As with many fanfics, it probably helps to have some basic understanding of Code Lyoko before reading this, but you can probably enjoy it even without it.
Also, When I started Chapter 1, Season 2 hadn't started yet, so it is only consistent with Season 1. Chapter 2 is semi-consistent with Season 2; I'll explain it in more detail when we get there. doesn't seem to like symbols like greater-than or squirly-brackets, so sounds will just be written between inside-out parentheses )like this( .
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BRRRING!(
"Come on, Jeremie! We have to get to the assembly!"
"I know, Ulrich, but I don't have time! We only have a little over a week until graduation, and if I don't figure out the antivirus before then, we're sunk! Come up with something to tell the teachers."
Ulrich watched as his friend returned to his furious typing. After a couple seconds he said "Alright, I'll do what I can."
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Ulrich closed Jeremie's door behind him, then turned and found himself face to face with Yumi.
"Well, what did he say? Is he coming?"
"Nope. he's still working on that antivirus for Aelita. We'll have to cover for him."
"Again? If he keeps missing things like this, the teachers are going to get suspicious!"
"Yeah... Well, at least we do have Jimbo on our side."
"I guess... Come on, let's go!"
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"Jeremie?" came a soft voice from his computer.
"Oh, hi Aelita!" Jeremie's mood instantly improved.
"How are things going?"
"Badly. We only have about one and a half weeks unil graduation, and I still haven't gotten a working antivirus!"
"What is graduation?"
"Oh. Um, graduation is where one moves up to a higher level of education."
"Why?"
"Because, there is only so much one can learn in Collège. Once we've learned all of that, if our grades are really good, we go to a Lycée, where we study for two years for the Baccalaureat Exam, or if our grades are not so good, to some kind of Trade School to learn about a specific career. If we want to pursue a much higher education, after Lycée we can go to a University. It's like a systematic data transfer system."
"Oh. I see."
She remained silent for a while as Jeremie continued to type.
"But why must you find the antivirus before then?"
Oops. "Because when Ulrich and Odd leave for Lycée or Trade School, they won't be anywhere near the factory anymore. Odd might even go back to Sweden to live with his parents. Yumi still lives nearby, so she could keep helping like she does now, but even now she's limited. We have to face facts; our lives are going in different directions. I'm still here for another year, but I can't fight on Lyoko. Practically speaking, you would be on your own for deactivating the towers. We can't have that! That's why we have to get you materialized with the antivirus within the next week and a half."
"Oh my! Well, I'm sure you can do it, Jeremie!"
"I sure hope so. But we can't depend on that. We have to have a backup plan, in case I can't find the antivirus in time!"
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"Do you think he'll do it in time?"
Ulrich looked over at Yumi. "He'll have to. I mean, what other choice do we have?"
"And if he doesn't?"
"Oh, I'm sure Einstein can handle a little ol' virus thing! I mean, how hard can it be, right? You just crunch a few numbers and presto!" Odd swung down to the ground from the branch he had been hanging on. He looked at his watch with an expression of mocked shock. "Hey, don't you now what time it is? You guys should be going to the assembly now!"
"What do you think we're doing?" Ulrich said from far ahead. "Are you coming or not?"
"Right behind you!" Odd called as he ran forward to catch up.
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"Is this really necessary? Do I really have to start school on the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL? that seems pretty futile, doesn't it?"
Calvin looked at his friend and replied "it's not really the last week of school, and no, it's not futile, either. It'll sort of give you time to get a feel for the school without all the start-of-school pressure. Trust me, it'll be fine."
"Alright, I'll stick around for the assembly, but if it's lame, I'm outta here."
"Hey, come on Shoga, don't be like that." Calvin said with a huge grin. "Push through, it'll be alright in the end!"
"Pfshw... All right, whatever."
"That's the spirit!"
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"As the school year draws near to its close, I expect all of you to continue to..."
"Man, we're missing class for this?" Ulrich said quietly, bored out of his mind. "Even Mrs. Hertz's class is more exciting than this."
"Forget about that," Yumi said. "We need to come up with some sort of back up plan, in case Jeremie can't get a good antivirus together."
