Note: You might notice that I wound up not releasing a new story last month. That was mainly because I was busy with the ones that were ongoing and I didn't know what to write. However, be on the lookout, because one might get published. As it's Pride Month, it might be a story centered around a LGBTQ couple (official or fan couple). Before you ask, no, you won't get a hint on which couple will be the focus. You'll have to read the story to see.
Speaking of stories, I'm thinking of talking to people on Discord and DeviantArt and asking them to give this one a read. I will not spoil anything to those who I ask to take a look at the story. If you know anyone who would seem interested in reading this, tell them and see if they like the story or not. If they do not, then that's fine. Not every story in the world has to have fans, after all. Matter of fact, I think this must be one of the strangest ones I started.
Now that I've said that, it's time for chapter eighteen.
Chapter 18: New Jersey Devils
As he walked through the hallway, Jeremy looked at each quiz that he had graded. While some had bad grades, most had better grades, with the one with the best score coming up to an A. The spectacled blonde was disappointed with the students who had scored lower than that one, but he knew that he could tutor them to do better. It was his job to help these students improve their grades, so that they could pass certain classes and move to the grade that followed the one they were currently in. Some would graduate from middle school, while others would simply change a grade in school. It was just a part of the lives of these children.
Jeremy walked up to the computer lab, wondering if it had been closed for the night. To his surprise, the door was unlocked, possibly because Mr. Branca needed to clean it. Pulling the door open, the spectacled blonde saw that one of the computers had a note that said "Send to repair shop" stuck to the screen. However, this computer was working well yesterday, as Henry was the one to use it. Maybe it had suddenly stopped working once class was over for the day. This confused Jeremy, as the computer should've been taken to a repair shop right away instead of being left in Wagstaff, where it could potentially infect the others.
Taking a step inside, Jeremy decided to give the computer a look, seeing if it was really in need of repairs. Lifting the note up, the spectacled blonde saw the screen was cracked, which was nothing a repair shop couldn't fix. However, he had seen technology with cracked screens that worked, which meant that he would have to turn it on in order to see if it worked. Pressing the power button, the teen waited for the monitor and the CPU to activate. After a minute of making a whirring noise, the computer failed to turn on, the made a noise that sounded like someone banging on a sheet of metal. With that in mind, Jeremy decided to leave the computer lab, hoping that someone would fix it.
"Normally," Jeremy said to himself, "I would try to work on stuff like this, but this computer isn't one I own. Might be better to let a repairman try to fix it."
Walking out of the computer room, Jeremy pulled the door shut, locking it as well. After he left, the damaged computer began to whir and violently shake, as if it were coming alive. The screen turned a bright blue, as older models of computers did to signal that their time was up. However, it did not stay blue for long, as it began to static, continuing to violently shake. Its screen stopped buzzing with static, then became eerily still. Clearly, it needed more than a few simple repairs to fix this old computer.
In the morning, the Belcher kids were getting ready for school. They had already eaten breakfast, so all they needed was to gather their book bags and supplies, as going to Wagstaff without them wasn't a good idea. Going out the door, Tina, Gene and Louise were planning on walking to school. However, Bob insisted on driving them, so that they would get there faster. In fact, there was a busy day ahead at Bob's Burgers, so he wanted to get his kids in Wagstaff as quickly as he could. Linda was in charge of watching the restaurant if no one was with her, but she was alright with this, knowing that only their regulars were coming.
As they rode to school, Tina, Gene and Louise spoke with Bob.
"So, are you improving your grades?" Bob asked.
"Definitely." Tina spoke.
"My grades are a little higher." Louise said.
"I'm outshining the both of you." Gene said. "It's like I'm made of shoeshine!"
"Gene." Bob said. "By the way, do you think home economics needs a tutor? I kind of want to teach now."
"Remember the last time you did that?" Louise asked.
"The people who supply food to the school threw a hissy fit, fired you and tried to keep you from serving the food that you made." Tina spoke.
"I said tutor, kids, not substitute teacher." Bob said. "Do you know if any of your tutors need help cooking? It's probably illegal to tutor other tutors, but I want to try it."
"Why do you ask?" Gene spoke. "Oh right, one of the tutors is our cousin we didn't know we had."
"Don't remind me." Tina groaned, still unable to get the thought she wrote erotic friend fiction about someone who was actually her cousin.
A minute later, Bob stopped driving, knowing that he was at his destination. Seeing this, Tina, Gene and Louise grabbed their supplies and got out of the car. The Belcher siblings were ready to enter Wagstaff and meet up with their tutors, so that they could speak to them. Before they could do that, Bob had a small conversation with his kids.
"By the way, how was the mission yesterday?" He spoke. "I wasn't able to help out with that one."
"Well, we had to stop something called a Specter from putting a Tower under X.A.N.A's control." Louise said. "However, it had also taken the shape of someone on the team."
"Who did it look like?" The restauranteur asked.
