A/N: Finally got around to watching the CL eps I needed to finish the plan for this story! Realised in the process that I had to make a few changes to Chapter One, oops. Anyway as it is: William is in fact still under XANA's possession at this point, and Jérémie and Aelita have just about restored Lyoko. However, this fic is A/U and diverges from canon at some point in S4 around the episode 'Skidbladnir', but I'll let the story do the explaining. And without further ado, a super dramatic chapter.
Heirs to Chaos
Chapter Two: Into the Storm
Hiroki Ishiyama rested his chin in his hand and stared vacantly out of the classroom window, his teacher's lecture on Pythagorean theorems falling on deaf ears as the boy gazed up at the cloudy grey sky.
He fought against the urge to yawn as he turned back towards the clock. The hands had barely moved at all; it had only been two minutes since he last checked. Still, he reasoned, that was two minutes closer to the end of the day, when he could go home to finally catch up on some sleep and never again stay up until the small hours playing video games.
Well, until next time.
There was something ominous about the weather, he thought. The dark clouds had rolled in quickly earlier that afternoon even though the morning had started out warm and sunny. There had been the usual complaints about the weather from staff and students alike but Hiroki couldn't help feeling it went beyond that, somehow... He squeezed his tired eyes shut, hard, then opened them again. No, he told himself, he definitely needed to catch up on sleep.
After what seemed like hours, Mrs Meyer gave the order to close their textbooks and a second later the bell rang. Unfortunately, at the precise same moment the heavens decided to open, and there came a collective groan from the students at the realisation that their afternoon would be given over to pouring rain.
"I hope you brought an umbrella Hiroki." Milly turned around from her seat in front of him. "Or you could borrow mine." She rummaged in her bag, brandishing a collapsable pink umbrella covered in hearts. Hiroki felt heat rising up in his face, both at the fact that Milly Solovieff was talking to him and at the potential humiliation of walking home under such an embarrassing umbrella.
"Um, no thank you," he managed to stammer out. "Besides I have a coat. It's fine."
Milly shrugged in a 'suit yourself' sort of way before saying her goodbyes and racing towards the door to catch up with Tamiya. The two immediately bent their heads together, whispering and giggling conspiratorially as they vanished from sight. Glancing back to the window one last time to assess the extent of the downpour, Hiroki sighed – if anything, it had gotten worse in the past few minutes. Numerous puddles had already formed on the school grounds and across the courtyard, Hiroki could just make out an unfortunate faculty member diving into an open door to escape getting soaked any further.
Trudging out of the classroom and already cheered up at the thought of a warm bed and a long afternoon nap awaiting him back home, Hiroki joined the crowd of students milling through the corridors. Boarders went their separate ways, to dorms, the library and the rec room, and day students like himself were busy opening umbrellas and putting on jackets.
There was a bright flash of light followed by a loud crack and some girls' screams as thunder and lightning split the darkening sky. Hiroki was just ducking out of the main doors when he heard Jim Moralés striding purposefully down the corridor.
"All right, all right, enough of that ridiculous noise. And don't act so surprised, this storm's been threatening to break since lunchtime. Now, I don't want any boarders out on school grounds until it's blown over, you all got it? That goes for you too..."
And that was all Hiroki heard before he stepped out into the downpour, hood drawn around his face, and all other sound was swallowed up by rain and thunder and lightning.
Meanwhile, Jérémie Belpois lay slumped over a desk in a quiet corner of the library, sound asleep with his glasses pushed halfway up his face. He hugged his laptop protectively, letting out a small mumur as he shifted in slumber.
"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you Jérémie," Aelita was saying. "I mean, even if the world ends we still have each other. We'll just have to escape into Lyoko that's all."
They were floating, soaring over Lyoko in their Earth clothes in search of Franz Hopper, but instead of towers there were only glowing, red Skidbladnirs...
"But they don't have hotdogs in the Digital Sea," Jérémie protested. Her idea was entirely reasonable but the lack of hotdogs would pose a significant problem. What would they eat? As though to specifically answer his question, Ulrich and Yumi appeared beside them, smiling.
"We'll just get the new people to deliver food to us, that's all. I'm sure they wouldn't mind a break from fighting XANA every once in a while."
"Yeah," Ulrich added, nodding in agreement with Yumi. "And it's thanks to you that they're in with a job."
Things took on a more sour turn as his friends frowned at him.
"Don't you think it's your fault Jérémie?"
