Jeremie's POV
Beep! Beep! Beep! Jeremie's eyes popped open.
"Aelita! What?" Jeremie said, sitting up. He blinked, realizing that he had fallen asleep. The entire weekend, he had barely eaten or slept. He sighed and put on his glasses. Beep! Beep! Be-eeeeeep! Jeremie glanced at his laptop screen.
A tower was just activated and deactivated. He sighed in frustration. This was the third time X.A.N.A had done that this week! Jeremie had worked all weekend trying to figurer out what X.A.N.A was up to, to no avail. Suddenly the door opened with a bang, and Aelita stormed in. Jeremie hadn't told Aelita he was going to work that weekend, and he pretended not to notice her now.
"Jeremie!" Aelita said, looking mad, "Have you even left your room all weekend? You told me you were going to hang out with Odd!"
"But Aelita," Jeremie tried to explain, "X.A.N.A activated a tower last Friday night! I have to figure out what X.A.N.A is planning! And anyway, Odd would rather hang out with his new girlfriend. I did talk to him and he said-" Aelita cut him off.
"So Odd knew this!" She was angry. Dang. Just then, Odd walked in.
"Hey," Odd said, blissfully unaware of what was happening between the two at the moment. Aelita glared at him.
"Oh, you know, don't you…" Odd said quickly, backing out the room. The door closed with a slam.
"Jeremie," Aelita said worriedly. "I know you want to be a step ahead of X.A.N.A, but depriving yourself of food and sleep isn't helping." Jeremie sighed. Aelita smiled compassionately.
"Look, go downstairs and get something to eat, and then go to bed. Then you can work on X.A.N.A." Aelita suggested. Jeremie frowned.
"But Aelita, I'm not even that-" Jeremie said. His stomach growled, cutting him off.
"Fine," Jeremie sighed, and they went downstairs.
"Hey, Jeremie," Yumi said. "How was your weekend?" Aelita sighed.
"He worked through the weekend again." Aelita responded. Ulrich frowned.
"Again?" Ulrich asked.
"Did you at least find out what X.A.N.A.'s doing?" Yumi inquired.
"No," Jeremie said, looking annoyed. "His attacks have no pattern and I can't figure anything out unless I can scan X.A.N.A while he's activating a tower." Jeremie glumly ate his meal.
"Wow, that stinks." Odd said, "So what are we going to do?" Jeremie shrugged.
"Keep trying to scan X.A.N.A or wait to see what he does," He responded. The bell rang.
"We better get to class." Ulrich said. Jeremie spent both math and science class thinking about X.A.N.A. The blonde sat in gym, trying to figure out what X.A.N.A is planning, when Jim called him.
"Belpios! Get over here and do a lap with Stern!" Jim called. Jeremie started to run with Ulrich.
"What's wrong, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked. "You were zoned out during math and science."
"I'm trying to figure out what X.A.N.A.'s up to." Jeremie replied. Ulrich looked at Jeremie.
"Jeremie look, if your grades slip any lower your parents are going to notice. You've got to concentrate on school." Jeremie sighed. His foot ran into Ulrich's foot, and Ulrich tripped.
As he fell, Jeremie heard a small pop. Ulrich landed on the ground. He looked around and spotted a figure, all in black, turn and run back into the forest. He looked down at Ulrich and gasped. He was covered in blood.
"Ulrich!" Jeremie yelled and knelt down next to him.
"Ow," Ulrich said grabbing his arm. Jeremie sighed with relief.
"What happened?" Jim called, running over. The whole class followed him.
"Oh my god! Ulrich's hurt!" Sissi screamed. Ulrich moaned.
"I'll take him to the infirmary." Jim said and picked up the German brunette. Odd and Aelita walked over to Jeremie.
"What happened?" Aelita asked.
"I think someone shot him." Jeremie said.
"Who?" Odd asked.
"The person was covered in black. I couldn't tell." Jeremie said.
"Is he alright?" Aelita asked.
"I think it just hit his arm, but I'm not sure." Jeremie replied. "Let's go to the infirmary."
Ulrich POV
"Hey," Odd said walking into the infirmary, "How's your arm?"
"Fine," Ulrich said, "It's swollen, but I think I'll live." It had been two days since someone tried to shoot me. Jeremie said that if he hadn't accidentally tripped him, Ulrich would be dead. Ulrich felt a chill at the through. Did X.A.N.A put a bounty on his head? Jeremie and Yumi ran in.
"How are you?" Yumi asked.
"Fine. Yolande said that my arm is healing well," Ulrich replied.
"That's good," Jeremie said. "How much longer do you have to stay?"
"She said I can walk around a bit but I need to come back tonight." Ulrich said, "Did you get any info on the assassin?" Jeremie shook his head.
"No. But I want you guys to go into Sector Five and try to find out more." Jeremie said.
"Sure," Ulrich agreed. They walked outside and Jeremie called Aelita. She didn't answer.
"That's not good," Jeremie said, worriedly.
"Well, where was she last?" Odd asked. Jeremie frowned.
"She said she was going into the forest."
"Well that's vague." Ulrich said.
"Ok," Jeremie said. "Yumi, you go and search the area around the factory, Odd, you search that big prairie, she likes going there, and Ulrich and I will search the Hermitage." Ulrich frowned.
"Should we split up when there's an assassin after us?" Ulrich asked.
"If we don't, we'll never find Aelita before dark. And I have been using a satellite to watch the forest. The assassin left the forest and if he or she returns, my laptop will beep. Then I will call you and we'll get out of here." Everyone nodded and set off. Ulrich and Jeremie searched the Hermitage. No Aelita.
"Should we go help the others?" Ulrich asked.
"Yeah." Jeremie said.
"Let's help Yumi." Ulrich said. The two ran over to the factory, not seeing Yumi. The sun was starting to set. Suddenly they smelled something burning. Looking around, they saw a light. They ran toward the light, seeing the assassin had Yumi tied up in a pile of sticks. The logs around the sticks were burning brightly. Yumi was unconscious.
"Yumi!" Ulrich screamed and ran toward the fire. The assassin looked up and ran off. Jeremie ran over to the fire as Ulrich leapt over the fire and tried to untie Yumi. He coughed as the flames came closer. The ropes were too tight. Yumi groaned and coughed. She looked around in horror. Ulrich tried instead to tear the knot off. The flames started to burn the sticks.
"Ulrich!" Yumi shouted, realizing that Ulrich was not tied up, "Get out of here!" Ulrich ignored her and desperately tugged at the ropes. Jeremie then pulled a knife out of his pocket and tossed it to Ulrich. He caught it, but dropped it. The knife was burning hot.
"Get out!" Yumi screamed again, looking worried.
"No," Ulrich said and tore off his vest. He stepped closer to Yumi as the flames drew close. He wrapped the vest around his hand and picked up the knife. He sliced off the ropes, and Yumi stood up. The flames' heat was intense and it burned inches from them.
"Jump!" Ulrich yelled. Yumi bent and leaped over the fire. Her shirt was smoking as she turned at look at Ulrich. He then tried to jump over the fire, but instead his legs went through the fire. His pants burst into flames. He landed and rolled on the ground until they went out. Jeremie looked at Ulrich and Yumi.
"Don't worry, an ambulance and fire truck are on the way," Jeremie said. Ulrich and Yumi were brought to the hospital. Ulrich sat there in the hospital. Both his legs had third degree burns, and his lungs were full of smoke. He watched as the nurse put something on his legs. He coughed again, thinking about the assassin.