"Aelita." Tina said.
"We'll call you when there's another attack on the horizon." Gene said.
"By the way, shouldn't you go back to the restaurant?" Louise asked.
"Crap, you're right!" Bob said. "Have a good day at school and call me if there's a mission!"
"We will!" Gene said.
Intent on getting back to the restaurant as fast as possible, Bob drove away from the school. With him gone, Tina, Gene and Louise entered Wagstaff, intent on meeting up with their tutors. If they couldn't meet up with the teens, then the Belcher kids would try to speak to Henry. If neither were available at the moment, then they would have to wait until later. That didn't mean that it would be impossible for them to speak to the Lyoko Warriors in class, but they couldn't speak about the factory, the lab, the supercomputer, Lyoko and X.A.N.A in front of everyone else. It would lead to disaster, assuming no one got curious about what the team was up to.
Walking through the hallway, the Belcher kids figured that they would go to the library before first period. The Lyoko Warriors were often there for students to talk to, right before they would have to tutor the ones they were assigned to. Gene opened the door, letting his sisters in the library before him. Once they were all in, however, they saw that the teens were not at their usual table. Finding it strange, Tina approached the table with her siblings. She wondered if the Lyoko Warriors were hiding under the table.
"Uh, guys?" Tina spoke.
"They aren't here, Tina." Mr. Ambrose spoke. "They're in the principal's office."
"I hope they're okay." She said.
"Maybe they're talking to Principal Spoors." Louise said.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, considering he's never at school." Gene said.
With the Lyoko Warriors not in the library at the moment, Tina, Gene and Louise decided to wait in the room until it was time for them to get to class. Once the bell rang, they split up, heading to their respective first classes of the day. By the time it was lunch, the Belcher kids met up and sat at the same table. In the process, they found themselves sitting alone, with everyone else at a different table. While they didn't know if the Lyoko Warriors and Henry would be available, they hoped to speak to someone. Needless to say, the Belchers wound up talking to each other.
"So, do you think they'll be in here?" Gene asked.
"That's what I was about to ask." Louise spoke.
"No," Tina said, "but I wish they would come to our table. They do it every so often."
"Well, it's mainly Odd who comes to our table." Gene said. "The others are often busy with the worksheets."
"They're our tutors and they can't even talk to us about what goes on under everyone's noses?" Louise asked. "What kind of team are we in?!"
"Speaking of teams, we're supposed to form that away team." Tina said.
"Yeah, but who would we get to join us?" The nine-year-old asked.
"And what would we call ourselves?" Gene asked.
Looking around the cafeteria, Louise tried to find someone who would be interested in joining the away team. Trying to find the right person was hard, as the Belcher kids needed to make sure that whoever they chose promised not to give away the secret. If that happened, then a Return To The Past would have to be triggered, and the recruit would have to be removed from the team, with their memories of Lyoko being erased. The Belchers did not reveal the secret to anyone outside of the Lyoko Warriors, proving that they could be trusted. With that in mind, it would be hard to find someone who could be loyal to the entire team. Loyalty and trust were hard to come by sometimes.
"Looking for a potential member?"
Turning around, Louise saw Henry sitting at the same table as her and her siblings. She figured that he would show up, considering that he had lunch during the same period as the Belchers. In fact, as a fellow Lyoko Warrior, the spectacled brunette was also given the task to form an away team to use the supercomputers in a situation where the rest of the team was unable to head to the lab. Given his question, Louise could tell that he wasn't having much luck as well.
"We haven't found someone yet." Louise spoke.
"Neither have I." Henry said. "Why can't the away team just consist of the four of us?"
"Like Jeremy said, we need all the help we can get." Gene spoke.
"But where are we going to find someone?" Tina asked. "How will we know if they can be trusted?"
"Good questions." Henry said. "Finding someone who wouldn't give away the secret is harder than it sounds."
"We can forget about Tammy and Jocelyn." Louise said. "They're too dumb to keep a secret."
"And so are Jimmy Junior and Zeke." Gene stated.
"You take that back!" Tina said, slightly raising her voice.
"I mean, I like them, but they might give away the secret." The eleven-year-old said.
"Look," Henry sighed, "we should look for someone who's interested in joining after lunch. In the meantime, we should come up with a name for the away team."
Once the bell rang, lunch ended, causing Henry and the Belcher kids to split up for the time being. As such, they had to look for anyone interested in joining their away team. Needless to say, it was easier said than done, as Tina, Gene and Louise had to look for someone who wouldn't tell everyone about Lyoko. In addition to that, some of the classmates weren't the sharpest knife in the drawer, which made it more frustrating to find a potential member of the team. Henry was likely having the same problem, given that a majority of students rarely spoke to him. It was a different case if he were in one of the clubs he signed up for, such as Chess Club.
