Note: Okay, I know that I should try to take it easy and have fun during the summer, but I cannot. Not only do I still have to work things out at college, but I have to get ready for the next year. I'm doing whatever I can to make money, but job options from where I live are very limited. Needless to say, I'm rather screwed at the moment. In order to avoid rambling here, I'm going to go ahead and start the chapter. Now, it's time for chapter seven.
Chapter 7: Fire and Ice
"Guys, can we please be done? It's freaking beautiful out there!"
From inside the cafeteria at Wagstaff, Louise, Tina, Gene, and the Lyoko Warriors were sitting around a table. They were going over the homework that was assigned for that week, and Louise was not happy. She felt that doing homework and going to school halted her going to Lyoko and fighting X.A.N.A. The Lyoko Warriors didn't want to disagree with the nine-year-old, but they had to. After all, they were assigned to tutor the students of Wagstaff, and it would cause suspicion if they had taken students to the factory with them in the middle of the day. It was one thing if a X.A.N.A attack was happening, but it was another if the students were curious.
"Come now, Louise, we're tutoring you for a reason." Yumi said. "Primarily, it's because we were selected to teach students after being selected for a tutorship program."
"Also, it's because we need all the help we can in the fight against X.A.N.A." Odd said.
"I still think that we should involve grownups in this." Tina said. "No matter how powerful we are on Lyoko, we're still kids, and X.A.N.A could cream us at any time!"
"And our parents will find out about this eventually." Louise added. "How many more times can we lie to them and activate a Return To The Past before they learn about what we have been doing."
"The Return To The Past erases the memories of those who aren't linked to the supercomputer." Aelita said. "Unfortunately, it also empowers X.A.N.A every time we use it. At least, that's how it worked at the supercomputer we used back home."
"Then how did we have dreams about Lyoko before being virtualized on there?" Gene asked.
"I had dreams about it as well, and I was at Kadic with them when I joined." William said. "Not sure about you guys, though."
"Anyway, can we put down the school supplies and head to the factory?" Louise asked. "There has to be an activated Tower on Lyoko, right?"
"Not at the moment." Jeremy said. "I often keep an eye on Lyoko to see if X.A.N.A is launching an attack, and we never go there unless he's causing chaos."
"C'mon, there has to be a monster or two that we can fight!" The nine-year-old said.
"Look, we'll tell you when X.A.N.A is attacking." Ulrich said. "For now, let's just keep doing your school stuff."
Letting out an annoyed groan, Louise continued working on her homework. With no X.A.N.A attack at the moment, she felt bored. Tina and Gene felt the same way, but they chose to get their work done. After all, why couldn't they be kids when Lyoko wasn't being tampered with? It was something they could do when they weren't needed to help save the world. If X.A.N.A attacked, then they would step up to the challenge.
In the freezer, the lunch lady, Hildy, was just looking around. She was getting food together for lunch, primarily what was on the menu for that day. As she looked for what she needed, she felt her surroundings get colder. The vents pumped cold air, with the temperature dropping as they kept blowing. It seemed like the air would freeze someone in a block of ice if they had stood in it for too long. And, given how the temperature continued to drop, that outcome was likely.
Having no other choice, Hildy tried to run out of the freezer. Before she was even at the entrance, the lunch lady felt her feet freeze. Despite that, she managed to get out of the freezer. That did not stop the ice from climbing up her body. While the woman struggled against it, she was ultimately encased by the freezing cold. After a few seconds, Hildy was trapped in a block of ice, leaving her to be found by whoever entered the kitchen.
Back in the cafeteria, the Belchers had gotten their homework finished. They were about to head to class, while the Lyoko Warriors would be going to the classes they were tutoring for. That was until they heard someone screaming from deeper within the cafeteria. It was Mr. Frond, and he rushed towards the Wagstaff students and the tutors in a panic.
"Belchers!" Mr. Frond cried. "Tutors!"
"Mr. Frond, what's wrong?" Tina asked.
"Other than the usual." Louise snarked.