"No, no, I was only trying to help," Jérémie protested, holding up his hands. Then Odd appeared in front of him. Unlike the other two he was dressed in his Lyoko attire but with a series of wires and buttons clearly visible through a window on his forehead. There was a malfunction of some kind, Jérémie vaguely noticed, because Odd was emitting a strangely familiar beeping sound.
"I'm with Einstein you guys. You'll just have to programme the hotdogs that's all. Don't forget the meatballs and spaghetti though, I'm starving! Just don't put computer chips in them like last time, you know Jim hates that."
"Okay Odd, but if you could stop beeping like that for two seconds maybe I could think it over."
"But Belpois!" Odd whined. "Belpois..."
"Belpois! Belpois! Jérémie Belpois, wake up and shut off that laptop this instant! It's been beeping for near twenty minutes!"
"Wha-?" Jérémie edged instinctively away from the hand that was roughly shaking his shoulder, pulling his glasses back down over his eyes and heaving a huge yawn as he fought through the haze of sleep. He found himself staring sheepishly into the face of Kadic's librarian, whose lips were pinched into a firm line and who was standing with her hands planted on her hips. Jérémie blinked rapidly as he tried to process everything at once but amidst it all the bizarre dream was forgotten, leaving behind only a sense of confusion, a reccuring beep and the persistent drumming of rain and hail on the school roof.
"Uh, I'm terribly sorry Ma'am," Jérémie said.
"You know what, I don't even want to hear it Belpois. Just shut off that laptop, get out of here and leave the other students to study in peace!"
It was then that Jérémie fully registered the beeping sound and his eyes flew to his laptop screen. Sure enough, a red exclamation mark was flashing alongside a rotating diagram of a Lyoko tower.
"Oh no!" Jérémie pressed a button, silencing the alarm to sighs of relief from the librarian and the other students, and without another word he leapt from his chair and ran from the room, already reaching for his phone.
"Hello, Aelita? It's Jérémie. ... Where was I? I fell asleep in the library but... that's not important! XANA's woken up, we've got an activated tower in the Forest sector. I'm heading to the factory, I'll see you there as soon as you can make it. ...Okay... Bye."
Shoving his laptop into his bag as he ran, Jérémie raced down a corridor filled with students who had their faces glued to the tall windows, watching the storm outside with fascination. He slowed to a stop for a brief moment, pushing through for a space in the crowds. Shock filled him as he took in the sight.
The entire courtyard was flooded. The water level had risen several inches, enough to slosh against the bottom window panes. The sky flashed yellow and black with rapid lightning and the sounds of thunder and rain roared continually with no signs of stopping. The gathered students jumped in alarm as a hailstone nearly the size of a small brick tumbled from the sky and landed one of the higher steps with a loud crack. The clump of ice split in two, the pieces falling into the water, but soon another hailstone fell, and another.
Jérémie extracted himself from the crowd and continued his sprint down the hallway. Looks like he had discovered what XANA's next attack was.
"But Jim, we have to leave! This is an emergency!"
Aelita almost stamped her foot in frustration, but no amount of desperate protest would shift the gym teacher from his sentry position beside the door to the recreation room. She shared a despairing look with Odd, but the blond boy simply shrugged.
"What's an emergency is that we're about to be flooded. We can't let students just go running around the campus on their own and we certainly don't have time for your silly antics Stones. That goes for you too Della Robbia. Now go and play some foosball or something to pass the time."
Knowing they would have to come up with some other way to appease Jim so they could make their escape, Odd and Aelita edged away from the door to conspire in a corner. The clamour in the room was deafening, as dozens of other students watched the storm excitably and the more restless ones entertained themselves by pelting one another with scrunched up pieces of paper.
"We go through this same routine every time, haven't you noticed? I can practically recite Jim word for word now, every time he gets in the way of us stopping a XANA attack-"
"Hmm," Aelita said, only half-listening as she gazed in the direction of the window. Jérémie was already on his way to the factory... she hoped he would be okay.
Odd's tirade was interrupted by his phone ringing. The screen showed him that it was Ulrich calling and he answered it immediately.
"Ulrich? Ulrich are you there? Where are you?"
Ulrich fumbled with his mobile for a moment, attempting to wipe his wet hands on his soaking jacket with little success. He opened the door of the tool shed he was residing in ever so slightly, wincing as more water seeped in. It was coming up to his ankles, and the ball he had taken to soccer practice had long since floated away.
"Sorry, I'm here," he spoke into the phone, raising his voice over the noise. "I'm in one of the tool sheds on the school grounds. I was going to wait out the rain, but... XANA attack right?"
"You got it in one good buddy."
"Great. Just great. Where are you?"
