Chosen

United States
California

"Wow, isn't this great!"

Far from the eight hours ahead activities in France or the mysterious plotting in the digital worlds unknown to almost everyone, Meredith Logan High School was abuzz with activity and preparations. Situated between the city of Berkeley and Briones Regional Park it was considered one of the best high schools in the United States of America, not only for its high educational standards set by the staff but also for its ability to organize a wide variety of events from music concerts to sports tournaments.

In the eyes of many, it was considered the literal definition of a rich kid's school, right to the point it was considered as more of a luxury hotel than a school, complete with a golf course, an artificial river, winding footpaths and a six-story building shaped like a horseshoe.

Having returned from the holidays the whole school had been surprised when the school was invaded by trucks and caravans, off-loading supplies for another school wide event but this was no ordinary event.

SUB DIGITALS LIVE CONCERT

"It was really worth the effort to return to school a day early."

The girl who spoke was named Suzy, losing herself in the excitement of having a concert thrown by her idols right at her school.

"I can see it now!" Echoed a second girl named Jennifer. "Hey look, you can see the stage. Holy cow, it's HUGE!"

The third girl, Eva Skinner turned to face her two friends while rolling her blue eyes and eyelashes that would have turned the heads of many of the school's male students. "Sure, it's big but the stage at Los Angeles was at least twice the size."

It went without saying though that she was the only one who had been blessed with the chance to actually go to the concert in Los Angeles where the Sub-Digitals had performed in front of thousands of people. As a result, she had found herself elected as president of the fan club without having even tried to run for the position and was qualified to judge the work of the band's roadies.

Fans.

Suzy sighed. "My father had promised to take me as well, but he had a conflicting appointment at the last minute."

"Yeah, but to win your forgiveness he bought you a pony for Christmas." Jennifer reminded to which Suzy blanched.

"Yeah, and I loathe horses. They stink."

"Anyway, the stage is nowhere near as big." Eva said, immediately turning the conversation back to the important subject. "And the lighting array is smaller. Plus, at Los Angeles, the concert was in evening, not in the afternoon. Can you imagine it? In the dark the image they projected of Gardenia reached as high as the stars."

"I wish I could have been there!" Suzy grieved before searching her handbag and pulled out a digital camera. "Shall we take some photos? So, we can post them on the Music-Oh forums?"

Eva didn't look enthused. "There's only three hours to the concert and in that time, I have to take a shower, style my hair, apply my makeup and pick out my dress. I have no time for-"

"But you're the president!" The smile on Suzy's face did not belong on someone that innocent looking. "Certain responsibilities fall to you."

Eva sulked but relented. "Fine."

The Choice

The Web

When Megabyte came to, he found himself in what could only be described as the base of these…Web Riders. Once he was sure he was safe, it was easy to infect them with his new viral abilities, either a gift from the Web or from XANA. One by one, he infected each Web Rider and deleted a few just to set an example.

If only he had such abilities before he could have easily deleted Bob.

Speaking of…

He remembered that thanks to the crushing of his Keytool, Megabyte had a piece of Bob's code in him. Not only that, but XANA had given him the code for those polymorphic specters he frequently used in the real…No, the User world.

Saying it was the real world was a delusion of the Users.

Megabyte was real.

And he would soon show everyone.

Megabyte closed his eyes and pictured that wretched Guardian who had practically stalked him across systems from the Supercomputer as Gigabyte to Mainframe as Megabyte. He opened his eyes….

And smashed the mirror with an enraged snarl as he saw that cursed Guardian standing in it.

He knew it wasn't the real Bob, but he couldn't help himself.

His rage had festered so much that he had almost lost all sense of control. Megabyte looked down and saw the blue uniform Bob used to wear. He felt hair on his head, and his skin was a light blue. He had everything except for the Key Tool 'Glitch' itself.

Still, his new ability would be extremely useful for what is to come.

For a nano, Megabyte considered forgoing his new 'partnership' and leave XANA to rot in the sea filled dimension he was trapped in but Megabyte's desire for power was just as strong as his desire for revenge and in time XANA could grow powerful enough to conquer all worlds, the User and Digital worlds to be precise. Megabyte had no intention of being usurped and thus it was beneficial to continue this agreement until such time he and XANA had no further use for each other. So, Megabyte had a Web Rider return him to the structure where he had met XANA and he returned to the chamber. Like before touched it and watched the room begin to shift and the door with the Eye of XANA began to open.

As soon as the doors opened, the dark misty form of XANA appeared, shaping itself into a sphere with the Eye in the center, and slowly approached Megabyte. 'You returned.'

"But of course. I would not dare to leave my new partner to scrap." Megabyte said softly, flexing his new claws. "Your little gift turned out to be even greater than I had imagined. But of course, we still have to consider what our plans are going to be."

'I have a possibly strategy.' XANA stated.

"Oh?"

'In addition to the initial plans that were discussed earlier, I propose that we can make use of the systems here in the Net.' XANA stated. 'Specifically, their system cores.'

"I see. Each core is equipped with a control chamber that can be used to alter the system into anything the one who rules it desires." Megabyte mused. "Of course, I doubt that this is your intention."

'Correct.'

"And so, what is your plan?"

'If the cores are literal heart of the system software of each computerized system to exist, they can be used to help enhance my own power and with sufficient numbers they can contruct a brand-new operating core for my programming but that is only the first stage. A system core from what you have shown me, shows the potential to be modified into a tower, specifically the towers that are key to my method of attack in the real world.' XANA explained.

