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Bart, Carl, William, and Aelita hurried into the elevator.
Behind them, Jeremie called, “I'll start up the virtualization process!”
Carl and Bart were excited. “Our first trip to Lyoko!” said Bart.
“Yeah, I wonder what we'll look like and be able to do!” replied Carl.
“Remember, you two,” Aelita warned, “like I told William his first time, this is NOT a video game, this is a mission to save the world!”
“Yeah, don't make the same mistake that I did, and go off willy-nilly!” added William, “Listen to Aelita and Jeremie, they know what to expect more than any of us!”
“Right, got it!” replied Bart, while Carl nodded in affirmation.
The elevator stopped at the Scanner Room, and the four teens got out. They decided to enter the scanners two at a time. Aelita and William, being the experienced warriors, went first. Up in the lab, Jeremie prepared the scanners.
“Transfer, William! Transfer, Aelita! Scanner, William! Scanner, Aelita! Virtualization!” Jeremie's voice rang out over the speakers in the room as he worked the program on the supercomputer.
Aelita and William felt the familiar rush of being transferred, and soon, with a bright flash of light, they appeared in the desert sector, in their avatars.
“We're here, Jeremie,” called Aelita, “You can send Bart and Carl over now.”
“Got it,” Jeremie replied, “Carl! Bart! It's time, fellas.”
Carl rubbed his hands in anticipation, while Bart pumped his fist in excitement. The boys hurried into two of the scanners.
Up in the lab, Jeremie made the preparations: “Transfer, Carl! Transfer, Bart! Scanner, Carl! Scanner, Bart!” Jeremie paused and took a deep breath. Then he pushed the button. “Virtualization!”
Carl and Bart felt themselves get lifted up a few feet off the scanner, like when Jeremie first had them scanned, so that their avatars could be created. What was new to them, however, was the sudden flash of light engulfing them...then they felt themselves moving through some kind of digital tunnel...and finally....
Everything around them was orange and yellow. They felt as though they were hovering for a moment. Then, that feeling was replaced with the sensation of falling. They both landed, rump first, on the desert floor.
“Ouch!” they both yelled. “What the hell?!” Carl added, as he and Bart climbed to their feet. Then, they got a look around.
“Whoa,” breathed Bart.
The boys saw the great, sandy plains, and several rock formations of the desert. “Lyoko is a desert?!” Bart asked.
“One of its five sectors is a desert,” Aelita corrected.
Carl and Bart turned to look over at her and William. Their eyes widened in surprise at Aelita and William's avatars; Aelita, with her light and dark pink outfit with a blue skirt, shoulder pads, and sash around her chest. William, with his black, red, and grey outfit.
“Wow, look at you two!” cried Bart.
“Where did you get that sword? It looks awesome!” Carl asked William.
“It came with my avatar,” William replied proudly, causing the two newcomers to whistle and gape in awe.
“You boys should look at yourselves next!” said Aelita. Carl and Bart looked down at themselves...and were bewildered at what they saw.
Just like Aelita and William, Carl and Bart were not in the same outfits that they wore in the real world. Bart now sported what was undoubtedly a white karate vest, and gray pants. He even had a black belt encircling his waist. Carl appeared to be dressed in a slightly bulky armored suit. It was mostly orange, but his hands and feet were green, as was a mysterious orb on his chest.
“Whoa, check us out!” cried Carl.
“Am I in karate gear?” asked a dumbfounded Bart.
“It sure looks that way,” replied Aelita, “Jeremie thinks the supercomputer creates our avatars based on deep desires.”
“What?! But I've never even PRACTICED karate, or any martial arts for that matter!” exclaimed Bart. He looked over at Carl. “And what's that circle on your chest?!”
Carl looked down at himself in confusion. “I'm not sure...” he said slowly. He reached up and touched the circle...and everyone jumped back in surprise.
The “circle” turned out to be a button. And that button made the top of Carl's chest pop open, like a compartment! Which seemed to be what it was, for inside, they saw some kind of gray gun. Carl pulled it out for everyone to examine. To his surprise, he could hold it in one hand. The others watched as he experimentally aimed it at a nearby rock and pulled the trigger. A laser bolt whizzed out and struck the rock, bursting into plasma when it hit.
