Chapter 3: Silence and Laughter
The journey to the factory could only be explained as uncomfortable. When they regrouped underground, Ulrich moodily rushed ahead, kicking off from the stairs on his skateboard and vanishing behind the bend. With a pained glance at William, Odd and Yumi followed suit. Only Jeremie and Aelita stayed behind, waiting patiently on their scooters as William dusted off his own skateboard and set it on the ground.
"Let's go," he said, and they rolled away, bumping over small stones and other rubble that lined the concrete.
A pregnant silence, much like the ones they experienced earlier, settled comfortably around the three as they travelled down the length of the tunnel. By the time they reached the other ladder, three skateboards were lined up against the wall. The three teens replaced their wheels in a similar fashion and exited the sewers.
Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were standing in the entrance of the supercomputer room when the rest of the group joined them. The digital dust was back, but flickered ever so faintly; it was in a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of state.
Yumi tentatively brushed the surface of the projection. Her fingers went through the thick layer of grime and she could feel cool metal instead.
"So this is that digital dust, eh, Eistein?" said Odd loudly. He copied Yumi and jumped back with a startled yell as the virtual illusion flickered again, much more strongly now, and vanished with a soft electrical pop. The warriors looked on, gaping.
"I guess 'Demeter' realizes that we've returned for good," Jeremie replied, and walked inside. As if on cue, the rest of them entered the room, crowding one side of the insignia on the floor. Mixed feelings stirred within every single one of them at the sight of that icon.
"How are we supposed to turn on this thing?" Odd said.
"Beats me," Ulrich said, dropping down on one knee and investigating the floor. Suddenly, thick white clouds of smoke and steam emanated from the hair-thin openings that indicated something was below its surface, and Ulrich stumbled backwards, in the same manner as Odd. As he rolled out of range of the circle, mechanical noises bounced around the metal walls and with a loud, long hiss, the symbol split along the seams and vanished under the floor, uncovering the core of the supercomputer. From the first wide cylinder, a second one rose in the center, far taller and thinner than the first. Both were covered in sharp, complex designs, which were a metallic gray and dull yellow. In front of Jeremy, a small hatch whirred open, revealing the lever inside.
The lever that had once changed their lives forever—and will change them again.
Jeremie's heart was beating like a bird's. It fluttered nervously within his chest and cold sweat began to drip down his face. His glasses slipped down on his nose and he automatically adjusted them with two clammy fingers.
The others stood impassively behind him, waiting.
With a pale, shaky hand, he grabbed the bar. It was surprisingly warm, as if someone had been holding it before him. The thought of it made him shudder in apprehension.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" William blurted out. Unlike the others, his uneasiness passed when Jeremie had explained the situation to him first.
FLASHBACK
"So you're saying we can find out who started this whole mess through the supercomputer?" William asked in awe. His eyes had been widening consistently, to the point where Jeremie believed if he talked anymore, William's sockets would have been emptied.
"Well, in a sense, yes," Jeremie replied, wishing William would blink. "Actually, we know Franz conceived the idea of creating Lyoko and XANA. But he died to destroy XANA."
William grimaced. He had been so eager to discover who was responsible for his time lapse and all the humiliation and pain he had gone through. But that person was already gone, and through sacrifice to eliminate the program that played a hand in his imprisonment, to boot, even if that person caused it in the first place.
"But Franz did it to destroy Project Carthage. I'm not too sure of the details, but Franz had seen the malicious potential of it and poured his life into stopping it."
The dark-haired boy lit up again. "There's someone bigger behind this?"
"Whoever created Project Carthage? Yeah. But if the Men in Black are related, things are going to get a lot more complicated. They're higher than the government, after all."
"But we can figure it out if we go back to Lyoko?"
"Yeah…"
William finally closed his eyes for several seconds. When he opened them again, a thrilled, hard glint, so eerily similar to the sparkle he had when he had first learned of Lyoko, appeared in his gaze. He grinned, almost manically, like the XANA-fied smirk that had been plastered on his face for months at a time.
"William? What's the matter with you?" he asked, nervously.
"Nothing. Just that now I know there's someone out there to take revenge on for the irreplaceable time I had lost on Earth to all this techy bullshit."
END FLASHBACK
But his outburst sparked a glare from Ulrich, who, like the others, were deep in thought about the computer.
"Will you shut up? You don't understand how we feel about this whole ordeal. We've been fighting to shut this thing down for two years and now we're about to turn it all on again," he snapped, balling up his fists at his sides.
"You were fighting to defeat XANA," William retorted, "not the supercomputer. And XANA's dead and gone and deprogrammed and deleted– whatever you call him—and now there's bigger issues at hand to counter with Lyoko; we could be possibly dealing with the French government, or maybe even a secret service! And according to Jeremie, we're not the only ones in danger!"
Silence was becoming the warriors' best friend.
"You have no idea what it's been like!" Ulrich said in a dangerous tone. "Trying to act normal in front of the other people at school, trying to explain our random absences and behavior, trying to keep people from dying during XANA's attacks…This thing nearly ruined our lives."
"Nearly ruined your lives?" William scoffed. The other warriors wordlessly parted as he stepped towards Ulrich, like the Red Sea as Moses led his people away from slavery into hard-earned freedom. "I was completely taken away."
