Chapter 2:

Cortex

"What is he doing? We've waited for him for 10 minutes, every time it's the same thing"

Jeremy, Aelita and the rest of the Warriors were in the lab. Ulrich was leaning against a column looking at his phone while Aelita and Yumi were sitting next to the Holomap. And Jeremy was walking around in circles and fuming at Odd's absence.

"We could start without him" Suggested Yumi.

As if he had overheard the conversation and wanted to contradict her, at that moment the elevator doors opened and in walked Odd, grinning from ear to ear.

"Here I am! Guess what. I've got something really great, it's completely crazy!"

"A new girlfriend?" Asked Aelita jokingly.

"No, a pirated copy of Cyberbiker 7" He explained euphorically. "Not even out in France, a bargain that I can't miss"

"You're late for a get-together because of a game?" Jeremy repeated, indignant. "What if it was a XANA attack?"

Odd shrugged.

"Well, obviously it's not."

Jeremy shook his head. This dude was hopeless.

"All right, I'll drop it. I called you because there's something new. With Aelita, we were able to locate a signal somewhere in the Digital Sea, but it's quite far off"

"XANA?" Asked Yumi.

"More like the place of her rebirth" Jeremy replied. "Well, I think"

"Jeremy thinks that if we go there, it will answer a lot of questions" Aelita explained.

"Like how was XANA reactivated, by whom or what?"

"And how to destroy it. I mean permanently, this time"

"Wait. How are we going to get into the Digital Sea?" Asked Ulrich. "We swim?"

"No, with a submarine as usual"

"Wow great!" Odd was even happier with that news than he was with the pirated copy of Cyberbiker 7. "You reprogrammed the Skid?"

Jeremy smiled proudly.

"What do you think? When some are having fun, others work"

"So? Ready for a new mission in the Digital Sea?"

They all looked at each other and smiled.

"Definitely!"

"Yes!"

"Very!"

At first it was going to be business as usual: get out of the sewer and take the road back to Kadic. But those plans went down the drain.

William emerged from the trees with a poker face, although inside he was burning with rage. Everyone was dumbfounded: he had caught them red-handed.

"So, we're taking a walk?"

Odd played dumb.

"Hmmm, I love stolling through the sewers! It reminds me of my holidays in..."

"On Lyoko?" He replied. "Do you really take me for an idiot or what? You think I don't get your little games, your whispers and your round trips to the factory...? Hey, Yumi, do you want to have lunch with me today? No, sorry, I can't today..."

"William..." Began Yumi.

"XANA is back, isn't he? Did you turn the Supercomputer back on?"

"It's complicated..." Jeremy tried to explain.

"It's complicated?" He replied angrily. "It's very simple. How can't you fight without my help? I proved myself, didn't I?"

Ulrich stood up. He had burned into his mind William's first mission in Lyoko, which ended up with him being possessed by XANA and staying that way for months.

"You mostly proved that you were hot-headed! You're not reliable. You played it solo without thinking. See where it led you?"

"What happened could have happened to you too" He defended himself.

"Yes, but it didn't!" Retorted Odd. "You spent your time showing off, but you fell into a trap like a beginner"

William looked around, trying to look for some sign of support from Aelita or Yumi, but all he got were their embarrassed looks. He glared at them and stormed out of the park.

"We'll meet after school?" Ulrich asked Yumi as they climbed the stairs.

"Yes"

Ulrich realized how distracted her answer was. She was clearly worried about something.

"Hey Yumi, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm ok, it's just that..." She sighed before continuing. "We were a little harsh on William, weren't we?"

"Wait, you're the one saying that? Last time you saw William on Lyoko, he was under the influence of XANA. You even fought against him"

"I know, but XANA is back and things have changed. William also changed. He could really help us this time"

Odd and Ulrich couldn't believe their ears.

"Who are you and what are you doing in Yumi's body?" Odd said, astonished.

"Okay, you're right" She tried to smile, but it came out in a strange grimace. "It's stupid. Well, I'll see you later"

Odd frowned, puzzled. What the hell had just happened?

The bell rang, and a stream of students poured out of the school, eager to relax and chat with their friends, but in Odd's case, eager to get their hands on a certain video game. A blond boy beckoned to him from around a corner.

"Hey Odd! Odd! Psst!"

Odd approached the boy, and making sure no one was following them, they headed for the cafeteria. The pantry was a great place to do business.

