My Body Is A Cage

((Apologies this is so late. Been kind of distracted/busy the last couple days. ^^; ))

It was truly a relief to Pyrrus to be in Lyoko again. Here, he did not need to take the shape of that wretched human boy, and could instead assume his true form. Its lower half was like an armored worm, slithering about as if it had a mind of its own, while the upper body kept its shape thin, branching off into lanky, clawed arms. Spikes jutted out its back, with hardened, bony "ribs" surrounding the torso.

He had been waiting in Lyoko oever since he'd spoken with Aelita and Yumi. Waiting patiently for his Mandrills to report one way or the other whether the brats were willing to accept his terms. Still no word had come, and he was growing impatient....

((Turn Order: Jeremie, Dunbar, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Aelita, Pyrrus))

One of the towers in the Mountain Sector wrapped itself in glowing blue vine as life was forced into it; the lights on the inside flickered like all of the bulbs were dying but still holding on long enough to keep the core well-lit. Every few minutes however the tower would go completely dark. Sparks would occasionally fall from the ceiling panels before fizzling into nothing.

Jeremie leaped up from the centre of the main platform, hovering, looking about. That wasn't part of the plan...

The void below would light up, grabbing an dropping the entire team on his platform despite the order he had given. He winced a bit, one of his screens popping up with a large, red "!". He stared at it; an error? What was your first clue?

"Sorry guys, there was a problem with my transfer program," the imp flinched a little as he pulled the screen in front of him, frowning at the numerous amounts of errors. "A... a lot of problems," he echoed, looking at the group to make sure everyone was in tact; seemingly so. He chalked that up to good luck considering the errors the system was spitting at him. "Everyone alright?"

"Alright isn't the term I would use" William groaned, sick from the transfer-he wasn't as used to these kinds of things as the others where. The atmosphere of the tower gave the impression it would fall down at any second and there was sparks and beeping coming from everywhere...just great.

""But i'm in one piece" He confirmed straightening up.

"Likewise...." Ulrich groaned, warbling a bit on his feet a bit but managing to stand.

Once he realized Yumi was with them, however, he grew a bit more frustrated. "Can you get back?" he asked Jeremie, drawing a sword as he looked around cautiously. "You, Yumi, and Aelita...can you get back to the Tower from here? Or know where a nearby one is?"

He and William sizing Pyrrus up was one thing, but Yumi...he didn't want her in danger. She wasn't used to her new Lyoko form yet, he disliked the idea of her testing it out on such a strong enemy.

With a bit of a wobble Odd looked to his friends. Thanks to his cat like reflexes, he barely lost any balance. He huffed, "Oh yeah Einstein, we're wonderful." Of course Odd had to use a bit of sarcasm, it's not like it was a pleasant transfer compared to the ones in the past. He could sense the tension Ulrich had, and his one guess was that it had to do with Yumi. With a flick of his tail he leaped to what looked like a branch of some sort, resting on it until they had some sort of idea of what they were going to do.

"Tck..." Yumi rose up somewhat shakily, startled - she wasn't on guard in the slightest for such a sudden, unannounced movement, but when she noticed Jeremie's barrage of error messages she decided speaking up in complaint wasn't the most polite of moves. She rubbed her back, wincing, shirking the pained expression when she noticed Ulrich had glanced her way; she plucked out one of her fans and held it at the ready.

"Ulrich, I think this... is a tower," Yumi attempted to correct him but... it was wide open, as if the top had been lopped off - as Odd had found, trees were actually growing up around it, branching inside. They were standing on the blue pad of a tower, but... something told her this one wouldn't provide them much protection if they needed it.

"I... think this... was... a tower," she muttered, looking decidedly on-edge.

[[ Yumi's post has additional scenery information to make up for some of the things I missed in Jeremie's. >____> MY BAD. ]]

Aelita was dumb-struck at the ruined Tower; how in the world could THAT have happened? Huddling close to the rest of the group, her orbs hovering around like attentive watch-dogs, she looked to Jeremie anxiously. "This place..." she whispered anxiously, "it's a wreck. Jeremie, what happened here...?"

