Note: Now that I'm six chapters in, I'd like to know what all of you think of the story. It's a weird crossover, but I'd like to know what your thoughts are on certain things, from the characters to the plot. Do you think I'm doing well? If not, what do I need to improve on? If you want to leave a review, you can. Just give me your honest opinion, and whatever else you have.
Now that I've said that, it's time for chapter six.
Chapter 6: Back to Sector Five
A week passed since the last mission, and Jeremy was back at the factory, looking through LyokoLand. Now that William and Sissi had started going on missions, he had to come up with a way to prepare them for later ones. It was the same feeling the spectacled blonde had for the Belcher children. Tina, Gene, and Louise had been on missions, but they were still younger than the Lyoko Warriors. If they aren't careful, then X.A.N.A could get to them in an attempt to either throw them to the Digital Sea or possess them. That was something Jeremy didn't want to happen to anyone in the group, primarily Aelita and the newcomers.
Knowing that Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita had gotten upgrades after being Virtualized when Lyoko was rebuilt, Jeremy decided to give William some upgrades. From what he could tell, the brunette didn't seem to have any of the powers X.A.N.A had given to him, but rather the powers he had prior to being possessed. As such, the spectacled blonde searched through his avatar, looking for a way to update it. Seeing that William could shoot beams from his sword again, Jeremy decided to upgrade it, giving it a spread option. In addition to that, he gave his ally a few new powers, seeing as it was hard to tell if he had any outside of his sword beams. When everything was done, he waited for the supercomputer to process the code, allowing it to update William's avatar.
With the upgrades for William having been made, Jeremy got ready to exit LyokoLand for the time being. As Sissi and the Belcher children had their avatars created recently, he felt as though he wouldn't need to upgrade them. Upon stepping out of the factory, the spectacled blonde decided to make his way to Wagstaff. Tomorrow was a Monday, and he had to get stuff together for the students he would tutor. His friends were there as well, including Odd (even though he only watched after the students in detention). Knowing that they were at the school as well, Jeremy was glad, as he would be able to work stuff out with them.
The next day, Tina, Gene, and Louise had went to school. It was another day for them, despite now having tutors in certain classes. However, the three didn't mind, as the tutors were their allies. Outside of the Lyoko Warriors and Henry, they were the only ones who knew about Lyoko. Despite knowing about the virtual world, no one could tell anyone outside of the group. In fact, they could only tell someone if that person was trustworthy. Otherwise, they could only be considered an ally until a Return To The Past was launched.
As they went to lunch, the Belcher children agreed to sit at the same table. In fact, once they were in the cafeteria, they agreed to not speak about the factory or Lyoko. By doing so, they risked someone learning about what they were doing outside of school. With their luck, it was a minefield of people who they either trusted or didn't trust. At best, they would be overheard by someone they could trust, like Rudy or the Pesto twins. At worst, they would be overheard by someone who would be willing to rat them out, like Tammy and Jocelyn.
"So, what do you want to do after school?" Tina asked.
"I want to stop by the railway and record some sounds on my keyboard." Gene said.
"Assuming Jeremy doesn't need us for anything, that is." Louise said.
"Do you think that he'll call us if something's up on Lyoko?" The eleven-year-old asked.
"Maybe." The nine-year-old said. "It would be nice of them to call us instead of making surprise visits!"
"But how would we explain to mom and dad that we're needed somewhere?" Tina asked.
"We can tell them that we're needed somewhere." Gene said.
"No, I mean, how would we break it to them that we're fighting an evil AI in order to protect the world?" The thirteen-year-old asked.
"That's just it, Tina, we can't tell them!" Louise said. "Even if they would be able to help us, we can't tell mom and dad anything! We just have to keep doing what we're doing for now!"
"What are you guys screaming about?" A familiar voice spoke.
Turning their heads, Tina, Gene, and Louise saw Ulrich and Yumi standing near the table.
"Are you trying to give out the secret?" Yumi asked.