"Well, let's take a look at our options, shall we?" Odd interjected. "Okay, 1) Jeremie whips up the perfect antivirus by the end of next week. 2) We shut down Lyoko, also shutting down Aelita." Yumi and Ulrich looked surprised at this. "Hey, I'm just listing our options!"
"Killing Aelita is NOT an option." Ulrich said, keeping his voice low.
"Okay, okay, anyway. 3) We leave everything as it is and hope Aelita can fend for herself."
"Scratch THAT of the list too, Odd" Yumi said.
"Hang on, let me finish! 4) We tell everybody about Lyoko, and hope they'll care enough about Aelita to try to help us find the solution. 5) We stay here and spend the rest of our lives living in the factory, fighting XANA."
"You STILL haven't given us any useable Plan Bs!" Ulrich protested through clenched teeth.
"Calm down, Ulrich! I saved the best for last!"
"It better be good" Yumi rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry, it is. Choice number six: Get some new recruits! Find three or four little kidletts to take over for us! Pass the torch, take on some apprentices, give Aelita fresh protection by a brand new army of virtual warriors!"
"Odd, keep it down!" Ulrich whispered anxiously, but Ulrich wasn't listening.
Odd put his hand over his heart and stared dramatically at the sky. "Though it will be tough, I feel it is time to usher in the Next Generation of Lyokolites; a new collection of digital fighters; representatives to Lyoko from Kadic Academy!"
As Odd came back to reality, he realised that the principal had stopped talking, and that everybody was staring at him, except Ulrich and Yumi, who were fiercely ignoring him. His face turned beet red.
"Uh, I was just, y'know... practicing for my speech! ... In a play, that I'm... uh... writing... um..." he shrank down into himself and said meekly "I'll be quiet now."
The principal glanced at Jim, who nodded and started walking over to them. He grabbed them by the arms and said gruffly "Come on, let's go!"
Once they were out of sight of the crowd, Jim turned to Odd and said "Now look, I don't know what you were talking about back there, but I assume it had something to do with your little group secret, so I'll let it slide. But seriously Odd, you'd do well to try to keep your trap shut while the principal is holding an assembly!"
"Yes sir, Jimbo!" Odd said with relief.
"And don't forget, you promised to tell me all about it after graduation!"
"Don't worry Jimbo, we didn't forget" Yumi said with a smile.
Jim smiled back, then changed the smile back into his usual gruff frown. "Well what are you still doin' here? Go on now, get outta here!"
Jim went back toward the assembly, and Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich ran out to the park to talk.
"Odd, what were you thinking?" Ulrich whisper-screamed through clenched teeth.
"Yeah, even for you, that was really stupid." Yumi added.
"I'm sorry guys, I just got carried away. I guess I kinda forgot where I was for a minute."
"Wonderful. You can't even have enough sense not to give a loud speech about Lyoko in front of the WHOLE SCHOOL!"
"Yeah, you'd better hope that XANA attacks, because I think that's the only way to undo that little outburst."
"Be careful what you wish for, Yumi!"
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"Well, it's quite clear that we have only two choices, Aelita."
"Oh? And what are they, Jeremie?"
"Either I get the antivirus working before graduation, or we need to find ourselves some replacements."
)Blip!(
Yumi's cell-phone icon appeared on Jeremie's screen.
"Jeremie, Odd almost blew our secret... again... but in the process he got a maybe-not-so-bad idea."
"I've got an idea, too. Where are you?"
"In the park."
"I'll meet you at the manhole."
"OK."
"See you later, Aelita!" With that, Jeremie logged out and headed for the park.
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)hup hup hup hup(
Sissy turned toward the footsteps.
What is it with them anyway? She thought. First the purple-shirt guy interrupts my father for some random nonsensical babble, then they all "disappear" into the park, and now Jeremie suddenly shows up running toward the park also. She pondered this for a bit. It's the second to last week of school, and I still haven't found out what they're up to. This could be my last chance.
"Herb! Nicholas!" Sissy whispered. "Come on!"
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Jeremie stopped for a second. He thought he had heard something. He glanced over in the direction of the bushes and thought he caught a glimpse of pink. Oh no, Sissy! He ran off in a different direction, taking a long, convoluted route to the manhole. When he arrived, everyone else was already there.