Louise remembered that they needed to come up with a name for the away team. Naming it the New Lyoko Warriors wasn't good enough, as it felt unoriginal and derivative. Tina and Gene thought about it all day, even writing down several naming options. Once they were out of class, the Belcher kids met up in the library, deciding to discuss the names they came up with. Henry was already there, so they didn't need to try and look for him. It was lucky enough, considering how Wagstaff would be letting the students out at any minute.
"Did you find anyone, Henry?" Louise asked.
"No." Henry said. "Have any of you come up with a name?"
"I've written several down." Gene spoke. "So has Tina."
"One I came up with is the Digital Defenders." Tina said.
"Anything else?" Henry asked.
"I came up with the Super Warriors." Gene said. "Another name I came up with is the Cyber Kids."
"I have come up with none." Louise said.
"Was kinda hoping that you would have one." Henry said. "By that, I mean that I hoped you would have one that didn't sound like the title of a mockbuster."
"Coming up with a name to an additional team is harder than it looks." The nine-year-old said. "It's even harder than finding someone who's trustworthy and can benefit the team."
"Well, one of us has to have an idea." Tina said. "It should be something simple, such as -!"
"The New Jersey Devils?"
Turning their heads, Henry and the Belcher kids saw Sissi sitting at the next table over. Clearly, she was listening in on their conversation.
"Oh, hi Sissi." Tina greeted.
"Why do you think the away team should be called that?" Louise asked.
"Why not?" Sissi said. "I mean, we're in New Jersey, a famous urban legend in the state concerns the New Jersey Devil, and it's also home to the team that was known as the Bay Area Bullies in the 70s."
"You mean Broad Street Bullies." Henry spoke. "And you're thinking of the Philadelphia Fliers."
"Whatever." The brunette said. "Why don't you guys put out a poster asking if someone's interested in joining the away team?"
"Because Jeremy wouldn't allow it." Tina spoke. "We can't mention Lyoko on the poster, and it's hard to find someone who wouldn't blab about the factory."
"Just put that you're forming a club and looking for members to make it big enough to be official." The teen said. "At the same time, try to disguise it as an independent study group."
"Hopefully, it's more believable this time." Louise said, remembering that she and her siblings lied about an independent study group that made them get out of physical education, though it escalated to them having to do a synchronized swimming routine.
By the end of the day, the Belcher siblings went home, thinking about making posters that could attract their classmates. At the same time, they would have to convince the staff that it was a legitimate club, despite the fact that it was what the kids needed to make a larger army against X.A.N.A. They weren't forming a club, but rather a division of trainees in a secret war. Louise knew this, Gene knew this, and Tina knew this. If they couldn't get the away team formed, then they would be at a disadvantage against X.A.N.A. Nothing would be able to stop him if the entire team was incapacitated.
The next day, the Belcher kids were walking down the hallway, carrying stacks of papers with them. Each piece of paper was a poster that would help them recruit people into the away team. Having made them in the library, Tina, Gene and Louise made sure that they were easy to read. On the posters were instructions to meet the siblings at the first lunch period, so that they could be interviewed. However, they were disguised as invitations to a club, so that the school staff would not get suspicious. Those who saw it would likely think that the "club" was just a suggestion that did not get accepted.
When they ran out of posters, Tina, Gene and Louise went to class. An hour later, the first lunch period arrived, meaning that there would be kids lined up to join the club. Deciding to sit at the table they usually sat at, the Belchers waited for anyone to come by and ask to be let in. Of course, the siblings would have to whisper what the true purpose of the club was and tell the visitor that it was a secret they could not give away. That depended on who visited the table, as the siblings knew they had to be careful when they spoke about Lyoko. It would be hard to dance around the subject with potential new members, but it was something they had to be careful about.
Throughout the period, the Belcher kids had not been visited by a single person. It would seem that their posters had been ignored, with those who had seen it thinking it was a prank. Louise usually pulled pranks, but this was something serious. If the siblings did not get enough people in their away team, then X.A.N.A would be able to outmatch the Lyoko Warriors during the next mission. The evil AI would be able to take over the world if he defeated the entire team, and that was something they couldn't let happen. A secret war was happening, so they needed all the help they could get.
Once lunch had ended, Tina, Gene and Louise left the cafeteria, frustrated over not being able to find anyone interested in joining their away team. Maybe it was for the best, as it was hard to find anyone trustworthy at Wagstaff. They figured that adding Bob and Linda to the team would work, as they were their parents. If anyone else wanted to join, then the siblings would have to make sure they wouldn't give away the secret. Contacting Jeremy and the others for their approval wasn't out of the question, considering how important it was to the Lyoko Warriors. If only the Belcher siblings could get the away team together.
Passing by the computer lab, Gene noticed Henry standing by the door. Tina and Louise stopped when they noticed their brother next to the room's entrance. On the door was a note that said "The computers are down for maintenance!" on it. Seeing it puzzled the Belchers, while Henry had some suspicions. What was wrong with the computers in the computer lab? Did Jeremy know what to do?
