It was another windy morning at Kadic. All of the students were talking about the usual things; school, boys, girls, movies, books, music…Lyoko. Jeremy and the others couldn’t stop talking about Xana’s new player. It was a mystery that was still left unsolved. The gang was hanging around before class talking to each other.

     “Well,” said Yumi. “I’m off to class; Mrs. Hertz doesn’t like it when we show up late. Bye!” After the bell rang they all went to class.

     “Alright class,” Mrs. Hertz stood up in front of the black board. “We have a new student here today. His name is Seth. Please be nice to him. Now on with today’s lesson. Oh Seth, you can go find a seat.”

     She began writing on the board and the new kid, aka. Seth, went down the rows to his seat. He stared at Yumi and William as he walked by.

     “Did you see that?” Yumi asked William. “His eyes…”

     “Yeah,” William replied. “Was that the guy Jeremy was talking about? You know…Xana?”

     Yumi and William were the only ones who could see the Xana symbols in his eyes. An hour later the bell rang again and Yumi and William rushed out of class without saying anything to Seth.

     William followed Yumi to the rest of the group. They told the others about the new Xana kid being in their class.

     “You saw him?” asked Ulrich.

     “Yeah,” said William. “He had the Xana symbols and everything. He was even wearing black.”

     “We should go tell Jeremy and Aelita,” Odd said. “They were leaving class a little late.”

     Jeremy and Aelita walked around the school grounds after leaving the class room.

    “Hey,” said Jeremy, watching Seth come closer to them. “Isn’t that the Xana guy?”

     “Hello Jeremy and Aelita,” Seth said in his creepy voice.

     “What are you doing here?” Jeremy asked him.

     “Why, I’m a student here. In case Yumi didn’t tell you. Hmmm…I thought I totally destroyed you when we last met. But, I guess not,”

     He walked near Jeremy and stopped at his side.

     “Just watch yourself,” Seth whispered into Jeremy’s ear. “If you mess with me I promise you will get hurt.”

     His arm hit Jeremy’s shoulder as he walked away.

     “That’s just great,” said Jeremy.

     “Well,” Aelita said. “At least we can keep an eye on Xana now.”

     Seth walked in the woods, alone. He had his black hoodie on with the hood over his head covering the top part of his eyes. The presence of Xana filled all around him.

     “So,” Xana whispered to Seth. “Is our plan working?”

     Seth smiled. “Yes,” he replied. “I’ve found a way to keep an eye on them at all times.”

     “Good,” the evil virus smirked. “It won’t last long…Jeremy will recover his memory and reveal my secret. You know as well as I do that there’s only one way to take it away from him.”

     “Do you really want me to do that, Xana?” Seth asked. “That could be dangerous for us. He could realize his full potential…And then Aelita would be the least of our worries.”

     “I’m not worried about that. Combined with me you have the ability to break that stupid boy!”

     Seth laughed quietly. “What if his friends show up?” he asked his master.

     “I’ll distract them. Franz Hopper made a mistake sending that letter. Jeremy made an even bigger mistake by reading the rest of it! This is all part of the plan to take over the world. The only ones who know of our plan are you, me, Franz, and Jeremy. That’s why we have to permanently erase it from the poor boy’s memory.”

     “I see,” said Seth. “I’m sure that he’ll have some new tricks for us. I mean…He was able to hack into a government system at the age of eleven and now he’s fifteen! No telling what the others could do. All of the guys have grown, accept for Odd.”

     “I know,” Xana hissed. “This is a battle for the memory of Jeremy Belpois now! But, I won’t forget my first goal…To destroy Lyoko and its warriors! They will see what we are capable of doing together.”

     “Yes,” Seth answered. “The warriors of Xana will rise now and the world will fall!”

     “Exactly! Remember…Bring Jeremy to Lyoko. I’ll take care of him there. If the others show up, get rid of them!”

     “No worries,” Seth laughed. “This might be fun. When do you want me to bring him there, Xana?”

     “As soon as you can,” Xana responded. “Because as I said earlier…It won’t be long until he recovers his memory and they know our secret.”

     “It shall be done,” Seth replied. After saying all that Xana vanished into smoke. “Ha ha,” Seth laughed. “Look out Belpois, I’m coming for you.” Seth walked back towards the school, ready to fulfill the mission he had been assigned.

     The Lyoko warriors all went different ways after their classes. Jeremy walked by himself through the woods.

     “Huh,” he sighed as he walked. “I can’t believe that I don’t remember anything that happened that night. I wish I knew.”