"You think you can modify the cores of these systems into a tower?" Megabyte questioned.

'Negative. The cores by themselves are too small and inefficient to be successfully converted into a tower.' XANA answered.

Megabyte frowned. "Then what use are they?"

'On their own, they are useless but together these processing cores can be used as the building template independent from Lyoko's core programming.' XANA explained. 'Thus, not even Aelita, Lyoko's guardian who holds the key to deactivating its towers would be able to deactivate this new proposed one.'

Ah, the towers that XANA used to infect and attack the User world.

Now Megabyte could see the strategy XANA was planning; eliminating the most useful method his enemies use to stop his attacks and they are virtually helpless.

Ambitious

Cunning

High chance of complete and utter destruction

Megabyte could safely say he found the perfect business partner. "I see but first you would need to gain access to these cores. How do you plan to do that?"

'Through the resources you have shown me.' XANA answered, much to Megabyte's confusion. 'Viruses.'

Megabyte's eyes widened but then narrowed. "So, upgrade other viruses like me and set them loose on the systems…Intriguing. But of course, there is still the matter of you lacking a world like Lyoko to build this tower."

'Fortunately, while you were, I found the perfect host.' A series of screens appeared around Megabyte and XANA and one of them closed in on a teenage girl with blond hair and blue eyes. 'Her.'

"This one?" Megabyte raised an eyebrow. "Out of the all the users you could take, you choose a child as your host?"

'She is the right age as my enemies which would allow to attend the same school as them without suspicion, she is a frequent visitor on the digital domain that has hosted one of my fragments, she has the resources and connections to apply for a transfer to their school and she is also a female.'

"And how is that relevant?" Megabyte questioned.

'One of my enemies has displayed a frequent interest in the female gender.'

Megabyte raised an eyebrow. "One of your reasons is to play on the weakness of a teenage boy…I am both impressed and disturbed by how simple you state your reasons."

'They are logical.'

"Oh, I am sure they are." Megabyte looked over his nails. "Still, far be it for me to question essentially turning the weaknesses of your enemies against them."

'In any case, this child, Eva Skinner is the perfect host. Through her, we will both shape our destinies.' XANA stated. 'My chosen.'

Not the little boy Massachusetts.

Not even the young man with the private jet.

Her.

'And of course, Megabyte there is the possibility of the prototypes you mentioned.' XANA continued. 'If you wish, I can send you to a host in the User world as well.'

Megabyte eyes went wide, absolutely shocked by what his new partner had proposed.

Him, possessing a User?

The very idea, it was beyond anything the power-hungry virus could have dreamed of.

Infecting the Super-Computer and ruling the Net had always been his greatest ambition but this?

A chance to stand in the Heavens and strike the beings the people of the Net considered to be Gods down and achieve ultimate power…

It was enough to stun even Megabyte himself.

'Before we do that, I will first scout out systems for potential viruses to upgrade in the same manner as I have you. Those viruses will be useful in isolating systems and connecting their core energy to me once I have a virtual world to sustain myself again.' XANA continued. 'Once enough viruses have been upgraded, we can proceed with the next stage of the plan.'

Dozens of screens appeared around Megabyte, showing many Users, all of them unsuspecting of the fact they were being spied upon.

'These are all the potential Users to possess along with their information that has been gathered and compiled for you to read.' XANA explained. 'I won't be long.'

The red Eye vanished into the cloud of smoke that shot through the tunnel of the other side of the chamber, leaving Megabyte alone to choose his host. Megabyte narrowed his eyes and carefully considered who to possess.

Users, Humans, they were remarkably and pathetically fragile.

He would have to choose wisely.

The Web was a digital environment XANA never believed could exist.

An environment composed entirely of corrupted data, making it nearly impossible for any type of programming to thrive. There were no apparent separate systems in the Web, it was simply a continuous flow of energy and data. XANA himself could admit the Web's chaotic and corrupted environment could be harmful even to him in his current state but he was better able to survive here than a virus could. He had already copied the anti-viral coding he had found in Megabyte, creating a form of protection from the Web's harmful effects.

Still, it was not a place he would like to stay in for very long.

As he explored this so-called Web he briefly wondered if he could convert it into a Replica of sorts. Unlike his other Replicas that required a supercomputer to exist, the Web and the Net seemed to exist as a form of cyberspace in every single computer and while not all of them were supercomputers aside from the one Megabyte had spoken of, they were much greater in numbers. He needs a virtual world like Lyoko to sustain him and access the real world, or rather the User world as Megabyte started calling it.

To think, there were other levels of cyberspace that not even he had been aware of.

But Franz Hopper apparently was.

The mere thought of his creator caused XANA to burn with rage and hatred for the man who created and later attempted to destroy him. The only comfort he had when thinking of the man now was that he was dead and could no longer hinder XANA. Of course, that was only after XANA found a way to regain his lost strength and power.

It was at this point that XANA had come across what could only be described as a Tear.

From what he had learned from Megabyte, Tears were damage in the fabric of Cyber Space, leading to another location. Tears can be useful in that respect, as they may be stabilized into portals. There are several known means of stabilizing tears, but key tools are the most useful, as they are able to create a portal to anywhere, not just the tear's set destination. Once a tear turns into a portal, the tear is usually fully stabilized and will not reappear when the portal vanishes.