"No, we were just discussing other stuff." Gene said. "Then Louise brought up how Jeremy might need us."
"Gene!" Louise said.
"What?" The eleven-year-old said. "It's true!"
"You need to be more careful, guys." Ulrich warned. "If people overhear you talking about Lyoko, then you've got more to worry about than X.A.N.A."
"But how do we tell our parents that we're needed for a mission?" Tina asked.
"Just make something up." Yumi stated. "Even if they don't believe it, I'm sure they'll understand."
"Hopefully, they do." Louise said.
"Anyway," Ulrich said, "we'll see you guys later. Until then, stay safe!"
Once that was out of the way, Ulrich and Yumi went to join their fellow Lyoko Warriors at a table near the entrance. Jeremy was not with the group at the moment, as he hadn't gotten out of the library. As such, there was a vacant seat meant for him. Ulrich's seat was in-between Odd and Sissi, while Yumi's was in-between Aelita and William. As for Jeremy, his seat was in-between Odd's and Aelita's. The table had been designated for the Lyoko Warriors, so that they would be the first responders whenever a teacher or Mr. Frond wasn't in the cafeteria.
"Well, the Belchers nearly gave away the secret again." Ulrich spoke.
"Really?" Odd asked. "How?"
"They were talking about what to tell their parents in case a mission came up." The brunette stated.
"But I told them to make something up." Yumi said.
"I really wish they hadn't gone into Lyoko before we had a chance to tell them about it." Odd said. "We should have been more careful!"
"Too bad their memories don't get erased when Jeremy turns time backwards." William said.
"It's what they get for being Virtualized without knowing what they were up against." Ulrich stated.
"Come on, guys, give them a break!" Sissi rolled her eyes. "I mean, I had my first mission a week ago, and none of you are angry about that."
"That's because you knew about Lyoko before being sent there." Yumi said. "Unlike Tina, Gene, or even Louise, you've been more careful about spilling the secret."
Jeremy soon walked into the cafeteria, carrying his laptop. He took his seat at the table, placing the laptop on the table.
"Well," Jeremy spoke, "no activated Towers, but I have a feeling that X.A.N.A might activate one today or tomorrow."
"If he does, we'll have to keep the kids out of the mission." Ulrich said.
"Why?" The spectacled blonde said.
"They nearly gave out the secret during a conversation." Aelita said.
"It was mainly about what they would need to tell their parents in case they were needed for a mission." Yumi stated.
"Should we do something about it?" Odd asked.
"As long as they don't directly tell anyone about their time on Lyoko, we'll be fine." Jeremy said. "Until then, we'll have to keep a closer eye on those three."
By the time school had ended, Tina, Gene, and Louise were ready to head home. That was until they saw Aelita standing nearby. While they wanted to do what they wanted for the rest of the day, the Belcher children decided to speak with the pink-haired teen for a bit. She didn't seem to have anything going on, so she was pretty much free.
"Hello, Aelita." Gene spoke.
"Hello." Aelita greeted. "Ulrich and Yumi told me that the three of you almost screamed about Lyoko today. Is that true?"
"We were just thinking of what to tell our parents if they got suspicious of what we were doing." Louise said. "I mean, how can we keep going to Lyoko without them finding out about it."
"I haven't written about it in my diary, before you ask." Tina stated.
"You only have to make excuses." Aelita said. "If that stops working on your parents, then we could come over to your house when there's a mission and have you join us."
"That will probably stop working on Mom and Dad, especially Dad." Louise said.
"Anyway, we're going to head home now." Gene said. "Call us when X.A.N.A's on the move again!"
Once the Belcher children walked away from her, Aelita decided to head down to the factory. Jeremy had told her that he was going to go there the moment he finished tutoring for the day. The others had yet to join either of them, primarily because they had extra work to do. Knowing that they would come eventually, Aelita continued on through Wonder Wharf. She wasn't far from the factory, so she would be at it in the next few minutes. The pink-haired teen even looked around, keeping an eye out for anything X.A.N.A could've been behind.