"That's weird." Gene spoke. "Were the computers acting up yesterday?"
"No, only one was acting up." Henry spoke. "By the time class was over, Jeremy said that he would get in contact with someone who works here to see if they would be able to get the computers to a repair shop."
"Where is Jeremy, anyway?" Louise asked.
"In the teacher's lounge." The spectacled brunette said. "How has the search been going?"
"Not good." Tina spoke. "No one came to our table and said they wanted to join."
"We'll keep looking, though." Louise said.
"My search hasn't been successful as well." Henry said. "People assume that it's some stereotypical nerd thing. We should probably head to class now before anyone gets suspicious."
"Yes, let's go resume our grey, boring lives as students." The nine-year-old said.
"It's not all that boring." Tina spoke.
"Especially when there's a fun subject in class!" Gene said.
As Henry and the Belchers split up, Jimmy Junior and Zeke walked by. The two were heading to their normal classes, until they heard the spectacled brunette speaking with the siblings. Neither one of the athletes paid a whole lot of attention to the conversation, so they were lost. However, they did hear something about Tina, Gene, and Louise forming a team of some kind. Given that they were speaking to Henry, it wasn't hard to see that he was with them. With the four splitting up and heading to their next classes, Jimmy Junior and Zeke were unable to ask them about their conversation.
"What were they talking about?" Jimmy Junior asked.
"They said something about a team, so maybe they're doing something for Spirit Week." Zeke said.
"Zeke, that can't be it." The orange-headed boy said. "There's something strange going on here. Every so often, Tina, Gene and Louise walk out of school with Henry and the new tutors, and before I can ask what they're doing, some weird flash swallows the world and causes the day to restart."
"You think that our friends have crazy time travel skills?" The brunette asked.
"I don't know, but we need to find out what's going on. When school is over, we'll find out where they've been going."
Meanwhile, in the computer lab, a repairman was taking a look at the computers. He had received a call from Mr. Frond concerning the strange things that were happening to them. As he turned on each of them, the man noticed that each of the computers had a blue screen, which then turned into bright, loud static. In the static, there was a strange symbol being formed. Finding this odd, the repairman decided to call in backup, just in case he couldn't handle this alone. Computers having a blue screen was one thing, but static never followed it.
Before he could call for backup, the repairman found himself shocked by lightning. It was coming from the computers, all while the strange symbol was still being formed on each screen. He then felt something in his throat, thinking that he was choking on his own blood. However, the man dropped to the floor, feeling a powerful force surging through his veins. The force wasn't just powerful, but it also felt monstrous. It was almost as if pure evil was being pumped into the repairman's body, like how doctors would pump patients full of new blood.
Once the lightning had faded, the repairman stood up, then faced the door. He let out a groan, but it sounded distorted, almost sounding like a noise a demon would make. In the man's eyes, there was static, which slowly formed the strange symbol he had seen on the computers. This symbol was none other than the Eye of X.A.N.A, meaning that he was now possessed. Now that he was under X.A.N.A's control, the repairman's priority changed from fixing the computers to finding and killing those who dared to challenge his new master. He just needed to get them together.
In the library, the Lyoko Warriors were waiting to speak to the students they had been assigned. However, that was not the only reason they were in the library. Jeremy had been hoping to speak with Henry and the Belcher kids, as it was their job to form an away team in case something happened to the main team. There were posters up in the hallway, asking for people to join a new club. With that in mind, Jeremy figured that they were an attempt to round up enough people to form the away team. Or, perhaps Mr. Frond had decided to form a club to suit his needs.
The door to the library came open, with Tina being the one to open it. Louise, Gene, and Henry entered the room, looking somewhat disgruntled. Pulling the door shut, Tina entered the room as well. Her expression was a bit happier than the others, but she looked disgruntled like how they did.
"So, how's the away team coming?" Odd spoke.
"Crappy!" Louise said. "We haven't gotten a single person to join it!"
"And we don't have a name for it, either!" Tina spoke.
"Maybe you shouldn't have written that it was a secret club on your posters." Ulrich said. "That can lead to a LOT of implications."
"Have you tried asking someone to join the away team?" Aelita asked.
"We can't do that without talking about Lyoko." Henry said. "It's far too risky."
"It's risky business, like what some people do in private!" Gene spoke.
"Gene." Ulrich said, rolling his eyes.
"Well," Jeremy spoke, "if it makes you feel better, my day hasn't been much better. The computers Wagstaff keeps in the computer lab aren't working, so we had to call a repairman."
"I figured that something was up." Henry said.
All of a sudden, there was a knocking sound on the door. However, it was then kicked open by the repairman who Wagstaff had called in. The loud noise startled everyone, including the often inattentive Mr. Ambrose. While the sound was bad enough, there was something else going on with the repairman, considering how violently he entered the library.
"Who's that?" Tina asked.