"It's Hildy!" The guidance counselor said. "She's been frozen in a block of ice! Wait right here, I'm going to go call an ambulance!"
As Mr. Frond ran off, the Belchers and the Lyoko Warriors remained seated. The fact that Hildy was an ice cube shocked Tina, Gene, and Louise. As for the Lyoko Warriors, they could tell that it was likely the beginning of a X.A.N.A attack. Why else would the lunch lady suddenly turn into a block of ice? It was dangerous to be in a freezer for too long, but freezing in ice was not what usually happened. There was no other explanation: X.A.N.A had frozen Hildy while she was in the freezer.
"How did Hildy get turned into a popsicle?!" Gene said in shock.
"X.A.N.A did that, didn't he?" Louise asked.
"Seems like it." Jeremy said.
"But X.A.N.A's an AI, how can he freeze people solid?!" Tina asked.
"As we've said before, X.A.N.A can do anything as long as he's in control of a Tower on Lyoko." Aelita said.
"Given what he did to the lunch lady, the Tower's likely in the Ice Sector." Jeremy said.
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Louise shouted. "We've got to get to the factory!"
"Aelita and I will go to the factory, while the rest of you stay here and keep an eye out for anything else X.A.N.A could have done." The spectacled blonde said. "I doubt that Hildy was the only person X.A.N.A intended to harm."
Once Jeremy and Aelita left for the factory, the Lyoko Warriors decided to continue on with the day. As Gene had gym class, Ulrich accompanied him there. The moment they got to the gym, they saw Coach Blevins sitting in a chair. He was noticeably sweaty, as if he had been exercising for quite some time. This concerned Gene, as the gym teacher rarely looked like this. Whatever he had been doing, it had taken a lot out of him.
"Belcher and Stern!" Coach Blevins rasped. "Just the two I wanted to see!"
"Coach, are you okay?" Gene asked.
"I feel thirsty!" The coach said. "Get me some water!"
"On it!" Ulrich said. "Come on, Gene!"
Seeing as Coach Blevins looked like he was going to die of thirst, Gene wasted no time in following Ulrich to the water fountain. Ulrich had a plastic cup with him, so that it could be thrown away after being used. He had Gene turn on the fountain, seeing as there was no time to waste. When the water was turned on, it proved to be scalding, enough for Ulrich to get burned by it. Luckily, it was not hot enough to melt the cup.
"Gene, turn on the cold water!" Ulrich said.
As he had his hand on the hot water, Gene flipped over to the cold water. With the water now cold, Ulrich was able to collect it. However, something felt different about how cold the water had gotten. It started off lukewarm, but it had quickly become ice cold. Ulrich felt as though his hand would freeze if Gene kept the cold water on. Upon being given the signal, the cold water was turned off.
Once they had gotten the water to Coach Blevins, Gene and Ulrich noticed that a majority of the glass were sweating heavily. It seemed as though the entire gym was hot, as Gene started sweating as well. Seeing that, Ulrich got out his phone and dialed Jeremy's number. This was definitely a X.A.N.A attack, and there were going to be casualties unless the Tower was deactivated.
"Hello?" Jeremy's voice came out of the phone.
"Jeremy, are you at the factory?" Ulrich asked.
"Aelita and I came here a minute ago." The spectacled blonde said. "While we were walking to it, we saw someone collapsing, possibly due to heat stroke. It doesn't make any sense, because it's not hot enough for anyone to get heat stroke whether they're inside or outside!"
"That would explain what happened to Coach Blevins and the gym class!" The brunette said. "Is X.A.N.A controlling heat and cold?"
"He has to be!" Gene said. "Why else would Hildy be frozen in ice while gym class is already sweating?"
"Is Gene with you?" Jeremy asked, having heard the boy screaming.
"Yeah, he's here." Ulrich said.
"The two of you need to come to the lab immediately!" The blonde said. "If we don't deactivate the Tower, then people will either freeze to death or roast alive!"