As she arrived at the factory, Aelita made sure that she hadn't been followed by anyone outside the group. She walked into the building, making her way to the lab. Once the pink-haired teen walked downstairs, she could see Jeremy at the supercomputer. Carefully approaching him, her eyes caught a glimpse of something on the screen. It looked like it was showing data for the different Sectors in Lyoko. Jeremy clicked on each one, as if looking for any activity on them.
"So, is X.A.N.A on the move again?" Aelita asked.
"Currently not," Jeremy spoke, "but I'm keeping an eye out for any activity from him."
"Any luck?" The pink-haired teen asked.
"I can't confirm until I've searched through all the Sectors." The spectacled blonde said. "So far, there has only been activity in the Forest Sector, the Ice Sector, and the Mountain Sector, but none from the others."
Looking at the supercomputer, Aelita watched as Jeremy continued searching through the Sectors. After a little bit, there was a beeping sound coming from LyokoLand. This was joined by a text box saying that a Tower had been activated. While this was already a little surprising, as X.A.N.A apparently caught on that the Lyoko Warriors were waiting for him, what was more of a shock was on where the Tower was. It was a Sector that was more isolated and claustrophobic than the others. The whole area was dark blue, from the inside to the outside.
"Jeremy!" Aelita gasped. "The Tower is in Sector Five!"
"Looks like X.A.N.A decided not to wait to bring out the big guns." Jeremy spoke. "We need to call the others!"
At the Belcher home, Tina, Gene, and Louise were watching TV. They had gotten their homework done, so they were free to do what they wanted at the moment. Bob and Linda were working on dinner, and it would be a while before it was done. The Belcher children didn't mind, however, as they wanted to relax for the rest of the day. As long as there wasn't another X.A.N.A attack, everything would be fine. After all, their tutors seemed to know Lyoko better than they did.
"Hello?" Linda spoke, presumably talking on the phone. "They're in the living room, I'll go get them."
Linda then walked into the living room.
"Kids, your tutors need you!" She said.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Louise said.
"Tell them that we'll be there in a little bit!" Tina said.
"Or a fortnight!" Gene quipped.
"Gene!" Louise said.
"I'll tell them that you'll be there as quick as you can." Linda said.
"Great, wonderful, we'll be back in-time for dinner!" Tina said, leading her siblings down the stairs.
In the lab, Jeremy was looking through Sector Five, scanning the perimeter to see if there were any monsters running amok. Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd were watching him, intent on going there once everyone was together. William was sitting nearby, wondering if he would be able to go to Sector Five. Sissi overlooked the Scanners, not knowing if she'll be traveling to Lyoko or not. Aelita was standing by the door, waiting for the Belcher children to arrive. The Lyoko Warriors didn't want to go to Sector Five until everyone was in the lab.
A knock came on the door, so Aelita opened it up. Standing behind the door were Tina, Gene, and Louise. The former two were curious, while the latter looked irate. Clearly, Louise did not want to be at the lab. Aelita ignored her expression, because the Lyoko Warriors needed to get to Sector Five as soon as they could. X.A.N.A hadn't attacked the real world yet, but a Tower was still activated, meaning that he could at any moment.
"This better be important, Jeremy, because we were in the middle of watching TV!" Louise groaned.
"This is more important than TV!" Jeremy spoke. "X.A.N.A's activated a Tower in Sector Five, and I think it's high-time you and your siblings got a taste of Lyoko's more dangerous locations!"
"Dangerous?!" Tina asked.
"Don't worry, you can go last!" Odd said.
"Yeah, might wanna go ahead and send Gene, Tina, and me to Lyoko, Jeremy." Louise said, leading her siblings to the Scanners.
"I'll go with them!" Aelita said.
"Right behind you, Aelita!" Odd said.