"It's the repairman who was brought in." Jeremy said.
"Aren't repairmen supposed to fix things and not break them?" Odd asked.
"Yeah, because he just smashed the door." Yumi spoke.
The repairman then ran up to the table, an electric shock forming in his hand. With that in mind, the Lyoko Warriors saw that he had been possessed by X.A.N.A, with his eyes displaying the signature symbol of the malignant AI. Seeing as the X.A.N.A-possessed worker could attack at any moment, Jeremy knew that some of the team would have to stay behind, while the rest went to the lab. The electric current formed in the repairman's hand was inches away from the team, which meant that they had little time. X.A.N.A was intent on killing all of them, but Jeremy wasn't going to let that happen. The Lyoko Warriors needed to act, and they had to be quick.
Rushing towards the X.A.N.A-possessed repairman, Jeremy tackled him. Odd, Ulrich, and William went to help him, trying to keep the possessed man from getting back up. Yumi went to Mr. Ambrose, trying to keep him out of harm's way. Sissi looked at Aelita for a moment, then signaled for her to leave the library with Henry and the Belcher kids. Aelita nodded her head, then had the others run out of the room with her, while Sissi picked up something to defend herself with. Even if it killed her, there was no way she was letting X.A.N.A's new minion escape.
Leading Henry, Tina, Gene, and Louise out of Wagstaff, Aelita began to run to the direction of the factory. With the rest of the Lyoko Warriors preoccupied, it was time for the incomplete away team to head to Lyoko. Henry was in charge of using the supercomputer, while the others would be Virtualized in order to fight X.A.N.A's monsters and reach the Tower. Jeremy had left notes near the supercomputer, so that whoever used it knew what to do. Aelita knew how to use it, but she had to head to Lyoko in order to deactivate the Tower that was under X.A.N.A's control. With that in mind, it was up to Henry to be mission control while the others fought their nemesis.
Once they reached the factory, Henry and Aelita entered, intent on getting to the lab. Louise followed them, hoping to get the mission done as quickly as possible. Gene hoped that there wouldn't be a whole lot of monsters on Lyoko, considering that there would only be four Virtualized into there. He followed the others inside the factory, wishing that the rest of the team would be able to come. Tina was the last to enter the factory, reluctant to be Virtualized. She knew that she would have to go, as it couldn't be just Aelita, Gene, and Louise on the Sector where the Tower had been activated.
Tina was about to walk to the lab when she noticed two silhouettes outside the factory. At first, she thought it was Bob and Linda, thinking that Jeremy had called them for the mission. However, it could've also been the repairman holding a member of the team hostage, which made Tina afraid for their safety. If either came in, the thirteen-year-old would have to handle the situation.
"Hey Tina." A voice rang out.
Looking past the factory's entrance, Tina saw Jimmy Junior and Zeke standing nearby. While she would have been glad to see them (mainly Jimmy Junior) in any other situation, she was actually surprised. It was odd to see them near the factory, considering that it wasn't like the last factory they hung out in. Of course, the abandoned taffy factory didn't have a computer lab underneath. Even with that in mind, Tina wondered why her crush and his friend were at the factory. Had they come to make the factory to make it their new hangout, ignorant of its dark secret?
"Jimmy Junior, Zeke, what are you doing here?" Tina asked.
"That's what we were going to ask." Jimmy Junior said.
"Yeah, girl, what's going on?" Zeke spoke. "Every time something goes wrong, you, your brother, and your sisters run off. And when it seems like everything is gonna die, something happens and fixes the damage!"
Tina's eyes widened when she heard that. How did Jimmy Junior and Zeke have memories of each X.A.N.A attack that required a Return To The Past to fix? More importantly, why did Zeke have memories of these dangerous attacks? Was it like how the Belcher family had dreams about Lyoko before they found the lab? Could dreaming about Lyoko without knowing what it was be common for the citizens of Seymour's Bay? Was it all just a crazy coincidence?
"Do you guys have a time machine in there?" Jimmy Junior asked.
"Or are you superheroes?" Zeke guessed. "Did you find an anomaly in the space-time continuum that keeps rewinding stuff before anyone can save the day?"
"I can't make anything up," Tina spoke, "so I'm going to show you what we've been up to. But, only on one condition: You don't tell ANYONE about what you see."
Inside the lab, Henry was at the supercomputer, watching over the mission. He had Virtualized Aelita, Gene and Louise, and was intent on Virtualizing Tina when she came in. The Tower was in the Forest Sector, so it wasn't hard for the spectacled brunette to find. No one had encountered a monster yet, but they had to keep an eye out for them in case of an incoming fight. If Aelita was Devirtualized before she reached the Tower, then the mission was a failure. However, if the others were Devirtualized, then Aelita had to deactivate the Tower as quickly as possible.
Upon hearing the door open, Henry assumed that Tina was by herself.
