Chapter 1: Virtualization
Southwest of the Sacred Land of Korin, Age 750 (2003)
The Red Ribbon Army's headquarters had become nothing, but ruins. After a powerful young boy, Son Goku, defeated its leader and remaining soldiers, the castle-like facility was almost immediately deserted. In a way, it was as if the once formidable organization had never existed at all. And for the rest of the world outside Japan, this was a huge relief. The presence of such evil didn't deserve to be remembered, even if some of its remaining followers would attempt to continue the army's vile legacy. One such follower, in fact, had left behind some unsettling research relating to the Red Ribbon Army's planned conquest for world domination.
Unfortunately, this research was about to be unearthed by an intelligent, yet overly curious teen named Bulma.
She had short blue hair with bangs that were brushed over to the ride side of her face. Her eyes were a slightly darker blue while she wore a yellow-white hoodie with a red T-shirt present underneath. Bulma also had on a white skirt and dark blue tennis shoes with yellow socks to match. Although this outfit seemed casual, Bulma appeared to be scavenging through the outskirts of the deteriorated base.
Considering she was the heiress of Capsule Corp, a multimillion-dollar tech company, Bulma's inner scientist probably convinced her to look around for spare parts and inventions. The Red Ribbon Army had to have gotten their advanced technology and weapons from somewhere, of course, so why not?
She, however, began to regret this decision after realizing how creepy this place was.
"Sheesh. I really don't like how quiet it is here. Maybe I should have brought Yamcha with me, after all…" Bulma grimaced. Admittedly, her and Yamcha were going through a bit of a rough patch in their relationship, but the moral support would be appreciated, nonetheless.
She sighed and continued scanning the premises for anything unique. Whole buildings were shattered to pieces, most likely as a result of Goku's one-man invasion of the base a few months prior. Various machine guns were also left abandoned due to the same, impactful event. It appeared that the soldiers quickly surrendered after seeing how dangerous Goku was and honestly, she couldn't blame them. At times, that kid was far too strong for his own good.
Bulma frowned at the sudden thought of her friend. It had been quite a while since he left Baba's Palace to continue his martial arts training.
"I wonder how that goofball's doing. Probably still fighting and eating as always." The girl chuckled.
Distracted by her own thoughts, Bulma unceremoniously tripped over a piece of rubble on the floor.
"WAAAHHHHH!" She screamed. The poor girl faceplanted into the concrete floor, causing her entire body to squirm a bit.
She slowly picked herself up with comical tears in her eyes. "Owwww. Why'd that stupid rock need to be there anyway…?"
Bulma paused to see that tripping over the rock caused a hidden door to open up beneath her feet. She quirked a brow in surprise.
"A secret entrance? That's new."
Bulma inched her body forward, seeing that a series of stairs presided within the hidden passageway. Part of her wanted to just ignore it and walk way, but on the other hand, going down there to investigate did have its benefits.
"I'm so gonna regret this." Bulma sighed heavily. Taking a deep breath, she tiptoed down each step at a slow, consistent pace. She continued moving deeper and deeper into the hidden facility until the bottom was finally reached. Then, she realized what this place was.
Motion sensors activated the lights to reveal a massive, relatively unscathed laboratory. Multiple computer monitors were present alongside a single, large keyboard with different buttons and switches imbedded into it. Each button seemed to be designated with a specific function in mind, but due to most of the monitors being switched off, Bulma wasn't sure what. There was also a table with torn up documents and scrapped blueprints placed on top of it. Whoever ran this laboratory was definitely in a rush to leave.
Bulma walked over to examine this table. Though the exact contents of these papers were currently unreadable, she was able to decipher a name from it.
"Dr. Gero, huh?" She muttered. Maybe he was the main scientist behind the Red Ribbon Army's Dragon Radar and other experiments.
"Well, whoever he was, he must have been some kind of nutcase to willingly work for these creeps." Bulma snorted in disgust. While continuing to examine the desk, she spotted a broken picture frame.