"So, you have it?" He asked anxiously. "For sure? How much?"

"20, friend price; it's a bargain"

Odd passed him some bills and gawked at the video game.

"Awesome"

"See you" Odd's friend said, smirking and leaving the pantry.

Odd stowed the video game in his backpack and prepared to leave, but the sound of the door closing startled him.

If there was a contest about the most inopportune Kadic teacher, Jim would take the prize hands down. Not realizing Odd was inside, he closed the door.

"Leaving a door open like this..."

"Hey! Hey-o!" Odd shouted as he pounded on the door with both fists. "I don't believe this"

He pulled his cell phone out of his backpack and tried to dial a number. What he saw pissed him off even more.

"No service?" He repeated in disbelief. "Do they put lead in the walls or what?"

While Odd was locked in the pantry, the rest of the group, already in the laboratory, was racking their brains over his absence.

"I don't understand" Ulrich said, perplexed. "He was just there with us"

"And he seemed really happy to go back on the Skid" Added Aelita.

"Well, too bad" Jeremy replied curtly. "You go without him"

Yumi didn't quite agree.

"You really think this is a good idea?"

Jeremy pursed his lips, exasperated by his friend's behavior. Being late once for a stupid video game was bad enough. But twice in a row seemed like the last straw.

"The signal is very weak, no way to lose it because of this idiot! So you dive now!"

Yumi and Ulrich nodded and headed for the elevator, but before Aelita could follow them, Jeremy grabbed her arm.

"Be careful" He whispered softly.

"You know me" Aelita said smiling, before entering the elevator.

Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich entered the scanners, nervous but excited to be navigating the Digital Sea for the first time in a long time.

"Transfer Yumi; Transfer Ulrich; Transfer Aelita" Jeremy said through the headset.

The scanners closed and the familiar tingling sensation spread through the bodies of Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich.

"I started the virtualization" He typed on the keyboard. "Scanner Ulrich; Scanner Aelita; Scanner Yumi. Virtualization!"

They landed in the Arena with a thud. A ninja, a samurai and an angel ran towards the elevator. Soon they arrived at the hangar, with the Skid in all its splendor.

"Wow" Exclaimed Yumi. "I forgot how beautiful it was"

"Yeah" Nodded Aelita.

As they approached the teleportation pods, Ulrich couldn't help but think of his friend.

"It's a shame Odd's not here"

While Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi marveled at Skid's beauty, Odd marveled at his bad luck. His hands ached from banging on the door in an attempt to alert someone to his presence.

"Hey! Is someone out there? In here!"

That someone was William. He was having a vanilla yogurt when he heard Odd pounding on the door. Suddenly, that yogurt tasted a lot better.

"Odd?" He asked, unable to contain the smirk that almost overflowed his face.

"William it's you?!" He shouted hopefully. "I'm stuck in here. Help me!"

The dark-haired boy grinned wickedly. After all, there was such a thing as karma.

"Oh I can't believe it. So, how does it feel, to be trapped like a novice?"

Odd was in no mood for jokes at the time.

"Ha ha, very funny. Go find Jim. He has the key. And hurry. It can't wait"

"XANA's attacking?"

"NO but there's a problem"

Dirty lie, and William was perfectly aware of it. XANA had launched an attack. He decided to play along and reward him with an even bigger lie.

"Ok. I'll see what I can do"

"And hurry"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry" He said. Translation: Odd had better make himself comfortable, he would not leave until dinner time.

He headed for the exit with a wide smirk on his face, but a female voice startled him.

"What's going on?"

William turned to look at the girl. She was shorter than him. Probably younger too, but not by much. She wore her hair, so bright red that in the sunlight it looked like fire, loose on her shoulders. She had porcelain skin that matched her delicate, vaguely Irish features. Her eyes were a strange light blue that were either very beautiful or a bit scary: it was hard to decide between the two. She was wearing a black leather jacket, a red tank top, black jeans and sneakers. She looked like she was going to an underground car race. Come to think of it, her style was quite similar to Yumi's, only with branded clothes and some makeup.

"Selina, what are you doing here?" Odd asked, puzzled.

"I was going to get a chocolate bar" Replied the girl. "Now that we have made the corresponding clarifications, what the heck are you doing in the pantry, Odd?"

William looked at her carefully. Odd knew her. But he was sure of never having seen this girl until now. She had to be a new student.

