Chapter I: Hard-Earned Money
"Laser arrow!" Odd shouted as he hit a block.
"Nice one, Odd," Aelita applauded.
"You guys, pay attention to your surroundings. Be on your guard," Jeremie fussed from his chair in the factory, frustrated. "This is no time to screw up!"
"Impact!" Ulrich shouted as he hit a Krab. "Don't worry, Jeremie. Aren't Naromi and Jade supposed to be here any minute?"
"Well, with Yumi sick in bed, we can't afford to take any chances," Jeremie explained. "Besides, they're rookies."
"Oh, no. We've got company!" Odd panicked as he spotted a dozen hornets.
"Super sprint." Ulrich tried to lure them away from the tower. Aelita used her Energy Field on a few of them and dashed toward the tower. Suddenly, she was blocked. Ulrich attempted to, once again, lure the flying monsters away, but was hit.
"Ulrich, you just lost 10 life points. Careful!" Jeremie panicked.
"Help is on the way." Jeremie heard two familiar voices.
"Ah, about time. What took so long?"
"Well, unlike you, some of us work washing cafeteria dishes for our tuition," Jade explained sarcastically.
"Yeah, and we--"
Jeremie cut Naromi off. "Forget that I asked. Get to the scanners." Naromi scoffed and Jade laughed.
The girls appeared for their third time on Lyoko. Jade's outfit resembled a hippie, and her weapon was a staff with a 'peace' sign on the top, which she carried on her back until she needed to use it. Naromi's gothic outfit consisted of a lot of lace and fishnets. She wore short shorts, which distracted Odd sometimes, and he was brought quickly back to reality by a hit on the head. Her weapon was an oversized boomerang, which folded in half and was easier to carry when running.
"Need some help?" Naromi asked when they arrived. Odd looked her up and down and purposefully mistook her words for something more than what she actually meant. Naromi sighed and hit him. "That's not what I meant, you perve!" While Odd acted as innocently as he could, despite his accusation, and rubbed his head, Jade spotted two hornets.
"Look out, Naromi!" Jade shouted as she pushed her out of the way. Odd ducked, and Jade hit them both at once with her Laser Light.
"Not bad," Ulrich complimented. "So much for 'rookies', huh, Jeremie?"
"Rookie? I hit more monsters in one day than Odd does in a week!"
Odd glared at Jade. "Hey!" Just then, more Hornets arrived.
"You guys, can we try and focus, please?" Jeremie pleaded impatiently, once again.
"Alright, Aelita, head for the tower," Naromi instructed. "I've got you covered. Hiraikotsu!" Everyone stared.
"Naromi…?" Jeremie began to ask.
"Sorry, got caught up in the moment!" Naromi explained and smiled innocently. "Boomerang!" She got rid of the Hornets just in time for Aelita to make it to the tower. The process of deactivating the tower took, as usual, quite a while. For what reason, no one understood. There was no return to the past. Instead, Odd, Ulrich, Jade, Naromi, and Aelita were brought back to the factory through the scanners by Jeremie.
"Nice work, you two." Ulrich pat Jade and Naromi on the shoulders. Jade rolled her eyes.
"Thanks. If Naromi would stop flirting with Odd on the battlefield, we could do a lot better, I think." Jade punched her in the arm. While Naromi was distracted for the moment, Odd looked at her and rubbed his neck, trying to work up the courage to ask her something.
"So, Naromi…do you want to and grab some food?"
Naromi eyed him suspiciously. "Didn't you eat an hour ago at lunch?"
"Uh…maybe…"
"And didn't you have Yumi's portion?"
"Kind of…"
Naromi pondered. "Hmm…race you there!" She began to run towards the elevator, and Odd followed not far behind her.
Jade rolled her eyes. "He won't be able to handle her," she muttered.
Jeremie took off his headset. "Well, I've got studying to do for the weekend."
"So do I," Aelita said. "And we've got a book report due Tuesday, remember. I can help you, if you'd like."
"Thanks, Aelita," Jeremie said blushed.
"See you guys later, then." Ulrich waved to them as they left. Jade turned towards him. "Why don't you and I check up on Yumi to see how she's feeling?"
Ulrich looked up. "I was thinking about that, too." They walked alongside each other on the way to see their friend. Jade spotted a flower shop about a block from Yumi's house.
"Hey, why don't we get her a few flowers? Would you mind…?" She gestured toward his wallet.
He rolled his eyes and laughed. "I wouldn't have it any other way." They picked a few white roses out, and Ulrich paid while Jade carried the bouquet.
"You're the best," she said and pulled out a flower for him. With food and tuition money being blown away, there was hardly any left to be spent on anything else.