"That's the thing. Aelita and me are stuck in the rec room, Jim isn't letting anybody out. Jérémie's on his way to the factory and Yumi said she'd be there ASAP."
Ulrich clenched his free hand into a fist, panic rising in his chest as he heard the sound of yet another enormous hailstone slamming hard into the roof. He was in serious danger if he went out there but it was nothing he hadn't done a thousand times before. He would just have to deal with it.
"Okay Odd, you know what you have to do. Just come up with a diversion, I'm sure you can think of something. All that matters right now is that Aelita gets to Lyoko to deactivate the tower. I'll call Einstein and tell him I'm making my way to the factory."
"Careful out there Ulrich."
"You too, Odd."
They hung up.
Ulrich's eyes darted frantically around the shed, looking for something he could use to make sure he got across the grounds safely. He should be okay once he reached the cover of the trees at the edge of the school but until then an umbrella just wouldn't cut it. Not to mention the fact that the water level continued to rise.
"At this rate I'll have to swim to the factory," Ulrich grumbled. Suddenly his gaze landed on a sheet of corrugated iron propped against the far wall, and a smirk wounds its way onto his face. That would do nicely.
Hiroki had walked through the woods to take shelter from the rain but an increased feeling of unease overtook him as the storm showed no signs of stopping, the ground beneath him growing so waterlogged that he felt like he was walking through marshland. His hands were numb with cold and the icy rain had managed to seep through his top layer of clothes so that a damp feeling clung uncomfortably to his skin. His socks squelched, his shoes were ruined, and his mood darkened by the second.
Out of nowhere came a huge thud, followed moments later by another. Hiroki darted to the side just in time as a lump of ice crashed to earth right where he had been standing, and another a few metres away. The hailstones were mostly normal sized, but there was the occasional exception in the form of those he had just encountered. He squinted up at the sky, rainwater running into his eyes and plastering his hair to his forehead. What kind of freaky weather is this?
Without hesitation, Hiroki broke into a run. Something was very wrong, and his instincts screamed at him to find shelter as soon as possible. It was at this point that he also remembered there was something vitally important he had forgotten, and he had an awful feeling that it was something to do with trees being a hazard during a lightning storm.
"Okay Hiroki, don't freak out," he mumbled to himself, though even his voice was inaudible. "You'll be home soon."
On a good day, walking quickly, he could get from Kadic to his house in maybe ten minutes, but considering the weather and all of the extra weight that the water had added to his clothes, he guessed it would be more like thirty. Gritting his teeth Hiroki put on an extra burst of speed, finally breaking out of the woods on the other side and climbing over the low fence that bordered the park. Cars were parked in every spare space on the curb, with people sitting inside them for shelter. Many displayed dents in the metal which showed they had been heavily damaged, and water and broken pieces of ice littered the roads and pavements. In the distance was a wail of sirens.
"Maybe... this wasn't... a good idea..." Hiroki panted. He was exhausted from running and each breath he took tore at his lungs and throat. Whatever he was going to do next, he would have to rest first. Diving beneath a nearby bus shelter Hiroki slid to the pavement, rested his head on his arms, and waited.
"Don't worry, Princess." Odd stood up, cracked his knuckles and grinned down at his pink-haired friend. "I've got a plan. Time to put my acting skills to the test."
"Uh..."
"Don't look so nervous Aelita! Don't you trust me?"
Aelita gave the merest hint of a smirk. "Do you want me to answer that honestly?"
"Ha ha," Odd replied flatly, but he placed a hand on her shoulder as she stood up beside him, and smiled once more. "Okay, as soon as Jim is away from the door, make a break for it. I'll try and follow suit but you might have to go for it on your own."
She gave a determined nod. "Right."
"Ready?"
"Whenever you are, Odd."
"Oh, and don't forget your umbrella Aelita!"
Before she could respond to the quip, Odd drew breath and released the loudest scream Aelita had ever heard, loud enough and dramatic enough to bring the entire remainder of the room to silence in an instant. Clutching his chest dramatically, Odd staggered forward a few steps, staging his manoeuvre so that it conveniently knocked down a nearby bookshelf. Jim's head whipped around in alarm.
"Della Robbia, what's wrong?"
"Jim! I-I think I'm having a-" with a dramatic sigh, Odd fell to his knees and collapsed face first on the floor, motionless. There was a fraction of a pause before the room descended once more into madness, with students screaming and crying and pushing to gather around their fallen classmate. In a flash, Jim was at the scene, bellowing at students to move aside.
It was all Aelita needed. Sparing a single backward glance, she edged towards the door, flung it open, and was gone.