"Okay--" Yumi began, but Jeremie interrupted.
"Nit here. I think Sissy's following me."
"Hey, yeah, what about Sissy?" Odd said. "Now there's a concept!"
"NO!" Ulrich and Yumi said simultaneously.
"Let's just get to the factory. We can talk there."
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)huff...puff...huff...puff...(
I can hear them talking. They can't be far away now. Sissy ran as quickly but quietly as she could, but by the time she got to the clearing, the voices had stopped and there was nobody there.
Hm... well, at least now I know where they go. Next time they run off, I'll know where to find them. She smiled, and started back off to the assembly.
Herb and Nicholas, who had just arrived at the clearing, turned and followed, bewildered.
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Pfsshh!(
The elevator opened onto a familiar sight. Jeremie got into his chair, which slid around on its track to its position in front of the Lyoko computer console. The 3D Holomap of Lyoko slowly rotated in the middle of the room. Jeremie put on the headset and started to type.
"Aelita?"
"Why hello, Jeremie! How are you?"
"I'm fine Aelita. I was just about to present our idea to everyone else."
"Ooh! Ooh! Can I go first?" Odd asked, jumping up and down, waving his hand enthusiastically.
Jeremie sighed. "All right, Odd, but make it quick."
"I think we should get some new kids to take over for us when we leave!"
"WHAT?" Jeremie yelled.
"Why, what's wrong with that? Odd asked, slightly offended.
"No, nothing! It's just... that was my idea, too."
"Wow, what a coincidence!" Aelita said.
"Well, all in favor?" Jeremie asked. Everyone, including Aelita, raised their hand.
"Alright, it's official. Time to get a new team."
"Yeah, but how?" Yumi asked. "I mean, we only have about one week to find three people strong enough to fight, brave enough to go, kind enough to care, and trustworthy enough not to tell anyone. PLUS we need somebody with all those qualities who is ALSO smart enough to handle the supercalculator!"
"Not necessarily," Jeremie interjected. "We would need three fighters, yes, but I could control the supercalaculator remotely from High School through Aelita over the internet."
"So," Odd said, "You're saying we need three new valiant warriors, but we don't need a new super genius?"
"Well, in a nutshell, yes."
"Dang. At this school, we're much more likely to find a super genius."
"Maybe we could have a contest."
Everyone turned to look at Ulrich, who had been quiet until now.
Odd got a huge grin on his face. "Yeah! We can have signs and stuff! Like 'Can You Keep A Secret? Are you good at fighting virtual monsters? Are you ready to risk your life every day to save all mankind? We need your help! See the current Lyoko team for details.'"
Ulrich glared at Odd. "That's not what I meant. I meant, we could hold a sort of... multi-aspect competition, with three prizes for the three top scorers. We would charge a little money to join, and then charge admission for the events, and all the money would go to the school; that way we can pitch it to the teachers as a fundraiser. It could be three events: a sprint race with Odd to test their speed for chasing or running from XANA's monsters; a chess match with Jeremie to test their ability to strategize and think on their feet; and then a sparring match with me or Yumi, depending on if it's a boy or a girl. That tests general fighting ability. All of these qualities are important on Lyoko, but the events are all legitimate, spectatable contests."
Yeah," Yumi added, "And I hear the school is going to hold a bake sale. They usually do a few fundraisers near the end of the year for Summerschool. What better place to set up a bake sale than at a place with an audience like this!"
Odd added "Especially if they also sell water and sodas, and maybe chips and pretzels and stuff, too!"
"So, I guess everyone's agreed?"
"YEAH!"
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"A contest?" the principal asked.
"Well, more like a competition," Ulrich explained. "As a fundraiser! We would have a small joining fee, and then charge admission to the events."
"We could have discounts for the competitors' families!" Yumi interjected.
"And we could set up the bake sale there, and sell sodas and stuff, too!" Odd added.
"It would make the school a lot of money." Jeremie added.
"Hmmm..." the principal thought for a while. "That does sound interesting. What would the competition be?"
"A set of three events. A short-distance sprint, a chess game, and a sparring match."