"I was meeting a friend to get a pirated copy of a video game, but Jim locked the door without realizing I was inside. William was going to tell the teacher to get me out of here."

"No need for that, dude. I can get you out of here without any help from Jim the Gorilla"

"Are you serious?" Asked Odd and William at once.

The redhead grinned deviously. William decided that her electric blue eyes had both: they were beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Besides, he didn't like that girl at all.

"I carry a lock pick in my pocket. With a little luck, Odd could be out in three minutes"

Odd smiled in relief, but William was raging. If it was true what she said, he would have nothing to do. Unless...

With a new plan in mind he left the cafeteria. The new girl having a lock pick and using it to free a classmate who was trapped in the pantry would be a really juicy story to tell the gym teacher.

Even after all this time, the Lyoko Warriors remembered perfectly well how beautiful the Digital Sea was (when XANA wasn't doing his things). Aelita, from the cockpit, keyed in some codes and the Skid moved into position.

"It didn't change" Ulrich whispered from his Navskid.

"No" Yumi agreed. "But it feels weird to be back in here"

"Aelita" Jeremy said as the pinkette activated the Skid's headlights. "Cap 107 to find a hub"

Aelita grabbed the controls and the Skid shot off into the darkness. They had been cruising for a few minutes when they reached the hub.

"Attention: acceleration in: 3, 2, 1, 0.

The Skid plunged in pencil on the hub. Within seconds they appeared in an unknown area of the digital sea. Aelita was puzzled.

"Jeremy, we are here. But I can't see anything. Are you sure about the cap?"

"Yeah but the signal is not very clear" Jeremy said through the headset. "You'll see something soon, though"

The occupants of the Skid looked cautiously at the deep blue around them, wondering if they would find in their excursion into the Digital Sea any clues to XANA's rebirth.

The sound of the elevator opening startled Jeremy. Too late to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted! he thought.

"Odd you're such a drag. Now you arrive?"

"Sorry"

Jeremy was baffled. The boy who had just arrived was William, not Odd.

"William?" He asked, without taking his eyes off the screen. "No, I don't have time for this. We're in the middle of a -"

"Of a mission! I see that. Just here to say that Odd couldn't come" The boy grinned wickedly. "He had a... let's say a minor setback"

It was a rather polite way of saying that Odd and the new girl had been caught red-handed and had ten hours of detention.

A beep snapped Aelita out of the anesthetic-effect calm produced by the Digital Sea. The pinkette saw that there was a red dot on the radar.

"Jeremy? Up ahead, I see something"

"What does it look like?"

It wasn't exactly pleasant. A sort of planet similar to Lyoko but made of bricks and digital pipes, like the ramifications of a giant brain appeared in front of the Skid.

"It looks like a giant sphere, like Lyoko, but much less nice, a kind of cortex. I see a portal!"

The Skid positioned itself in front of the portal. Now it was Jeremy's turn. If the portal was similar to Lyoko's, it wasn't going to take him long to open it. Within minutes he had found the password: 25051999. The portal opened and the Skid crossed its threshold.

The Skid emerged from the Digital Sea. The sun was scorching, and up close the virtual world was much less pleasant. A ring that appeared to be made of Lego pieces surrounded a black sphere in the center.

"Jeremie, we came out of the Digital Sea. There's a sector, as in Lyoko..." Aelita said as they approached the surface. "But it's really weird. It's a ring around a core"

"It's probably the heart of this Cortex. It's here that we will find the mystery of XANA's return"

Once they reached the surface, Aelita energized them all. At the same time, Jeremy materialized the vehicles. Ulrich smiled at Aelita.

"Come on, princess" He said and they jumped on the Overbike.

That virtual world, with its bluish metal walls and narrow alleys was an ideal place for car racing. A samurai with a pink angel as a passenger and a ninja competed to be the first to reach the heart of Cortex. From the seat of the Supercomputer, Jeremy monitored Cortex's map.

"There's no monsters, but be careful, we never know"

There were no monsters, but if they had known, they would have preferred that XANA had sent them the welcoming committee. Just as they had the core in sight, a sound similar to a ship's horn vibrated the ground.

"Watch out!" Cried Jeremy in alarm. "Something's happening. It's not good"

It was definitely not good. The floor opened up and metal pillars started to come out. Ulrich braked just in time to keep him and Aelita from plunging into the Digital Sea through a gap in the floor. Ulrich saw a wall emerge from the ground, and Yumi was heading straight for it!