As if all that wasn't enough, she couldn't shake the feeling the were being...watched.

Pressed up flat against a nearby cliff-side, its silver armor blending in all but perfectly with the stone, a limber creature with lanky limbs, a barbed tail, and a head in the shape of XANA's crest watched the group stealthily. "I see...." Pyrrus, its Master, spoke to the creature telepathically, seeing what it saw, "So they're ALL here, are they? Interesting. Keep watch, and follow them if they go anywhere. They may simply be here to accept my Terms, but we mustn't be too relaxed...."

Only a dim gleam of sunlight might alert a sharp-eyed warrior to the creature's presence. It kept itself still and flat, as its Master wished, spying on them all.

Wait, this was a Tower? Jeremie looked about, eyes a bit wider, before he looked at Aelita, his shoulders rising in a haunch. He opened one of his screens to pull up their coordinates, sparks flying from his fingertips. He winced a bit as his other screens shut down.

"I honestly don't know," Jeremie bit his lip. "This looks like data decay but Lyoko was outright shut off... Maybe it was running on a backup system?" He looked honestly befuddled, his long ears tucking. "I think the Mountain Sector is... disconnected from Sector Five, and therefore from the mainframe. I think this tower was eroded because of the lack of refreshing data," he bit his lip. "We're stranded here until I can find a functioning tower and link it back to the core. Our only option is to move forward."

He frowned a bit. "We need to find Pyrrus. Quickly. In case I'm correct we need to get out of here as quickly as we can."

"Are we all going?" William was also concerned for Yumi, and Aelita, and Jeremie... they may be accepting pyrrus's terms but he could still attack-it could be a trap.

Ulrich was still struggling to re-orient himself; something about that jump had REALLY thrown him off. "No we're not," he grumbled even so, shakily trying to assert some authority over the situation before Yumi or someone else did. "You, me, and Odd. That's what we planned for, that's what we'll do."

Blinking again, he began to grasp just how screwed up the Tower was. OK, so maybe staying behind wasn't exactly the safest option either, but better that than confront a Monster head-on, right?

Odd listened to the others then frowned, " what about if some monster comes and attacks them here at the tower? Then what will happen?" Odd knew that Yumi could take care of herself, he also knew how Ulrich and William felt about her. He wanted to find out something that would satisfy everyone, or at least somewhat.

In one swift movement the cat like man was standing next to his friends, looking up at the sky through the destroyed tower," all I can say is let's get this show on the road as soon as possible, huh?" with a smile he looked around the group to his friends, trying to bring some positive feelings into play.

Yumi looked at Ulrich, bringing her head forward and lowering it in a slight, visible, 'really?' type gesture. She understood his concern but she was able to handle herself - as was Aelita; she closed her eyes and took a breath. William had the same reaction Ulrich had so she couldn't play them off of each other, for once. She nodded at Odd. Small victories.

"Odd's right. We have no choice but to continue as a group until we find a tower - or Pyrrus," she glanced at Ulrich and William with a triumphant little smile. "Guess you'll just have to step it up to protect us ladies." And Jeremie. Us ladies and Jeremie. Which made Jeremie an honorary lady. Whoops.

Aelita blushed a bit as she caught Yumi's "slip-up" and inadvertently imagined what a female Jeremie would look like. Best to focus on something else lest she betray her thoughts too badly...! "Y-yes, what Yumi said," she squeaked, "Better we all go together. Strength in numbers..."

She couldn't help but giggle as she sidled up to Jeremie and whispered teasingly, "Right...Jeremia?"

Pyrrus watched the group through the Mandrill's eyes with growing interest; his servant was too far away to hear what they were saying, but just from looking at them he could tell they were...planning. What, exactly, he didn't know, but planning it definitely was, and that meant it was unlikely they'd come simply to inform him they'd agreed to his plan. "Keep a close eye on them," he told the Mandrill, "but do not let them notice you. I want you to keep me aware of their movements. If indeed they intend to co-operate, I don't want to fight them...but if they don't, I want to be ready for them."