Knowing that there was no time to mess around, Ulrich led Gene out of the gym. The two decided to head to the factory, wanting to stop X.A.N.A before the attack could kill someone. By taking the back door out of Wagstaff, the teen and the eleven-year-old got out of the school undetected. With the factory as their destination, they ran as fast as they could. In the process, they saw people either collapsing or shivering.
"X.A.N.A's really upping his game!" Ulrich said.
"I hope that we can get this mission done in time!" Gene cried.
"That depends on how it goes, Gene!" The teen said.
Back at Wagstaff, Tina felt cold. She didn't know why, as she felt fine earlier. Hearing that Hildy had gotten frozen sent a chill down her spine, but the thirteen-year-old didn't think it would give her entire body a chill. As soon as class was over, she tried to walk out of the classroom. However, she started to feel her body freeze in the same manner as Hildy's. This did not go unnoticed by Yumi and Odd, who rushed to Tina's aid.
"Tina, are you alright?" Odd asked.
"She's not alright, Odd, she's freezing into a block of ice!" Yumi said.
"Why though?!" The blonde asked.
"I don't know!" The brunette said. "None of the classrooms are terribly cold, so there's no way she would've gotten like this!"
"Glad I'm not the only one who sees what's going on!" Louise said, running up to the tutors. "While I was walking through the hallway, Rudy told me he felt like he was going to melt, while Jimmy Junior claimed that it was cold in the cafeteria! X.A.N.A is doing this, right?"
"It has to be him!" Odd said. "There's no other explanation for why people are either burning or freezing!"
Yumi's phone rang, meaning that she was getting a call. Luckily, it was Jeremy, who was presumably calling from the lab. She answered it, hoping to be met with the spectacled blonde's voice. If she wasn't, then something bad had happened.
"Jeremy, are you at the lab?" Yumi spoke.
"Yes, and I'm getting ready to send Aelita, Ulrich, and Gene into Lyoko!" Jeremy's voice came out of the phone. "Are you still at Wagstaff?"
"Yes, but Tina's been frozen in ice!" The brunette said.
"Not Tina too!" The spectacled blonde said.
"Don't worry, we'll be at the lab in a minute!" The teen said. "Odd and Louise are with me, but William and Sissi are looking out for anyone who either collapses or freezes!"
"Hopefully, they don't freeze or collapse themselves!"
Hanging up her phone, Yumi had Louise and Odd follow her to the factory. With people freezing or roasting alive, they wanted to get the mission done as fast as possible. If they were unable to stop X.A.N.A's attack, then the world would either be frozen or fried like an egg. Not only would the world's population die, but so would anything else that couldn't survive in either the cold or extreme heat. That was something that the Lyoko Warriors couldn't let happen. All they needed to do was make sure that the Tower got deactivated on Lyoko.
Back at the factory, Gene, Ulrich, and Aelita entered the Scanners. Once they were inside, Jeremy got the Virtualization process ready. The three were Transferred and Scanned, getting them ready to be sent to Lyoko. Jeremy hit the enter key, Virtualizing his teammates. As they went to Lyoko, he oversaw the map for the Ice Sector, which was where the Tower had been activated. To the spectacled blonde's surprise, there seemed to be no monsters blocking the way to the Tower. In fact, the Ice Sector itself appeared to have no activity outside of the Tower that had been activated.
"Jeremy, we're here!" Ulrich's voice came out of the headset.
"I can see that." Jeremy said. "You're in the clear, however, because X.A.N.A hasn't sent any of his monsters here."
"That's strange!" Aelita said. "Usually, X.A.N.A would have monsters guarding the Tower!"
"Is he taking a day off?" Gene spoke. "Does he hate Mondays?"
"Whatever the reason, you should get to the Tower before anything bad happens!" Jeremy said.
The door to the lab came open, causing Jeremy to turn around. Yumi, Odd, and Louise were standing in the doorway, ready to head into Lyoko.
"So, what's the word?" Odd asked.
"There are no monsters guarding the Tower, so the mission should be over, but I'm having doubts!" Jeremy said. "It feels like there's something else going on!"
"We won't know until the Tower is deactivated, Jeremy." Yumi said.