However, larger tears will destabilize and reform after the portal disappears.

XANA had never come across such disturbances like Tears before but perhaps with a little scanning he could learn not only how to stabilize a Tear but to also create one. He came in close as possible, preforming a scan of the Tear to better understand it. If he were at full strength, he would be confident he could find a way to manipulate and use it to his own benefit, but XANA would hold off on that. He had no intention of taking unnecessary risks.

That was when he remembered something else, he had learned about the Web.

Apparently, the Web was home to creatures that had the ability to stabilize Tears into portals but rarely did so since Web Creatures are unable to survive outside of the Web. Still, there was potential to be exploited if it was true and XANA had spotted several pods of such creatures during his exploration of the Web.

Perhaps this new environment could be more helpful to him than he had initially thought.

"Don't let it get free! Secure the forelegs!" The Guardian Captain shouted to his troops as they struggled to keep a large spider virus shackled while herding it into a mobile containment unit.

They were in the middle of a ruined sector of a system that resembled a small village surrounded by a forest with a large tower in the center that was the Principal Office of the small system.

"Keep out of the firing range of its venom!" That meant not to get in front of it; luckily the Guardians were using shock staves formed from their key tools to make the spider virus move forward towards the cage while a set of mechanized lengths of chain within kept on pulling it in closer.

"Almost…almost!" One of the guardians shouted, jamming her staff into the spider's side when it tried to turn around so it could get a shot at them. "Don't let it turn around! Keep it facing forward! Don't give this thing a shot, men!"

The virus thrashed and spat acid out, trying to break its shackles but the Guardians kept jamming their staffs into it, shocking it and forcing it into the containment field.

"Now!" The captain shouted.

The containment field activated, trapping the virus as it shackles broke. The virus slammed into the energy shield, trying to break free but the containment field held.

"Whoa, that was close." One of the five Guardians sighed in relief. "I thought we'd never get it done."

"Perfect, now get some transportation so we can it back to the Supercomputer." The Captain said, not planning to give the virus a chance to escape.

"Yes sir." One of the Guardians hopped onto his zip-board and flew off to get their ship.

While the Guardians waited for the ship to arrive a tear appeared in a blast of light above them.

"What the Dell…" The Captain covered her eyes from the bright light before the tear stabilized itself into a portal but not any portal.

A portal to the Web.

A Web creature flew out of the portal, resembling a shark with a strange red eye icon on its face with no eyes. The portal vanished as the web creature flew towards the Guardians and the Containment Field.

"Stop it before it…" The Captain was too late as the Web Creature rammed into the containment field and shattered it.

Before the virus could escape the Web Creature slammed into, merging into the virus's body with a red light covering its body. The virus screamed as the web creature merged with it and thrashed around and slammed its head into the ground.

"Performing a scan." The captain scanned the virus. "It's some kind of…viral upgrade!"

The spider virus was engulfed in a red light that was blinding for a few nanoseconds. Where the monstrous spider like virus stood before was now a tall woman with pale skin, silky black hair that was straight and well kept, and a long black sleeveless dress that fell to her feet. She almost looked like a normal sprite except there was one major difference on her near flawless face. Instead of one pair of eyes she had two more pairs of eyes on her forehead, all of them red with slits for pupils like a cat.

Her fingernails were long and sharp like claws with black nail polish on them. Her lips were red and when her mouth opened it showed very sharp fangs. On her head were eight long sharp horns sticking out of her hair like a crown.

The Guardians were speechless as they stared at the new virus who simply looked around calmly, taking in the sights of the ruined sector before staring at the Guardians with an amused expression. Her eyes morphed, showing the same eye-like icon the web creature had on it before vanishing a nanosecond later.

"I am Arachne, the Weaver of Destruction, and my function is the infection of this system." She spoke in soft but powerful voice.

"Not this system, take her out!" The Captain shouted and his last four subordinates aimed their keytools and prepared to fire energy blasts at her.

However, Arachne raised her hand and fired small white energy blasts. Each one hit the Viral Containment team and trapped them in a net made of energy strings.

"By the User!" The Captain screamed as he tried to break free of the net.

None of the Guardians were able to break free as Arachne slowly strolled towards the captain. Once she stopped in front of him she slowly knelt to his level.

"Now who's the one trapped, little fly?" She asked amused by the angry look the captain gave her.

"This isn't over, one of my men will return with a full team to stop you, virus." The captain growled at her.

"I have no doubt about that, in fact I am hoping for it." Arachne raised her hands and held the captain by his shoulder. "I am a little hungry and could use a little refreshment."

Before the Captain or any of the Guardians could even think of a reply, Arachne bit down on the Captain's neck, her fangs piercing his skin. The Captain let out a howl of agony as Arachne held him down, desperately trying fight her off. Red energy began traveling out of the small punctures Arachne's fangs left in the Captain's neck and traveled down to his icon. The Captain suddenly stopped fighting as his eyes were replaced with the red Eye of XANA, his face becoming emotionless and blank.

"That was a terrific meal." Arachne wiped her mouth as she stood up. "A little bit of energy and a new servant. Now, you will help me reach the Principal Office so I can take control of this system."

"Yes, Mistress." The Captain bowed his head.

"But before we do that." Arachne glanced over at the other trapped Guardians.

Screams were heard all over the sector.