“I have a laser rifle!” exclaimed Carl.
“That's great,” Jeremie's voice suddenly sounded from nowhere, “but X.A.N.A.'s activated tower is towards your 3 o' clock. Bart, we'll have to find out what you can do once you guys get over there. Hurry!”
“Follow us and try to keep up!” said William.
The four teens ran in the direction Jeremie instructed. Soon, they came to some large rocks, which Aelita motioned for everyone to get behind. Peeking around, they saw the activated tower, which was guarded by three large red creatures.
“What are those huge crab-looking things?” asked Bart.
“They're one of X.A.N.A.'s types of monsters. We call them Krabs,” came Jeremie's reply.
“You don't say,” chuckled Carl.
“Careful, they can be quite tough!” warned Aelita.
“So, what's the plan, especially since we have no idea what I can do?” asked Bart.
“Well, there's three of them, and four of us,” said William, "I suggest you two try to tackle one together, while Aelita and I will take one each. Listen, aim for the symbol on top of their heads if you can. The symbol is the weak spot for all monsters.”
“We've got to move, I'm the only one who can deactivate the towers,” Aelita told them.
“Then let's go!” exclaimed Carl.
“I'll go first. Super Smoke!” exclaimed William.
Carl and Bart watched in amazement as William suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke, gliding across the ground. When he reached the Krabs, they immediately opened fire. William slithered around, dodging energy blasts. When he reached the Krab on the left, he jumped up, and tried to swing his sword, but was hit by an energy blast by the Krab from the middle. Aelita took that moment to activate her star bracelet. The boys watched in wonder as her angel wings sprouted from her shoulders, and she took to the air and headed towards the Krabs. The one fighting William remained focused on him, but the other two Krabs opened fire on her.
“Energy Field!” Aelita cried, charging one up and throwing it towards the middle Krab. Unfortunately, dodging laser bolts prevented her from getting a good shot, and the pink ball slammed into the ground.
Suddenly, a laser bolt flew through the air and struck her from behind, causing her to fall to the ground! “Watch out! X.A.N.A. sent some hornets!” Jeremie called in alarm.
Carl and Bart whirled around to see five small green bug-shaped creatures flying towards their location. “We gotta take care of them!” cried Carl.
“But what can I do?! I don't have any weapons on me!” yelled Bart.
Carl didn't know how to respond, he just aimed his laser rifle and started firing. The hornets were fast and hard to hit. It was definitely more difficult than playing a video game! Luckily, he managed to hit one, and it recoiled in the air, but recovered, and resumed flying. One of its mates fired its laser, hitting him in the chest. Carl felt a tingling sensation and was knocked back a few feet.
“Carl, you just lost twenty life points! Everyone starts with one hundred!” came Jeremie's voice.
Carl recovered, and fired again, managing to hit the one that struck him. To his dismay, two of the hornets flew over toward William and Aelita. He noticed, for a split-second, that two of the Krabs were now gone, however.
“Aelita has seventy life points left, while Carl and William have eighty! Bart is at full health, but everyone be careful!” called Jeremie.
The third Hornet was firing at Bart, who managed to duck and dodge, avoiding the laser fire. “Come on, you damn bug!” growled Bart, wishing he could throw something at the Hornet.
Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation in his right hand. He looked down, and to his surprise, he saw a glowing orange ball! “Whoa!” he cried, moving his hand back, startled. When he moved his hand, the ball suddenly shot away! He watched in stunned silence as it curved in the air, before striking a rock.
Bart looked down at his hand in wonder, when suddenly he felt himself get hit by something, and a different tingling sensation spread through his body.
“Bart, you just lost twenty life points!” cried Jeremie.
Bart turned and faced the hornet, which was circling around, preparing to fire again. He imagined the glowing ball forming in his hand again. To his surprise, it did! He threw it, and it flew through the air, curving towards the Hornet. By sheer luck, it struck the eye symbol, and the Hornet exploded!
“Woohoo! I shoot fireballs!” yelled Bart.