     His head was swamped in thoughts about Lyoko, Franz Hopper, Xana, and even Aelita. He still loved Aelita. He always wondered if she loved him back. I mean…he knew he had always been kinda dorky.
     But of course, he wasn’t the same any more. He had grown up in style, looks, voice, and muscle. Seth noticed Jeremy walking, alone.

     “Ok Xana,” he whispered to himself. “Get ready for your plan to come true.”

He walked quietly behind Jeremy. It didn’t take long for Jeremy to notice him. He quickly turned around to face him.

     “What are you doing? Don’t bother me Xana!”

     “Oh, I don’t want to bother you, Jeremy. I just,” he gave Jeremy an evil glare. “Want to destroy you!”

     He hit Jeremy in the head with such a force that he slid across the ground a couple of feet away from Seth.

     Seth carried the unconscious Jeremy to the factory. He dropped him in the scanner and waited for Xana to do the rest. The scanner door closed and the virtualization process began. Lights flashed everywhere and suddenly Jeremy was materialized on Lyoko. His outfit was blue with a black and white collar. It had a “v” shaped bold, black edge of his neck around it and strips of light blue on his sides. He had on wide, white rings around his arms (near his shoulders). Each ring had a strip of green on the top and bottom of it. After the rings the arms became black with light blue band around his elbows. The outfit had wrist bands that matched the rings and then all black gloves with white pieces of metal on each finger. The shirt had a long black stripe going down the middle of it. His pants were the same color as his shirt and also had the light blue stripes on the sides. He had knee pads that also matched the rings and black boots with white down the middle and grey on the sides.
     He also had on a belt. It was black with a white stripe going around the middle of it. On the side of his belt was a sword handle; only it didn’t have a blade. Jeremy was still knocked out as he slammed down onto the cold Lyoko platform. Jeremy was alone, with his mind somewhere else. He was unable to bring himself back from dream land. Xana’s plan was going just as he had hoped it would. The poor boy was helpless and the Scyphozoa was just a few miles away.

     “Alright Seth,” Xana said. “Get in the scanner before the others get here!”

     Xana began to start the virtualization process. Meanwhile back on Lyoko, Jeremy regained his consciousness again.

     “What the?” he stood up and looked around. “Where am I? Lyoko? How?”

     “You are doomed now,” he heard the voice of Xana. “There’s no way out! Ha ha ha!” Xana then activated a tower in another sector. “Your friends are doomed too!”

     “Oh yeah? We’ll see about that, Xana,” Jeremy told him.

     Jeremy ran throughout the mountain sector, trying to find a tower to take him to another place. Seth landed where Jeremy used to be.

     “What?” he looked around. “Where is he?”

     “He’s running away!” Xana shouted. “Go after him!”

     Seth ran after him just as his master commanded. Seth’s outfit looked a little bit like William’s Xana outfit. It was black with a white Xana symbol on the front and red designs on the sides. He had wrist guards with razors on the side and black pants and black boots. Jeremy was way ahead of Seth. But, the Scyphozoa was right in front of him.

     “Whoa!” Jeremy came to a stop. “So,” he said. “That’s the Scyphozoa? I’ve never seen it before. Uh…I wonder if I have a weapon.”

     He looked for one as the monster came closer.

     “What’s this?”

     He pulled the handle out from the sheath on his belt. It became long and a blade came out from the end, so that it looked like a long spear.

     “Cool.”

     He turned towards the Scyphozoa with his weapon. As soon as the monster threw its tentacles at him, Jeremy moved back and slashed them off with his staff. Then he stabbed the beast in the “head”. It quickly backed off. Xana growled.

     “I don’t believe it.” “Hey Xana,” Jeremy said. “Now what?”

     “Don’t mock me, Belpois!” The computer yelled. “Seth, get rid of him!”

     “No problem,” Seth replied. Jeremy continued to run away. “Quit hiding, Jeremy!” Seth shouted. “It won’t do you any good!”

     “Ah ha!” Jeremy stopped in front of a tower. “Sorry Seth,” he whispered. “I’m not gonna stick around to find out what you have in store for me.”

     He ran inside the tower and jumped off the blue platform to escape from Xana.

     “I guess I didn’t hit him hard enough,” Seth said.

     “You think?” Xana responded sarcastically. “Grrrr…And he took the right tower! I hate that kid!”

     “Oh,” Seth stopped. “Belpois computer beeps if you activate a tower. The others are probably on there way down here now.”