Yumi had been on the bus home from school when the storm had taken a turn for the worst, and the text message Jérémie confirmed her suspicions; XANA was attacking again. She shivered as she watched raindrops and hailstones bounce against the ground with the force of impact. The last time XANA had launched a weather-related attack things had not gone well for her. Memories of snow and a cold that seemed to penetrate her very bones as it slowly sapped away at her life flooded to the forefront of her mind and she shook her head forcefully to push them away.
The bus driver made a valiant attempt to drive the students home despite everything but eventually she had pulled over, conceding defeat, a few stops from Yumi's house. Silence gradually overcame the vehicle as the students realised that they were no longer moving. Up front, the bus driver pulled out a megaphone and addressed the passengers.
"Sorry kids," she said. "Can't drive a step further until this blows over. It ain't happening."
There was a collective groan of protest, to which the driver simply shrugged, reiterating her apology. Just as Yumi was trying to decide what to do, her mobile rang.
"Yumi?"
"Jérémie!"
"Yumi, listen, I could really use you over here. Ulrich and Aelita are on their way to the factory but we'll need as many of you as we can on Lyoko to protect Aelita."
"What about Odd?"
"He's a little... preoccupied right now."
"Uh huh."
"Do you think you can be here quick?"
"I'll try my best Jérémie."
"That's all I ask for Yumi. Be careful. See ya."
"Bye."
Pocketing her phone once more, Yumi stood up and strode towards the front of the bus. The driver raised one eyebrow as she approached and stared her down with folded arms.
"I already told you Missy, I ain't driving this thing another inch. I'm responsible for everyone's lives here you know."
Yumi sighed, hopping impatiently from foot to foot. "Can't you at least drive me to the next block? Please, I have to get uh, home, it's really really important!"
"The whole town will be on hold until this calms down. I don't think you're in any hurry."
"Please!"
"You can say it until you're blue in the face, but it ain't happening."
Yumi tsked and folded her arms. This was pointless, she was wasting too much time.
"All right, how about this," she said. "Just open the doors and let me off the bus."
The driver's eyes widened. "You want to go out in this? Are you crazy?"
Yumi glanced to the window and shuddered. "I don't have any choice."
"Sweetie, it's dangerous out there. I can't let you risk your life."
Yumi could have screamed. The people who meant well were sometimes the most infuriating.
"Listen, I really appreciate that, but you have to let me off this bus! It's important! If you don't, I'll-I'll... I'll smash the window! Don't believe I won't!" She reached for the emergency hammer on the back of a nearby seat and, realising that Yumi was serious, the bus driver held up her hands.
"All right, all right. I'll let you out, but I hope you know what you're doing."
Yumi's shoulders sagged in relief and she hopped down the steps as the door opened "Thank you! And, I do." I hope.
The doors closed behind her.
Sloshing awkwardly through puddles, Yumi ran towards the safety of a nearby shop front. Most of the buildings around this area had small roofs over their doorways - her plan was to make her way down the street using these for cover as much as possible. It would be slow going but so long as she escaped intact it would be worth it. Yumi felt curious eyes on her from windows and noticed for the first time just how many people had crowded into buildings. Like Hiroki, she heard the wailing siren, and badly hoped that no one was seriously hurt.
Eventually she turned a corner and came to a more familiar road. Her house was nearby, and up ahead was the bus stop she was usually dropped off at. Here, too, the cars were full and the roads near empty. Pausing for a second to take a breath and rubbing her hands together for warmth, Yumi surveyed the scene. This was the first XANA attack in a while and not for the first time, Yumi wondered what it was planning. There was no time to dwell on that now, however; she had to get to the factory. Hopefully Ulrich and Aelita would be there by now. Oh, if only she still attended Kadic, she could have been there already!
Bracing herself, Yumi darted towards the road. Ahead of her was the park which promised the safety of the sewers once she reached the manhole. Her gaze drifted for a second to the bus stop and her heart skipped a beat as she saw a figure huddled there. A teenage boy, about thirteen years old with spiky black hair, and that blue parka... she would recognise it anywhere, had picked it out herself for Hiroki's birthday a few months ago.
"Hiroki!" she called.
So focused was she on the boy that she didn't see the car careening down the road, barely visible or audible through the pouring rain. She couldn't think in time to react when its wheels collided with a particularly large hailstone and the vehicle swerved in a huge arc across the curb.
Tires screeched, there was a shout that might have been her name, and Yumi's world faded into blackness.
Hiroki saw it all.