"Yumi, watch out!"

Too late. The Overwing slammed into the wall and Yumi was devirtualized in the blink of an eye. Aelita screamed in helplessness.

"Aelita, what the heck was that?" Whispered Ulrich, a little more recovered from the shock.

Jeremy looked at the Supercomputer screen. Yumi's ID card was flashing red. That couldn't be good.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, everything moved, I stopped but Yumi has been devirtualized"

Jeremy checked Yumi's ID card and turned pale.

"Oh no!"

"What?" Asked William, concerned.

"Yumi's not in a scanner"

"What does that mean?"

"She's sort of stuck in a digital between-two" Explained Jeremy. "The Cortex interferes with the Skid. I lost a lot of data in the network"

To William, what Jeremy was saying sounded like Greek to him.

"I can't understand a word! Is Yumi alive or not?"

Jeremy also had no idea.

"Yes. No! I don't know! Aelita, go in the Cortex's heart, in the core"

"What's going on, Jeremy?"

"Yumi's stuck" He explained. When they had problems, he always stuck to the facts. "We need to get thig digital signature. It's the only way to get her back"

Ulrich gave the Overbike gas and they shot off into the heart of Cortex.

"We must hurry up" Warned Aelita as they sped across Cortex.

That virtual world was working overtime when it came to making them fall through gaps. A section of the floor gave way and Ulrich and Aelita plunged into the void. Aelita activated her wings and tried to reach Ulrich, but failed. With a dull thud, he devirtualized as he crashed to the ground. The girl screamed in rage.

"No way" Jeremy said. The situation was beginning to be frankly worrying. "Ulrich's stuck as well. What are we going to do?

William clenched his fists. He knew what they had to do. He turned around and headed for the elevator.

"William!"

"Just tell me how I get in the Cortex"

Jeremy understood. With Odd in trouble, the dark-haired boy was the only chance they had to save Yumi and Ulrich.

"I'll take you there directly, the Skid is a relay"

William was nervous, but his dark eyes shone with determination.

"Ok..."

When he reached the scanner room, William almost jumped into one of the scanners. Jeremy began the transfer. The scanner doors closed and the familiar tingling sensation spread through William's body. When Jeremy said "Virtualization!" a blinding light caused his eyes to close. The next thing William knew, he was in Cortex, with his avatar strikingly similar to the one he had when he was under XANA's control.

He looked around. Cortex was an ominous, yet hauntingly beautiful place.

"Wow"

"William, don't waste your time, Aelita is in the west" Said Jeremy, concerned. "I'll give you the Overboard"

William grinned wickedly. A black smoke appeared in his hand.

"No, I have something way better. I think I kept a little memory from XANA" He replied as he turned into a trail of black smoke.

At Kadic, things were not much better. Just when Selina had managed to open the pantry door and free Odd, Jim had caught them red-handed. Without giving them time to reply, he had punished them with ten hours of detention.

"That the new girl has a lock pick and uses it to enter other people's rooms..." Commented the teacher as he led them to the detention room. "No wonder William was stunned!"

It took Odd a few seconds to understand the meaning of those words, but when he did he became furious.

"William snitched?" He shouted angrily. "That bastard!"

"Quiet, Della Robbia!" Growled Jim. "Using the pantry to obtain pirated copies of video games... You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"The only one who should be ashamed of himself is William" Hissed Selina. "He didn't tell you what was going on in the pantry out of concern that Odd would do something bad. He told you because he wanted to get Odd in trouble. And by the way, you're an idiot for letting a sixteen year old brat manipulate you like this"

Odd gawked at her. He wasn't sure if he had misheard, if his imagination was playing tricks on him, or if that girl had flipped out. Quite possibly all three at once.

"I see they didn't teach you manners at your old school" Jim was red with anger. "Congratulations, Miss Levesque. You haven't even been at Kadic Academy for a week and you've already earned twelve hours of detention. And be thankful I'm not opening a file on you for school vandalism!"

With steely hands, he ushered them into the science room and unceremoniously released them at a desk near the window.

"I'll pick you up at seven o'clock" Then he turned to Selina. "And I know what you're thinking, child. That even though I've confiscated your lock pick, you can get out of here. I regret to inform you that the lock is magnetic. There's no way you're getting out of here. Do you understand that?"

