odd asked.

"It's something for the science fair." Gene spoke. "We're going to show the differences between soil layers."

"So, you're playing around in dirt?" The blonde asked. "What are you? Worms?"

"Just let us through, Odd." Louise sighed.

Stepping aside, Odd let the Belcher kids pass. They went to grab books and get on the internet for research, as it had to be part of their project. Louise was not thrilled with having to do it, but Tina and Gene were a bit more enthusiastic. Despite that, they worked together on their research. While Louise looked on each website on the list, Tina wrote down what she found. As for Gene, he skimmed through the books, trying to find something interesting.

Upon getting whatever information they needed, Tina, Gene, and Louise began to write some notes. After that, they began to discuss how they would do their project. Initially, the siblings thought about digging up some soil on school ground, until Tina came up with the idea of getting it from the farm where the two-butted goat and Drew P. Neck were currently living. The farmer had been kind enough to let the kids on his property, and had allowed Bob to take some cranberries. As such, Gene hoped that the farmer would allow them to take some soil for their project. If not, then they would have to look somewhere else.

Before they could the library, Louise noticed how certain students were wiping their foreheads. The school thermostat wasn't set to the highest temperature, so it seemed odd for them to start sweating. However, as the nine-year-old walked by with her siblings, she saw that a few other students had something on their fingers. It almost looked like their hands were melting, as if everyone was turning into a candle. Louise thought that she was seeing things, but something told her she wasn't.

The Lyoko Warriors had been called to Mr. Frond's office, primarily out of concern. While the teens knew that he wasn't the best guidance counselor, primarily due to what the Belcher children had told them, it was clear that he had called them in because there was something going on. If it was X.A.N.A-related, then none of them could tell him what was going on. All they would be able to do is lie and try to come up with a cover story.

"I called you here today because of something that befell Ms. Schnur earlier today." Mr. Frond spoke.

"What's wrong with her?" Odd asked.

"Is she alright?" Aelita asked.

"She's been taken to the hospital." Mr. Frond said. "The paramedics said that she was seeing the world around her as if it were on fire. Not only that, but it looked like she was melting like a candle!"

"Ewww!" Sissi spoke.

"You're kidding, right?" Yumi asked.

"I couldn't make it up if I tried!" Mr. Frond said, looking somewhat sick. "When they loaded her onto a stretcher, they put an IV into her, and they claimed that her body felt hollow, as if she was made of wax that had long solidified!"

"So, Ms. Schnur was solid, but her body looked like it was melting?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes!" The guidance counselor gagged, sounding like he was about to throw up. "I can't get that image, or the description, out of my head! Please leave my office, I need a moment!"

The Lyoko Warriors left Mr. Frond's office, with Ulrich being the one to close the door. After hearing what the redhead described, the team felt a tad sickened. Whatever was going on with Ms. Schnur, it was unpleasant. Her body was described as hollow, but it was also said to have been melting. She had been turned into a living candle, one that had been lit. Not only that, but she had described her surroundings as being on fire, as if she were in Hell.

"Okay, so, the school secretary started melting like a lit candle." Ulrich spoke. "Is anyone else like that?"

"Not from what I can tell." Aelita stated.

"Everyone I saw looked the same as they did on Friday." Yumi said.

"But it's important to keep an eye out for something like that." Jeremy said. "For all we know, X.A.N.A could be behind this."

"Isn't that usually the answer whenever something weird is happening?"

Looking to the side, the Lyoko Warriors saw Tina, Gene, and Louise walking towards them. The Belcher children had apparently seen something, though they didn't specify it yet. However, if X.A.N.A was influencing Ms. Schnur's condition, then the whole team needed to be together. Of course, that would exclude Bob if he was working at the moment.

"Did you hear about what's going on with Ms. Schnur?" William asked.

"No, we were in the library." Gene said.

"What about you?" Louise asked. "Did you guys notice that some of the students seem to be melting?"

"The students too?!" Odd said. "X.A.N.A's really not holding back for this attack!"

"Permission to head to the lab, Jeremy?" Tina asked.

"Not yet." Jeremy said. "We'll have to excuse ourselves first."

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." Louise said.