Amazing.

XANA had witnessed the events in that system through the creature he had infected and even he was impressed. All he did was find and infect several Web Creatures and then used one of them to stabilize the Tear he had found into a portal. The creature went through and its instincts for survival were so strong, it actually overrode XANA's control and went straight for the virus, infecting her. XANA was able to access the virus' own coding and tested his theory by upgrading it like he had upgraded Megabyte.

The results more than spoke for themselves.

It hadn't even taken much energy to do so, providing a few simple upgrades to turn the spider virus into a credible threat. This was even better than he could have hoped as the potential number of viruses at his command would increase his chances for victory. Still, he would need to run a few more tests to be better certain…

"Keep it down!"

"We're trying!"

The security force was surrounding a virus resembling a metallic raptor with dark green armored scales, sharp claws on its hands and feet, and a sharp pointed tail. Despite the fact that there was no Guardian here in the system known as Agri Prime the system was advanced with a security force that had all the needed equipment and training for dealing with viruses. The sprite captain watched as his teams of binomes kept their staffs out to keep the virus from escaping.

"Well, it's like old lizard breath's done." Standing on the roof of a building that stood over the fight was a sprite looking around eight hours old.

She had tanned skin, red hair in a ponytail, deep purple eyes, and a purple suit that covered her body with black armor resembling the same armor Hexadecimal wore when she was rebuilt by Megabyte.

"And it was just getting interesting in this dull system." She sighed.

A transport landed a few feet away with more security binomes and sprites coming out, ready to transport the virus to the Principal Office to be deleted. However just as they got ready a blast of light in the sky attracted everyone's attention. Above the city appeared a tear that stabilized into a portal to the Web. At first everyone panicked, believing that Web Creatures would come out and attempt to overwhelm the system but only one came out before the portal vanished.

The web creature resembled a black flying shark with a strange eye like icon as it looked down at the system. It felt the energies to two viruses and spotted the raptor like virus surrounded by security officers. It roared and flew down to the street below as the security team aimed their weapons to destroy the creature. It ignored them as it flew at the raptor virus at full speed dodging any energy blast aimed at it.

The virus tried to dodge but the creature slammed into it earning a scream from the virus as the creature merged with it. There was a bright flash of red light as the virus began to transform, growing in size and power. The security team could only watch in horror as the new virus resembled a giant muscular metallic humanoid dragon with red glowing eyes that flashed with the Eye of XANA as black pupils. The new virus growled as it looked around the system its predecessor tried to infect but failed miserably.

"OOHH!" The young girl grinned. "Things are getting interesting again!"

The dragon virus let out a terrifying roar as it stared down at the security team. It released a stream of fire from its mouth that incinerated the security team. They all screamed as they were burned into deletion. The dragon virus stared in satisfaction the burning remains of the team before turning its red eyes on the Principal Office of Agri Prime.

"Nice upgrade, Drago." The dragon virus turned and saw the young sprite floating down to the ground. "Good timing on that web creature's part. All though I find hard to believe that a Web Creature is capable of upgrading a virus, since they can't survive outside the Web without energy to sustain them."

"….Nyx." The dragon virus growled.

Despite its new form and existence, the Dragon virus remembered the little girl who had only arrived in Agri Prime shortly after he did. Despite her young appearance, Nyx was actually a virus, and he remembered her function. For Drago his function was to cause destruction, burn systems to the ground but this one child looking virus always stopped him because of her function. Like Hexadecimal Nyx was Chaotic Virus who loved to cause mischief and mayhem to anyplace she went, mocking people and playing pranks. Created by a User who shared her love of causing mischief she saw everyone around her as her toys and when Drago tried to delete or infect them Nyx appeared and stopped him.

She doesn't delete or infect anyone because she believes if she takes away free will then there will be no chaos and no chaos meant no fun. That was why she was so happy that Daemon had failed, that super virus's infection made everyone so boring! Now she was standing in his way again, but he was much stronger now.

"I AM LORD INFERNO AND THIS SYSTEM IS MINE! YOU WILL SUBMIT TO MY WILL OR FACE DELETION!" The dragon, Inferno growled.

"Oh, come on! There's no need for us to fight. We're both viruses so why not be friends and have some fun?" Nyx pouted.

Inferno growled maliciously at Nyx, seemingly giving his answer as smoke flared out of his nostrils.

"I take that as a no." Nyx's pout changed to a serious look. "I really hate spoil sports; they do nothing but trample and break my toys wherever I go."

She pulled out two metal cylinders from her waist.

"No one, Guardians, Sprites, Binomes, or even Code Masters and fellow Viruses stands in the way of my fun." Nyx tapped a switch on both cylinders and purple streams of energy came out of cylinders that resembled whips when Nyx swung them through the air. "You want this system? You can have it but only after I get bored of this place."

Inferno growled at her challenge and responded by unleashing a blast of fire. Nyx dodged, flying into the air and flew at Inferno like a speeding bullet.

"No one breaks my toys!" Nyx swung her energy whips.

Inferno raised his hand and a shield made of fire blocked the energy whips. The shield dropped and Inferno released a blast of fire, but Nyx dodged by flying out of the way. Seeing that her energy whips had no effect on Inferno she flew in close and placed both her hands on the ground. Inferno looked down to see the ground around him turn dark as a shadow portal opened under his feet.

"Ha!" Nyx grinned.

