Chapter two: viral
(Jeremie: "return to the past, now.")
William glances up to his math teacher, then to his notebook. He turns his head out the window, then everything flashes and he is walking into the shower room. It threw William off balance and he fell into another student.
"Hey, watch it!"
He yelled trying to keep his towel on. William pushes himself back up on his feet. He took a look around, everyone is moving exactly the same, same conversations, same smells, same time he went into the showers. He panicked inside. He walked over to the other end of the showers and splashed his face with water in the sink. He turned his head and saw Jeremie walk into a shower.
William hopped in the shower and cleaned quickly. He tried to make it out before Jeremie but failed. He brushed his teeth and left in a hurry. Pushing himself passed students in the hallway.
"Jeremie, Jeremie!"
He called out, but Enstein was too far gone.
The next day he was walking to class, confused about what happened yesterday. It was a return jump, he just knows it. But he had to know for certain. Ever since yesterday morning he was on the lookout for Jeremie and his group.
William walked to class with eyes scanning his surroundings. He stood out above the crowd looking for any of the warriors. But to no avail, he couldn't find them. Many of the students passed William as he stopped in place. He checked his phone to see the time. He knew who he had to ask.
He walked to the front gate of kadic just as Yumi walked through. She didn't notice him at first. He walks up to her and took her aside.
"Hey Yumi, got a minute?"
She nodes and kept waking to class with him.
"Listen, i've been needing to ask you guys. Yesterday I was taking notes in math, wondering where you were. Then next thing I know I was in the boy's showers line."
Yumi's eyes immediately lit up, but she his her expression by turning slightly away from William. But William knew better.
"You care to explain that?"
William asked in a more confronting tone.
"Umm, daydreaming again?"
Yumi responded responded in slight question.
"I never daydream."
He answers. Yumi shrugs her shoulders.
"Honestly William, have no idea what you're taking about."
Yumi said in annoyance.
"You damn well know what I'm talking about."
He silently shouted as he grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.
"X-A-N-A."
He spelled out. Yumi pulled her wrist away.
"I told you, nothing is going on. Even if there was, why should we even trust you?"
"Hey, that wasn't my fault! You know that."
Yumi began to walk away.
"If you weren't so reckless maybe things'd be different. Stay away from us, William. We have enough drama to deal with and we don't need anymore added to it."
As Yumi walked away, William just watched in shock to hear Yumi bark at him.
"I'll find out eventually, Yumi!"
Yumi walked fast around the corner and stopped at the edge. She leaned back against it and slowly slid down. She began to wheep. She still wanted to be friends with William, but he made it so hard over everything he had done. Deep down she knew she cared. But for everyone's sake, he had to stay out of it.
(Jump to lab)
Jeremie was at the lab, at the helm of the supercomputer. He was typing viciously. Aelita was standing next to him, afraid. She hasn't seen him like this before. But it wasn't long before he smashed his hands on the keyboard. Aelita played her hand on his back as he slouched over the keyboard.
"You'll get it eventually."
She assured him.
"The programs are encrypted as hell. My safe measure is backfiring on us. I don't even have the superscan running. We won't know who'll be the next victim."
Jeremie said in helplessness. Aelita looked at the monitor. She pushed him aside and began to search for some programs. She pulled up the superscan and clicked on it. An error code popped up onscreen. She pulled up the command window and began typing a code then it began to open the superscan.
Jeremie looked at Aelita and shook his head. He was in disbelief that he didn't figure that out.
"You're over thinking it."
She said hugging him from the side.
"You're stressing out far too much."
"Of coarse I am, Aelita."
Jeremie shouted jumpping out of his seat.
"Yesterday was a brush of death for two of our friends. Ulrich was in just as bad of shape as Odd was when we found him. That's why I started the return."
Aelita frowned and title her head. Jeremie held her in his arms.
"If XANA is that ruthless now, who knows what would have happen to you off Odd wasn't there?"
Aelita laid her head on his shoulder.
"We'll beat him, same as before."
Jeremie somewhat chuckled.
"For once, you'recalming ME down."