"Well, we gotta get that Tower deactivated pronto!" Louise said. "Tina's been frozen in ice!"
"Aelita, are you inside the Tower?" Jeremy spoke into the headset.
"I'm almost there!" Aelita responded. "When I've deactivated it, I'll let you know!"
On Lyoko, Aelita stepped inside the Tower, walking to the panel. After flying up to the panel on the top, the pink-haired teen accessed the Tower's database. She was greeted by a holographic screen, allowing her to enter Code: Lyoko. With that out of the way, the Tower was deactivated. However, something felt different. In fact, it felt as though nothing had changed.
"Jeremy, has the attack stopped in the real world?" Aelita asked.
"I want to say that it did, but I'm not sure." Jeremy's voice echoed in the Tower.
"What do you mean?" The pink-haired teen asked.
"From what I can tell, there's data that shows that another Tower has been taken over by X.A.N.A." The spectacled blonde said.
"Two Towers at once?!" She said. "Jeremy, where's the other Tower at?!"
"It's in another Sector, but I don't think it's one we've seen before." He said. "I'll try to open a wormhole to it, while you go gather Gene and Ulrich. Got it?"
"Got it!"
Back in the real world, Jeremy was overlooking the data on the supercomputer. He could not believe that X.A.N.A was able to control two Towers at once. While the AI had created duplicates of Lyoko to help his plans flourish, the fact that he was doing it on Lyoko itself was shocking. Clearly, he was not holding back any punches when it came to threatening the real world, especially not now. Jeremy tried his hardest to send Aelita, Ulrich, and Gene to the mysterious Sector, but it was proving difficult. It seemed like it was protected by multiple codes at once.
"X.A.N.A activated two Towers at once?" Yumi asked.
"Yes, but the second Tower appears to be on a Sector we haven't seen before." Jeremy said. "I'm trying to send the others there, but it's proving to be hard."
"Lyoko, man, why do you have to be so complicated?!" Louise shouted. "You gotta send us to this so-called 'Mystery Sector', Jeremy!"
"Hold on, I just need to get through this last layer of code!" The spectacled blonde said, typing away at the keyboard.
Aelita exited the Tower, being greeted by Ulrich and Gene.
"What's going on, Aelita?" Gene asked. "Why hasn't the attack stopped?"
"There's another active Tower, but it's on a different Sector." Aelita said.
"Great," Ulrich said, "X.A.N.A's just eager to take us all down, isn't he?"
"Don't worry, Jeremy will get us there!" The pink-haired teen said.
Out from the sky came a white orb with a silver Eye of X.A.N.A on it. Gene braced himself, while Ulrich and Aelita waited for it to land, knowing what it was. As the orb landed, the three walked into it. The orb happened to be part of the wormhole Jeremy had opened to access the new Sector. It had been used to access Sector Five in the past, until Jeremy found a way to Virtualize his teammates directly into the area. With no other way to access the newer Sector, he had brought it back.
Upon stepping out of the wormhole, Aelita, Ulrich, and Gene found themselves in the new Sector. The area around them had a red-orange sky, looking like the entire Sector was on fire. The ground was dark red, with pits that had what seemed to be lava in them. All around, there was high heat, which created a feeling of suffocation. It seemed like an area where no one would choose to live, let alone travel through. Whatever this new Sector was, it clearly wasn't just for helping X.A.N.A control the Towers.
"Man, this place is hot!" Ulrich said.
"I don't know how, but I think I'm sweating!" Gene said, wiping his forehead.
"Jeremy, what is this place?!" Aelita asked.
"I don't know, but I don't think that you should stand still for much longer!" Jeremy's voice came down. "When you arrived, I saw that each of you lost five life points!"
"What is this place?!" Gene shouted. "Is it Lyoko's version of Hell?!"
"Now isn't the time to question things, Gene!" Ulrich said. "We gotta get Aelita to the Tower!"