Carl heard his friend, and fired another shot, destroying his first Hornet. “That's awesome!” he called.
Suddenly, he was struck by another shot from their remaining Hornet. He had taken two more shots trying to fight off two Hornets at once, and was now down to just twenty life points, according to Jeremie.
Over near the tower, William and Aelita had each taken out a Krab and one of the Hornets, leaving one Krab, and one Hornet for them to face. William, like Carl, had taken damage fighting the Hornets, which he found hard to hit, since he was using his sword. Suddenly, the Krab fired its charged laser, and struck William in the chest, devirtualizing him!
“William!” Aelita cried in alarm. She flew around and fired another Energy Field. The sphere flew towards the Krab, striking and destroying it. But the Hornet fired a shot and struck her in the chest!
“Aelita only has forty life points left!” came Jeremie's panicked voice.
In the scanner room, William came out of one of the scanners. He hit the wall in frustration and cursed under his breath. He made his way over to the ladder that led up to the lab and climbed it to rejoin Jeremie.
Back on Lyoko, the remaining Hornet fighting Carl and Bart flew towards Carl and fired its laser, just as he squeezed off a shot from his laser rifle. The two laser bolts whizzed past each other...and struck their intended targets. As the Hornet exploded, Carl was devirtualized. Bart looked on in shock as Carl turned into particles and disappeared. He felt himself moving through a digital tunnel, then there was a bright light, a cloud of steam, and suddenly he found himself back in the scanner room.
“Whoa, I'm back!” he cried. He noticed the ladder that led to the lab and climbed it.
Back on Lyoko, the remaining Hornet dodged Aelita's Energy Field, and zoomed towards her. Bart ran as fast as he could and conjured a fireball in each of his hands. Please let these hit! He thought as he launched them towards the Hornet. The Hornet charged its laser, ready to devirtualize Aelita...and was struck in the head by the two fireballs! The Hornet exploded and disappeared.
Aelita grinned and turned toward Bart. “Thanks! Looks like you found out what you can do!” she said.
“Hell yeah!” he replied, giving her a thumbs up.
“Great job everyone!” said Jeremie. “Aelita, you're clear to deactivate the tower.”
“Right!” she replied.
Bart watched as Aelita ran towards the tower, raising his eyebrows as she disappeared inside of it. “Hey, where'd she go?!” he cried.
“She's inside the tower, going to deactivate it,” explained Jeremie.
Aelita floated up the tower to the platform, where the code input screen appeared in front of her. She entered Code: Lyoko and announced, “Tower: Deactivated!”
Jeremie then hit a button on his keyboard. “Return to the Past, Now!”
The bright light then encircled the world, scaring the crap out of Carl when it appeared. “Holy sh-!”
That night, the entire gang met at the lab. “So, how'd they do their first time?” asked Yumi.
“Wonderful!” replied Aelita.
“Yeah, not too shabby!” said William with a grin.
Carl and Bart smiled with pride. “So, what can the two of you do?” asked Ulrich.
“And what do you look like?” added Odd, hoping they looked more ridiculous than him.
“Well, I'm in some kind of orange and green metal suit, and I can make a laser rifle come out of my chest!” said Carl, making the others raise their eyebrows. “I hold it in my hands, though,” he quickly added.
“I look like some kind of martial artist, but I can shoot fireballs from my hands!” Bart told them.
“You gotta be kidding me!” exclaimed Odd, “Those sound so cool!”
“They do sound pretty handy,” said Yumi, “and it'll be nice to have more hands in the fight against X.A.N.A.!”
“See, I told you guys they could be a big help!” said Odd, placing a hand on Bart and Carl's shoulders.
“You were right, Odd,” said Jeremie, “but we'll still have to be careful from now on. I have a feeling X.A.N.A. will find ways to make the fight even more difficult for us. There's no telling what kind of tricks he could come up with!”
“Don't worry, Jeremie,” said Aelita, “whatever X.A.N.A. throws at us, we'll be there to face it.”
“And we'll beat him, too!” added Ulrich confidently.
The others all agreed. Then, they headed back to Kadic Academy for the night, except for Yumi, whom Ulrich walked back to her house.