Walking into a Scanner, Louise waited to be Virtualized. Tina and Gene got into two others, with the former being anxious about the mission. Aelita slowly entered hers, hoping to keep her teammates from rushing into battle once they got to Sector Five. Odd felt the same way, though he was hoping to kill any monster that came his way. The moment they were in the Scanners, Jeremy got the supercomputer ready for the Virtualization process. He set the coordinates for Sector Five, seeing as he had enabled the supercomputer to immediately send anyone there once they were Virtualized.
"Transfer: Aelita! Scanner: Aelita!" Jeremy spoke, typing into the keyboard. "Transfer: Odd! Scanner: Odd! Transfer: Tina! Scanner: Tina! Transfer: Gene! Scanner: Gene! Transfer: Louise! Scanner: Louise!"
While they were in the Scanners, Aelita, Odd, Tina, Gene, and Louise went through the Transfer process and the Scanning process. Aelita stood still, waiting for the Scanner to prepare her for her trip to Lyoko. Odd cracked his knuckles, hoping to show X.A.N.A's monsters that he meant business. Louise only waited for the Scanner to get done, wanting to get the mission done as fast as possible. Gene wanted to move, but he worried about messing up his Virtualization. Tina was anxious, afraid of encountering the creatures that roamed Lyoko.
"Virtualization!" Jeremy spoke, hitting the Enter key on the keyboard.
Now that the Scanners were ready, they Virtualized the individuals inside of them. Aelita only waited to arrive on Lyoko, knowing that it would be imminent. Odd watched as the flash inside the Scanner consumed him, which meant that he would be in Sector Five in no time. Louise closed her eyes, ignoring the fact that she was being turned into code, transforming her into her avatar. Gene held his hands in the air, wanting to strike a pose for his arrival on Lyoko. Tina screamed, feeling both frightened about the mission and in pain from what the Scanner was doing to her.
Sector Five was quiet, despite all of the activity that was going on around it. Aelita's and Odd's avatars were slowly localized into the area, with the supercomputer uploading their subconscious. Up next was Tina, as a wire frame silhouette of her was slowly replaced with her avatar. Gene was slowly brought to Sector Five, and he landed on his feet. Louise was last, and her avatar was formed on the ground instead of being formed in the sky.
"Alright, here we are!" Louise said.
"So, where's the Tower at, Jeremy?" Gene asked.
"It's several rooms over." Jeremy's voice rang out. "If you get a move on, you'll be near it in no time."
"With that in mind, let's move on!" Odd shouted.
Aelita then led Odd, Tina, Gene, and Louise out of the area, leading them to a larger section of Sector Five. While Aelita and Odd were used to it, the Belcher children were a bit surprised. Sector Five seemed to be comprised of blue cubes and blue rectangular prisms. There were corridors that connected each room, with darkness obscuring what was on the other side. If this was somewhere else, Tina, Gene, and Louise would've thought that it was an abandoned facility.
Looking around some more, Tina could see some of the cubes move up, as if they were elevators. After that, a few creatures came out of the cubes. From what Tina could tell, they were brown things with no legs, but long tails. The monsters looked like slugs or snakes, which Gene was afraid of. An Eye of X.A.N.A was on their heads as well, showing that they weren't friendly. Once they were out of the cubes, they began to fire at the group.
"Creepers at twelve-o'clock, Odd!" Aelita spoke.
"Way ahead of you!" Odd said, firing one of his Laser Arrow.
Now that she was up against more monsters, Tina froze in fear. She didn't want to go to Lyoko, primarily because she was afraid of the monsters. It was also because the brunette's weapon didn't seem to work against anything. All around her, everyone destroyed the creatures without much of a problem. Aelita and Odd were back-to-back, firing at the monsters and destroying them. Louise was fighting with one, using her knives to block each blast that came her way. Gene just fired his blaster at them while screaming, his fear of snakes taking center stage.
Once all the creatures were gone, Tina knew that it was safe. However, she had a feeling that there would be more of them coming.
"So, what were those things?" Louise asked.
