"...in the aftermath of one of the most devastating–"
A hand slammed down on the "Snooze" button, effectively silencing the announcer. It was far too soon to hear about the massive death toll from an apathetic news reader. In fact, never might even be too soon. After all, how could those drones know the entire story?
"You're almost there, Aelita! Hurry!"
Yumi's fingers dug into his shoulders as her eyes flickered over the various windows displayed on the screens. Two in particular vied for her attention: One, a news bulletin of the real world; the other, a representation of the battle going on virtually. The time for each was about to wear down....
"–'s your take on this, Dr. Germahn?"
Jeremy awoke with a start. Somehow, he must have dozed off in the last seven minutes. This time, he turned the radio off and turned his attention toward getting ready for the school day.
"Yumi, you're going to be late for school!"
No matter how much she wanted to grunt out a half-formed argument and bury deeper into her blankets, Yumi knew there was no way her mother would leave her alone. Besides, maybe her mind could be distracted by the teachers' lectures.
"You're almost there, Aelita!" Jeremy screamed into the microphone. "Hurry!"
His shaking fingers were poised above the keys, ready to summon vehicles or create a time jump, whatever was needed to save the day. Any minute now and it would all....
"Yumi?"
The door cracked open, just enough to see a sliver of her mother's concerned face. Yumi realized she had been staring down at her black shirt for a while now.
"I kept calling...is everything alright?" her mother asked.
"Nnn...yes," Yumi replied, pulling the shirt over her head.
"Well, hurry up!" Her mother's voice had regained its snappy tone. "At this rate, you'll get there just in time for your first class!"
For some reason, that prospect didn't seem to bother Yumi too much.
A mound of food sat on the tray before Odd Dela Robia. Even though she had told Rosa he wasn't hungry, she still gave him an over-sized portion. Maybe it was because of this bizarre proclamation.
"You're almost there, Aelita!" Like a god, Jeremy's dismembered voice rang through Lyoko. "Hurry!"
Indeed, the tower with its red aura looked tantalizingly close, but there were still a number of guards in the way. Their constant barrage of laserfire made it nearly impossible for the remaining Lyoko Warriors to get off shots of their own. Already Yumi had been taken out, though she had managed to take a few monsters down with her.
"Bull's-eye!" One of Odd's arrows hit a tarantula square in the symbol on its head. A few moments of uncontrollable twitching later, it exploded. A second after that, a ball of pink energy took out a hornet. "Nice one, Princess!"
"Super-sprint!" Ulrich exclaimed before taking off at a pace that would make The Flash proud. He came into focus just long enough to plunge a saber into the underbelly of a Crab.
And then, for no discernable reason, the tower turned a neutral white....
There was a plunk, heralding Jeremy's arrival. The others gave half-hearted greetings, which he returned in kind.
"Hello, Ulrich!" Sissy exclaimed as she came over to the table.
"Not today, Sissy."
Something in Ulrich's near growl made it clear to Sissy to not even try to fight it. Instead, she backed away a couple steps before turning to leave.
Had this been any other day, there would have been some comment, probably from Odd, about the effectiveness of that strategy. Today, though, there was only the idle clink of silverware.
Yumi took her usual seat in her science class. She arranged her books and papers on the table before her in a pattern to maximize efficiency, even though her mind was elsewhere.
Three more of XANA's monsters down, but there were still plenty more to go. Despite these odds (or maybe because of them), the Lyoko Warriors were sure to win. So many times before, the chances were even slimmer, but everything had worked out.
The window with the news feed turned to snow.
"Oh, no," Jeremy breathed....
"Today, instead of continuing our unit on space, we will be discussing a more pressing issue that is surely on your minds," Ms. Hertz announced.
Yumi felt her stomach drop.
"Yesterday," Ms. Hertz continued, "as I'm sure you are all well aware...Miss Ishiyama, where are you going?"
Even though her gaze was limited to the door and doorframe, Yumi knew all eyes were on her. Her hands clenched into fists and she replied with a simple: "I can't listen to this."
With a sigh, Ms. Hertz scribbled down a note. "Take this before you go."
Yumi was uncomfortably aware of the stares and whispers as she crossed the room to take the paper. She looked down at the writing, then back up at her teacher. "Thank you." A grateful smile settled on her face as she made her way to the school's library.
"Today, I will be timing your 500 meter dash to compare it against your time from earlier in the year," Jim announced, pacing up and down before the assembled class. "This will give me a good gauge of how you have improved. A faster time means you've gotten faster, while a slower time means you have gotten slower. First up, Belpois." He consulted his clipboard and chuckled. "With a time like this, you can only get better. Up to the line!"
Jeremy got to his feet and plodded onto the track.
"Maybe not," Jim said with a wince. "Okay, take your mark...GO!"
Jeremy took off, pace unusually fast for him. Somewhere, deep in his mind, the uncharacteristically superstitious notion of "Maybe I can outrun this" had taken root.
"Will they make it?
"They have to make it!
"And if they don't?
"Maybe a return to the past...give them more time.
"But would XANA get an edge?"
These thoughts flashed through Jeremy's mind as the time wore down. One hand shifted to enter the command.
"Oh, no...."
The words were out of his mouth before he realized he had said anything. His fingers curled in and he pulled his hands away from the keyboard. There was nothing left for him to do.
Except....
"Jeremy!" Jim was yelling, still standing at the "finish line." "You can stop now!"