From inside Mr. Frond's office, he was heard screaming. It was clear that he was now starting to be affected by X.A.N.A's attack. As such, the Lyoko Warriors and the Belcher children figured that they had no time to waste. Their main priority was to get Henry and head to the factory. Of course, they would have to call Bob and Linda beforehand. Even if they couldn't, they hoped that the Belcher parents would understand.

At the restaurant, Bob and Linda noticed how no one had come to the restaurant yet. Not even Teddy or Mort seemed to be out today. This was strange, even if the restaurant didn't get the best business most of the time. However, they had a gut feeling that something sinister was influencing this. Linda could've made up anything on the spot about the situation. Bob, on the other hand, knew that X.A.N.A might have been up to something.

Before either one of them could do anything, Linda heard the phone ring. She answered it, hoping that it was something good.

"Hello?" Linda spoke.

"Mom, is Dad there?" Louise's voice came out of the phone.

"Yeah, he's here." She said, then handed the phone to Bob. "It's Louise."

"Louise, what's wrong?" Bob spoke into the phone.

"People are melting all around Wagstaff!" Louise said. "We're going to head to the factory!"

"I'll meet you there." He said.

"Great, but be careful on the way over!" The nine-year-old said.

Hanging up the phone, Bob was met with a puzzled look from Linda. She had yet to learn about Lyoko, though dreams of the virtual world had plagued the whole Belcher family. As such, Bob was hesitant on taking her to the factory with him. Lyoko was supposed to be a secret kept by the group, and they weren't allowed to tell anyone about it, even if they would prove to be helpful. Linda wasn't particularly good at keeping secrets and she would have accidentally revealed what was going on to someone. Of course, that was assuming she would be willing to reveal it after seeing what the kids had been up to.

"You're going to meet Louise where?" Linda asked. "At the school?"

"No, Lin, we're going to meet somewhere else." Bob said.

"Like a bar?" She asked.

"Why would we meet at a bar?" He asked.

"I don't know." The Belcher matriarch said. "Bob, just tell me where you're going to meet Louise at."

"Okay, even though Jeremy might kill me for doing this." The Belcher patriarch said. "I'm going to meet up with the kids and their tutors at the abandoned dog food factory. Underneath it is a supercomputer that is linked to a virtual world. Tina, Gene, Louise, and their tutors have been using it to fight an evil computer program who wants to destroy everything. I could not make this up if I tried."

"Should we go together? There's no customers today."

"You can come with me. But you must promise to NEVER tell anyone about what you see at the factory."

"I'll try, but I can't promise that I won't freak out."

"Believe me, I wanted to when I saw the supercomputer for the first time."

In the lab, Jeremy was getting the Scanners ready for usage. He had looked for the Tower that had been activated, and it turned out to be in the Fire Sector. As such, the spectacled blonde figured that he would be able to Virtualize everyone there. Ever since the accidental teleportation to DOOM, he hoped that he had the right code this time. If not, then something would go wrong during the Virtualization. Jeremy hoped that nothing would go wrong.

"Alright," Jeremy spoke, "Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, head for the Scanners. When it's time to send you to Lyoko, I'll let you know Aelita."

"Won't they need more help?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, what about us?" Louise asked.

"I'll send you and your siblings in if the situation gets seedy in the Fire Sector, Louise." Jeremy said. "If all else fails, I'll send everyone to the Fire Sector."

Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd had already entered the Scanners, waiting to be Virtualized. Jeremy got the process ready, making double sure that they wouldn't be redirected to a different Sector. After doing that, he typed in each command prompt, then hit the enter key. Once that happened, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd were Virtualized. Jeremy looked on the screen, checking to see if they actually entered the Fire Sector. To his surprise, they did.

"Jeremy, we're here!" Yumi spoke.

"Good." Jeremy said. "Now get moving! You'll lose life points the more you waste time!"

Aelita heard someone entering the factory. Louise had called on Bob, telling him where the group was going. While she knew that he was a member of the group, she dreaded him ever going to Lyoko. That was, of course, assuming that he would gain an avatar in the virtual world.

"Louise, are you in the lab?" Bob's voice rang out.

"Yeah, and we're in the middle of a mission!" Louise said.

"I'll be down there in a second." He said.