"Creepers." Aelita said. "They're native to Sector Five."
"Well, I've certainly had therapy for my fear of snakes." Gene said. "Can we keep moving?"
"You read my mind, Gene!" Odd said. "C'mon, Tina!"
Tina didn't move, only looking down. She felt ashamed for feeling afraid over monsters she could've easily destroyed. Even if her weapon didn't have much effect on them, that didn't mean that the brunette couldn't throw a punch. While her siblings were more willing to partake in action, she wasn't. Her lack of response worried Aelita, while Odd, Gene, and Louise were willing to move on.
"Yo, Tina, are you okay there?" Louise asked.
"You look sad." Gene said.
"I'll talk to her." Aelita said. "In the meantime, the rest of you should carry on and look for the Tower. Destroy any monsters who attack you!"
Nodding their heads, Odd, Gene, and Louise ran out of the area, leaving Aelita alone with Tina.
"Hey, is there something wrong?" Aelita spoke.
"I shouldn't have frozen up when those creatures came out." Tina said. "You guys tore through them with little effort, and I was standing there, not lifting a finger."
"Tina, it's okay to feel afraid." The pink-haired teen said.
"No, it isn't!" The brunette said. "Those monsters could've Devirtualized any of you, and I didn't do anything to help! My weapon doesn't do anything, and I have no idea what I'm doing when I'm in Lyoko!"
"Your weapon is a pole, isn't it?" Jeremy's voice rang out. "Just because it can't shoot or use magic, doesn't mean that you can't use it in other ways."
For a second, Tina looked at her staff, thinking about what she could do with it. Like Jeremy said, there were other ways for the weapon to work if it couldn't fire blasts. A staff wasn't the best weapon when it came to combat, but it could prove its use when the moment presented itself. Knowing that, Tina figured that she would have to find a new use for her weapon. The brunette became determined, intent on joining the others in the next room. She held her staff up, acting as if she had discovered an ancient artifact.
"I'm ready!" Tina spoke. "Let's get you to the Tower, Aelita!"
"Right!" Aelita said.
Running to the next room, Aelita and Tina saw Odd, Gene, and Louise fighting Creepers. They were showing no mercy to the monsters, not letting any escape their sights. Aelita threw an Energy Field at a Creeper, destroying it with little effort. Knowing that it was her turn, Tina ran at another one with her staff. She swung it at the monster's head, hitting its weak spot. Once it was dead, the brunette found herself surrounded by three more Creepers. However, she then stuck her staff into the floor, swinging around it while kicking her attackers.
"Wow!" Aelita said.
"Tina, I think that's the first time you killed a monster on Lyoko!" Louise spoke. "How do you feel?"
"A little conflicted, because I have a feeling we'll run into a monster that won't try to attack us." Tina said.
"You don't have to worry about that." Odd stated. "Pretty much every monster in Lyoko is evil."
"With all this being said, can we look for the Tower before more come for us?" Gene asked.
"Yeah, let's move!" Louise said.
Now that they were all together, Odd, Aelita, Tina, Gene, and Louise ran over to the next room. Once they got there, they saw the Tower. However, it was far from them, as if it were much farther away than how they assumed it would be. In fact, there was a massive gap between where the group was standing, and where the Tower was. For Aelita, it wasn't a problem, since all she needed to do was use her wings and fly to it. But, for the other four, they couldn't do anything else at the moment.
"Looks like you'll have to take it from here, Aelita." Gene said.
Aelita only smiled, nodding her head to Gene's words. She turned on her bracelet, causing neon pink wings to sprout out and attach to her back. Running to the edge of where the group was, the pink-haired teen jumped into the air, taking flight. She flew over to the Tower, intent on deactivating it as soon as possible. Once she was there, the teen phased into the digital structure. This left Odd, Tina, Gene, and Louise alone.