"There you are." He spoke. "We should get you to Lyoko before the others get Devirtualized."
"Yeah, but I brought some extra muscle with me." Tina said.
Turning around, Henry saw that Tina was not by herself. Rather, she was with Jimmy Junior and Zeke, who had likely come to mess around. With that in mind, Henry felt as though the mission would be ruined with the two athletes around. Despite that, neither one of them looked like they would do anything malicious. In fact, they seemed to be wowed by their surroundings.
"Holy moly, this place looks like a movie set!" Zeke spoke.
"You weren't kidding when you said there was technology under here." Jimmy Junior said.
"Tina, what are THEY doing here?" Henry asked.
"Don't worry, they're not going to ruin anything." Tina said. "They're just curious about what we've been up to with the tutors."
"Speaking of the tutors, where are they?" Jimmy Junior asked.
"Most of them are back at school, dealing with a possessed repairman." Henry said. "As for Aelita, she's on Lyoko."
"Possessed?" Zeke asked.
"To make a long story short," Tina explained, "this lab contains a supercomputer that has a virtual world on it. Not only does it have six Sectors, but it has monsters and an evil virus named X.A.N.A who wants to destroy us all! Not only that, but X.A.N.A can attack the real world and possess people!"
"This sounds like it would be a pretty good book." Jimmy Junior said.
"Well, it's real." Henry said. "Tina, head for the Scanners, because the others need all the help they can get! Hopefully, we'll be able to get the mission done before the repairman can get loose."
Back at Wagstaff, the Lyoko Warriors (minus Aelita) were still holding the X.A.N.A-possessed repairman down, trying to keep him from escaping. The Belcher kids were probably at the factory with Henry and Aelita by now, so it was up to them to get the mission done. If the repairman escaped, then the team would have to chase after him, so that he couldn't halt the mission. Even if they couldn't beat the repairman to the factory, then they hoped that someone would be at the door, willing to fight X.A.N.A's temporary minion. The best fighter would have to be Louise, as Gene and Tina hadn't fought as much as she has on Lyoko. Henry would be busy at the supercomputer, meaning that he couldn't fight the repairman and work it at the same time.
Suddenly, the repairman threw the Lyoko Warriors off of him, then began to run for the door. As they had only been knocked down, the team got back on their feet and gave chase. They were not willing to let X.A.N.A defeat the others and ruin the mission, so they needed to be quick. Unless the mission was completed before the teens got to the factory, then the world was in danger.
Inside the Forest Sector, Aelita, Gene, and Louise were running to the Tower. So far, they had not fought any of X.A.N.A's monsters, so they were doing well. However, something didn't feel right. It was as if they were being led into a trap. If so, then what could X.A.N.A have planted for them? Were monsters going to jump out from behind the Tower, then open fire once Aelita and the Belchers when they were near? Was the ground of the sector going to be destroyed, throwing everyone into the Digital Sea?
A laser zoomed by, almost hitting Louise in her face. Turning her head, she saw several Roachsters approaching. Upon seeing them, the nine-year-old got out her throwing knives, intent on destroying the monsters before they could ruin the mission. Gene took out his blaster, so he could fight off his enemies. Aelita, seeing as the Roachsters weren't the biggest threat, decided to head to the Tower. If she saw something else, she would warn the Belcher siblings about the incoming threat.
Before Aelita could head to the Tower, she heard a familiar noise coming from behind it. Looking behind the structure, the pink-haired teen saw several Tarantulas approaching. The spider-like monsters skittered on the ground, their cannon-like appendages slamming with each step. Upon seeing them, Aelita knew that Gene and Louise would have to be prepared for X.A.N.A's deadlier monsters. The first time the Lyoko Warriors had encountered one, it managed to Devirtualize a majority of them, except for Aelita. Of course, this was at the time where they didn't know she was a human.
"I'll head into the Tower!" Aelita spoke. "Be careful, you two!"
Once they had slain the enemies surrounding them, Gene and Louise heard a strange noise. Looking over to where the Tower was, they saw a spider-like monster approaching them. In response, Louise threw one of her knives, intent on hitting the creature in its weak spot. However, the knife only flew around the Tarantula, leaving it unharmed. Gene opened fire with his blaster, but none of the blasts hit it on the right area. With none of their attacks working, the Belcher siblings would have to get closer to X.A.N.A's monster.
Right as the Tarantula was near Gene and Louise, it opened fire at them. One of its attacks was thrown back at it, though neither one of its enemies were the ones to deflect it. Standing far from her siblings and the monster, Tina held her staff by her side, its tip sizzling. After that, the brunette ran to help her brother and sister fight the Tarantula. Since they were close to the spider-like creature, all they needed to do was hit the Eye of X.A.N.A on its head. It was the only way for them to defeat the big creature.