"The faculty can be the judges!" Jeremie added. "Well, for the race, we can set a certain base time, from which each competitor's time would be subtracted to find their score for round one. The chess game can then be played by the official rules, including points, and their points total at the end of the game will be their score for round two. In round three the faculty can judge, and give the competitor a score from 0 to 10, like in the olympics. The scores from all three rounds are added to reach a final score, and the top three get prizes!"
"The prizes would be little things, just there to get more people to enter, and making more money for the school." Odd concluded.
"Well..." the principal began. "This does seem to be a very well planned, well-thought out idea, but who will be the competitors opponents? Will they face ach other?"
"Well, for round one they can race together, but at the end it's the score that would matter, rather than position." Jeremie explained. "For round two, I will be the opponent."
"And for round three," Ulrich interjected, "I will be the opponent for the boys, and Yumi will be the opponent for the girls. There will be very strict rules in place so that no one gets hurt."
"Hm. Well, this sounds like a very good idea. You have my permission, and I will see if any of the faculty would like to be judges."
The principal turned and walked out the door as the four kids exchanged high fives behind him.
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"What's this?" Shoga asked Calvin, picking up a flyer that was blowing in the wind. "Hm. 'Announcement! Strong competitors needed! Those with speed, strength, and smarts are encouraged to join! Half a Euro to enter, two Euros to watch each event. One Euro for competitors' family members. See Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, or Jeremie for details.' Hm. 'Speed, strength and smarts' huh? We could totally kick their butts."
"Now Shoga, come on, why must you always be so violent?"
"I don't know, why must you always be so peaceful?"
"Because it suits me."
"Well, this suits me."
"I know." Calvin smiled, and Shoga sort of grunted, then they went off to find one of the four kids in charge of the competition.
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"Hey, Mia!"
Mia paused in her dance practice and turned to see her friend Jessie running towards her, waving a piece of paper.
"Hi Jessie. What's up?"
"Take a look at this!" Jessie shoved the piece of paper into Mia's hand.Mia read the flyer quickly, and smiled.
"Well," Mia began, brandishing her streamer like a whip. "I guess I could show those big shots a thing or two."
Jessie smiled. "That's exactly what I was thinking."
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"Milly! Milly! Check this out!" Tamiya ran up, camera in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. "I think we've got ourselves a super-scoop!"
Milly looked the flyer up and down, already starting to write an outline of her script in her head. "This is big news! Let's get straight to work!"
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"What's this?" Sissy asked Herb, as he handed her a piece of paper.
"It's a flyer."
"I can see that much! I meant what is it about? Oh nevermind, I'll read it myself!" She snatched the flyer, read it over quickly, then said "And why should I care about any of this?"
"I figured you would jump at the chance to put the Weirdo Bunch in their place."
"Well, of course I would! So?"
"So, this competition is being hosted by them! You could sign up to join, and show them who's boss! You could beat them, Sissy, I know you could!"
There are two things Sissy cannot resist: opportunities to show off her superiority, and sheer unadulterated flattery.
"Oh, alright I'll do it." She turned on her heel and strode off, without so much as a "thank you". Herb didn't mind; he was used to it. He knew that deep down inside she was grateful. And that was good enough for him.
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)Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak(
"There!"
)Click(
"Done!" Odd eclared, replacing the marker's cap. He and Ulrich taped the banner to the front of the table, and Odd sat in his chair behind it. On the table was a clipboard with several signup sheets in it, a piece of paper decribing the competition, and a few pens. Once Odd was situated, Ulrich went off to find Yumi and Jim so they could start working out the competition's schedule. Odd pulled out his GameBoy® and started playing Tetris Annihilator.
Every now and then, someone would stop in front of the table and read the sign, and Odd would pause the game and look up at them. Some of them would come up and read the explanation sheet, and one or two people signed up, but overall it was very slow going. Fnally, one whole sheet was full, and Odd moved it to the bottom of the stack in the clipboard.
"Um, excuse me?"