(Jump to kadic)
Ulrich and Odd are sitting math, paying no mind to the lesson. Both of them just sat there, staring at their notebooks. They couldn't get yesterday out of their minds. They avoided eye contact the entire morning. They both were nearly killed by an entity they thought was destroyed a year ago.
"Mr. Della Robbia."
Mrs. Hertz said, attempting to get his attention.
"Mr. Della Robbia!"
She shouted, making Odd jump nearly out of his seat. Some of the class giggled over his reaction.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mrs. Hertz. I'm not feeling well."
Ulrich shakes his head.
"Neither am I."
He added.
"Yeah, can we go to the infirmary?
Odd asked. Mrs. Hertz slightly smiles and shakes her head.
"Nice try, boys. But you're not going to get out that easy."
Both Ulrich and Odd slid down in their chairs, feeling depressed. Mrs. Hertz carried along with her lesson. The two of them shut everything out, including each other. The same thought went through both of their minds. 'No longer innocent'
(Jump to cafeteria)
Yumi, Ulrich and Odd sat together for lunch. The three sat and ate their food. Odd, the bottomless pit, enhailed his meatloaf and mash potatoes. Ulrich barely touched his, he lost his appetite. Yumi just stared at his plate.
"You gonna eat that?"
Odd asked. Ulrich didn't say anything, he just passed his tray to Odd. Yumi put her hand up and blocked the tray.
"You didn't eat dinner or breakfast. Eat."
Yumi demanded. Ulrich pushed her hand out of the way and gave it to Odd. Yumi was shocked by Ulrich's action. She moved the tray back to Ulrich. Ulrich shoved the tray off of the table, creating a large crashing sound for the rest of the students to hear. Yumi shook her head.
"What has gotten into you, Ulrich?"
From the room, Sissi smiled.
"Ooh, trouble in paradise."
She remarked.
"Shut up, Sissi. And you sure know as hell what got into me."
Ulrich snapped. William watched the scene take shape.
"Hey, you're not the only one that got messed over, 'good buddy'."
Odd replied.
"Wait, messed over?"
William asked at the end of the room.
"This doesn't concern you, William."
Ulrich barked.
"If its about 'you know what', then this sure as hell concerns me."
"The four of you, quiet down!"
Jim shouted in the back of the room with his arms crossed.
"Stay out of this, Jim."
Ulrich said.
"You're trying to tell me what to do, Stern?"
Jim asked in a confronting tone toward Ulrich. Yumi got up and pulled Ulrich out of his chair. She pushed him toward the door to avoid anymore of a scene. But then Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd's text alert goes off at the same time. They stop and read them.
'So it begins.'
The three look at each other, confused. The messages had no number of origin. Then everyone's phone went off in the cafeteria at the same time. William pulled out his phone.
'They have deceived you.'
Sissi, Jim, and everyone else looked at their phones. Messages such as:
'They have kept you from the truth.'
'They've lied to you.'
Everyone gave the three a look of confusion and anger.
"What is going on?"
"Who is sending these?"
And many other questions and comments were muttered. They all thought it had to do with Ulrich and group. The three began to slowly walk out the cafeteria. William hugs the Walls of the cafeteria until he meets up with the group.
"We.. We should get out of here."
Said William.
"Yeah no kidding."
Said Odd. They began to walk out of the door. At that moment Jim got a text saying 'do not let them leave'.
"Hold it, you four."
Jim said in firm tone. He was hesitant on doing as the mysterious messenger commanded. But something was afoot, and he had to find an end to it.
"Don't move."
He commanded. The four of them were standing in front of the cafeteria doors. William looked at the rest of them and thought of a way out of there. Then it came to him.
"I'll distract them, you guys go and do your thing."
William said, and before anyone had a say, he ran toward Jim. That ques the rest of them to escape. William tackles Jim onto the ground. He wrestles Jim for a moment while the group runs into the woods. Jim tosses William off of him.
"What is the matter with you, Dunbar?"
Jim asked in frustration. William got up and ran out of the cafeteria. Jim sat up and watched William run out the door.