She knelt down and slowly picked it up. In the photograph, an elderly man with a bald head and long, white hair stood. He was smiling next to a younger man dressed in military attire with a spiky, orange mohawk on his head. Eerily enough, the glass was shattered exactly where the young man was standing.
"I wonder if this is Gero and his son or something." She whispered. Feeling a bit unnerved by the photo, Bulma set it down and walked deeper into Gero's former lab.
The lights were beginning to flicker on and off, so it was hard to see what else the lab contained. However, by keeping herself focused, Bulma spotted something peculiar. It was a 3-meter tall, cylindrical chamber that seemed to be a rustic gold in terms of color. This chamber was connected by a series of elongated cables that stretched from the ceiling to somewhere far beyond the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters. It seemed to show some signs of damage from either mistreatment or gradual degradation overtime. Despite this, the lights presiding within the tube were still active, albeit somewhat difficult to see.
Bulma quirked a brow at this strange, almost otherworldly device. "Is it some kind of elevator?"
She glanced down at the floor, noticing that its wires were plugged into the lab's computers. Intrigued by this, Bulma abruptly made her way to the computer interface once operated by Gero.
She began typing down on the keyboard, hoping that some type of special command would boot up the computer. Through brief trial and error, Bulma managed to succeed in turning on every single monitor.
Some screens displayed camera footage of the base itself while others, unsettlingly enough, projected images from all across the globe, specifically Japan. A select few, however, depicted a textual message about being transferred to a supercomputer and some virtual world known as Lyoko.
"Test #47: Initiate a direct transfer from this location to the abandoned factory in Paris, France. Find a method of which to replicate the supercomputer's Scanners and infiltrate the virtual world, Lyoko. Crucial information relating to Project Carthage must be retrieved at all costs, for the sake of the Red Ribbon Army's eternal success." Bulma read with squinted eyes. "Tch. All of this is starting to sound like some dumb video game!"
She then glanced back at the Scanner whilst resting a hand over her chin.
"Though, if this Gero guy really is as evil as he seems, I suppose it'd be a good call to test that Scanner out. Just to see if it actually works." Bulma mused in thought. She wasn't going in there, obviously, but she did think of a prime candidate to test it out on.
"Goku." Bulma nodded with a smile. She went back up the stairs and made way for her jet. It'd take some time for her to pinpoint Goku's current whereabouts, but she'd try anyway.
Once the laboratory was left vacant again, one of the monitors glitched out and flickered with static. It displayed a red, target-like symbol with three branches on the bottom and one on top. The symbol lingered there for a few moments before eerily shutting off.
Mt. Paozu, Age 750 (2003)
Deep within the forests of Mt. Paozu, a small hut was present. It comprised of a single room and a triangular, blue roof that stuck out at different points. Its set of wooden doors were held open by a now 13-year-old Goku as he knelt down and prayed in front of a red table. Due to losing his orange, martial arts gi in a fight against Emperor Pilaf, he was now wearing a purple robe reminiscent of Shu's. It was experiencing a bit of wear and tear, sadly, but any outfit would experience a similar fate from non-stop training.
Goku's black, spiky hair continued to stand on end as he kept his eyes closed. The boy seemed to be in deep focus as he tightly clasped both hands along his chin. The subject of this focused state was none another than his adoptive grandfather, Gohan.
Although he had a tearful reunion with the old man at Baba's palace, Goku still thought it best to visit Mt. Paozu every so often.
"I'm still continuing to get stronger, Grandpa. I hope I'll make you proud." He whispered warmly.
Unbeknownst to him, Bulma peaked her head out from the side. She parked her jet somewhere close by just a few moments ago.
"I had a feeling I'd find you here." Bulma said.
Goku swiftly turned around with a wide smile on his face. He nonchalantly waved at her in pleasant surprise.
"Hey, Bulma! Long time no see!" Goku greeted.
"It's good to see you too, kid. How's the training coming along?" Bulma smiled as she rested both hands on her hips.