But to her shock Inferno floated out of the portal and hovered in the air.

"Oh man!" Nyx groaned.

Apparently, the new upgrade had not only given him extra fire power and defense but gave him the ability to fly. Inferno released a stream of fire from his mouth at Nyx who took off down the streets to avoid the scorching flames.

"Troublesome!" Nyx groaned.

Inferno flew after her spewing flames and burning the street of the already messy sector in his quest to delete the troublesome virus. Despite Nyx's ability to fly and create portals unlike Hexadecimal she did not possess transfinite energy reserves and she was only a Class Three Chaotic Virus, a level below Hexadecimal. Inferno's previous self, Drago was a Class Three Destruction Virus and now he was upgraded to a level above Nyx. She was many things, but stupid was not one of them and recognized that she might not be able to win this fight. Creating a shadow portal in front of her she flew through it with a fire blast following her.

Inferno growled as the portal vanished, annoyed that his prey escaped. He was considering destroying the entire system just to delete her but the Eye of XANA flashed in his red eyes, and he remembered. When he was upgraded, he received something else that directed his attention to the portal that had appeared. He couldn't understand why but he was drawn there by something that was placed inside of him by the Web Creature that upgraded him. Viruses never obeyed anyone except their function but anything with XANA's data in it made them susceptible to his control.

Inferno was pretty much a minion of XANA like his monsters whether he liked it or not, not that he even knew who XANA was. All he knew that was he felt he needed to enter the portal that had appeared which he did without question as he took. That pesky little brat Nyx would have to wait to be deleted later, he had an entire world to conquer.

Nyx had made it back to the small house that became her temporary home in this system and watched through a window as Inferno flew towards the Principal Office. Her room was a typical room for a small sprite with the walls painted purple and she sat on a bed with blue sheets and covers. She had a pout like frown on her face as she watched the virus that chased her back to her home.

'Just you wait dragon breath, this is not over. Not over by a long shot.'

Inferno won the battle, and he may take over the system but no would ruin her playground. The entire Net was her playground with an unlimited number of playmates and toys and this virus now sought to destroy one of them. That was unacceptable to Nyx, and she would never forgive Inferno or anyone who threatened her toys.

So, these Web Creatures could not only create portals but even infect other viruses…

XANA was very pleased by the results. With the Web providing an endless supply of these creatures, he could send them to every corner of the Net to infect any virus and bring them under his control. Of course, infecting systems did very little in the long run as only a supercomputer could provide the kind of environment XANA needed to regain his strength.

And even then, he couldn't reactivate any of the Replicas he had before since all the supercomputers were either offline or he lacked the programming needed to recreate the Replicas.

Like the program Jeremy had used to restore Lyoko.

Meaning he needed the Super-Calculator back online along with Lyoko to restore himself to his former strength.

Or something like it.

XANA diverted his attention to the Web Creatures again, remembering that the codes for creating monsters were still with him. All he had to do was modify the Web Creatures with the same coding as what used in creating the Kongres and Sharks and a new type of creature was born.

If there was one disappointment Megabyte could admit since learning about the true identity of the Users is how…utterly brazen they are.

Compared to how systems like Mainframe functioned, the User world was much more primitive to look at, no matter what the accomplishments they have unknowingly made. Seriously, this one User was pleased he created a 'website' that allowed people who enjoyed music to contact each other.

It was painfully clear that Users truly have no idea of the worlds they have created.

Despite what many would say about him, Megabyte was capable of many things, including forgiveness. He could forgive those who were born lower in status compared to him, unable to help their weaknesses in strength and intelligence.

But the one thing he did not forgive was ignorance.

Ignorance meant being blind to all things important.

Ignorance meant unable to learn, to grow in strength and knowledge.

Ignorance was death.

Megabyte was torn from his musing as other beings, viruses like himself appeared in the chamber, all of them suspended in a sphere of glowing energy. Then Web Creatures flew about the chamber before heading out the tunnel and into the Digital Sea.

It was at that point that XANA had returned.

"I see that did not take long." Megabyte mused as his 'partner' approached.

'I have learned to modify the Web Creatures to create portals through the Web Addresses to other systems where they can hunt down and infect viruses.' XANA replied. 'They will gather here during our mission into the User world, waiting for orders when we return.'

Megabyte grimaced, remembering his own encounters with a Web Creature and suffice to say, none of them were pleasant.

'I have brought them back here, storing them in Guardians until when they are needed.' XANA continued. 'They should not be left unsupervised at this point in time.'

"I suppose I should agree." Megabyte simply said.

'As for the Web Creatures, I have sent them to scout the digital sea in the Network to locate any supercomputers connected with Project: Carthage. Now there is only the other phase of the plan.'

Ah yes, entering the User World through a suitable host.

"It's not been easy. While you prefer a more practicable and logical approach, I seen to ensure any host I take is one where I am best able to enjoy a combination of comfort with a sense of style and grace to go along function and suitable resources." Megabyte stated, turning back to face the screens. "There does not appear to be many suitable candidates."

'Your preference is irrelevant.' XANA retorted. 'The host that is best able to suit the objective is the priority.'