'Follow them'
The next message said. Everyone looked at their phones, and then each other. To Sissi, this was a goldmine. Finally to uncover the truth.
(Cut to Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd.)
The three sprint out into the woods as far as possible. They can hear shouting behind them, but they didn't look back. XANA was sending an army of mindless followers to uncover their little secret. And to make matters worse, it was only the second day. Yumi stopped for a second and looked behind herself. William was running toward them.
"Just go, I'll distract them. But I can only buy you so much time."
He said trying to catch his breath. The two nodded and chased after the boys. William looked to see the horde coming after him. He took a sharp turn, bringing the crows with him. Sissi lead the charge to catch William.
"This doesn't concern any of you, just leave us alone!"
He shouted as he ran over a tree stump. The crowd didn't let up. They got messages saying 'catch them and all will be revealed.'
(Jump to lab)
Jeremie and Aelita are still working on the program installation. The super scan was just about to start reinitiation. Then they heard the elevator close and head up. It startled the two, buut they kept calm about it. It opens to find the three standing inside.
"Lyoko, now!"
Shouted Yumi as they ran for the ladder to the scanners. Aelita followed without question. Jeremie started the program.
"Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Ulrich. Virtualization!"
The three are sent through the scanners and land on Lyoko.
"Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Aelita. Virtualization!"
She lands on Lyoko as well. The four appear in the Ice sector. On earth, Jeremie finished installing the superscan.
"Sorry guys, the tower is on the other side of the sector. I just spawned you in the right area somehow."
"Yeah, the right area is across the damn sector."
Said Ulrich.
"Doesn't matter, he have to get there and save William."
Said Yumi.
"William?"
Aelita asked.
"Long story, let's go!"
The four head off through the Ice sector without their vehicles. Jeremie pulls up another window on the screen and attempts to decrypt more of the programs.
(Jump to William)
Jumpping over a turned tree trunk, William sat in place as the horde of students scanned the surroundings. He held his breath, praying they wouldn't discover him. He listened closely, the footsteps creep ever closer. He slid under the tree trunk, concealing himself better.
Sissi and her little clique were taking charge of the search. Nicholas walked closer to the tree trunk. He looked around, but saw nothing.
"Where did he go?"
Nicholas asked. Sissi glanced around the woods. She stomps her foot on the ground. For the longest time she was wanting the truth, and this time nothing was going to stop her. She pulled out her phone and looked at the previous texts from the unknown sender. She begins to type 'what now?'.
A message instantly appears. 'Find the drain pipe.'
"Guys, look for a drain pipe."
Sissi shouts out. The group of students look out for a drain pipe. William, still wedged in the tree, texts Jeremie.
'They are looking for the sewer passage.'
(Jump to factory)
Jeremie is installing the programs on the computer. He sits and waits for the over wing to finish installing. On Lyoko, the group is half way to the tower. Aelita activates her wings and takes the lead. Ulrich uses his super sprint and catches up with Aelita. Yumi and Odd are left in the dust.
"I guess we're the back up."
Said Odd as he ran along side Yumi. Jeremie was alerted by blips on screen.
"Looks like you've got some.."
Before Einstein can finish his sentence, Ulrich leaps in the air and slices through one hornet while Aelita fires two energy fields at the remaining two hornets.
"Well nevermind."
Jeremie said.
"If you guys don't need me, I'll just kick back and watch the show."
Odd smiled.
"Woah, Einstein is making jokes now."
"It's a strange new world, Odd."
Aelita, with the most serious expression, kept flying. She remembered the visions that had engraved themselves into her mind.
"It'll be a dark world."
She mumbles under her breath.
"What was that?"
Ulrich asked.
"Nothing, let's just get it done."
She answered. Jeremie's program finished installing.
"Here, guys."
Jeremie said materializing the over wing for Yumi and Odd. They hopped on with Yumi taking the wheel. They fly and catch up with Aelita and Ulrich. Yumi swoops in between Aelita and Ulrich in the air. Jeremie looked at the holomap, a mass of blips appeared behind them.