"Pretty good! I managed to meet a ton of new people and stuff!" Goku chortled in reply. He then frowned a bit. "Have you gotten any nicer since last time?"
Bulma's fists slightly shook in rage. It was taking all of her willpower not to slap Goku upside the head for his stupid, insensitive comment.
"Errggh! I told you that's not funny, idiot!" She growled. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me out with something."
Goku stroked the back of his head in uncertainty. "Eh, I dunno, Bulma. I really only came to my grandpa's house as a short break. I really need to keep training or else I'll fall behind."
"Well, what if I told you that this had something to do with the Red Ribbon Army?" Bulma asked in a more serious tone. In response, Goku widened his eyes from shock.
"Huh? Those jerks again? I thought I beat'em all!" He claimed.
"You did, yeah, but when I was scavenging around the base for…erm…let's say "personal reasons", I accidentally discovered a hidden laboratory built beneath it. That's where I found this weird scanning chamber I figured you'd be brave enough to test out." Bulma thoroughly explained her request.
Goku raised one of his eyebrows in confusion. "Why were you walking around the base all alone?"
"Again, it was for personal reasons. I doubt you'd understand." Bulma sniffed in annoyance. She then scanned the boy's body from head to toe. "But, what do you think? Will you help me go check it out?"
Goku ultimately shrugged with an indifferent, neutral expression. "I guess so. If it does have something to do with the Red Ribbon Army, then I might as well see what's up about it."
"Phew! Thanks, Goku. I knew I could count on you." Bulma sighed in relief. Goku crossed both arms behind his head and smiled.
"No problem! Just lead me there and I'll follow!" He stated. The duo then boarded Bulma's jet and quickly flew back to the Red Ribbon Army's headquarters.
Dr. Gero's Laboratory, Age 750 (2003)
"So, this is that Scanner thingy you mentioned?" Goku asked. After following Bulma downstairs, he stood directly in front of the chamber with a look of immense puzzlement. He'd never really seen anything like this before, let alone know it was even possible to build.
Bulma, in contrast, was typing away at the interface's keyboard. She was trying her best to turn on the Scanner, but found barely any results thus far.
"Yep. From what Dr. Gero's files say, its purpose is to transfer a person from here to a virtual world called Lyoko. That's what those cables are for too, I think." Bulma replied as she gestured to the cords located underground.
Goku wasn't exactly following any of this at all. "Virtual world? Like…that internet stuff you use?"
"Sorta, but most likely a bit more complicated." Bulma informed.
Nodding, Goku continued to patiently tap his foot. Bulma then snapped her fingers, thinking of a new method to try out.
"Here, I've got an idea. How about you walk into the Scanner and see if anything happens on the inside? Is that okay with you?" She asked.
Goku absentmindedly shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. If that'll make things easier for you."
He then stepped inside of the Scanner and stood in its middlemost portion. Surprisingly, his height and body type were a perfect fit for the machine. Bulma wasn't sure why this was the case, but she went along with it anyway.
"Is this good?" Goku wondered. Still typing, Bulma held up her thumb in approval.
"That's fine. Just hang tight and I'll try to figure out how it works." She instructed. Continuing to enter a bunch of random commands, the young inventor finally got somewhere after a few more attempts.
It brought up a list of schematics relating to the machine's performance level and basic functionality. These were labeled in a series of different charts that fluctuated between higher and lower levels.
Seeing that the Scanner was also lighting up a bright yellow, Bulma grinned in relief. "Finally! Now, we'll just test this baby out and you can go back to training—"
All of a sudden, the Scanner's doors tightly closed together with Goku still inside. This caught the boy by surprise as he slightly knocked on them.
"Uh, Bulma? Is it supposed to do that?" Goku nervously inquired.
Bulma gasped as the keyboard began to shoot out sparks and seemingly function on its own. She held an arm over her face to block out the electricity, but while doing so, the likeness of a red target-shaped eye caught her attention. Within seconds, it was projected on almost every single monitor.
"W-What the? Is it some kind of virus?!" Bulma murmured in shock. She then spun around to address the now-trapped Goku.
