The girl trusted her instincts and jumped from the side of the platform. Darkness surrounded her but suddenly she was heading up again. She landed lightly on another identical platform. Cautiously she moved outside. Once there she glanced around. This was the mountain sector. Suddenly she felt pulses leading away from the tower. Her instincts told her to follow them.

She crept forward following them away from the safety of the tower. They got stronger the farther she went. At a large boulder she paused. Cautiously she peaked her head around taking in the sight before her. A tower stood in the distance but instead of the pure white glow it was dark red. Multiple blocks and small monsters roamed around the tower. They appeared to be guarding it.

Suddenly she felt a pain in her shoulder. She cried out and jumped around. Standing only feet away from her was one of the small monsters. She ran away from it as it prepared to fire again. She zig zagged dodging the blasts as it chased her. She almost cried in relief when she saw the tower in the distance. Running as fast as she could she ran into the tower collapsing on the platform. Quickly she pressed in the center circle of the platform pulling up the panel she used before. She tried to connect to Victor again. He answered almost immediately.

"Are you okay? It shows that you lost life points," Victor asked her urgently. They had just arrived at the factory when he got the alert. The others were already heading down to the scanners. Mr. B was with him though keeping in touch with the others at the school. Apparently things weren't going so great over there.

"There's a tower, something is wrong with it. I think VOLTO is using it. There are monsters guarding the area," she told him slightly out of breath.

"You should have waited for us," he told her frustrated that she had gotten hurt. "I'm sending in North and Silas now. I'll try to send them close to your signal." She nodded her understanding before breaking the connection. Owen was slightly impressed with the girl. She seemed to be a lot more than the programmed avatar the others made her out to be.

"Scanning North, transfer North. Scanning Silas, transfer Silas. Virtualization," Victor said pressing the final key.

North appeared high in the sky over what appeared to be rock path. He dropped down landing in a crouch. Glancing around he saw Silas had landed the same way not too far from him. He looked around the world but could only see different formations of rock and stone paths going away from them in every direction. He turned back to Silas who was headed straight for him and almost laughed. It was like the Greek had picked this outfit himself.

His chest was bare except for a brown strap stretching from under his arm to over his opposite shoulder. His dark blue pants were loose and attached to his back was the biggest blade North had ever seen. North looked down at his own get up. He was in all black. The material hung off of his shoulders and draped around his neck but was tight around his chest. A massive belt looking thing attached his weapon. He grabbed the silver object. It looked like a small sickle attached to a long silver chain. He could work with this.

"Where is aggele mou?" Silas asked once he got to him. North shrugged looking around. He didn't see anything that looked remotely like a 'tower'.

"You need to head to your left. I sent you as close as I could. She is heading in your direction so you should see her soon," Victor told them. They headed in the direction he said and soon enough they saw a small blonde girl heading straight for them. She stopped a few feet away.

"Hi," she said to them shyly. "The activated tower is that way." She pointed to the right towards a skinnier path.

"Activated?" he asked her as they moved towards the path.

"Yeah," she shrugged, "Something is wrong with it. I think VOLTO is using it for something." He raised his eyebrows at his but didn't say anything. They continued on until she stopped behind a large boulder.

"Around that rock are quite a few monsters. They saw me when I went closer," she stated. North and Silas nodded their understanding. They crept forward cautiously prepared for anything.

Kota was not prepared for this. Every electrical system on campus seemed to be going haywire. It's like the computer knew where they were and what they were doing because nothing was going according to plan.

Gabriel was on the phone with Mr. B keeping him updated. To his dismay this involved many curses. They were currently trying to get everyone out of the cafeteria. A large portion of the student body had decided to hide in there but they needed to get everyone off campus. It seemed to be the area most affected by the power surges.

Nathan was keeping the door open while Kota, Luke, and Sean attempted to herd people outside. It was a slow process.

Suddenly all of the lights in the cafeteria sparked. People ducked close to the floor screaming. The door Nathan was holding open slammed shut throwing him inside the cafeteria. Electricity sparked around the doors. Kota cursed when he saw they were automatic. He looked around taking in the sparks coming off of every possible exit. Gabriel met his eyes and nodded his understanding. He held the phone up to his ear.

"We're trapped."

"We're trapped."

The words sent ice water through Owen's veins. This was the worst case scenario. Not only his team but the entire city was at risk now because they turned on this infernal device. He watched Victor work hoping the others could stop whatever this was.