     Xana sighed. “This just isn’t my day.”

     “Uh oh,” Aelita said. “Jeremy’s computer is beeping. It’s a Xana attack.”

     “Great,” Odd cheered. “Let’s go.”

     “Jeremy’s not answering his phone,” Aelita sighed. “I guess we’ll have to go without him.”

     The gang went down to the factory and Aelita virtualized them all onto the ice sector.

     “What?” Jeremy looked up at the same time that his friends came down. “Ow!”

     Odd landed on top of Jeremy. “Ouch!” Odd yelled. “Who dares to get in the way of Odd the magnificent?”

     “Oh gosh!” Yumi shouted. “Jeremy?”

     “Odd, Ulrich, Yumi?” Jeremy asked.

     “Wow,” Yumi looked at Jeremy. “I like your outfit.”

     “Whatever,” Ulrich said in a jealous voice. “I just can’t believe Einstein is on Lyoko. You wanted a piece of the action too, eh Jeremy?”

     “Trust me,” Jeremy said rubbing his head. “I would not be here if I had a choice.”

     “Well,” Odd started. “This is interesting. Boy will Aelita be surprised. Oh, here she comes now.”

     Aelita was virtualized on Lyoko. She fell from the sky and right into Jeremy’s arms.

     “What?” she looked at him. “Jeremy?” she blushed. “You’re so…And that outfit…You caught me…And…wow.”

     “Good to see you too,” he replied and put her down. “You guys have to hurry to that tower. Seth is here.”

     “You mean that guy?” Ulrich pointed at Seth, who was running towards them.

     “Jeremy,” Aelita said. “Xana has set the timer on a nuclear bomb!”

     “All the more reason to hurry then,” Jeremy told her.

     “Ok,” Yumi said. “We’ll stay here and stop this Seth dude. Jeremy, you go with Aelita to the tower.”

     “Sounds good to me,” Aelita blushed again.

     “His guy can’t be any harder than William,” Odd smirked.

     “Um,” Yumi turned to them. “William is on his way here.”

     “What!?” Ulrich asked. “William? You can’t be serious!”

     “Well,” Yumi said. “I called him because he really wanted to go.”

     “Let’s just take care of the problem at hand,” Ulrich complained.

     “Good luck,” Aelita said and then she ran off with Jeremy.

     “Alright Xana,” Odd swished his tail back and forth. “You’re about to get the Magic Odd Effect.”

     “Don’t tell me you’re still trying to use that nick name,” Ulrich asked.

     “Why?” Odd asked back. “At least I have a nick name that’s cool, unlike ‘Ulrich dear’.”

     “Watch it, Odd!” Ulrich fussed.

     “Will you guys knock it off?” Yumi snapped. “We need to focus on the Xana problem and get Aelita to the tower.”

     “Oh great,” Seth sighed. “It’s the Lyoko dorks.”

     “Now we can get even, Seth,” Yumi said. “Since we’re not in class.”

     “Oh,” he replied. “You think so do you? We’ll just see about that.”

     He laughed and then a sword appeared in his hands, kind of like William’s. (Except that it was a thinner blade.)

     “It’s three against one,” Odd said. “So unfair don’t you think?”

     Just then three tarantulas appeared.

     “Now it’s four against three,” Ulrich pulled out his swords. “Xana doesn’t play fair,” Odd mumbled.

     “Attack!”

     The monsters opened fire on Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi.

     “Laser arrows!” Odd released fire back at them.

     “Let’s go,” Ulrich told Yumi.

     They ran towards Seth and his monsters. “Ah!” Yumi fell over as she got shot in the leg.

     “I’m coming,” she said to Ulrich. “Go ahead.”

     “Right,” Ulrich ran after Seth again. He dodged the lasers and his swords met with Seth’s. “I’m not as easy as William, Ulrich,” Seth said. They fought rapidly throughout the ice sector. Ulrich had never been so worn out from fighting. Seth was quick, and was stronger than William was when he worked for Xana. Ulrich blocked as many swings and blows as he could. “Oph!” Ulrich went up in the air after Seth kicked him in the face.

     Seth jumped up there to get Ulrich. He kicked Ulrich back to the ground and Ulrich landed flat on his back. Seth stood over Ulrich and planted his sword. Ulrich was de-virtualized leaving only Odd and Yumi left. Two of Xana’s tarantulas were also de-virtualized. Yumi turned to face Seth. “Are you ready to take back that comment?” “Are you?” she asked him back. Seth charged at her and swung his sword. Yumi did all of her fancy flips and rolls to escape him. She threw her fans when she got the chance. “Urgg!” Seth yelled as one of the fans hit him in the back. Yumi threw her fans again, but, this time Seth hit them with his sword. “Ah!” Yumi joined Ulrich after Seth got her.