Standing in the entrance of the factory, Jimmy Junior and Zeke were tasked with keeping an eye out for the X.A.N.A-possessed repairman. If he was the first to arrive, then the preteens would have to keep him from entering the lab. If the Lyoko Warriors arrived before the possessed worker, then they would be allowed into the lab. Either way, Jimmy Junior would be the one to greet whoever arrived, while Zeke would be told to attack them if they were up to something evil. They didn't fully understand the situation, but that didn't mean the athletes couldn't fight evil. While they wouldn't be able to save the day, they were willing to try.
"Hey, I see something!" Jimmy Junior spoke.
Looking to the side with his friend, Zeke saw several silhouettes running towards the factory. To his relief, it was the Lyoko Warriors, meaning that they had beaten the X.A.N.A-possessed repairman to the building. However, the team was surprised to see the athletes standing in the doorway. Some of them tutored the two, but they never thought that they would be at the factory. Perhaps Tina had an explanation for this.
"Glad you guys are here!" Zeke spoke.
"Us?" Jeremy asked. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We were curious as to what was going on, so Tina told us everything." Jimmy Junior said.
"Kinda figured Tina had something to do with this." Yumi spoke, rolling her eyes.
"Wait, why are you two standing out here?" Odd asked.
"Henry told us to keep an eye out for you and the evil repairman." Zeke said. "If he comes, we'll kick his ass!"
"You guys should get down to the lab!" Jimmy Junior said. "The others are waiting on you!"
Before the Lyoko Warriors could enter, there was the sound of static. The X.A.N.A-possessed repairman had arrived, and he was gathering a ball of lightning in his hand. He gave off a demented smirk, even letting out an evil chuckle. Jimmy Junior and Zeke rushed at the possessed worker, causing the ball of lightning in his hand to disperse. He struggled to get the athletes off of him, but it wasn't having much effect. The Lyoko Warriors watched as this happened, having not expected someone possessed by X.A.N.A to be brought down by two wrestlers so easily.
"We'll hold him off, get to Tina and the others!" Jimmy Junior said.
"Yeah, and tell them to keep kicking some X.A.N.A butt!" Zeke added.
Nodding their heads, the Lyoko Warriors rushed towards the door to the lab. Once they got there, Jeremy would take over from Henry and see how the mission was going. If the away team was doing well, then no one else would have to be Virtualized. However, if the mission was failing, then the rest of them team would be Virtualized. Either way, Jeremy wanted to speak with Tina. She did, after all, tell her crush and his friend everything without confirmation that they wouldn't give out the secret.
Henry was still at the computer, watching over the mission. Aelita was inside the Tower, while Tina, Gene, and Louise were fighting the Tarantula. The Belcher siblings had taken damage with their battle against one of X.A.N.A's deadlier monsters. While Tina had taken two hits of damage, Gene had taken four hits and Louise had taken six hits. If they continued to take damage, then they would be Devirtualized. Even if Aelita deactivated the Tower before that happened, she would still have to deal with the Tarantula.
Upon hearing footsteps, Henry turned his head and saw the Lyoko Warriors enter the lab. Jeremy approached the supercomputer, taking over from the spectacled brunette. The rest of the team stood by, waiting for an order to head to the Scanners. If the mission was going south, then Jeremy would tell them.
"Aelita, have you deactivated the Tower yet?" Jeremy spoke into the headset.
"Not yet," Aelita's voice came out of the headset, "but I'm about to input the code. Shall we do a Return To The Past?"
"That depends on what happens afterwards." The spectacled blonde said. "However, when we're done, I have a few things to say to Tina."
Back in the Forest Sector, Tina, Gene, and Louise were still fighting the Tarantula. While they had gotten a few hits on it, they hadn't been able to destroy the monster. It opened fire again, aiming its cannons at the Belcher siblings. Tina and Louise were able to dodge, but Gene was taken down by X.A.N.A's monster. He was Devirtualized in a near-instant, each blast he received being powerful enough to do so. With him being sent back to Earth, only Tina and Louise were left to deal with the Tarantula.
Jumping in the air, Tina was intent on hitting the Eye of X.A.N.A on the Tarantula's head. Once she hit it, the monster let out a distorted growl as it exploded. With it dead, Louise figured that the mission was as good as over. Aelita was inside the Tower, while all of X.A.N.A's monsters were destroyed. However, the Tower needed to be deactivated, so that their digital enemy could be stopped for the time being.
As the Belcher children fought with X.A.N.A's monsters outside, Aelita knew that she was in the clear. She floated up to the panel above, then began to access the Tower's data. Once that happened, a holographic screen appeared in front of the pink-haired teen. This allowed her to input Code: Lyoko into the screen. When that was out of the way, the light on top of the tower changed from red to white, signaling that it had been deactivated. X.A.N.A's attack ended for the time being, though whether a Return To The Past was necessary had yet to be decided.