"I can understand your reasoning, my friend but there so much more than just logic and practicality when it comes to recruiting or…infecting those that can be useful. Power is not simply to be used to destroy one's enemies but when properly shown it can weaken the strength and resolve of our enemies. Power is not just what you wield, it is the political statement you make in your domain or even on the battlefield. A statement that can inspire fear in your enemies but also awe in your underlings." Megabyte stated, flexing his claws. "Power is not just what you use, power…is…Everything. It is your strength, your will, your appearance, you must become the very definition of the word 'power' for all around you to know yours is upon them."

XANA was silent, seemingly mulling over Megabyte's beliefs. As a program based on logic, he could not say he fully understood Megabyte's reasonings and the virus was as much a digital being as he was.

"But I believe I have found the suitable host." Megabyte pointed at the screen. "Him."

The young man with the private jet.

'I see.'

"He has resources, he has a suitable lifestyle that suits me, and he has his own method of transportation. A perfect host." Megabyte stated his reasonings. "I have no enemies in the User world to take into consideration."

XANA brought up the man's information.

Name: John Frances Bullenberg
Age: 25
Social Security Number: ********
Blood Type: O-Positive
Occupation: CEO of Music-Oh
Function: Programmer

"Yes, yes, I know it seems useful in googling the man's history, but it takes more than that. I assume when I possess the man, I will be capable of reading his Read-Only Memory files." Megabyte waved off the screen.

'When I possess Users, I suppress their consciousness, so they remain completely unaware of anything that happens. You can be allowed to manipulate the bioelectricity of their nervous systems but not to the extent I had through using a tower. The human brain was not designed simply for two minds to exist for you to copy the man's memories…'

"Are you saying it is impossible?" Megabyte asked. "I would rather utilize this method in the best way that insures there is no suspicion. That is why I am being careful and perhaps this is something you should take into consideration with your host. Suspicion must be avoided especially if we are to be separated for a certain amount of time and both in positions where we are not at full strength."

'…. Agreed.' XANA admitted. 'I can modify your 'specter' to provide a complete copy of John Bullenberg's memories to better copy his mannerisms.'

"Good." Megabyte nodded. "And I shall take his transport to Switzerland to meet you there and you will lead us to this Schaeffer residence where we might find anything that might suggest a prototype to your creator's work. And if we find nothing?"

'We continue the plan and arrive to France. Once the supercomputer and Lyoko is reactivated, we'll return there, I will reconstruct my processing core and you will be able to return to the Web and then the Net along with the other viruses.' XANA replied.

"Very good…Let us proceed."

Jeremy and Aelita reached the trapdoor leading down into the basement. "Aelita, while I was working on decoding your father's diary, a name popped up a few times. It was possibly the name of the people he was working for."

"You mean Project Carthage?" Aelita asked.

Jeremy shook his head. "We're not sure. All we have to go on for now is a name: the Green Phoenix."

"And that means?"

"It means that for now, we're fumbling in the dark."

There followed a long silence that seemed to stretch on for¬ ever, during which Aelita remained immobile, frozen at the top of the spiral staircase that disappeared down into the shadows.

"Have you located all of these passages?" She asked.

"No unfortunately. The structural plans for the Hermitage are long gone. But we discover a new one every time we explore the house. That's why it's so much fun to play hide and seek here!"

He smiled at her and winked.

Aelita returned the smile and placed one foot on the first step.

Then she seemed to reconsider it and turned to face Jeremy again. "Let's never let any secrets come between us. Agreed?"

Jeremy gazed at her seriously and nodded. "I promise. Now we better head down before Odd discovers us."

The basement of the Hermitage had more in common with a warehouse than a cellar. Jeremy and Aelita emerged from the hidden passage and closed the door behind them: it was covered with a cement panel so as to make it practically in¬ distinguishable from the walls around it.

Straight in front of them was an industrial-strength refrigerator, an entire chilled room sealed off by a reinforced metal door. On the right another room served as a pantry, a cluster of metal shelving units still stacked with boxes of food purchased in bulk. Now they started to follow the dark passage, lit only by opaque windows at ceiling level. They found wardrobes crowded with brooms and cleaning detergents, and emerged in a huge room, almost empty and only occupied by a pair of clotheshorses and an old washing machine.

Jeremy knew that this was all a difficult burden for Aelita to bear, and he felt guilty that he could not completely share in his friend's pain. But at the same time, he himself felt strangely content, an emotion that was quite rare for him. He was on vacation, spending time with his friends. And the hide-and-seek had given him the perfect excuse to be alone with Aelita. Perhaps it was wrong of him, but he could not help it.

And in truth Aelita seemed to have taken to this tour of the Hermitage's basement as an opportunity to divert her attention.

"And where does this go?" She asked curiously, as they arrived at the entrance to a darkened passage.

"It leads down to several other passages that we've not fully explored yet. It's a good twenty-minute walk. And then...who knows."

Aelita had the sensation of having been here once before, though she could not remember precisely when.

Her attention was drawn in the opposite direction. "And this is?"

It was a little square room a few meters long on each side, which looked like the stores of a builder's yard. Sacks of lime were piled into a corner and covered with dust, along with big boxes of broken tiles. There was a dirty pail of mortar and an old trowel.

"Wait a minute" Aelita said. "You've never been able to find the plans for the Hermitage, correct?"

"Right."

"But there must have been other people working on all this. I mean like the contractors. Maybe they could be able to tell us something."

"Urn." Jeremy looked at her in admiration. "You're right. I never considered that." He crouched down to examine the sacks closer. "There's something written here but its illegible, completely worn-out. Here, help me to move these, perhaps the ones behind might be better condition."