     “Odd,” he laughed. “This should be easy.”

     Odd was busy fighting the last monster.

     “Come on!” he yelled. “You can’t stay protected forever! I will get you!”

     “I will get you!” Seth came up behind Odd. “What do you think about this ‘Odd the Magnificent’?”

     Odd got hit and went flying over to a rock. Seth threw his sword. Odd was de-virtualized like everyone else after he got pinned with the sword.

     “Alright Xana,” Seth said. “Now you can start the next part of your plan.”

     “Perfect,” Xana replied. “Once you get to Aelita and Jeremy the whole factory will explode.”  

     “There,” Aelita said running out of the tower to greet Jeremy. “I’ve de-activated the tower.”

     Back at the factory, Yumi’s cell phone began to ring.

     “Hello?” she answered. “William? ...What?! Ok, I’ll tell the others.”

     She hung up and turned to Odd and Ulrich.

     “Guys,” she said in a quick way. “The bomb is still set!”

     “What?!” Ulrich asked. “Aelita just de-activated the tower.”

     “William said that we have ten minutes left until it explodes!”

     “That means that it’s coming from another source,” Odd told them.

     “Are you sure?” Aelita asked after listening to their conversation.

     “Yeah,” Ulrich assured them. “There’s a tower activated in the mountain replica.”  
     “Well,” Aelita looked at Jeremy. “Guess it’s time to take a trip to Sector 5. Ulrich, click on the Lyoko icon and enter the word ‘Scipio’.”

     Aelita and Jeremy ran to the edge of the platform and waited for their ride. The round teleporter came and took them into Sector 5. “Wow,” Jeremy said looking kinda dizzy.

     “That was sweet!”

     “I can’t believe you just said that,” Aelita told him. “Come on! The Skid is this way.”

     They both ran down through the blue hallways, taking rights and lefts, until they finally got to the elevator. After riding the elevator they went to the transporting spots.

     “Here we go,” Aelita said. The Skid took off, leaving Sector 5 and went into the digital sea. The ship zoomed through out the network.

     “This is really cool!” Jeremy said looking out the window of his nav-Skid.

     “I can’t believe that this is what you guys did all the time while I was on the computer.”

     “It is cool,” Aelita replied. “I wish you could have done this with us all the time, instead of being captured by Xana to come here.”

     “Yeah,” Jeremy sighed. “But, someone has to stay behind to work the computer. You and I are the only ones who know how. And since you hold all the keys to Lyoko you have to go.”

     “I wish there was someone else who knew how besides my father so you could go to Lyoko. You’ve grown up a lot. I just wish…”

     “What?” Jeremy asked her.

     “Uh…Look! There it is!” She pointed to the replica.

     “Whoa,” Jeremy looked at it. “It’s huge.”

     “No time to waste,” Aelita told him. “We have about eight minutes before the bomb goes off.” Aelita drove the Skid around to a tower close by. “Docking,” she said. The Skid attached itself to the tower. “Are you ready, Jeremy?” she asked and then pushed some buttons. “Energize.”

     “The tower is just north of your position, guys,” Ulrich told Jeremy and Aelita.

     “Let’s go,” she said. They ran through the mountain replica to reach the activated tower.

     “Where do you think you’re going?” Seth asked as he appeared in front of them.

     “To the tower,” Aelita snapped. “So I can de-activate it! So move out of the way!”

     “It’s only the two of you! I would give up if I were you!” He pulled out his sword.

     Jeremy pulled out his weapon. But, then it turned into a sword. The handle shrunk and the blade went out.

     “Big mistake!” Seth growled.

     They fought with each other and Aelita ran to the tower.

     “Xana!” Seth yelled. “This isn’t working!”

     Suddenly the ground began to shake and a noise went out like thunder.

     “What?” Jeremy looked around. Seth laughed and turned back towards Jeremy. Black electrified mist fell from the sky and rained down on Jeremy, knocking him to the ground. “Aahhhhh!” He screamed in pain as the mist went all through him.

     “Jeremy?” Ulrich asked. “What’s going on?! Jeremy?!”

     Aelita stopped at the front of the tower when she heard Jeremy. She turned around but didn’t see anyone.