"Goku, try and break out! There's something wrong with the computer!" The Capsule Corp heiress cried.
Doing as Bulma suggested, Goku attempted to pry his way out. Streams of air blew up at his face as he did so while a black ring scanned his entire body. White light then shined brightly throughout the entire Scanner as he came closer to gripping the doors. Unfortunately, even he wasn't fast enough to stop himself from being virtualized.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Goku screamed in terror. The light encompassed his entire form until eventually, there was nothing left. Due to the Scanner's forced activation, there was no longer any trace of Goku's body in the real world. All of it was completely virtual.
Once this transportation was complete, the red eye swiftly vanished a second time. Everything from the computers to the Scanner went back to normal without any considerable interference whatsoever.
Bulma shook her head in uneasiness. In all her years designing inventions like the Dragon Radar, none of them ever went that haywire before. It honestly unsettled her to a certain degree.
Concerned for Goku's safety, she pressed a button and opened up the Scanner. Goku, to her chagrin, was completely gone, proving that Dr. Gero's abandoned project was indeed a brief success.
"Well, this isn't good." Bulma gulped. She had no idea how to even begin explaining this one, honestly. Now, Goku was in a much bigger mess than he ever really expected to get into.
Lyoko, Desert Sector
After traveling through what he could best describe as "small, veiny tunnels", Goku's body was digitized in the form of a blue wireframe. He, to his surprise, was floating in midair before dropping down onto a desert-like surface. The sheer amount of confusion Goku was feeling at the moment couldn't really even be put into words. He just stood up straight and examined the surrounding area.
"Uhhh, what just happened?" The martial artist blankly asked. Goku looked down at his own body, seeing that he was wearing the orange martial arts gi Master Roshi gave him.
"Woah. I'm wearing this again somehow." Goku said. He then turned around and saw a bushy, brown monkey tail sticking up. "My tail's back too?! What in the heck is going on here?"
He further examined the cosmetic changes applied to him. Although he had the same hair style, his overall figure was much more, for a lack of a better term, three-dimensional. It was as if he was animated directly on one of Bulma's computer programs.
"Hmmm. Maybe this is that Lyoko place Bulma was going on about." Goku presumed. It did appear to be a fully realized world at first glance.
It was a floating landscape filled to the brim with rocky spires and plateaus made from pure sandstone. Judging by the warmly colored sky, it was obvious that this place was meant to replicate the atmosphere of a desert. It didn't exactly compare to the real version, though. Yamcha's home, the Diablo Desert, was proof enough of that fact alone.
Goku also noticed the series of wires connecting one platform of this area to another. He didn't quite understand the purpose of those, but shrugged it off, regardless.
He sighed. "Welp, guess all I can do is look around for an exit or something."
While scratching his head in nervousness, Goku was surprised to notice that his Power Pole was still with him. He pulled it out with a genuine smile on his lips.
"At least you're with me, Power Pole!" The martial artist beamed. He then set it on the ground and used it like a makeshift walking stick.
"Now, which way should I go?" Goku hummed in uncertainty. He placed a hand over his forehead to block out the sun and took a look around. He then noticed a tall, white tower in the distance. It glowed with some semblance of blue energy, which piqued his curiosity.
"A tower that glows blue, huh? Cool!" He beamed. Keeping in mind how far away it was, Goku decided to lift up his Power Pole and sprint forward.
To his delight, Goku proved to have the same amount of power as he did in the real world. He was getting extremely close to the tower within the span of a few seconds.
He frowned. "I wonder how it was able to do that, though. Does it make an exact copy of my body or something?"
Before he could ponder any more on the subject, Goku suddenly heard someone screaming in fear.
"AHHHHH!" Goku looked up to see a young girl with short, pink hair and elf ears. Her eyes appeared to be an emerald green while she wore a pink jumpsuit with baggy pants and a short skirt. She also had maroon slippers that concealed both of her feet.