Without having realized it, Jeremy had left the track behind. He tried to manage an apologetic smile, but all he produced was a sort of grimace. "Sorry, Jim," he said as he walked back to the group. "My mind was on...other things."
Instead of making a comment linking the performance to Jeremy's statement, Jim grunted and called for the next student.
None of the other students seemed too keen to make any comments, which allowed Jeremy to sit with the other present Lyoko Warriors. For once, even Odd had nothing to say.
Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd stared up at the tower in shock. The boys kept glancing back at Aelita, almost as though to reassure themselves that she was still there. All of XANA's monsters were leaving sight with the suggestion of a swagger in their step or flight.
"Oh, no...."
Jeremy's voice snapped them all back. They exchanged looks, none of them quite ready to ask the question. Finally, Ulrich bit the bullet: "Jeremy, what's going on?"
"I'm bringing you all in."
For the past fifteen minutes, Yumi had been scanning a single line of text within a randomly selected book. Had she been taking in any of the words, she might have learned about the history of the phrase "kick the bucket," but her eyes only saw a blur of unfocused gray.
Neither Yumi nor Jeremy bothered to acknowledge the arrival of the elevator, as their attention was drawn to the news feed.
"Hey, Einstein!" Odd said, forcing his usual humor into his voice. "You never answered Ulrich's question!"
"We failed." Yumi looked over to Jeremy, slightly surprised. His expression was of detached indifference, just like his tone.
"So that means," Ulrich said slowly, but was cut off as Jeremy increased the volume of the news.
"...still no contact with the region," the newscaster read with an unfathomable expression. "Estimates of the extent of the damage have grown to several thousand dead, possibly many more injured...."
Reaching over Jeremy, Yumi turned the volume off, not willing to hear any more.
Nicolas cleared his throat softly, drawing Yumi's attention upwards and to the present. In a near whisper, he said, "Jim told me to get you."
Highly confused, she followed, leaving the book open on the table.
"Maybe use a return to the past?" Odd asked, breaking the stunned silence.
"It won't bring them back," Jeremy muttered. "Who knows what would happen.
"Never should have messed with this thing," he thought, not daring to take his eyes from the keyboard before him.
"It's getting late," Ulrich said as he headed back to the elevator. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not add Jim's wrath to my list of problems." He gave them all a forced smile, which looked more like he had a mouth full of sour powder.
Even if his words sounded cold under the circumstances, the others were very grateful that he suggested this. No one said anything else, nor did they make eye contact, as they trudged back to the school. Yumi split off without any acknowledgment, not even a comment about her parents' reaction to the time.
"Good job," Jim announced. "You are all dismissed."
The Lyoko Warriors were following the pack, but stopped when Jim added, "You three, stay here."
They exchanged glances, wondering what was going to happen. To add to their confusion, Yumi arrived with Nicolas.
"Thank you, Poliakoff," Jim said gruffly. "You are dismissed."
He waited until all the other students were out of sight before turning his attention to the small group before him. He considered them, as a general might consider new recruits, before speaking.
"You four seem different today, and I'm not just talking about Della Robbia's silence or Belpois's sudden athletic abilities. Mind telling me why?"
Jim let the silence hang for a moment before asking, "Does it have anything to do with the tragedy last night?"
Eight eyes snapped up and focused on him in surprise.
"Didn't know I'm that observant, did you?" Here most people would find it appropriate to add in a dry chuckle, but Jim forwent the attempt at humor.
"I've seen this happen many times during my life," he continued. "Salvage diver, Disco star, gym teacher, concert violist...didn't matter where I was. When something bad would go down, there would always be a number of people who to it the hardest, sometimes blaming themselves for it. Sometimes it would be their fault, other times it wouldn't be.
"I'm not saying what happened was your fault, or that you should feel like it was, but my advice is the same no matter what: keep fighting the good fight.
"I'm sure there's nothing you could have done ro prevent this, so stop feeling so down. If you let this affect you like this, you won't be able to help problems closer to home."
Again he paused, considering his next words carefully: "If it was your fault, then I'm sure there will be more catastrophes like this to follow, each one worse than the last. You roll over and let yourself be defeated, you can't stop any of those, and they will fall on you heavier each time. With this one, I'm sure you tried. You tried, you lost, but you're still here. When the next wave comes, you'll need to plant yourselves and push back. You can't let the orangutans win!"
"We weren't talking about orangutans," Odd said, slightly confused.
"Oh, right," Jim said. His train of thought seemed to have derailed and it took a moment for him to recover. "Anyway, uh, fight the good fight. It's worth it."
"Thanks, Jim," Jeremy said hesitantly.
"Figured you kids needed to hear something like that," Jim said modestly. "Now go on, give 'em the old one-two punch."
They ambled towards lunch, each of them lost in thought. Only Jeremy chose to verbalize his: "Jim's right. We can't let this stop us. We can't let XANA win."
Subdued nods answered his statement, so he fell silent once more.
Once more Rosa heaped Odd's plate high with food, but, this time, he managed to eat a few bites. Sissy and her goons stayed away, though she did glance over from time to time, concern evident in her eyes.
All of them jumped as Jeremy's laptop beeped, signaling a new XANA attack. Jeremy got to his feet first, closely followed by Odd, then Yumi, then Ulrich, and, after some hesitation, Aelita.
"He may have won that battle," Odd said, a familiar gleam in his eye, "but I won't let him win the war!"