"GET OUT OF THE WAY! IT'S MY TURN!"
A pair of sapphire eyes peered out from underneath a smothering pillow. She could read a ridiculous time of 6:30am from her alarm clock nearby. Grunting and groaning, the brunette flopped on top of her pillow, removing herself from under it to glare angrily at the ceiling.
Only one person would dare wake her up at such an awful time.
As Sissi's screeches disappeared into the distance, Amelia exhaled loudly. She remained under her blankets for another few minutes, before deciding she should try to shower while there was still warm water left. She sat up on her mattress in complete darkness, the only light coming from underneath the door to the hall. She figured she could spare her eyes the pain as she felt for her garments in the dark. Once she was collected and had the courage to poke her head outside, Amelia left the safety of her room with squinted eyes and a gruff look on her face.
There was only a slight line up when she approached the girl's washroom, but still Amelia groaned as she took her place behind Emily. Emily turned her head back to smile at Amelia, readjusting her robe.
"It's actually moving pretty quickly this morning." Her upperclassman smiled at her.
"Thank fucking god." Amelia sighed. She rubbed at her temples with another sigh.
Sissi suddenly emerged from the bathroom with a sneer, as if daring the girls in line to complain. Milly and Tamiya, who were close to the front, made faces at her but said nothing else.
Sissi caught Amelia's figure leaning against the wall as the line up moved, and approached her. Although Amelia remained with her uninterested look, she turned her head to glance at Sissi.
"Where are all your friends, Amelia?"
"Gee, I don't know-they're guys Sissi." she responded bluntly, rolling her eyes at the girl. "You'd think that you'd come up with a better start to an insult. Idiot."
Sissi pursed her lips, and flipped her towel over her shoulder briskly as some of the other girls laughed at her.
"Whatever! Enjoy the WARM water." Sissi retreated down the hall in a huff, returning to her room.
A girl in Amelia's grade sighed behind her, following after her as they were finally able to enter the showers.
"I hate this place." She sighed.
"Me too." Amelia hummed in response.
By the time she was finished in the shower, it was time to eat breakfast with the rest of the residents. Amelia made her way across the campus with a deep yawn, feeling a cool morning breeze against her ankles and lower legs. There were a few students already in the mess hall when she entered, and she easily spotted Jeremie and Odd sitting at their usual table.
She found herself spending a lot more time with the two boys since her revelation over Ulrich's confusion. It was a lot easier to push the brunet out of her mind when she had the banter between Jeremie and Odd to deal with.
Odd did his fair share of distracting her as well, and often the two found themselves playing video games or discussing music until curfew, knowingly ignoring Ulrich's jealous glares from the corner of their eyes.
Not only did she spend time with the two on Earth, but Odd and Amelia had been spending a lot of time on Lyoko too, working out bugs and improvements on their virtual selves with Jeremie and Aelita. It always led to a fulfilled feeling when all of them with exercise their minds and bodies with Lyoko.
She beamed at them, catching Jeremie's attention only due to Odd's gluttonous nature. Jeremie waved back at her with a small smile. Amelia quickly got in the line for provisions, grabbing some scrambled eggs and a few hashbrown patties before sitting down across from her friends.
Odd glanced up when he felt the table shift, grinning at Amelia as he sat up.
"Morning! Did you sleep well?"
Grunting, she shook her head with a grin herself.
"I did until Sissi woke up."
The two boys chuckled, as Odd rested a hand against his stomach.
"Oh yeah, I hear she's a real pain in the ass right in the morning."
Sporking some eggs, she waved the fork at her friends before eating its contents. "You'd think she wouldn't have so much energy in the morning but you're dead wrong."
"It's probably because of all that beauty sleep that she gets." Odd snickered.
Amelia groaned, earning chuckles from the two boys. Speaking of two boys…
The brunette glanced around the table.
"Hey, where's Ulrich?"
Odd shook his head, leaning back in his chair and stretching out.
"He was looking for something when I left...said he'd catch up with me but…"
Jeremie shrugged, getting up from the table with his bag.
"In any case, we have class soon...and you guys have a trip to the pool today right?"