Jim closed the door. Odd heard a beeping sound coming from the electronic lock and the sound of the teacher's footsteps walking away down the hallway. Damn William. Odd knew he had ratted him out the gym teacher to usurp his place in the mission. But what he thought was the last straw was that the dark-haired boy getting a girl punished when all she did was help him.

I had to get out of there as soon as possible. He frantically examined the detention room and his eyes fell on the window. There was a drop of about thirty feet, but next to the window was a gutter. He could climb down it.

"Don't even think about it, buddy"

Odd turned around. Selina looked at him with both concern and determination.

"You don't understand, but I have to get out of here!"

"I do understand" She replied calmly. "You have a meeting with friends that you can't miss under any circumstances. And if you're going to guess, William snitched us to the gym teacher so that you couldn't go to that meeting with your friends, right?"

Odd looked at her in amazement. Was that girl a wizard or what? At his astonishment, Selina laughed, but it wasn't an evil laugh. Once she calmed down a bit, she began to speak.

"Odd, I understand that you have to go to your friends, who surely need you. But in case you don't remember, the other day there was a series of short circuits at the school, and that very gutter is connected to the power grid. If you go down through it, there's a good chance you'll end up roasted like a chicken"

"What's your brilliant plan, then?"

"I have a plan. I don't know about brilliant. But I think I can fool Jim"

She walked over to the projector and, using her belt buckle, removed its cover and began rummaging around inside.

"But what the hell are you doing?"

"Wait a minute, I have to extract the projector's electromagnets intact" Her face lit up as she found what she was looking for. "Bingo!"

Before Odd's stunned eyes, the girl pulled out two small magnets from the projector and walked over to the door.

"What do you intend to do?"

"I'm going to use the electromagnets as lock picks to open the magnetic lock " Selina said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Odd, make sure Jim can't see me from the outside, that if he catches me I'm a dead girl walking. I'll take care of the lock"

Odd could not believe his ears, but did as he was asked. While his back was turned, the girl put the magnets on both sides of the lock. She could intuit the operation of any electronic device and manipulate it at will, but had never wanted to test the extent of what she could do. Even more so since that night, when she had almost ...

Selina clenched her jaw. She couldn't let those grim memories distract her. Even more so when that boy needed her help. She began to move the magnets and concentrated with all her might. She wanted it to open up, to open up...

As if she was possessed by a unknown force, she quickly moved the magnets through the lock and the door opened with a beep. Selina grinned as she saw Odd's dumbfounded face. To be honest, she didn't believe it herself.

"Ready!" The girl exclaimed, pleased. "Odd, when you're done freaking out, you can come out. I'll stay here to create an alibi for you"

Miraculously, the boy managed to snap out of his astonishment.

"You're staying?

"Didn't you hear what I just told you? I need to stay in class and find a method to pretend you are still here" She said while tooking several pictures of him with her cell phone. "Otherwise, Jim is going to spill the beans"

Odd nodded, as pure relief coursed through his body. Just as he was about to leave, Selina grabbed his arm.

"Before you go, you have to promise me two things" The girl began. "One, that you won't tell anyone, not even your friends. Of course, they wouldn't believe you in a million years"

If you knew who my friends are... thought the boy.

"Two. If you happen to see William..."

"Yeah?"

Selina gave him a crooked smile. Her blue eyes now twinkled with violet sparkles.

"Kick his ass for me"

Aelita flew at full speed over the surface of Cortex. She was heading for the core of that virtual world. She landed gently at the beginning of the walkway and looked around. All seemed calm, with no sign of Cortex trying to play a trick on her.

Cortex wasn't trying playing tricks on her, but his stowaway was! A Krab virtualized in front of her nose and advanced menacingly toward her. Aelita clenched her jaw and fired two Energy Fields, but the monster ducked its head and they bounced off his armor without harming him.

The Krab began firing lasers at Aelita. The girl somersaulted backwards and flew away. Dodging the lasers fired at her, the pinkette launched herself at the monster, and using his head as a springboard, jumped towards the side wall of the core, hoping to throw him off. But the Krab must have seen her ploy, because he climbed up the wall and continued firing lasers at her. Full of adrenaline, Aelita took flight, but was hit by one of the shots and plunged into the void, landing at the end of the walkway. From the laboratory, Jeremy watched the scene in horror.

"Aelita, get out! Aelita?!"