Knowing that they had to get the mission done as soon as possible, Gene and Ulrich began to run through the new Sector. Aelita used her wings to fly, hoping that being in the air would prevent her from losing life points. However, as it was surrounded by massive amounts of heat, she felt that she would be Devirtualized before she even reached the Tower. Gene and Ulrich could not let it happen, even if they wound up being Devirtualized as well. All the three needed to do was to get to the Tower as quick as possible. However, it was hard to stay upright in the new Sector's environment.
As Jeremy watched Ulrich, Aelita, and Gene move through the mysterious Sector, he took notice on how they seemed to be losing life points at a slow rate. The Sector was practically cooking them, sapping away their life points with its high heat. He hoped that none of them would get Devirtualized before Aelita got to the Tower, but their chances of getting to it weren't good. The spectacled blonde didn't want to send more people to the new Sector, but he had no choice. If Aelita didn't deactivate the Tower, then X.A.N.A's attack would continue. The place was a death trap, but it still had Towers.
"So, what the hell are we gonna do if Aelita can't deactivate the Tower?!" Louise asked.
"Aelita will deactivate the Tower, Louise!" Jeremy said. "I'm going to send you, Yumi, and Odd there, as I now have the coordinates for the new Sector!"
"What about Sissi and William?" Odd asked.
"If they call me, I'll let you know!" The spectacled blonde said. "Now, get to the Scanners!"
Seeing as they had no time to lose, Yumi, Odd, and Louise entered the Scanners. Once they were inside, Jeremy got them ready for the Virtualization process. As they were being uploaded to the supercomputer, the spectacled blonde made sure that they would arrive in the new Sector. The moment he hit "enter", his teammates entered Lyoko, being Virtualized into the new Sector. Needless to say, they were about as dismayed about the environment as the others.
"Holy crap, it's scorching!" Odd's voice came out of the headset.
"It's like standing on the sun!" Louise shouted.
"Jeremy, how far are we from the others?" Yumi asked.
"You're only a few feet away from them, so you'll have no problem catching up." Jeremy spoke into the headset. "Go after them! And hurry, you'll lose life points if you aren't able to get out of the heat!"
Now that they were in the new Sector, Odd, Yumi, and Louise wanted to be near Ulrich, Aelita, and Gene. If Aelita had already entered the Tower, then they would work with Gene and Ulrich to destroy the monsters that X.A.N.A sent out. Though, given how hot it was in the area, they expected the heat to send them back to the real before a monster even appeared. Anything being in the new Sector without frying to a crisp was impossible, and it made the Lyoko Warriors wonder why this location existed. It didn't seem like anything that Franz Hopper would've made when he originally created Lyoko. Rather, it felt just like a trap where nothing would escape.
Upon seeing Gene and Ulrich standing near the Tower, Louise, Odd, and Yumi knew that they were still on Lyoko. Aelita was up in the sky, flying with her wings. However, given what Jeremy had said, they knew they couldn't stand and wait for monsters to appear. As long as they were in the new Sector, their life points would slowly deplete down to zero. Taking the lead, Yumi ran towards her teammates with Odd and Louise behind her. By the time they had gotten there, Odd was knocked down by a laser.
With more lasers coming their way, Yumi and Louise saw that there were Bloks approaching. They soon surrounded them, Ulrich, and Gene. As such, the Lyoko Warriors began to fight the monsters. Upon flying down to them, Aelita joined her teammates in battle. She fired an Energy Field at a Blok, destroying it instantly. After that, the pink-haired teen tricked one into firing at another, which caused them to destroy each other.
"Aelita, get to the Tower!" Odd said. "You're losing life points by helping us!"
"That doesn't mean that I can't help!" Aelita said.
"No, Odd's right, Aelita!" Jeremy's voice spoke. "You've only got thirty life points left, and the supercomputer's counting down how much you're losing by one!"
"I'll head to the Tower!" The pink-haired teen said. "The rest of you, fight as long as you have life points left!"
Using her wings again, Aelita made a beeline for the Tower, intent on getting there before she was Devirtualized. While she did this, Jeremy counted down the amount of life points she had left.
"Twenty-nine seconds!" The blonde warned. "Twenty-eight! Twenty-seven! Twenty-six! Twenty-five!"
