Wow, not a lot of people have been reviewing lately. Only three for the last one? (sigh) And, where is Mewberries? Well... review responses to "Birthday Bash". OK, about when I promised a Halloween story next, I kind of lied. I remembered I had this story to post, and then comes the Halloween special. (sheepish grin)
katfish xX - Why do the British have to be so mean to cancel CL on you guys? Anyway, glad you liked the story.
IAmTheBoss - XD Parodies are fun. And, I know no one can sue me! Well, Moonscope could if their lawyers get people to look past the fact that there's no profit involved in this and I submitted it as fanfic, which means I want people to know I don't own Code Lyoko, and... yeah...
Anime Blob - Thank you for your review, Blob of Anime.
And... on to the story!
A Cousin's Intuition
Chapter 1: Ricky's Strange Behavior
"Looks like it's hatching time," noted Ulrich Stern. He and the other two Lyoko warriors sat on their vehicles as Aelita sifted though the Carthage Celestial Dome interface. That's when he spotted two lumps forming on the dome's outer wall.
Odd Della Robbia also noticed this and said, "So, let's give these babies a good birthday fight," as he readied his arrow gloves and got into his takeoff stance on his Overboard.
After a mere few seconds, two flying Mantas had emerged into the dome, and the three friends took off.
"OK, guys, let's give them all we've got," said Yumi Ishiyama as she pulled out her metal fan.
"Oh, that reminds me, Yumi," they heard their boy genius friend say from the lab. "I gave you a weapon upgrade."
Yumi opened her fan and looked at it. "Nothing seems different about my weapon," she noted.
Jeremie Belpois grinned from Earth. "Look in your pack again."
Confused, she reached behind her back and pulled out, to her surprise, a second fan!
"What do you think? Twice the fans for twice the monster slaying."
Yumi smiled as she opened the second fan. "I think you rock, Einstein." With that, she threw both fans at one Manta. They sliced through its back diagonally, killing the monster.
However, this gave the second Manta time to sneak a shot from behind. Yumi stumbled a bit, nearly falling off her Overwing, but managed to regain balance.
"YUMI!" cried Ulrich when he saw the Manta on her tail. He flew his Overbike over to deflect the monster's blasts with his saber.
Finishing up her work, Aelita started closing up the interface. "OK, I think that's enough for tonight, Jeremie. I'm sending the data to you."
However, she didn't notice a squid-like creature behind her until it grabbed her with its tentacles.
Jeremie's eyes widened in anxiety when he saw the diagram of Aelita's memory pop up. "The Scipazoa is going after Aelita, guys! Get her out of there!"
Odd looked around and saw this happening at the interface port. But, as he took off for the beauty and the beast, the remaining Manta got in the way.
"Hey, do you mind!?" he yelled at the monster. The few laser arrows he sent into its belly didn't provide enough damage to destroy it, however, and it returned fire. But, just was it was about to fire again...
"IMPACT!" Ulrich struck from behind. Odd saluted in gratitude before flying over to the Scipazoa and Aelita, scaring the brain-sucking squid away with a few well-sent arrows.
"Hop aboard, Princess," he said as she came to and climbed on the Overboard behind him.
"I'm opening a bridge into the Forest Sector," Jeremie told them. "Get Aelita to a neutral tower there, and I can begin materializing all of you."
Jeremie smiled as he watched his friends enter the lab after another successful routine mission on Lyoko.
"Ah, another grand old time of fishing for data and Sector 5," said Odd. "Now we can get back to catch up on some sleep."
Ulrich yawned and stretched. "Yep. That sounds good."
Jeremie joined them in the elevator. "Aelita, you found quite a bit of interesting data tonight," he told the girl they'd dubbed Aelita Stones. "In fact, I might be able to use some of it on my quest to find your anti-virus."
Her eyes lit up with excitement as the elevator began it's ascend to ground level. "Really?"
"We'll see, now won't we?" They were now in the factory's Hall of Glass, and soon left the factory entirely.
Yumi turned and waved to her friends. "Well, I better get back home before my parents notice I'm gone. Later, guys."