The Krab landed right on top of the girl and opted to get rid of her by trying to skewer her like a kebab. She dodged his thrusts as best she could and got to her feet, but she had no chance of escape. She closed her eyes to the oncoming laser...and it didn't come. A wisp of black smoke came between her and the Krab.

It was William. He lunged at the monster and plunged his sword into XANA's Eye. The Krab exploded into a thousand pixels and disappeared. Once the Krab was taken care of, William approached Aelita, who reflexively had an Energy field ready to throw it at the boy.

"Hey calm down, it's me" He made his sword disappear. Aelita lowered her hand.

"I know, sorry. Your Supersmoke makes me nervous"

"Sorry, let's go"

Aelita nodded and they both crossed the walkway leading to the Cortex core.

The elevator door opened, and out stepped Odd. A very, very angry Odd.

"Where's this bastard? If I find him!"

"Odd" Said Jeremy, still typing away. "William is already in the Cortex, we have a problem"

"What?!" He shouted in disbelief. "And he took my place?! What's the Cortex?"

"Hurry! Ulrich and Yumi are in danger"

Odd clenched his fists as he headed for the elevator. He was certainly going to deliver on the promise he had made to Selina in spades.

"Oh yeah? Well William is also in danger!" He said as the elevator doors closed.

William and Aelita approached the entrance to the Cortex core. It consisted of a seemingly impenetrable black hatch. Aelita tried to push it, but to no avail.

"It's locked"

"Let me do it" Said William.

He made his sword appear and threw it against the gate, releasing sparks as it scratched the metal. Aelita shook her head.

"It will not work like this"

Not like this, but by means of earthquakes, yes. A strong tremor knocked Aelita and William to the ground.

"Watch out!" Shouted the boy.

Before the astonished eyes of Aelita and William the hatch that gave access to the interior of the core opened, but they didn't have time to celebrate their victory. Krabs appeared from behind and started shooting at them.

William grabbed Aelita by the arm and threw her into the core.

"Go ahead, don't worry about me"

The dark-haired boy drew his sword and transformed into a trail of black smoke. After all the time he spent under XANA's control, taking care of some Krabs was going to be a piece of cake.

Aelita ran along the walkaway inside the core. She reached a hexagonal platform. A column of energy enveloped her and she disappeared.

As Aelita entered the core, William dodged the monsters' lasers. He jumped on the shell of a Krab and tried to thrust his sword at it, but the other Krab shot him. The boy jumped to the ground and transformed into black smoke, landing on a nearby platform.

He looked down. The Krabs had caught on to his ploy and were starting to climb up the walls.

"William! Traitor! Bastard!" Odd jumped off the Overboard and pounced on the boy without giving him time to react.

"How the hell did you escape from the detention room!?" He asked dumbfounded as he tried to dodge Odd's punches.

The boy smiled at the thought of Selina. That girl had stayed in Kadic willing to serve the punishment for him. The least she deserved was to keep the promise he had made to her. He jumped back and prepared to fire laser arrows.

"This is not the time!" Warned Jeremy. "You'll fight later"

And he was right: this wasn't the right time. The Krabs had reached the platform and began firing at Odd and William. The cat boy stood up and gave William one last murderous look.

"I'll be back for you later" Warned him as he lunged at a Krab.

Aelita appeared on one of the ring-shaped platforms surrounding the core. She looked around. On the other side of the chamber was a kind of screen.

"Jeremy, I'm almost there. You were right, there's some sort of terminal"

She activated her wings and flew to the platform where the screen was located. From the lab, Jeremy supervised the operation.

"Ok, connect yourself to the interface and get back the digital signature of Yumi and Ulrich. We don't have much time, hurry!"

The pinkette, slightly apprehensive, put her hand on the screen. A bluish light emerged from the screen, and before her eyes she saw a huge screen unfold and begin to fill with images. Some looked familiar, but she couldn't tell where they came from.

"Jeremy, something's wrong"

"Don't lose any time!" He shouted through the headset.

Aelita took a deep breath and put her hand on the screen.

Outside the core, things were starting to heat up. William was trying to parry the monsters' lasers with his sword, but they were cornering him.

A purple lightning bolt shot out from behind the boy. William ducked and used his Super Smoke while Odd, riding his Overboard, fired laser arrows at the Krab, which exploded. William jumped on the Krab and with a single slash, sliced off its legs. Unable to move, eliminating the monster was a piece of cake for him.