Obeying its master, the Mandrill kept its distance, but remained ready to move should the group also begin to head off.

Jeremie's cheeks lit up like lamps - he crossed his arm and childishly rolled his eyes, walking to the only path they had available - forward. He gestured for everyone to follow him but he kept his pace low - after all, it wasn't like he of all of them needed to be front and center when the inevitable attack came. "L-let's get going, we don't have time for chit-chat." His tail curled as he shot a playful glare to Aelita, smiling a fraction.

"Just stay on guard - keep lookout for anything. Considering how damaged the sector is, I'd also advise watching your step."

"No problem Jeremie, I won't make the mistake of goofing off this time..." His sentance trailed off as he exited the tower shocked by the sight of the sector. He only had the unclear memories of it from when he was possessed but even he could see it was different-decaying.

Ulrich still didn't like the idea of Yumi having to test her new Lyoko form in the heat of battle like this, but he knew a lost fight when he saw one, and so simply let his pace fall in step with hers as they began to head out. "Just...everyone keep on guard, OK?" he asked a bit testily; his bearings were back, but he still felt somehow...off-balance, given all that the Sector had changed. "If this Pyrrus is willing to hold Jeremie's body hostage, I don't want to find out what else he's capable of."

Odd rolled his eyes with a smile as he saw the worry on Ulrich's face, " don't worry buddy, she's taken good care of herself this far," he chuckled as he sent a look of entertainment towards Yumi. He walked over to Jeremie, " so Jeremia, shall we get going?" with a large smile he looked over to Aelita, he knew his cat senses would come in handy for something.

Yumi glared Ulrich a fresh set of daggers - she followed behind Jeremie and then passed in front of him as Ulrich caught up - she didn't mind leading the charge in the least, which made his worried attitude all the more irritating. "Yes, because Aelita and I aren't capable of being on guard without being told, right, Ulrich?" She smiled a bit, tilting her head forward and folding her fan into a sliver, bringing it down slightly on Ulrich's shoulder with a slight 'pap'. "You take care of yourself. We'll do the same."

Following Yumi's lead, Aelita over-dramatically placed her hand upon her head in a fainting gesture, leaning against Jeremie. "Oh yes, thank goodness we have big, strong Ulrich to look out for us," she giggled teasingly.

She laughed all the more as Odd riffed on her play on Jeremie's name. It was good to know they could keep their spirits up even in spite of the situation.

The Mandrill closed in on them in secret, keeping itself hidden but attempting to get within audio range so it could hear them. "Careful, my servant," Pyrrus warned, "These Warriors can be quite observant. Do not let them detect you."

The Mandrill did as it was asked, using the rocks and bumps to keep itself covered, even as it slowly came closer to the team....

Jeremie's face stayed a beet red, but when Aelita pretended to faint he let his legs give out, collapsing onto the ground dramatically, hand upon his forehead to mimic Aelita's gesture. "Oh, woe are we without our swordsman!" It was... extremely out of character, but if it made Aelita laugh, he'd do just about anything.

He twitched his tail and opened an eye after playing dead, smirking a bit as he looked up at Ulrich. "Not bad for someone who never played Romeo, eh?" He slipped out from under Aelita, offering her a hand to help her up; he wouldn't notice any incoming danger.

William couldn't help but laugh, even though he shared Ulrich's protective feelings towards Yumi, the other's antics where highly entertaining. Especially Jeremie who went along with the whole "jeremia" joke-though this was probably to keep Aelita happy. He didn't notice the mandril(sp?) closely following them either.

(Sorry for the late reply my computer is being a jerk-face, I'm getting it repaired though so no worries)

"W-what? No, I didn't mean...!" Ulrich did not get to finish his plea before being smacked full-force by Yumi's fan, stumbling a bit out of surprise.

Shaking that off, he decided to let it drop; best not to argue over a moot point, given that the girls were coming with regardless of his feelings. He also chose to fall back a bit, keeping to the center of the group. Unease still filled him, though, and as they proceeded he found himself growing increasingly worried, an inescapable feeling of being watched falling over him.

And then he heard a crack of stone, not far from where William was walking....