He had raised his head once more and decided he would just have to run the rest of the way home, somehow, and was sorely regretting not having some excuse to stay behind after school, when he saw a blur of motion across the street. Someone tall, practically invisible due to their wholly black clothing, and short black hair in saturated strands falling into their face.
It reminded him of Yumi, but surely Yumi wouldn't be stupid enough to try and make her way home in this storm. The thought had barely crossed his mind before Hiroki realised that that was exactly what he himself had done. He sighed. Struggling to his feet and bracing himself against the wall of the bus shelter, Hiroki cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to her.
"Yumi?"
He was almost positive the person was looking in his direction and Hiroki was about to cross the road to meet her, sure that it was in fact her, when it happened.
Someone, evidently deciding they had somewhere they needed to be, was roaring down the road in a dark blue car. Hiroki didn't know how it happened, didn't need to - all he knew was that the car lost control and the next moment his sister was sprawled across the curb, unmoving.
And then he was running, splashing through puddles and almost losing his balance as he made his way towards her, kneeling at Yumi's side to brush the hair away from her pale face and closed eyes. Blood ran from some unseen wound, immediately mixing with the rainwater that streamed along the gutter. Hiroki was crying but he barely noticed, frantically shaking the girl before him and calling her name over and over, his body over hers to shield her from the worst of the storm and hail even though it hit his back hard enough to bruise. He couldn't bring himself to care about the car, or the driver.
The wail of sirens started again, this time much closer. Hiroki blinked, running his hand across his eyes and making his way shakily to his feet. Twin pinpricks of light blinked at him in the distance, growing slowly closer and closer until another vehicle came into view.
An ambulance. A miracle.
Hiroki could have sobbed again with relief, but instead he ran as far into the road as he dared and waved his arms.
"STOP!" He yelled to them. "Help me! Please help!"
The ambulance pulled to a stop and someone jumped out, shining a flashlight.
"Can't see a damn thing in this weather," a male voice grumbled. "Shouldn't even be driving, but like Johnson was saying, if you can pick up at least one casualty it'll be damned worth it. You okay kid?" he asked finally, walking right up to Hiroki.
The boy couldn't bring himself to speak, instead pointing to the pavement. The ambulance driver swore under his breath as he took in the sight and immediately pulled out a pocket radio.
"Stand by. I'm bringing a girl in. Teenager, about seventeen years old. Some kind of car accident. I'll do what I can for the driver but you're gonna have to send someone."
Meanwhile, the back doors of the ambulance had opened and two more paramedics emerged, heaving out a stretcher. They kneeled down beside Yumi, checking her pulse and attaching a breathing mask. Hiroki felt as though it was happening in slow motion, his eyes never leaving his sister. He just managed to croak out an "is she...?" before his throat closed up, eyes threatening more tears.
"She's alive," he was reassured, "but we'll need to get her in to assess the damage." The paramedic gestured to the ambulance behind him. "Listen kid, we've got three other casualities in the back already, it's going to be tough to fit you in."
"I do live nearby, but..."
Hiroki hesitated. Could he really sit with Yumi, her in a hospital bed, and not go insane? What if the worst happened? He was distracted from his thoughts as there was a soft groan and Yumi stirred.
"No..." she mumbled. "Don't come, got to... find Ulrich."
"Yumi!" Hiroki cried, flooded with relief as she cracked open one eye to meet his own.
"Hiroki," she called, her voice cracked and quiet. He tried to step closer to hear her better, but paramedics, still tending to the stretcher, held him back. They said something to him but he ignored them, focusing entirely on Yumi. "Hiroki, listen to me," she continued. She spoke quickly and urgently, even though through her pain it cost her physical effort. Her face contorted in concentration – it sent cold ice shards through Hiroki's stomach to see his big sister bearing such an expression of agony – and she fumbled with a bloodied hand to take her mobile phone from her pocket.
Realising what she was about to, Hiroki reached out and just about caught the phone in a clumsy two-handed grip. He stared at it for a second before he realised that Yumi was still speaking, raising her voice as she was wheeled past him into the back of the waiting ambulance.
"Call Ulrich," she said. "Find him. Tell him what happened, and ask him to explain-"
But if she had intended to tell Hiroki what exactly Ulrich should explain, he wasn't to know, for at that moment the ambulance doors slammed closed behind her. The world around Hiroki was chaos and the wail of the ambulance siren become one with the cacophony as the vehicle screeched away, taking his sister away from him.
Hiroki watched it go until it rounded a corner. He retreated back to the safety of the bus shelter, staring despondently out into the storm.
Then he looked down at the phone clenched tightly in his hand and began to dial.