"Game over!"

Odd ran over him with his Overboard, knocking him to the ground.

"Yeah, now we can fight!"

William sat up.

"Hey calm down, okay?"

"In your dreams" He growled as he prepared to fire laser arrows at him. "I'm going to kick your butt"

"Odd, stop"

He was not going to stop until he filled William with laser arrows, but something happened that made him discard those plans. A sound similar to a ship's horn made the ground rumble. Odd and William ran and watched as the core hatch began to close. And Aelita was still inside!

Before Odd's astonished eyes, William transformed into a trail of black smoke and slipped inside the core. He had to get Aelita out of there as soon as possible.

Aelita watched mesmerized as the images unfolded in rapid succession on the screen. She didn't even notice Jeremy's warning shouts, and that Odd and William had entered the core and were trying to hold the hatch open.

"Aelita!" Screamed William. "Come on!"

"Aelita! Get out of there, quick!" Jeremy shouted, concerned. "Aelita move!"

Aelita finally snapped out of her stupor and activated her wings, but as she took one last look at the screen, she was stunned. A picture of her father had appeared.

"Aelita move!" Screamed Jeremy.

She didn't listen to him. She stared mesmerized at her father's face. What the hell was he doing there?

"...Dad?" She asked in disbelief.

Outside Odd and William were desperately trying to keep the hatch from closing. William thrust his sword into the joints of the hatch, but it disappeared. Just as the hatch was almost closed, Aelita came out. She had made it by the skin of her teeth.

Odd grinned from ear to ear to see his friend safe and sound.

"It's nice here"

Thanks to the data Aelita had obtained from the Cortex core. Jeremy had managed to recover Ulrich and Yumi. They emerged from the scanners panting. They didn't look their best, but at least they were safe and sound. Back in the lab, the gang started talking about what had happened in the Cortex core. Aelita had seen her father.

"Are you sure it was your father?" Jeremy asked softly.

Aelita nodded. Even she couldn't believe it, but she knew she had seen in Cortex her father.

"I don't understand. What does he have to do with the Cortex?"

"Maybe nothing, we can't be sure. Listen, Aelita. I promise to do everthing to understand"

"And what about me?" William asked, expectantly.

"It's true that you haven't been nice to Odd" Started Jeremy.

Odd snorted. That was the understatement of the year.

"Yeah, exactly!"

"But it's also true that without you..." He paused before continuing. "The mission would have failed. We will think about it"

Odd could not believe his ears.

"What? Is that all you say to him? You should kiss him!"

William chuckled at Odd's anger.

"No, a thank you will be enough"

Back at the Kadic Academy, Jim had instituted a new rule as to which sites were off-limits to students. He put a no trespassing sign on the pantry door and addressed the students in front of him, including Selina.

"Well, let's make it clear for all of you little jokers who like to play tricks. The next person who comes within 10 meters of this door gets 2 hours of detention" Selina giggled and Jim blushed as he realized his mistake. "Uhh. I mean the other way around: less than 2 meters gets 10 hours of detention. Ah well, you understood me! Got it?!"

The students nodded and each went off on their own. But before leaving, Jim grabbed Selina's arm.

"There's one thing I have to ask you" At Selina's amused silence, he continued. "Why do you carry a lock pick in your jacket pocket?

The girl smiled at him with both amusement and pride.

"It's a way for me to remind myself of who I am"

She winked at him and left, ready to enjoy the afternoon sun. From the outside, Odd watched the scene in amusement. Turning, he saw William emerge from one of the adjoining buildings. It was time for revenge.

"Hey, William! William! William!"

"So, there he is" He said wryly. "Did you choose your weapon? What is it this time, a fencing foil or a matchlock pistol?"

"No, were not going to have a duel. That would be stupid. I just wanted to tell you that..." He took a breath before continuing. "Yumi's waiting for you. She has something to tell you"

William's eyes wided.

"Yumi? Where?"

"In the lunchroom"

William smiled at him and shook his hand.

"No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings"

Odd watched in amusement as William entered the cafeteria and met Jim.

"Dunbar, you want to get smart with me?" Yelled the teacher. "10 hours of detention!"

Odd guffawed and prepared to go to his room to enjoy the Cyberbiker 7. After all that had happened to him, he deserved a good rest.

"My work here is done!"