Odd looked up and saw an interesting sight (http/img222.imageshack.us/img222/8425/calshogasignupze0.jpg). Two people who Odd had never seen before stood there next to each other. They were both male and wore bluejeans, but there the similarities ended. The one to Odd's left looked American, wore light-blue jeans, a grass-green t-shirt, and a red fleece vest, unzipped. His hair was a light-ish, yellowy blond, cut to about ear-length, with a small cowlick in the front. He wore red and grean tennis shoes with white laces and blue soles. The one to Odd's right was Asian and had jet-black hair with extra-long bangs combed over the left side of his face. He wore baggy, dark-blue jeans, a long-sleeved olive-yellow shirt, and a black leather jacket with the entire right-hand third torn off (http/img82.imageshack.us/img82/5442/jacketiz3.jpg). He wore tan suede slip-on shoes with brown rubber soles.
But they differed in manner even more than in appearance. The one in the vest stood straight upright, full of energy and enthusiasm, his bright blue eyes warm and kind. He looked Odd in the eye and smiled when he talked. He had his arm around the shoulders of the one in the jacket, who slouched, frowned, and darted his eyes everywhere. His olive-green eyes were dark and uncaring, and little emotion other than boredom showed in his face.
"We'd like to sign up," the one in the vest continued.
"Sure," said Odd, not missing a beat. "Just fill this out here," he pushed the clipboard and pen towards them, "and you're all set! We'll give you a schedule as soon as we have one worked out and printed up."
"Cool." the one in the vest replied, and started to fill in his info. "Oh, I'm Cal, by the way, and this here is Shoga." He smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the one in the jacket. Shoga merely grunted in acknowledgement. Cal finished filling in his info and passed it to Shoga, who quickly scribbled in an entry and tossed the clipboard back onto the table.
After they left, Odd took the clipboard and read their entries, which looked like this:
(http/img214.imageshack.us/img214/8407/signupsheet1yg6.jpg)
Hm, Odd thought, This will be interesting. He put down the clipboard and found himself face to face with Sissy.
"It's about time you noticed me!" she snapped. "I'm here to sign up for the competition."
"Sissy, we don't have any categories in being bossy or nosy, so why don't you go find someone else to annoy, huh?"
Sissy's eyes glinted menacingly as she said "I'm sure my father would LOVE to hear that your little competition is being exclusive. Don't forget the school's policy that all functions and activities must be open to all students!"
"Fine, finefinefine, sign here," Odd said, handing her the clipboard. She smirked and filled in her info, tossed the clipboard back onto the table, and stalked off.
Before Odd even got a chance to check Sissy's entry, Herb came up, glared at Odd with his finger at his mouth, silently filled out an entry beneath Sissy's, then ran off without a word.
Odd glanced at the paper:
(http/img214.imageshack.us/img214/9302/signupsheet2cu5.jpg)
Odd glanced back up to see Sissy back again.
"I forgot something" she said snippily, grabbing the clipboard and writing on it.
"Hello!" a sweet voice said from behind Sissy. Odd leaned to the right to see who was talking (http/img224.imageshack.us/img224/4100/miasignupdb1.jpg).
The girl there seemed to be the very embodiment of the stereotypical cheerleader: perky, ditzy, over-enthusiastic, and not-too-bright. She wore a pleated pink knee-length skirt, a relatively tight purple t-shirt with poofy sleeves, and purple slipper-like shoes. her light-brown hair was held back by a pink hair band. She was smiling a cute little smile, and when Odd made eye contact, she winked at him.
Sissy tossed the clipboard to the table and whirled around.
"You?" Sissy said. "You want to compete against me in a contest of speed strength and smarts? I bet you couldn't even outsmart Nicholas!"
There was a loud CRACK as of a whip, a flurry of pink, and about half a second later Sissy found herself completely covered head to ankles in a pink streamer, leaving only her eyes and nose uncovered. The other end of the streamer had a wand-like apparatus attached, and that was held in the hand of the cheerleader girl. She smiled sweetly, but not with her eyes, and pulled Sissy in close. Sissy's eyes widened in fear, and the new girl spoke in that tone of voice that is menacing simply by being so soft and sweet.
"Now, you don't want to be saying that, do you? I don't like being angry, and you wouldn't like it either. This competition is open to anyone; you said so yourself. You wouldn't go back on your word, now would you?"
Sissy shook her head frantically. The cheerleader girl's eyes softened and she smiled for real.