Aelita was almost at the Tower when a Blok fired at her. This caused her wings to shut off, sending her falling to the ground. However, Ulrich was quick to destroy the Blok before it could fire again. Seeing as her teammates had it under control, Aelita continued to run towards the Tower. As that happened, Gene was Devirtualized while destroying a Blok. Yumi followed soon after, a Blok having snuck up on her.
"Twelve life points left, Aelita!" Jeremy warned. "Eleven! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five!"
Before her life points could run out, Aelita entered the Tower. Like how she did with the Tower in the Ice Sector, she walked to the middle of the panel. Then, the pink-haired teen levitated up to the next panel. Being greeted by a holographic screen, she put her hand on it, allowing her to access the Tower's database. Once Code: Lyoko was entered, it was deactivated, halting X.A.N.A's attack for the time being. This left Jeremy able to do what he needed to do.
Meanwhile at Wagstaff, Mr. Frond was in shock over what he saw. Not only had Hildy been frozen in a block of ice, but Coach Blevins was dehydrated, to the point where a glass of water was having no effect in keeping him hydrated. Then, Blevins' entire class followed, either becoming dehydrated or frozen. Now that he was in the hallway, Frond saw that Tina Belcher had been frozen in a block of ice. In addition to that, William Dunbar had been frozen, while Sissi Delmas had been dehydrated. Needless to say, the guidance counselor was not okay with what he saw.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Mr. Frond screamed in fear.
All of a sudden, the ice around both Tina and William began to melt. In addition to that, Sissi stood up, letting out a gasp for air. Mr. Frond could not believe his eyes, as it seemed like they were goners. Not only had they recovered, but they seemed to be suffering no ill effects from dehydration or freezing.
"I'm okay!" Tina said.
"Well, it's official, the others should call me 'Ice-Man'!" William said.
"At least you two felt cool!" Sissi stated.
Still shocked by what he had seen, Mr. Frond took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He even pinched himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. After that confirmation, he walked off to see if anyone else had gone through the same thing. As he did so, Tina, William, and Sissi looked at each other, knowing what had happened. However, given the damage X.A.N.A had done, it meant that Jeremy would have to run a Return To The Past. They waited in anticipation, knowing that it wouldn't be long before the day would be reset.
Back at the lab, Jeremy had started a Return To The Past, allowing time to turn backwards. After that, the Lyoko Warriors and the Belcher children found themselves back in the cafeteria, where they had been before the attack. So far, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. In fact, Hildy being frozen had been prevented by the Return To The Past. With everything back to normal, the Belchers spoke to their tutors.
"So, there's a new Sector on Lyoko?" Tina asked.
"Yes," Jeremy said, "and we're calling it the Fire Sector, because it's hot enough to rob those in its environment of their life points."
"Remind me never to go to that place!" The brunette said.
"We're gonna have to when X.A.N.A launches an attack from there." Aelita said. "It might Devirtualize us if we stay too long, but it's still a Sector."
"But none of you have been to it before?" Louise asked.
"It's either a Sector that Franz Hopper never officially added, or a creation of X.A.N.A's." Jeremy said.
"If the latter is true, why would X.A.N.A create a Sector?" Ulrich asked.
"That is a conundrum!" Odd said.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to find out why the Fire Sector exists, assuming it isn't just a death trap." Yumi said.
"Speaking of fire, does anyone else feel hot today?" Sissi asked.
"Or cold?" William asked.
"Looks like there are two new mysteries that need to be solved!" Odd joked.
On Lyoko, the Fire Sector was empty, except for a voice that echoed through it.
"Blast those children!" The voice shouted. "How dare they trek through the Fire Sector and deactivate the Tower?! It failed as a trap, even as I turned up the heat! Looks like I'll have to raise the stakes in every Sector until they're groveling at my feet!"
Note: Any guesses as to who the voice belongs to? It looks like there's a new Sector in Lyoko. Will the Lyoko Warriors have a new mission on it? Who will get to go to it next time? What other secrets could be residing on the new supercomputer? Can Jeremy crack their codes?
Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!