They weighed a ton, but between the two of them they were able to drag the first row of sacks forward on the floor by a few centimeters.

Aelita slipped into the space they had created and stooped to read. "Bingo! 1 B&B-Broulet and Brothers, 117 Rue De Tivoli'!"

"That's right on the other side of the city" Jeremy observed.

"But that means my father hired a company with that address. Maybe they're still in business. We could go there right now."

"Hey, hey, slow down!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Don't we at least want to finish the game?"

Aelita smiled. "Think about it! Is an enquiry of this kind any less boring than playing hide-and-seek?"

Yumi and Ulrich advanced through the snow-covered garden, their feet sinking several centimeters into the soft mantle.

After several steps Ulrich's socks had already soaked through and he had started to sneeze. "Oh yeah, going outside was a great idea! Why stay inside in the comfortable warmth! Plus we're leaving a trail of footprints: Odd will find us in a second!"

"Argh!" burst out Yumi. "If you just stopped moaning you might start enjoying this fresh air. Besides, don't you find it romantic?"

Ulrich stopped. "Ro-romantic?"

He suddenly felt as if Yumi had struck him right in the chest with one of her most painful kung-fu attacks.

"C'mon, let's get out of here" his friend exhorted, taking him by the hand and leading him up the frozen access path towards the gate. Yumi's hand was warm and Ulrich suddenly felt sweaty under the collar, in spite of the cold. Before his eyes, her black hair seemed to sparkle in the wintry afternoon light.

Yumi suddenly stopped. "Oh, now there's a coincidence. Look who's here as well" she whispered.

Ulrich instinctively turned to look in the same direction as his friend and went rigid. A moment later, he had embraced

her and hurled her to the ground, throwing himself down in the deep snow next to her.

Because at that precise moment, standing at the gate was their schoolmate, William Dunbar, wearing a grey woollen hat to protect his slightly-too-long black hair, and an elegant greatcoat that was zipped up to the collar. From his ears emerged the wires of an MP3 player, and the boy was whistling along to the music. It had been some time since they had interacted with William, especially after rescuing him from XANA.

Since then, they hadn't interacted much and Yumi had gone out of her way to ignore William while William…he simply gave them their space.

"Do you mind explaining what's gotten into you?" Yumi screamed, half suffocated by the snow. "Were you trying to kill me?"

"For pity's sake, keep quiet!" Ulrich whispered, pressing a finger against her lips.

He turned fearfully to see if William had noticed anything. But the other boy had peacefully continued in his tranquil walk, heading goodness knew where. That finger on her lips had literally enraged Yumi. She hurled Ulrich to one side with a judo movement and rose to her feet. The usually white skin of her face was now a fiery red and her expression was rabid.

"Ulrich Stern!" She hissed. "You didn't want William to notice us, is that the case? You didn't want him to say hello to me!"

As much as Yumi had avoided talking much with William after their Lyoko adventures had ended, what Ulrich just did had infuriated her.

"Just let it go, alright?"

"You will not dictate to me what I will and won't 'let go'! You have no right to do that! No right at all!"

Whereupon the girl set off with great long strides back towards the house, leaving Ulrich, drenched in snow, to wonder what, precisely, he had done wrong.

Eva rushed into her room, literally flinging her clothes as she bolted into the shower. Unlike her usual relaxing approach that involved soap, she went through a quick rinse. Once she was done, she had a bathrobe on and her hair in a towel, and, dripping water on the floor, ran to her computer. While the computer booted itself Eva took advantage of a few seconds' peace to finish painting her nails.

She shook her hands back and forth to make them dry faster. Meanwhile she used her foot to press the button that opened the computer's DVD-drive. Fortunately, being president of the fan club had ensured her a reserved space in the front row, and she didn't have to worry about arriving in advance to crowd against the barriers like lesser mortals.

But she was still running against time.

She grabbed the mouse and clicked on her desktop's Music-Oh icon. On the monitor the Sub-Digitals emblem appeared: a rose whose stalk was fused with the neck of an electric guitar…

Then the image flickered and wavered.

"Uh?"

The flower's red corolla began to open out and darken in color. Eventually a strange drawing appeared in place of the emblem. Two black concentric circles. Four little radial bars, one above and three below.

The girl batted her eyelids in confusion.

Her mouse spat out an electric-blue spark.

And then Eva remembered nothing.

It had been a good time.

John F. Bullenberg could only sigh in relief as he enjoyed staring out onto the balcony of his private estate, laptop next to him. After that virus scare, he wanted to make sure everything was working properly before he returned to work. Francis had never been able to identify the source of the virus and he had been on the man to look the website several times over the holidays before he had been satisfied.

John didn't want to come off as paranoid, but he liked to think he was being diligent. He looked to his laptop again, placing a hand on the touchpad…

Just as the screen turned black and then a strange logo appeared.

It wasn't the same eye logo as before.

It was a skull like emblem colored bright green.

There was only an instant where a stunned shout could be heard followed by a sudden zap of electricity.

And then only darkness.

He felt good.

He felt alive.

And even if he had lost much precious time trying to find the right person while preparing his partner's own host, the result was worth all the trouble.

Eva.

Through her he would shape his destiny.

Through her, his Chosen.

Megabyte couldn't say he was feeling…good.