"Be careful guys there are three blocks and ten cockroaches around that corner. The tower is about a hundred yards back. "

North and Silas peaked their heads around the corner getting a feel for what they were about to have to do. The small monsters were closer to them while the blocks sat closer to the tower. They shared a look before jumping into action.

They made quick work of the cockroaches but one did get North in the side. He grunted in pain. A small gasp sounded behind them. Silas finished the small monster while North glanced backward. He could just make out a small blonde head poking out from behind the rock.

"Stay back," he growled at her. She was going to get hurt.

"Guys, you need to hurry. Things are getting bad at the school," Victor told them his voice forced.

"What are you not saying?" Silas asked dodging another an ice blast from one of the blocks.

"Kota and the others have been trapped in the cafeteria. It looks like VOLTO is targeting them. Electricity is being routed to the cafeteria."

"What happens when too much electricity goes to the cafeteria?" North asked. He had a feeling but he wanted to be sure.

"It is likely an explosion of a sizeable magnitude will occur." North and Silas cursed. Their brothers were now relying on them. They had to do this. They finished the last of the cockroaches and headed straight for the blocks. These things were slightly harder. The blocks kept rotating. Some of the faces shot hot red lasers while other shots freezing blue ones. One of the latter hit Silas in the lower leg freezing him in place. The block readied another shot but North jumped in front of him reflecting the shot with his blade. It hit the block in the dead center of its mark. It fumbled for a second before exploding. The pieces disappeared as they turned to face the other two.

"They will do it in time," Kota told his brothers. He could tell some of them were started to panic. Luke kept walking around the group surveying every inch of the cafeteria but even he couldn't figure a way out. The students huddled under the tables in the center of the room. There had been many calls to 911 but the police outside couldn't figure out a way in. They stood around staring at the building. Kota knew he couldn't rely on them for help.

"Of course they will," Nathan added. Gabriel nodded even though he was looking slightly nervous. Sean was farther away checking on the students making sure no one was injured. Sparks erupted from one of the walls again causing screams from the cowering group of students. Kota flinched at the sound. He hated to admit it but they were running out of time.

The girl watched the two boys fight the monsters. She felt useless. She wanted to help them save their friends. The others who she met who were so nice to her. They were in danger. It was down to only two blocks but they were having trouble getting a shot in. Slowly the fight led away from the tower. She realized suddenly with each block distracted by one of the boys she could make it to the tower. She readied herself and then she took off.

"What are you doing?" Victor asked her. He was shocked when her marker started to move, quickly, toward the tower.

"I can make it to the tower. They are distracting the blocks," she stated speeding up. One of the blocks saw her and began to move toward her. Silas paused only for a second taking in her form running toward the tower. Too late he realized what was happening and jumped in front of the shot.

North finally got a shot at his block hitting the center of its mark. He turned to check on Silas only to see him deteriorate. The finally block was hot on the girl's tail as she ran at the tower. He started running as fast as he could.

This girl would be the death of him. He caught up with the block stopping its progress. He glanced behind him and breathed a sigh of relief as the girl entered the tower.

The girl walked onto the familiar looking platform. She reached the center and a panel popped up, similar to the one she used to contact Victor. It was blank. She reached out and placed her palm on it out of instinct. It scanned her hand and she pulled it away waiting. Four letters popped onto the screen: SANG. They blinked a few times before disappearing.

"Sang?" she said questioningly.

"What's going on?" she heard Victor ask. For some reason that word seemed familiar to her. Another four letters popped up: CODE. They blinked but stayed on the screen. A blank line appeared underneath them.

"It needs a code of some sort."

"I don't see anything for a code," Victor told her. He continued to type away but he wasn't seeing anything relevant. "You have a connection to this world. I know you can do this. I believe in you." He told her sincerely. She was their only hope.

She stared at the screen. Closing her eyes she pushed everything away. Her hand moved up to the screen as her eyes opened. Somehow she just knew. She typed quickly the letters appearing on the screen.

GHOSTBIRD

Everything stopped for a second, then suddenly all of the lights in the tower shot towards the bottom before coming back up blinding her for a second. She did it.

"Tower deactivated."

Victor sat back in his chair in relief. The electricity in the city was returning to normal limits. The girl did it. He quickly warned North and brought him back after the block had been destroyed. Who or what was this girl? He sat forward again switching over to her code. He was almost through it earlier.