Amelia groaned louder than the first time, placing her head down on the table. Odd snorted, grabbing his own bag as he nudged her to follow them.
"Are you skipping gym class again?" Odd piped up again, walking alongside Amelia as they exited the portable. Jeremie glanced back at them over his shoulder, grinning cheekily.
"Yup! It gives me more time to work on Aelita's materialization!"
Amelia whistled aloud, grinned to her two friends as she hiked her shoulder bag strap farther up her shoulder.
"I can't wait until we can see her here. We can finally be at peace. The faster we get rid of XANA, the better."
Her two friends hummed in agreement, barely audible over the ringing of the first bell. They rested against a tree in the quad, stretching out along the bench as Yumi approached from the distance. The raven-haired girl nodded to Odd and Amelia who were seated on the bench, and walked up to Jeremie with a confused look.
"Hey, where's Ulrich?"
Yumi glazed over all three of her companions, as they shrugged together at the same time. She made a defeated, irritated sigh at them. The three residents chuckled. As the four of them lounged about and complained about their classes for the day, Odd spotted their missing friend from his upside down position on the bench. He uncurled himself from the comfortable spot and sat up, wide eyed with his arm pointing towards Ulrich.
"Hey, why is he talking to Sissi?"
The other three perked up, Yumi and Jeremie peering around a tree while Amelia poked her head over the back of the bench.
Yumi waved towards the teen, calling out to him. Sissi whispered into Ulrich's ear, her words twisting his face into an irritated expression. His brown eyes shifted to his friends trying to get his attention, but with Sissi forcibly pulling his arm Ulrich followed arm-in-arm with the girl.
The gang blinked owlishly after the scene unfolded.
"...what the hell…" Odd muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
History class was boring, unless you were sitting next to Odd Della Robbia.
Amelia and Odd spent the last few moments drawing on the corner of Amelia's notebook. The two smirked and giggled a bit, only slightly catching the attention of their classmates. Jeremie sat in front of the two, casually glancing over his shoulder when they would try to catch his attention with a hiss.
Odd smiled slightly, finishing the detailing on a dragon he had sketched along the border of Amelia's page. The brunette glanced at her page with a genuine smile, trying to hide the excited blush on her cheeks.
"Ahhhh I love dragons!" she whispered hoarsely, trying to copy down the teacher's lesson on Kings and Queens in history. "Everytime I try to draw them I mess up the legs or the head."
He caught the little blush, and surprisingly he found himself glancing at her cute expression with adoration.
He shook it quickly, adjusting his eyes to a normal glance while pencilling in some more detail into the tail of the dragon. He feinted his serious change as a look of focus. In reality, he was puzzled ever so slightly as to what was going on inside his head.
"...there! You just need a bit of practice." He said, smiling at her small sketch on the top of the page. "You're not bad at all."
She caught his glance from the side, smiling back at him before she noticed Jeremie's signal. The two stopped their drawing as Jeremie pointed towards Ulrich and Sissi, who were sitting closely at the front of the class.
"It's really strange." Jeremie commented, noticing how Ulrich tried to shift away from the girl.
Odd and Amelia agreed with a hum, tilting their heads up to glance at the time. The bell was set to ring any minute, meaning if they were going to put a plan into motion it would have to come together fast.
Odd nodded with a look of determination.
"I've got an idea."
As soon as the bell rang, the three were out the door and waiting for their prey.
As soon as Ulrich and Sissi emerged from the classroom, Odd swooped in. He nabbed Sissi and dragged the sucking louse away, leaving Ulrich behind with Amelia and Jeremie.
"You mind explaining?"
Ulrich looked to his side, noticing Jeremie and Amelia standing nearby with curious looks.
Ulrich lead the two behind one of pillars, glancing over his shoulder at Odd's distracting technique before talking with his friends. He was talking fast, almost nervously as he tried to explain his predicament in a timely manner.
"Ah...listen I'm in a jam-big time. You see for years I've been keeping a di…"
Ulrich trailed off, losing the last few words of his sentence to the wind.
"A what?" Amelia asked, visibly straining to hear.
"A diary!" he blurted out, a blush dusting his cheeks. "Sissi found it and...now she's blackmailing me."