"Guys, we have some monsters behind us."
Said Jeremie. Yumi looked behind them. Her and Odd looked at each other.
"Ulrich, take Aelita to the tower. We're going to buy you some time."
The two kept going, and Yumi and Odd turned around. 2 Megatanks and more hornets were after them. Yumi whipped out her fan and tossed it at the swarm of hormets, cutting one in half. Odd shot off a few arrows, hitting three hornets. But they weren't stopping. Yumi and Odd flew farther ahead to ready themselves for the oncoming horde.
Odd hopped off the overwing. He fired a few arrows at the hornets. Yumi threw her two fans at the hornets, both her and Odd took a handful out. But there were still the megatanks to deal with. Odd looked at the horde quickly approaching. He took a few steps back.
"I've got an idea."
He said as he ran on all fours toward the hornet swarm. They began to fire at him, but his cat like reflexes helped him dodge the blasts. He leaped into the air, latching onto one of the hornets. He held on with a tight grip as the hornet kept flying. But the other began to fire on him.
Odd swayed his hips left and right, evading the laser shots. Yumi tossed her fans at the hornets behind Odd. A few of them crashed to the ground. Yumi caught her fans as the hornets passed her by. What she didn't realize were the megatanks not far behind them. She turned around and one of the megatanks was already on top of her.
"Jeremie, Yumi just became roadkill."
Odd said, hanging onto the hornet. Yumi appeared out of the scanner slamming her fist into the side of the scanner's wall. She crawled up the ladder to Jeremie who was on the program's menu trying to install more helpful programs. She texts William 'where are you?' But just as she sent it, the elevator closed and began to go up.
On Lyoko, Ulrich and Aelita were nearly at the tower. There were two tarantulas gaurding the tower, in position to fire. Ulrich ran around the fire while Aelita took evasive maneuvers around them. It was like hail coming down on them. Ulrich stopped his super sprint and pulled out his blades, slicing and blocking the oncoming blasts. Aelita readied an energy field, but got hit and lost her wings. She tumbled to the ground, rolling on the ice. She was heading straight for the virtual sea. Ulrich ran for Aelita.
Aelita tried to stop herself, but she couldn't. As she was falling into the sea, Ulrich caught her. The tarantulas began to fire at Ulrich. Out of nowhere, William appeared with his zweihänder blocking the shots. Ulrich was surprised to see his rival.
"What are you waiting for, Stern? Pull her up!"
He said keeping the blasts from hitting anyone. Ulrich struggled to lift Aelita up. As soon as she got up she pushed Ulrich out of the way, materialized two energy feilds, and fired them at the tarantulas. Devirtualizing them both. Both Ulrich and William were surprised with Aelita being so aggressive.
They turn to see Odd hanging on for dear life on a hornet while being followed by even more hornets and the 2 megatanks. Odd let go of the hornet and fired at it as he fell. It devirtualized and he landed on his feet. The megatanks rolled right passed him. The boys got ready for their fight. Aelita ran for the tower, but the hornets let out a barrage of fire on the tower. One hit Aelita in the back of the head, causing her to fall to the ground.
The megatanks stopped on a dime and opened their shells, firing on Aelita. Both William and Ulrich jumped in the way, holding the blasts back with their weapons. Odd fired at one megatanks from behind, devirtualizing it. Two hornets fired at him, taking him out of the fight.
"I've got this."
Said William, using his supersmoke to charge at the megatank. Ulrich got Aelita up on her feet. She holds her head and slowly walks to the tower. The hornets fire at Aelita. Ulrich blocks the shots while slowly backing himself up, using himself as Aelita's shield. One of his swords was shot out of his hand. He uses his remaining one, moving faster than before.
William was inching in on the megatank. It opened itself for another charged blast. William appeared from his smoke, sliding on his back with zweihänder pointing at the megatank. The momentum let him slice through the megatank like butter. He stood up and watched it fall in two and devirtualize.