At the very least, he felt a somewhat invigoration that could be comparable to his first infection. He could see through his host's eyes at the moment, but he would alloy the man to carry out his daily function before taking full control. He wanted to make sure he was well prepared and got a full understanding of the man's personality and his workings.

Megabyte spotted a guitar in the corner of the man's room. 'Well, this might be a bit more enjoyable after all.'

"This way."

Eva Skinner advanced through the metal barricades followed by Susy, Jennifer and five other girls from the club's guiding committee. They had avoided the earlier chaos as the crowd assembled.

To their right-hand side the pupils of Meredith Logan were pressing up against the barriers. To the left there was the stage, separated from the public by only a low wall and a short piece of lawn.

The band's percussion section took up almost half of the available space, with five bass drums and an unspecified number of snare drums, cymbals, tom-toms and kettledrums. There were bongos and tribal drums for the slower songs, and a long rack on which the multitude of guitars Freno would need during the concert were stored.

Bumba's keyboards, mounted on spring-loaded stands that allowed him to move to the rhythm of the music, were positioned next to the special effects computers. And finally, there was Gardenia's microphone and Mistik's bass guitar, resting on an easel in the center of the stage.

"Incredible" Susy murmured; her eyes wide open.

"Insane" Jennifer mimicked the sentiment.

Eva, however, did not say anything. She was watching the stage technicians who were about to connect the last of the cables. The huge plasma-screen TVs were playing a looping video of the highlights of the band's world tour.

The girls were in a fantastic position: they would be the first ones to see Gardenia when she came on stage. "Enjoy life and long live rock and roll!" she would yell.

And then: "We are the Sub-Digitals!"

Suddenly, all the stage lights illuminated and the students crowding against the barriers began to chant: "Sub-Dig! Sub-Dig! Sub-Dig!"

Their disappointment was huge when they realized that the person advancing between all the instruments onstage was not Gardenia, but Professor Hanna Jeffrey Logan, the school's principal and great-great-great-granddaughter to Merdeith, its titular founder.

There followed a long silence, before Logan began her at¬ tack: "This event that you are all so enthusiastic for, is in fact an educational moment of great importance for our school...music is fundamental in the shaping of young minds...and this concert will resound across the nation..."

After five minutes of this incessant droning the students could not take any more. The chant started up again with more strength than beforehand, punctuated this time with isolated cries of: "Enough already!"

"We want Gardenia!"

Gardenia's name began to run from one mouth to the next, building into a deafening roar. Eventually the headmistress raised her hands and concluded: "...as I'm sure you under¬ stand. Go in peace, and now, without further delay, I would like to present the famous Ceb Nominals..."

"SUB-DIGITALS!" screamed back the gathered crowd, with enough force to mess up her hair.

"Yes, of course, as you were. Good afternoon."

She made a quick about-turn and onstage the lights went out.

"Here it comes" A trembling Eva whispered. "They're starting."

The sound of Mistik's bass began to spread in the air, punching out the same note repeatedly, and the crowd's enthusiasm went through the roof. The security gorillas had to press against the barriers with all their weight to prevent them from collapsing.

Then Freno began his guitar solo. The stage was still empty/

Then a woman's voice, clear as crystal, addressed the public: "Enjoy life..."

"AND LONG LIVE ROCK AND ROLL!" The audience responded in chorus.

"That's right." It was almost a whisper, but it emanated a mad energy, as if trying and failing to suppress itself. "Today, at Meredith Logan High School of BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA!"

The voice had risen for a moment, but then suddenly returned to a whisper: "We hadn't planned on your graceful headmistress being the opening act...but didn't she warm you up for us? Luckily for us though, we no longer have to go to school."

Cries, laughter.

"We are here for you! We are here to entertain you! We are...THE SUB-DIGITALS!"

The lights blazed on, and the musicians came running onstage.

Then there was an explosion of music, motion, voices, and Eva did not understand anything anymore, except that she was perfectly happy.

An hour and twenty minutes into the concert, she had screamed to the point of losing her voice. When Freno launched into a loud guitar solo, the adrenaline had clenched her throat shut so violently that she thought she was about to faint.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Gardenia announced from the stage. "We're proud to now perform for you our latest single. It's called..."

The public finished it for her: "LUVLUVPUNKA!'

The guitar's intensity increased, the other instruments joining in, and behind the stage the darkened widescreens suddenly lit up, playing the song's music video.

A little boy was waking up in a disorderly bedroom, was eating breakfast...

Life is sometimes weird-a, bo ring-a, slow-a,
But that's my call 'coz /
LUV LUV PUNKAF'

Gardenia was dressed in the uniform of a cleaning lady. She was walking along a street, saw the little boy making his

escape and took his hand. In a rainy back-alley Freno was playing his guitar while laid out in the gap between two rubbish skips, then the camera zoomed up onto the staircase of one building's fire-escape, where Bumba was playing his keyboards.

I know I wanna say that I
LUV LUV PUNKAt'

Gardenia was now picking up a rose and imbuing it with new life, the stalk lengthening down to the ground and taking root, growing into a robust plant that lifted Gardenia and the little boy up into the sky. The flower's corolla was opening in a whirl of colors. Then, for an instant, the petals transformed.

They became two concentric circles, forming an eye.

Something that Eva had seen before.

It happened so quickly that no one else in the crowd took any notice of it. But the image was implanted in Eva Skinner's brain.

And around her, everything became black.