Jeremie pondered, index finger under his chin.
"Wait, you wouldn't happen to have mention Lyoko, or XANA in your diary, would you?"
Ulrich scratched the back of his neck, turning his embarrassed expression towards the campus grounds instead of his friend for fear of their angry rebuttal.
"Well...yeah, and if I don't do what Sissi says she's going to tell everyone! I don't know what to do…"
Amelia perked up, patting her friend on the shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry. While we're at the pool I'm sure Jeremie and Yumi can lurk around for it. Sissi's not that bright, it's bound to be somewhere accessible."
The brunet gazed up at her with an appreciative look, earning her smile in return.
"Thanks guys…"
"You best be getting back to your sleeping beauty, she seems to be getting irritated with-"
"FOR THE LAST TIME I DID NOT HAVE A NOSE JOB. SO STOP ASKING-"
Sissi had blurted out, making Amelia slap a hand over her lips as she stifled the loud cackle of laughter building in her larynx. Jeremie giggled under his breath, looking on as Odd slightly cowered underneath Sissi's rageful stance. Ulrich appeared at the thrashing baboon's side, grasping her by the arm,
"Cut it out, Odd. Leave her alone, will ya?"
The two exchanged a look, as if speaking their own language, before Ulrich lead Sissi away towards the school entrance
"Man, that one is just juggling the girls! And they say I'm a flirt." Odd snorted, shaking his head.
"We've got another plan, Odd." Jeremie pointed towards his room in the distance. "Yumi and I can handle this, you guys get going. The bus should be leaving soon."
The resident gym teacher, humble Jim Morales, stood idly by the electric bus waiting at the front of the school. He was smirking about, exchanging words with the bus driver as students from the 11th Grade began to gather by the vehicle. Ulrich was snared at mistress Delmas' side, a frown more permanent than his usual expression of discontent on his face. He carried both of their bags, grunting in response to all of her inquiries. Odd shook his head beside Amelia, sharing eye contact with her for her to follow as they approached Jim.
Jim grinned at Odd as the two teens approached him.
"A beaut, isn't she Odd?"
"Oh yeah, for sure!" He beamed at Jim, letting Amelia go ahead of him before following. He muttered sarcastically under his breath, earning the girl's chuckle. "Bet this thing is as fast as a snail."
"Electric is the way to the future Odd, one day it'll run you over like this bus."
"Oh haha, you're a regular genius." He smirked at her. She gave him a cheeky smile over her shoulder as she rested herself into the corner of one of the bus seats. He placed his bag above their heads on the luggage shelf before settling in beside her.
Strangely enough, Sissi guided Ulrich to sit in the seat across from Odd and Amelia. The girl sat up straight in her seat, and made a cocky expression in Odd and Amelia's direction. Amelia rolled her eyes, turning her head to face out the bus window instead of the barf fest across the way.
"She's so full of shit." She said through gritted teeth. Odd snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back into the seat.
"I know, right?"
Despite the bus being a brand new, super cool electric hybrid machine, it still had the same familiar school bus smell that all the students could place. Most likely, it was due to the fabric of the seats or the lack of fresh air in the bus, but either way the smell was nostalgic to the good old days of FUN school trips. A few of the other students tried to open their windows, and continued to no avail. They sat down in a huff, fanning themselves but otherwise just mildly irritated.
A few minutes passed before the bus finally pulled off the side of the road. Jim scanned the bus from the front just after finishing his attendance count, eying the students up like a Papa bird. It wasn't long after the bus had left that a commotion begin next to Odd and Amelia. They both turned to see Sissi a bit flustered, holding her cell phone ridiculously close to her ear. There was a wicked smirk on Ulrich's face, as he casually shifted to sit in front of his friends, leaving the seat next to Sissi open for Herb to take. The nerdy boy gave the three Lyoko Warriors a cold stare, turning to Sissi with a comforting tone.
"Well, all's well that ends well." Odd beamed, folding his arms behind his head. Ulrich chuckled in front of them, giving them a thumbs up from the side of the bus seat before facing forward.