Once that brief conversation was over, Aelita noticed that there were two pairs of feet walking. While she had heard multiple people coming into the factory before during the occasions where she was at the supercomputer with Jeremy, this was different. Bob had someone with him, and the pink-haired teen had an idea who. After all, Tina, Gene, and Louise were already with the group. With that in mind, she hoped that whoever tagged along was someone the Lyoko Warriors could trust. If they weren't, then the Return To The Past would erase their memories.

Upon entering the lab, Bob was greeted by those who hadn't been Virtualized. While the group was glad to see him, they were surprised to see who was with him: Linda. She looked almost shocked by what she was seeing. However, her eyes soon lit up, and her expression became an excited one. Clearly, the woman was feeling giddy about being in a lab with technology like the Scanners. The Lyoko Warriors wanted to appreciate Linda's reaction, but they worried about her potentially sharing what she saw with everyone in the world.

"Wow, this is like a movie set!" Linda spoke. "All that's missing are the cameras and the director!"

"Mrs. Belcher, what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked.

"Bob told me I could come, just as long as I don't talk about anything that happens here." She said.

"That's nice," Louise said, "but I don't think that you'll remember anything after the Return To The Past."

"Kids," Bob said, "your mother and I didn't exactly forget the dreams we had, even before you started those time rewinds. Even if time gets reversed again, those dreams will still be on your mother's mind."

Back at the supercomputer, Jeremy was watching over the progress for the mission. So far, no one had been Devirtualized, but they had taken some damage. In fact, Odd only had thirty life points left, while Ulrich and Yumi had seventy-five and sixty-nine life points left respectively. While they had just defeated a few Bloks, most of the damage came from the Fire Sector itself. However, Jeremy knew that they didn't have much time. The more someone remained in the Fire Sector, the more they lost life points.

"Aelita, head to the Scanners." Jeremy spoke.

"On it!" Aelita said.

The moment Aelita stepped into a Scanner, Jeremy got the Virtualization process ready. However, Linda approached the spectacled blonde, curious as to how the supercomputer worked. Needless to say, she was surprised to see the interface for LyokoLand/Lyoko. It looked almost like a video game that she would have played when she was a kid, but a bit more advanced. Jeremy continued to type away, preparing to send Aelita to the Fire Sector. Of course, he didn't fail to notice Linda standing nearby.

"Would you like to see how this works, Mrs. Belcher?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah." Linda said. "I mean, what all do you do?"

"All you have to do is type in some codes, hit the enter key, then Virtualize whoever is in the Scanners." The spectacled blonde said.

"Is that what those tubes over there are?" The brunette asked.

"Yes," the teen said, "and they're the only way to enter Lyoko. Right at the moment, I'm sending Aelita there!"

Once he had gotten everything down, Jeremy Virtualized Aelita. Linda heard the Scanner work, with the sound reminding her of a vacuum cleaner. She then looked at the screen, seeing a wire frame model of Aelita be formed in front of her. Not only that, but there seemed to be some sort of stat card, complete with a picture of the pink-haired teen. Along with hers, there were ones for Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd, respectively. Seeing such a thing puzzled Linda.

"Do they actually go to this Lyoko place, or are they only copied into it?" Linda said.

"When a person is Virtualized, they travel to Lyoko." Jeremy said. "Once there, they are able to interact with their surroundings. However, they are also given a limited amount of life points, and when they run out, they become Devirtualized."

"Does that mean they come back to Earth?" The brunette asked.

"Yes, but then they have to wait twenty-four hours to enter the Scanners again." The spectacled blonde said. "Don't worry, no one has tried to go to Lyoko before a day has passed."

In the Fire Sector, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd were fighting off a few more Bloks. To them, it was surprising that X.A.N.A would even send enemies after them, given how deadly the Fire Sector was. If they weren't careful, then a single attack would Devirtualize them. Of course, that was unless they didn't succumb to the heat of the Sector itself. As they continued to fight the Bloks, Yumi saw a pink energy blast hit one of them. The monster was instantly destroyed, its remains becoming digitized shortly after.

"Need a hand?" Aelita's voice rang out.

"Might want to get to the Tower, Aelita!" Ulrich said. "We can't risk you getting sent back to Earth until it's Deactivated!"

"Don't worry, I'm almost there!" The pink-haired teen said, flying over to the Tower.