"Good." She flicked her wrist, and the streamer suddenly loosened, expanded, and unraveled a bit from Sissy. For a split second it hung in the air around her, then the new girl spun the handle in her fingers, and, snakelike, the streamer slid over the air away from Sissy and into the cheerleader girl's hand until she held it in a collapsed circle like a stowed lasso. She winked again. "See you there!" She turned and walked off. Sissy stood, stunned, for a second, then blinked twice and wandered off in a daze.
About two seconds later the cheerleader girl returned. "Oops! I almost forgot to sign in! Silly me!" She giggled, filled out her info, then skipped off. Odd stood in stunned silence for a few moments, then fell slowly back into his chair, staring off into space after this mystery girl. His GameBoy® toppled to the ground.
The paper now read:
(http/img65.imageshack.us/img65/6450/signupsheet3bi4.jpg)
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"Good morning, Kadic Academy! This is Milly and Tamiya, bringing you the latest news! I'm sure you have all heard of the competition being held," she lifted up a flyer, which Tamiya focused on briefly before returning to Milly, "And I'm sure you're all just as excited as I am."
Tamiya zoomed out to show the school's running track in the background behind Milly, and gave her the "thumbs up" sign.
"I'm reporting to you straight from the track as Round One is about to begin. This first event is a 100 meter dash, and each competitor's time in the race will be subtracted from 50 seconds to produce their score." She turned. "Oh, and I see the first batch is lining up now." She faced the camera again. "The competitors will race in groups of three, and the hosts of the competition wait at the end with stopwatches."
Tamiya motioned for Milly to turn back around as Jim raised the starter gun in the air. Milly turned around just as he fired the gun. "And they're off!"
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)Click(
Jeremie hit his stopwatch as his assigned competitor crossed the line. He glanced at his stopwatch:
35.42
Not too bad, he thought. Not incredible, but not horrible either.
Jeremie jotted the time next to the name on his clipboard, then glanced up at the next set of three. Jeremie had volunteered to time the runner in the center lane, and the girl now standing there was quite a sight to see (http/img220.imageshack.us/img220/1497/miatracktu9.jpg).
She wore her long light-brown hair in a ponytail, and wore a hot-pink tracksuit. Odd, who was timing the runner on the left, leaned over and whispered to Jeremie, "That's Mia, the girl i told you about; the one who tied up Sissy with her streamer!"
Jeremie merely replied "Well, let's just see how well she runs."
)BANG!(
The outer two runners took off, and a moment later Mia said "Oh!" and started running.
Even with the slight delay, she still crossed the finish line first. Jeremie checked his stopwatch:
24.31
Not bad, he thought. Not bad at all. He wrote down her time and looked up again. Herb was in the center, and two people Jeremie had never seen before were on the outside tracks. Odd leaned over again.
"The guy on the right, in the vest, is Calvin, and the guy in the jacket is Shoga. Geez, do they ever take those things off?"
Yumi, who was judging the runner on the right, said "Quiet down, you two, and just judge the race, huh?"
")sigh( Fine."
)BANG!(
Herb was instantly left far behind as Cal and Shoga streaked down the raceway. Shoga stayed just ahead of Cal the whole time, Cal smiling all the way.
Jeremie heard Odd and Yumi gasp in surprise as they looked at their stopwatches, but couldn't look up because Herb hadn't finished the race yet.
...)Click(
41.84
Not surprising, he thought, jotting down the number and going over to see what Odd and Yumi were so excited about.
"Look at this, huh?" Yumi said, shoving her stopwatch at Jeremie. "I didn't reset it, just so you could see for yourself." Jeremie looked down at the watch and did a double-take:
15.03
"Whoah!" Jeremie exclaimed.
"Yeah, but check out Shoga's time!" Odd interjected, giving Jeremie his watch:
14.71
Jeremie stood in stunned silence as heard Cal saying something to Shoga.
"You were holding back Shoga! You can't fool me! I told you not to do that!"
Shoga said nothing and walked off, Cal following.
"...Wow." Odd and Yumi said in unison.
"Okay, so they're fast," Jeremie shrugged, but at a look from Odd and Yumi he amended, "Okay, so they're really fast, but tomorrow, we'll see how good they are at chess."
(To be continued in Chapter 1, Part 2)