♦♣♠♥♠♣♦~CHAPTER 3: ULRICH~♦♣♠♥♠♣♦

I followed Odd through the portal and we came out of the ground in Sector 6. It looked like the tropics with a bunch of trees and even a lake. On the lake was an island. Only the side facing us was open, the rest the island was hidden by a cliff.

"That's my home. It's the only tower on Sector 6 that I know of." Coda said.

"Great, but where are Aelita and Yumi?" I asked her. She closed her eyes then opened them again.

"Just ahead. They're on the shore of the beach." She answered. I nodded and raced ahead. William and Odd followed me. I landed next to the girls.

"So, no issues getting here?" I asked them.

"No." Aelita said.

"There's no need to worry, Ulrich. We're just fine." Yumi said. I smiled sheepishly. I couldn't help it, I was always worried about Yumi. Odd, William, and Coda joined us.

"So, Coda, how do we get to the island?" William asked her.

"Simple. Watch." She stepped froward with her right foot, her toes just barely brushing the water. Her hands came up stacked as she stepped froward, but with her fingers up. She had four fingers up on either hand, her thumb folded across, and her palms facing each other. The tips of her right fingers were resting on the bottom of her left palm.

She dropped to one knee and tipped her hands down so the tips of her left hand touched the ground. She whispered something and a stone bridge appeared starting at her fingers and leading all the way to the island.

"There. My humble home awaits." Coda stood up and started across the bridge. We all followed and I pulled Odd back so we could talk. Yumi, Aelita, and Coda got into a conversation and William watched them.

"Hey Odd, do you know what Coda said right as she made the bridge?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"I don't, but she did say something when she got her skates as well." Odd replied.

"Hm. And did you hear what XANA said to her? And when we helped her out, what he was doing?" I asked.

Odd nodded. "Of course. How could I not? But what of it?"

"I don't know. It's just...I'm uneasy about her. She started the supercomputer from inside it, brought XANA back, and you know what she said? She said she was a backup for Lyoko." I said.

"I know. But, what should we do?" Odd asked.

"I say for now we just stay cautious and when we get back we talk to Jeremy." I suggested. Odd nodded.

"Alright. Sounds good." Odd replied.

"Hey, you two going to stay out here?" Coda was the only one still outside the tower.

"We're coming." I took off running with Odd right next to me. Coda entered the tower just in front of me and Odd.

"Alright. Let me just recharge my health then I'll take you up to the third floor and we can talk." Coda moved to the middle of the platform and we back up so we wouldn't be in her way. She closed her eyes and put her arms out to the sides, her a palms facing out. She started glowing purple and little purple comet like balls started spiraling around her. They reminded me of the Skid's anchor, when we still had it. After a second the color faded and she landed back onto the platform.

"Alright. Ready?" She asked us. We nodded and she closed her eyes again. This time we all started glowing and floated up. Aelita looked comfortable, but she was the only one. I guessed because she'd done something like this before.

We floated up, past a platform, then up to another. We landed on that one and Coda smiled. There was a few floating benches and Coda jumped onto one, sitting criss-cross. We all sat down, me sitting next to Yumi. Aelita and Odd sat on another. WIlliam sat on the last one, but he was a little tense, still suspicious.

"So, go ahead and ask me questions. You to, Jeremy." Coda said.

"So Coda, who created you?" Aelita asked.

"Well, I did already answer this but Frans Hopper created me. Except I wasn't ..." She trailed off, as if she decided she shouldn't tell us whatever she'd been about to say.

"Except what?" I asked.

"Um..." Coda bit her lip, like she didn't want to answer. "Well, it's linked to why XANA wants me alive." She said.

"Wants you alive? What do you mean?" I asked.

"XANA wants me alive for a ... shall I say, project?" She said.

"A project?" Yumi asked, sitting forward.

"Yes. Like when he wanted to use Aelita to take control of Lyoko." She answered.

"Oh. So, him taking you is bad?" Odd asked. I nodded.

"Yes. Very. And he won't kill me, he needs me to much for that. Instead he'll lock me up like he did before." She hugged her knees closer.

"Like before as in..." I asked with a questioning tone.

"That's why I wasn't able to help you the first time when XANA was still just a program with no body. I was still awake and knew what was going on, but had no way of getting out. Until you 'killed' XANA. Then I got out." She answered.

"And what kind of prison are you talking about?" Yumi asked.

"Two guardians at the same time, a whole host of monsters, and a triple-encoded access point with me trapped in between Sectors." She answered.

"Sheesh. XANA really didn't want you to get away." Odd said.

"No." Coda shook her head. "And he's still after me. Always will be." She muttered.

"Well, now you've got the Lyoko Warriors on your side. Trust me, if there's one thing we're good at it's beating XANA." I said.

"I hope so, because when it comes to me XANA's got a 1-track mind." She said. We all smiled.

"Excellent. I love a challenge." Odd said. He leaned back, his hands behind his head and fell off the bench he was on. We all started laughing at him.