Landing on her feet, Aelita got ready to enter the Tower. That was until she got blasted by one of the Bloks. While the attack didn't Devirtualize her, it did knock her on her back. Letting out a groan of pain, the pink-haired teen got on her feet again.

"Aelita, are you alright?!" Jeremy's voice rang out.

"Yes, I'm alright." Aelita said.

"You won't be in the next minute!" The spectacled blonde warned. "The attack shrunk your life points down to fifty, and the heat of the Fire Sector is slowly taking them away from you!"

"I'll enter the Tower right away!" The pink-haired teen said. "Hopefully, the others are able to get through!"

As soon as Aelita entered the Tower, Odd collapsed, a blast from a Blok having Devirtualized him. Ulrich and Yumi were then forced to combat the remaining enemies by themselves, even as their life points slowly drained. In fact, Ulrich destroyed the Blok that had fired at Aelita. Then, he went back to destroy another one. Yumi was surrounded by a few, but she was using her psychokinesis to redirect her fans towards them. In no time, she managed to destroy her enemies.

In the lab, a Scanner opened up, revealing Odd inside. He stumbled out of the compartment, Tina giving him a hand. Once he let go, however, the blonde noticed that the preteen's hand seemed to be melting. It appeared that X.A.N.A hadn't limited the attack to outside of the lab. Bob noticed that his daughter seemed to be melting, so he stood by her. Tina wasn't the only one affected, as Gene's face looked like it was falling off of his head, like an illustration on a candle that was fading away.

"Jeremy, tell Aelita to hurry up!" Odd cried.

"Aelita," Jeremy spoke into the headset, "everyone's starting to melt! Have you gotten into the Tower's data yet?"

"Don't worry," Aelita spoke, "I've almost got it!"

All of a sudden, the Tower's light turned from red to white, signaling that Aelita had gotten it deactivated. Once that happened, Jeremy saw Tina and Gene go back to normal. In fact, Gene's face retreated back to his head, just before it could fall to the floor. With the Tower deactivated, there was no doubt that everyone harmed by X.A.N.A's attack would go back to normal. All that was left was to do was trigger the Return To The Past.

"Okay, everyone, are you ready to go back in time?" Jeremy asked.

"Wait!" Linda said. "Wait a minute! I just saw what you guys were up to, and you're going to turn time backwards? Will I even remember what I saw here?"

"Only the people who were added to the supercomputer can remember what happened, Mrs. Belcher." Odd spoke.

"In that case, add me to the supercomputer!" The brunette said.

"What?" Jeremy was taken aback.

"You heard me!" She said. "Bob and the kids have been busy helping you guys fight some evil virus and trying to keep it from taking over the world, so I think a little extra help will give you a boost!"

"Do you swear not to give away the secret, Mom?" Louise asked.

Linda nodded, giving her answer. She waited for what to do next, still not having the whole story down. Jeremy was hesitant on doing so, knowing that Aelita wouldn't approve of such a thing. After all, the pink-haired teen wasn't exactly happy about him letting Bob into the Scanners, considering what happened to her own father. Jeremy couldn't blame her, as she didn't want either of the Belcher parents to suffer the same fate as Franz Hopper, but he decided to speak to her about it. However, instead of disapproving, Aelita gave a surprising answer.

"Might as well add her to the group, Jeremy. We DO need all the help we can get!"

"I'll have her enter a Scanner in a little bit." Jeremy said.

Ulrich and Yumi walked out of Scanners, having been Devirtualized. After that, Jeremy had Linda enter one, then uploaded a virtual copy of her to the supercomputer. This made her immune to the Return To The Past, so she would remember what went down during each mission. With that out of the way, Jeremy activated the Return To The Past, going back to morning. It had been just another mission for the Lyoko Warriors, but things were going to be much different. Not only were they able to enter the Fire Sector now, but they had this fact to carry with them: the entire Belcher family had now been added to the supercomputer.

Note: Linda's now a member of the team. Hopefully, the group can include her in missions every so often. Will Linda be able to help them out? Are they going to have more missions in the Fire Sector? What crazy scheme could X.A.N.A have in store for them? How will the Lyoko Warriors handle it?

Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace! Also, have a Merry Christmas, everyone!