"Thank god, that was disgusting. All this over a diary? C'mon…" Amelia huffed, a small smile on her lips. Odd glanced her way, his smirk slowly dissolving to a neutral smile.
"What about you Amelia, do you have a diary?"
The girl was silent, trying to hide the slow embarrassment on her face as she casually glanced out the window. That was all he needed to know before teasing her mercilessly, poking her in a ticklish spot and teasing her.
"Really! You of all people!? No way!"
"Stop it! Hahahaha-stop!"
The two were cut off when Jim passed by them in the aisleway, standing at the wheel with the driver and staring down at the wheel, puzzled. Odd, Ulrich, and Amelia all perked up, watching the situation unfold as Ulrich answered a call from Jeremie.
"X.A.N.A." Amelia breathed, her companions nodding in return. All of a sudden, the bus jolted forward, accelerating at an alarming rate. The students all managed to hold their heads back before they smashed into the seats in front of them. The three of them stood, striding forward to meet the adults at the wheel.
"Hey! You three, sit down!" Jim hollered at them. Ulrich completely ignored the gym teacher, his confidence unwavered as he approached the driver.
"What's wrong with the bus?"
"God kid, I wish I knew! It seems to be out of control...it was fine before but now I can't-"
The wheel sparked at the driver, causing the man to flinch.
The three looked at each other, Ulrich nodding as he lifted his phone back to his ear.
"Ulrich?" Jeremie's voice was audible over the speaker.
"Hey, we're in trouble. X.A.N.A's taken over the bus." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Some more murmuring over the phone, as Odd and Amelia exchanged worried glances.
"Someone's gonna need to help Aelita on Lyoko."
The two pondered, before both looking at the bus door.
"Jump?" Amelia questioned, a worried expression on her face. Odd nodded, shrugging his shoulders.
"It's all we can do, there's no other way."
Ulrich hung up the phone. "Jeremie's gonna check up on it, you guys are gonna jump?"
"Looks like it." Amelia hummed, clinging to the bus pole as the bus began to speed up once more.
"Fuck, we gotta go." Ulrich tisked under his breath, chewing on his cheek before responding. "I'll distract them, see if you can pry the door open okay?"
"Right, leave it to me boss." Odd smirked mischievously.
"Good luck." The brunet teen nodded before turning back to Jim and the driver. Odd exchanged a reassuring glance with Amelia before throwing himself at the door. Amelia did her best to assist, hands on the edge of the door as the two tried to pry it open. Slowly an opening appeared, and Odd swiftly jammed himself in between the door. As soon as he had done so, the door whizzed open completely. Amelia stood on the edge, air rushing pass her so fast that she found it hard to breath. Odd stood behind her, a hand on her shoulder.
"Ready?"
"Ye-"
Before she could even turn to respond, she was already on the sidewalk in acute pain. Odd had wrapped his arms around her and thrown them both out of the bus. He curled up enough to protect the both of them, cradling her head against his shoulder now on their position on the ground. She was on top of him, his other arm around her back. He grunted, slowly releasing her as her wide sapphire eyes met his.
"You okay?"
When she recovered, she smacked him in the shoulder as she looked down on him.
"God damn it Odd, tell me before you do that!"
"I guess that means you're alright then, let's get moving." He grinned, releasing her body and helping her off of the ground. Trying to hide her angry blush, she took his hand and bolted down the Washington Street sidewalk towards the factory. As they both glanced back at the bus, they could see the vehicle drastically increase in speed.
"Any longer and we'd be stuck." She hummed, shaking her head to herself. "What is he planning, that bastard…"
By the time the two teens reached the factory, Jeremie was in sweaty shambles. When the elevator opened to reveal their panting, keeled over forms, Jeremie's head snapped towards them.
"Head on down to the scanners! There's no time!"
"Gotcha Jeremie." Amelia hummed, pressing the massive red button to shut the doors and heading down to the scanners.
They tried to catch their breaths as the entered the scanners. As she rotated around to face the chamber door, she could see Odd rotating as well, facing her. They exchanged smiles before the doors shut, mechanically whirling whizzing by their heads. Hot air lifted Amelia from the chamber, as the data rearranged around her to form her digital body. She could feel her blood go cold, her life suspended as every atom of her body was converted to digital code.