With the Lyoko Warriors having gone inside the factory, Jimmy Junior and Zeke were left to deal with the possessed repairman. Even though they held him down for as long as they could, X.A.N.A's temporary minion threw them off of him. In response, the athletes decided to fight him in order to defend the others. He shot balls of lightning at Zeke, but the brunette was able to jump away, avoiding serious damage. Jimmy Junior swung a piece of metal at the possessed worker, only for it to get electrified. Needless to say, the lisp-having preteen dropped the metal before he could get seriously injured.
Before anything else could happen, the repairman groaned and put a hand to his head. Jimmy Junior and Zeke braced themselves, thinking that he was going to attack again. However, he started to look around, as if he were looking for something. This was a sharp contrast to how he acted before.
"Where am I?" The repairman asked, his voice sounding normal.
"You're in front of the abandoned dog food factory." Jimmy Junior spoke.
"You went jogging, then you collapsed." Zeke spoke. "Thank goodness we found you, because you still gotta work on the computers at school!"
His eyes widening, the repairman began to run back to Wagstaff, fearing for his job. When he was gone, Jimmy Junior and Zeke walked into the factory, wanting to see if everyone was alright. They didn't know where to go until they saw an open door, which they assumed led to the lab. Going through the door, the athletes saw the Lyoko Warriors with Henry and the Belcher children. While most of them were standing to the side, Jeremy was talking with Tina and her siblings. Henry was standing nearby, essentially being a spectator to the conversation. Needless to say, the entire group saw Jimmy Junior and Zeke, but were preoccupied.
"Tina, you cannot just let someone in the team because you know them." Jeremy spoke. "You have to know who you can trust and you must make sure that whoever you pick won't give away the secret to everyone in the world. Being on the team is serious business, not the newest trend!"
"Whoah, hold up!" Zeke spoke. "You can trust us, friend. We kept that crazy mechanic from coming in here and killing you guys!"
"Besides, this is our fault." Jimmy Junior said. "We only wanted to know what you guys were doing. Tina had nothing to do with this."
"Thank you for your honesty." Jeremy said, facing them. "But, even if we can trust you, that doesn't change that you were snooping on something that is dangerous beyond your understanding."
"Let's not forget that you didn't come to us at lunch and ask to be in the away team." Henry spoke.
"Well, now we want to be in this away team thingy!" Zeke said. "Like you guys have told us, that computer is housing something evil, and we're not gonna let it destroy all that we love!"
"Besides, you guys need some extra muscle, so that whatever that X.A.N.A guy throws at us can be slowed down a little." Jimmy Junior said.
"They do have a point, Jeremy." Odd spoke. "Two teams at once would be better than one."
"But we'll have to make sure they don't fall victim to X.A.N.A's powers every so often." Ulrich said.
"I guess we could all take turns acting as a coach for the away team." Jeremy said. "However, we cannot Virtualize Jimmy Junior or Zeke yet. We can still save their memories to the supercomputer, rendering them immune to the Return To The Past, but that will be it for now."
"But, before we do that, we need to know what you'll call yourselves." Aelita spoke to the away team. "Have you decided on a name yet?"
"We were thinking on 'New Jersey Devils', because I want to show X.A.N.A what happens when you mess with the good guys!" Gene said.
"We might get sued by the hockey team." Henry spoke.
"Or by the Devil himself." Louise said.
"Now that the away team has decided on their name," Jeremy spoke, "Jimmy Junior, Zeke, head for the Scanners."
"Alright, but one more thing before we go through with this!" Jimmy Junior said.
"What's that?" Yumi asked.
"J Ju and I only found out about this because we kept getting caught in the rewind." Zeke said. "Even if you didn't add us to the computer, we would've remembered what happened."
The Lyoko Warriors were shocked when they heard this, even as Jeremy added Jimmy Junior and Zeke to the supercomputer. A Return To The Past was triggered, as to fix the damages done at Wagstaff. Once the day restarted, however, two teams were now together: the Lyoko Warriors and the New Jersey Devils. The first team were still shocked about what the two new recruits told them. If they remembered everything that happened before a Return To The Past, then could anyone else remember something before it was triggered? If so, then they needed to find out who else was capable of doing so. For now, they knew they had to help the new team with certain things, so that X.A.N.A didn't gain an advantage over them.
Inside Lyoko, the Towers were inactive, with no monsters in sight. However, that did not mean that it was quiet inside the virtual world. From deep within the Fifth Sector, a shadow moved through, going past a Tower. It stopped moving, overlooking its surroundings.
"So, there's a new team?" A voice spoke. "This will be fun, knowing that there are two new recruits. If I can just eliminate these threats, nothing will stop the devastation that will strike the Earth!"
Note: Just who can that be who spoke? Is it X.A.N.A, or is there another threat from within Lyoko? Now that there is a new team, will they be the ones to launch a mission and a Return To The Past next? What could be in store for them during the next mission? Will they be alone, or will one of the Lyoko Warriors assist them? Is there something else going on without them knowing?
Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!