As the four Kadic boarders made their way into the sewers, Odd said, "Sneak off to go to Lyoko, take the transport into Sector 5, kill some Creepers to get to the key, take the elevator to the interface, Aelita looks through it while we battle Mantas, Jeremie opens a bridge for us to get back to the surface of Lyoko, then we head back to the academy while Yumi races home. Everything's the way it should be."
"OK, this is not the way it should be," moaned Odd next afternoon. It was 3:00 PM before they could have lunch.
Ulrich picked up a tray and told him, "Hey, just be happy we didn't have to wait four hours before the cafeteria was ready again."
Aelita followed the two boys. "Can you believe that an argument between Nicholas and Herve caused that large of a food fight this morning?"
Odd rolled his eyes as he piled up his tray. "Leave it to dweeby and dweebier to cause a mess like this."
"Just be happy the wait is over," said Ulrich as they sat down at a table.
Unpeeling her banana, Aelita asked the boys, "So, what did you think of today's history quiz on the western world colonization?"
Odd shrugged and replied, "All I can say is, I'll be lucky to get a D."
"Same here," said Ulrich. "Between soccer practice, X.A.N.A. attacks, and Sector 5 missions, I'm not left with much time to study."
Aelita gave them a reassuring smile and said, "Well, as soon as we find the data for my anti-virus, we can shut down the computer. That should leave you with plenty of study time. Oh, hi, Ricky," she added when she saw the little boy genius approach.
"Hiya, Aeleetie!" he replied. He looked at the three and asked, "You still having lunch?"
"Cafeteria use was delayed 'cause of a food fight," his older cousin explained. "Don't ask."
He blinked a bit and yawned. "Oh, OK."
Ulrich raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Rick, you been getting enough sleep?"
"Huh?" he responded absently. "Oh, yeah. I've been working on... um, stuff." Looking at the food on the table, Ricky felt his stomach as it gave a demanding growl. "Uh, Odd... are you... going to eat that?"
But the walking stomach slid his tray away greedily. "Forget it! I've been waiting three hours to eat!"
The big cousin sighed. "Here, Ricky. You can have my croissant," he said handing it to him. The little cousin overeagerly grabbed the roll and began shoving it in his mouth. Ulrich raised his eyes warning him, "Easy, cuz. You're starting to eat like Odd."
"HEY!"
Ignoring his friend, Ulrich watched Ricky with a little concern and asked, "Are you...feeling OK?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, though it sounded a little defensive. Seeing his older relative's unconvinced look, he glanced at Aelita, and then he whispered to him, "Actually, I've been up late making progress on Aeleetie's anti-virus for Jerry."
"Really? And, have you been giving up meals to work on it, too?"
"Um... y-yes..."
"You sure you're--?"
"I'MFINE!" This sudden burst startled Ulrich and his two friends. "Just... don't worry about me, OK, Cousin?" He glanced at the time on his cell. "Oh, I better get going. See you later!" he said, running off.
The older cousin watched the younger leave and asked, full of concern, "What's been wrong with him lately?"
Odd piped up. "You heard him, Ulrich. He hasn't had enough food and sleep because he's been working on... well," he risked a quick glance at Aelita, then winked at his best friend, finishing, "you-know-what."
"I don't that that's the case, Odd," he replied, shaking his head. "Did you see the way he got all snippy with me? It's a little out of character for him."
"Well, maybe he gets cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep," suggested the spiky blonde-haired boy. "And, you were probably getting on his nerves when you kept asking him if he was feeling OK."
Ulrich sighed and looked out the window towards the direction his little cousin ran off in. "I don't know. Call it a cousin's intuition, but I can't help but feel like something's seriously wrong."
Well, there you have it. I had to fill in space with the Sector 5 scene, but it did include an important occation in Lyoko history. Now, do you agree with Ulrich that there's something "seriously wrong" with Ricky, and if you do, what do you think it is? Whoever gives me the correct answer before I put up chapter 2 gets a cookie. XD Goodnight, everybody!