"Virtualization!"
A bright light…
And she gasped for air one last time before awakening in the middle of the desert. She landed without a sound, her talons scraping the sand as she adjusted her stance. Her long ears twitched, as Odd landed lightly beside her. With sharp purple eyes, she scanned the horizon for Aelita as he companion prepared himself.
"Man, I've gotta say, I never get tired of your Lyoko outfit, Amelia." The cat beamed, standing beside her and joining her efforts with a hand on her shoulder. "It's a lot better than my lame outfit."
She scoffed, flapping her feather cape behind her as she bolted forward, her long brown braid fluttering behind her as she sped off on her taloned feet. Odd laughed behind her, clearly following after her.
"I'm sure you treat all the guys that flirt with you like that!" He shouted at her.
She pretended to think before smirking back at him mischievously.
"Odd! Amelia!"
The two spotted Aelita waiting for them, waving at them with a smile. The two waved back, their smiles dropping when they noticed the plateau cracking underneath her. Odd was the first to move, pulling her swiftly back over towards them as the plateau separated.
"Thank you Odd." The Lyoko native smiled gratefully. Odd smiled back, patting her on the back and helping her up.
"Let's go."
They approached the tower, slowly becoming more and more aware of the approaching sandstorm.
"That's the megatank that took out Yumi." Aelita said, a hint of worry in her voice. The two newcomers nodded grimly, as Odd glanced back at the shadow approaching them.
"I have an idea...Amy, can your jump clear the ridge?"
The girl chuckled.
"Of course, ready?"
Odd grabbed Aelita by the hand and rushed to the ridge, the Megatank close on their heels. Aelita finally clued in to Odd's plan, shaking her head and shouting at them.
"You two are out of your minds!"
"Not really, Princess!" Amelia piped up. As they reached the ridge, Odd began to twirl Aelita around, trying to give her the momentum to cross the ridge. As soon as her threw her across, Amelia's talons caught the edge of the plateau. As she leapt into the air, she extended her arms. Her cape extended with her, acting as her own set of wings to help her glide across the ridge. Odd was close behind them, practically across the ridge as well.
The Megatank hilariously rolled over the ridge and into the digital sea, taking its sandstorm with it. A column of light extended from the sea as it was vapourized, while the three warriors marvelled at their work.
Amelia leaned over to help Aelita up. They all glanced up at the tower, and the older female patted her on the back to push her forward.
"Go save the world, Aelita."
She nodded to her companion, running up the ramp to enter the tower.
As she took care of her business, the two latecomers casually hung around and waited for the return trip.
"...So...this diary…"
"Odd." She warned, trying to hide the playful smirk on her lips. He smirked at her warning tone, sweeping his tail back and forth.
"I can't help it. You're a bird, I'm a cat. We're just a pair made to be in a vicious cycle." He laughed.
"Like cat and mouse?" She played his theory, sitting herself on a large rock and batting her long braid away.
"Exactly! But, cat and bird instead."
Amelia laughed, shaking her head at him. "We'll, I'm harder to catch than a mouse, that's for sure."
Odd's smile faltered ever so slightly, his expression changing to something undecipherable.
"Yeah. But you're worth the chase." Odd nodded, standing from his own rock.
She blinked for a moment, taken aback by his comment.
"Wait...what?"
There was no response, as a white light enveloped the virtual world.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY! IT'S MY TURN!"
Amelia was rudely awoken once again, her gaze peeking out from underneath her pillow as she spotted the ridiculous time of 6:30AM once more.
"I hate this school." She grunted, rolling onto her back with a heavy sigh.
It took her a moment to collect herself after the return trip, feeling her body more heavy than usual. Her eyes adjusted to the natural lighting. The return was always worse when you're coming from the virtual world.
The virtual world...
That's right...she recalled Odd saying a little something that made her think a little more on her return to the past.
Did he really tell her she was worth the chase?
Maybe...maybe she really should reconsider her options.
A gentle buzz caught her attention, coming from her cellphone on her nightstand. She picked it up, letting the light of her cell phone brighten up the room.
Good morning, little birdie :3
A slow smile crossed her lips.