"There's a girl here of all places? That's weird." Goku thought. He then caught sight of about three robotic monsters chasing after her. Each of them were giant crabs that had four scythe-like appendages for legs and six, circular white eyes. The same symbol Bulma saw was imprinted on top of their heads in red font.
Since three against one wasn't a fair matchup by any means, Goku felt obligated to intervene in some way. He narrowed his eyes and made a run for all three monsters.
Meanwhile, the girl continued running as fast she possibly could. The Krabs were beginning to shoot red lasers at her feet, however, so this whole endeavor was starting to prove too much for her.
Things got even worse once she abruptly tripped over herself. The girl landed on her knees and shakily tried to pick herself up, but to no avail. All three Krabs were simply far too relentless in their pursuits.
"Oh no. Jeremie, where are you?!" She thought in fear. Sadly, it seemed that her friends wouldn't be there to protect her this time.
The elvish girl continued backing up, hoping that the Krabs would miss their shots somehow. Thankfully, right as they were about to fire, an unforeseen figure propelled straight through one of the Krab's bodies. This left a large gaping hole in its weak point, causing the monster to instantly explode.
The girl widened her eyes open in surprise. "W-What was that?"
It was then that Goku fully came into view. He protectively stood in front of the girl with a confident smirk.
"Alright. Which one of you guys wants to go next?" Goku cockily asked. The remaining two Krabs awkwardly stared at one another before firing their lasers at the same time.
Goku then somersaulted into the air and landed on top of a Krab's head. As it began flailing about, he swiftly slammed his fist into the eye symbol. He then jumped off right as it blew up and made way for the remaining monster.
Still in midair, Goku spun his staff around and shouted, "Power Pole, Extend!"
The replicated version of the Power Pole did as commanded and exponentially elongated itself. It skewered straight though the helpless Krab and finally, caused that one to blow up as well.
The Power Pole then regressed back to its normal size while Goku landed perfectly on his feet. He stood directly in front of the girl and gave out a sign of victory with his fingers.
"Not sure what those things were, but I gave them a pretty good beating, didn't I? Hehe." Goku chuckled.
The girl's mouth was agape in shock and awe. "You…managed to beat three Krabs all by yourself?"
"I mean, I've faced worse, so it wasn't that big a deal. You're not hurt, though, are you?" The martial artist wondered considerately.
"N-No, I'm fine, but…" The girl said, shaking her head in complete befuddlement. "Who even are you? How did you even get into Lyoko in the first place?"
Goku gave her a casual wave. "The name's Son Goku! I'm a martial artist back in the real world. What about yours?"
"Well, that explains a few things, at least…" The girl thought in sudden understanding. That added a bit of reasoning behind his insane strength, amongst many other things he performed.
"My name is Aelita. It's nice to meet you." Aelita officially introduced herself with a warm smile.
Goku toothily grinned in response. "And as for your second question, I honestly have no clue. I was wondering if you could help me figure that part out."
Aelita looked upon Goku in newfound sympathy. It seemed that he was in a position not too dissimilar from her own, apart from the memory loss, of course.
"Well, I suppose we should have a conversation about this then." Aelita suggested. She then pointed to the blue, deactivated tower Goku saw before.
"Let's head over there, Goku. It'll be safer inside the tower." She said.
"Alright then. Lead the way, Aelita." Goku replied. The two then headed off to discuss the possible reason for Goku's sudden appearance and whether or not he could even get out.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Doodleboy565
Doodleboy565 *And that's the end of Chapter 1! Basically, the main concept of this story will center around Dr. Gero being involved with the creation of Lyoko, Project Carthage, and in a sense, X.A.N.A., the main villain. I'll go into it a bit more in future chapters, but there's a reason why the Eye of X.A.N.A. appeared when Goku was being virtualized. It'll be part of an overarching mystery during Bulma's recurring appearances. I also included Goku and Aelita's first meeting, which was brief, but somewhat effective, in my opinion. Some people might be iffy about them being paired together because of Jeremie, but I'll try to make things believable between them as the story progresses. Again, I have a lot of plans for this story.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
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