Owen, North, and Silas stood back from the computer. North and Silas were worn out from their trip into the virtual world. Owen contacted Kota and the others. Thankfully everyone was fine but it was close. They were headed to the factory now. It was time to turn the thing off for good.

It didn't take long for the others to arrive. They looked shaken but okay for the most part.

"We need to turn it off," Owen stated once they were all together. Luke looked like he wanted to argue but thought better of it. The girl popped up on the computer screen. Victor moved her to the corner so he could continue working. There was something there.

"It's alright. I understand," she told them. Luke moved forward his eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm not real. This is what's best for everyone." She smiled at them but they could all tell it was fake. They all moved toward the elevator but suddenly Victor stopped them.

"Wait, we can't!" he shouted.

"Why not Mr. Morgan?" Owen asked.

"She isn't a part of the virtual world. She's trapped in it."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked stepping toward the computer.

"Her code is identical to ours but hers is corrupted. I can fix it but it will take some time."

"How much time?" Kota asked.

"I don't know weeks possibly months." Owen stepped forward shaking his head.

"We can't allow VOLTO to stay active that long. What if it continues this destruction and people get hurt? That will be on us." Everyone was silent as they took that in.

"But we can't leave her," Luke stated quietly. Several in the group nodded agreeing with him.

"It doesn't matter. You need to shut it down. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me," she told them.

"You are fucking trouble. I knew it," Gabriel said looking torn about everything.

"I am not," she replied frowning.

"Are too, Trouble."

"I am not!"

"Well I don't have anything else to call you."

"Sang." They all paused.

"Your name is Sang?" Kota asked. "As in I sang a song?"

"I think so. It popped up when I placed my hand on the panel. It feels right, familiar."

"Well Miss Sang, you know why we have to do this?" Owen asked. She nodded.

"We can't do this," Victor stated looking up from the computer.

"Victor, it's alright," she told him.

"No, it's not," Gabriel said from behind him.

"We cannot allow this supercomputer to wreck whatever destruction it wishes."

"I think I have a way to solve that," Victor stated. "I found a program wired into the deactivation of the tower. It would have run but it isn't turned on. It's called return to the past. According to the code it will rewind time to twenty-four hours earlier. If we can deactivate the tower within twenty-four hours then anything VOLTO does will be erased."

"That doesn't sound possible, Mr. Morgan."

"We gone from a fucking video game to a fucking anime series," Gabe muttered under his breath.

"If it works, we help Sang if not we turn the computer off," Kota bargained coming forward. Owen looked at his second in command. Reluctantly he nodded.

"If it works, we will keep the computer on long enough to retrieve Miss Sang."

"There is one thing we have to do first. Apparently the only people who will remember what happened will be those who have been to Lyoko," Victor read from his computer.

"Is that the name of the virtual world?" Sean asked. Victor nodded. Owen glanced around the group before heading toward the elevator.

"Come on, Dr. Green, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Coleman."

Victor set up the program so that Kota could run it. In no time at all they were are virtualized and brought back. According to Gabriel, the outfits were acceptable. Victor sat back down at the computer and pulled up the program.

"Return to the past now." He pushed the final key and then he saw nothing.

North was the last one to make it to the table but this time his shirt was neat.

"You know, knowing when a crazy girl is going to try and jump you can be really helpful," he stated sitting down.

"So it worked," Luke said looking around the table. It felt like in one breath to the other they were standing in the factory and now they were at lunch, yesterday. This time Kota was prepared when towards the end of the period a shadow fell over their table.

"Where are your uniforms?" McCoy asked them harshly. They all shared looks before Kota turned to answer instead of anyone else.

"This school doesn't have uniforms," Kota stated. McCoy huffed in frustration his eyebrows pinched together. He seemed to be in a perpetual state of frustration.

"I know that. Your academy uniforms," he clarified stressing academy.

"We don't have uniforms," Kota replied.

"I was told you would be wearing uniforms," he exclaimed his voice rising.

"You'll have to talk to Mr. Blackbourne for more information," Kota told him keeping his calm. McCoy walked away in a huff. Kota watched him go once again thinking about how suspicious the man was. He shared looks with his brothers.

Together they stood up and exited the cafeteria. They headed to Mr. B and Doc's office. Knocking randomly, they were allowed entry. Owen and Sean were sitting behind their respective desks. Owen looked up as they entered. Determination mirrored in all of their faces.

"We need to form a plan."