     “Ulrich?” she asked. “What happened? What’s wrong with Jeremy?”

     “I wish I knew,” Ulrich replied. “Hurry up and de-activate that tower! You have two minutes left!”

     Aelita didn’t waist any time. She ran inside the tower and went up to de-activate it.

     “What?” Seth turned towards the tower. “Ah, shoot! I was too busy with Jeremy and forgot about Aelita! This was an accidental victory!”

     Jeremy got up off the ground, still a little dizzy and shaken up from the impact.
Seth punched Jeremy and then swung his sword at him. Jeremy was on his guard thankfully and fought back. Aelita came running out of the tower.

     “Jeremy!” she yelled.

     Seth turned to see Aelita. “Oph!” he went sliding across the floor after Jeremy hit him.

     “Aelita,” Jeremy said and ran over to her. “You did it!”

     “Yes,” she replied. “Are you ok? What happened?”

     “I have no idea…Uhhh!” Seth snuck up behind Jeremy and hit him.

     “Jeremy!” Aelita shouted. She shot energy fields at Seth. Some of them hit Seth and some missed. He shot mist back at Aelita. “Ah!” she fell over as she got hit.
Jeremy jumped at Seth. Seth growled and stabbed Jeremy with his sword. He was de-virtualized leaving Aelita alone.

     “He he he,” Seth laughed looking at Aelita.

     “Alright Ulrich,” Aelita said. “Listen to my instructions and bring me back to earth.”

     She ran from Seth as she told Ulrich how to bring her back. Aelita was brought back to earth right before Seth could get her.

     Aelita came out of the scanner and quickly went up the elevator. Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Jeremy were all standing in the computer lab waiting for her.

     “Are you ok, Aelita?” Odd asked.

     “Yeah I’m fine,” she looked at Jeremy. “Are you ok, Jeremy?”

     “Yeah,” he answered. “I guess so.”

     “Well?” asked Yumi. “What happened, Jeremy?”

     “Hmmm?” he looked at Yumi in a puzzled way. “What do you mean ‘what happened’?”

     “When you screamed,” said Ulrich.

     “I have no idea what that was,” Jeremy said.

     “Maybe we should run a test,” Aelita suggested. “I mean, it is Xana after all. It could have been something really bad.”

     Jeremy got into the scanner and Aelita scanned for any problems.

     “Oh no!” she said.

     “What? What’s wrong?” Odd asked.

     “Jeremy has a Xana virus!”

     “A what?” asked Ulrich. “A virus,” Aelita explained. “But, it’s different then the one I had. According to the computer it’s suppose to cause him pain at different times.”

     “Kinda like a seizure?” Yumi asked.

     “Uh,” Aelita said. “Sort of. My guess is that Xana doesn’t want him to be able to find that message.”

     “So, it’s like a distraction?” Odd looked at Aelita hoping he was right.

     “Basically,” she replied. “This way he’ll have to decide whether he wants to find a cure for his virus or the message. Xana’s stalling for time.”

     “Xana must really have something bad in mind for his big plan,” said Ulrich.

     “I can only imagine,” Aelita told them. “Maybe the message has something to do with his plan and that’s why he did that to Jeremy.”

     “Poor Jeremy,” Yumi sighed.

     “Poor Jeremy what?” Jeremy walked in the room as they were talking.

     “I have some bad news,” Aelita looked up at his face. “You have a virus.”

     “A virus?” he asked.

     “Yes,” she answered. “It’s suppose to cause you pain, Jeremy…” Her eyes started filling with tears as she spoke.

     “What’s wrong?” Jeremy asked.

     “Nothing,” she replied. “Let’s just go back to Kadic.”

     “Good idea,” said Odd. “I’m getting kinda hungry after saving the world.”

     “When are you not hungry, Odd?” Ulrich asked.

     “Very funny, Ulrich,” Odd said. “When are you not grumpy?”

     “I’m never grumpy, Odd! Why are you always scrawny?”

     “I’m not scrawny! I’m svelte!”

     “Sure you are.”

     “Knock it off you two,” Yumi snapped. “You’re starting to get on my nerves.”

     “Forget it, Yumi,” Aelita said. “They’re just boys.”

     “Oh,” Yumi looked at Jeremy. “Jeremy qualifies as one too, doesn’t he?”

     “Well,” Aelita blushed. “He doesn’t act like Odd and Ulrich.”

     Yumi just laughed. “Oh course he does. You just don’t think so because you like him.”

     They all went up the elevator and headed back to Kadic.

*The End*