Ulrich kept blocking shots. The hornets began to overwhelm him. He got shot, but still functioning. William charged his zweihänder and swung it in the air, releasing it's charged range slice power. It cut through the remaining hornets, devirtualizing all of them. But the last shot hit Ulrich. He divirtualized instantly. But with no monsters left, Aelita was able to enter the tower.
(Jump to lab)
The elevator opens to Sissi, Jim, and a group of student baffled by what they see. Jeremie and Yumi are stunned to see the students here at the factory. Sissi stepped out first, taking a good look. She smiled and took a photo of Jeremie, Yumi, and the supercomputer with her phone.
"So this is the big secret."
She said with a dirty grin.
"I have no clue what this is all about, but this is truly instagram worthy."
The students slowly approached the computer, all with so many questions. Was this the end of their little scavenger hunt? What was the purpose of all of this? A secret laboratory hidden in the old automotive factory is shocking, yes. But what were they, and meaning Jeremie Belpoui and Yumi Ishiyama doing here?
"What should I comment as? The secret is out: Belpoui's lab?"
Jeremie looked at the monitor and saw the all clear message pop up from Aelita decirtualizing the tower.
"I've got one for you."
Said Jeremie.
"How about.. Return to the past, now!"
He said into the headset and hitting the enter key on the keyboard. The white sphere appeared and it engulfed the room.
(Rewind back to the early morning.)
Instead of everyone's usual route to class, they all met up at the rec room. Everyone except William. They excluded him from the meeting. They enter the room to find no one there. It was perfect. Jeremie pulled up a seat away from eaceryone, making himself "the head" of the discussion.
"This is insain."
Said Urich.
"First the Spector brutally harming us, now the mass text messages?"
The group looked around at one another and nod their heads.
"XANA has become more unpredictable now."
Said Odd. Aelita and Jeremie sat back, deep in thought.
"Whatever is going on, it has been more vicious and personal than before."
Said Yumi.
"Do you think he's out for revenge against us as a group?"
Ulrich asked.
"It."
Barked Aelita.
"What?"
Ulrich asked.
"It. XANA is an it. Do not give him the satisfaction of anything greater."
She growled. The group sort of took a step back from her.
"Woah, princess."
Odd said with sarcasm.
"Someone forgot to feed her."
Aelita let her head sink in. The group inched closer to her.
"I'm sorry. It,s just.. I saw something."
"Like what?"
Jeremie asked.
"Something horrifying. I saw flashes of agony. Buildings to ashes and children crying in the streets. Parents lying dead and a red burning sky."
Aelita began to cry. Jeremie sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her. Her tears rolled onto Jeremie's blue turtle neck collar. He always hated seeing her cry, he almost shed a tear himself.
"XANA is going to kill everything."
She said in quick breaths in between sobbing. Jeremie held her tighter. The rest of the group came together and formed a group hug around Aelita. They let go and she whipped a tear away from her face with slight smile.
"If that day ever comes, Aelita, I promises nothing will tear us apart."
Said Ulrich. Yumi and Odd nod in agreement.
After a few mins of silent crying, the group stood up and began to head to class. But Yumi stopped everyone.
"We still have one thing left."
"What?"
Ulrich asked.
"William."
"No, hell no."
Ulrich immediately rejected Yumi's proposition before he can even say it.
"Look, William screwed up in the past, yes. But today he really saved our asses."
Said Odd in agreement with Yumi.
"You're right."
Aelita added.
"Take it to a vote, then. All in favor of William's return to the Lyoko warriors say 'aye'."
Odd, Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremie alt said aye. Ulrich was the only one to reject the idea.
"The ayes have it. William can rejoin the warriors."
Everyone except Ulrich left the room for class. He stood there thinking of William's return. He disposed him for constantly getting into his way with Yumi. But he did save all of them. He clenched his hand into a list in anger. He looked at it, then let go. Because like it or not, his little rivalry is going to have to come to an end.
He opened the door and left the room. The scene goes dark as the door shuts.
(Sorry that episode two took so long for a release. Hope it was worth the wait. I'm just about to heat things up for you guys again. William's return seems like great for every on but Ulrich. Question is: is William's return only going to spark more drama for our team?)