Before leaving Sector 5, Odd and Ulrich are hit by a weird red beam from a pair of Mantas. They both eventually begin to act strange in the real world during a school play. They start seeing their environment, people as enemies, and fight as if they were still on Lyoko. They are branded as insane and hospitalized while Jeremie tries to figure out what happened. After finding the cause and devising a cure, Jeremie has Yumi and Aelita break them out of the hospital. Meanwhile, Xana uses their handicap to mount an attack on Lyoko's core. Yumi heads to protect the core, as Aelita tries to help the boys who instead now see the real world while on Lyoko.