Now that she was inside the Tower, Aelita walked to the middle of the panel. She soon found herself levitating to the one that was above her. The pink-haired teen walked to the middle of that one as well, coming up to a holographic screen. Placing her hand on it, she waited for the database to recognize her. The moment it did, Code: Lyoko was inputted, effectively deactivating the Tower. As such, the mission was done, and the group would be able to get out of Lyoko.
"Jeremy, we're ready to come back!" Louise said, having watched the Tower's deactivation.
"Okay, I'll Devirtualize you one by one." Jeremy's voice said.
Back in the real world, Jeremy typed in the Devirtualization code. Once that happened, the Scanners activated, hinting that it was working. The first to step out of a Scanner was Aelita, who looked like she was full of energy. Next up was Odd, who looked winded. Louise came after him, and she looked a little disappointed in how the mission went. After her was Gene, and he was happy to be done with Lyoko for the day. Finally, Tina was Devirtualized, and she was smiling once she stepped out of her Scanner.
"Well, that was quick!" Gene spoke.
"But, it's over." Tina said. "And I actually got to use my weapon this time."
"Now can we head home, Jeremy?" Louise asked.
"Sure." Jeremy said. "Your parents are probably waiting for you."
Knowing that it was okay, Tina, Gene, and Louise ran out of the lab, intent on getting home. This left the Lyoko Warriors alone, with Jeremy overlooking LyokoLand/Lyoko. Aelita was by his side, watching him work. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were standing by the entrance to the lab, wondering what was next, considering how it didn't take long for there to be a mission in Sector Five. William was looking at the Scanners, wondering when he would be able to go on another mission. As for Sissi, she wanted to close the door to the lab, so that no one would see what the group was doing.
"So, what are we gonna do, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.
"X.A.N.A certainly is desperate to take us down if he's already using Sector Five to launch an attack." Jeremy said. "With that in mind, we need to come up with a new program that can destroy X.A.N.A for good."
"What did you have in mind?" Aelita asked.
"I felt like trying the multi-agent program again, but it might take something stronger." The spectacled blonde said. "For now, we just have to keep fighting until I can get enough data for it."
"Let's hope that the new program is enough, because this is getting much more dangerous than how it was back home!" Yumi said.
"Yeah, and X.A.N.A's going to keep ruining stuff unless we defeat him." Odd added.
"That's kinda what Yumi meant, Odd!" Sissi said, rolling her eyes.
"Hopefully, I can help you guys more this time." William said.
"Trust me, you will." Jeremy said. "As long as we keep fighting and growing our army, X.A.N.A won't be able to stop us from finally putting an end to him!"
Back at the Belcher household, the family was sitting around the table, eating dinner. They were even discussing what they had done for the day. Knowing that their parents would ask them what their tutors needed them for, Tina, Gene, and Louise would have to lie. It was something they didn't want to do, considering what they were doing, but they had no choice. Sometimes, it was better to not tell anyone about a dangerous battle, lest they get caught in the crossfire. The Belcher children knew that it was better to keep their parents safe instead of getting them killed by X.A.N.A.
"So, what did your tutors need you for?" Linda asked.
"They needed help moving some stuff to the faculty." Gene lied.
"Really?" She asked. "What kind of stuff?"
"You know, coffee, printer paper, all that jazz." Louise stated.
"Can we go watch some TV?" Tina asked.
"Sure." Bob said. "I mean, you did help your tutors out."
Tina, Gene, and Louise quickly got up and left the dining room/kitchen, heading to the living room. As such, Bob and Linda continued speaking to each other.
"Do you think they're lying to us?" Linda asked.
"Definitely." Bob said. "What could they really be doing with their tutors?"
"I don't know, but I hope that it's not anything bad." She said.
Note: Oh, Linda, you don't know how right you are. More importantly, you couldn't begin to comprehend how big of a problem your children are facing. Will Bob and Linda learn about what their children have been doing? What could X.A.N.A be planning to do next? Can the Lyoko Warriors stop him? Is William going to use what Jeremy had programmed his avatar with?
Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!