"Because you were—"
"Reckless and careless and stupid and full of myself," finished William, cutting Ulrich off. "I know. I lost months of my life to a hunk of data. I was replaced by an idiot of a clone. Do you realize how hard it's been for me, trying to get my reputation back, the little pride I had left? I was ridiculed for the first few weeks when I got back. I was already slow in the first place, and I fell back even farther in my classes. I was forced to spend my entire summer just studying, trying to catch up so I wouldn't have to repeat my grade. I was forced to learn how to control myself and the qualities that had kicked me out of school in the past. And let me tell you something, Stern," he added, digging an index finger in Ulrich's chest and leaning towards the younger boy. "I've learned from my mistakes. I can take care of myself. I can follow directions. And I. Can. Fight. So if you still want to kick me out, you'll have lost a player in this twisted game."
His chest heaved slightly as he stepped backwards from Ulrich, whose eyes were wide and staring. Seething, William stalked out of the room and into the elevator. He slammed a fist on the red button and the doors creaked shut over his glare. The elevator cranked as it took him away.
The gang stood there in silence for a moment before Yumi broke away. "I'll go talk to him," she said. She let her eyes travel over her friends, last and longest of all, on Ulrich, whose earlier enraged expression melted into something sheepish, and scaled the ladder into the lab. She briefly and subconsciously reminisced about her first failure to use the computer as she passed it. Then she pressed the red button and the doors opened, revealing the inside of the elevator. William must have gotten out, she thought as she watched the doors block out the dark room before her.
As a matter of fact, William was sitting across the lift, his back against a tall rusting beam. He was holding his head in his hands as she sat down beside him.
"Hey," she said quietly, unable to think of anything else to say.
"…I'm an idiot, aren't I?" he replied, his voice muffled behind his arms.
"You are."
"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better," he muttered, but a faint hint of laughter indicated he understood the joke behind her reply.
"Ulrich is too, you know," she added, encouraged. "We all know you had a just as hard time adjusting as we did. Ulrich was just being stubborn. Honestly, he never liked you in the first place."
"I know that. And we both know why."
Yumi pulled out her hair tie and let her longer locks fall to her shoulders. A slight flush crept into her cheeks as she realized what he was implying.
"Still, William?"
"I've never loved anyone else more in my life, Yumi."
He looked up then, with pained and pleading eyes. Yumi shook her head.
"Don't put me through this."
He knew it was futile to argue with her. It had been Ulrich and will always be. His possession only made the romantic gap between them into an impassable abyss, and the thought added to the list of all the things he had lost because of XANA. His anger was aroused again but he pushed it away, at least for now.
Yumi sighed. "Look, William. I'm sure by now the others will have talked some sense into Ulrich. We've all matured, and I'll vouch for you to go to Lyoko with us." The name felt strange to say.
"…all right." William stood up, refusing Yumi's offered hand and brushing dust—real dust—off of his dark pants. Yumi began feeling uncomfortable as the two of them reentered the elevator when he spoke again.
"Thank you, Yumi. I really appreciate it," he said, with a small smile.
She returned the gesture, feeling more at ease.
The metal shutter rattled shut over the rebuilding friendship behind its surface.
As predicted, Ulrich had calmed down. The four of them were talking amiably when the complex lock twisted and clanked and crackled open to reveal the two older teens in the lift. At once, the conversation died down and the sheepish expression returned to Ulrich's face.
William stepped out to face Ulrich as Yumi slipped around behind them and joined the rest of the group. The two boys stared awkwardly at the ground, trying to think of something to say.
"Uh—" "Um—"
They cut each other off as they spoke at the same time.
"No you first—" "You can talk first—"
Ulrich and William looked up at each other in annoyance, then burst into laughter. The other four joined them, tentatively at first, but the sound swelled and amplified with the acoustics of the room.
Ulrich recovered first. "Look, you were no more of an idiot as me. I was blinded by the past; it was just that fighting XANA was already hard enough and then you came and made defeating XANA a longer and more difficult process."
"But you were right—I should have known better back then. I get where you're coming from," William replied.
"So, truce?" Ulrich held out an arm. William grinned.
"Truce." They shook arms.
"Arms? I thought it was hands," Aelita said quizzically. Yumi rolled her eyes.
"It's a guy thing, apparently," replied the dark-haired girl, and the two of them giggled.
"Well, now that you're all lovey dovey again, let's get this show on the road!" Odd said loudly. His purple bangs fluttered in the air as he jumped on the two other boys, hooking his own arms around their necks and dangling from them. "When the hell did you guys get this tall?"
"Odd, you know you're the shortest guy here," Ulrich retorted as William choked slightly and pushed the arm off.
"And scrawniest," William added. "For a kid who eats like a starving bear, you still look like you have anorexia or something."
Odd squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists. "I'M NOT SCRAWNY, I'M SVELTE!"
Their laughter was revived in Odd's misery.
With considerably heightened spirits, the gang regrouped around the lever. Jeremie replaced his hand on the metal bar, which had grown cold.
"You ready, guys?" he asked, tightening his grip.
"Are you ready, Einstein?" Odd replied, still miffed about his physique.
"Well I know I am," William said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm ready to kick some government ass!"
"Easy, tiger," Yumi said. "I'm ready."
"So am I," added Ulrich.
Jeremie turned to the last member of the group, who stood stiffly in the back of the crowd.
"Aelita?" he said softly. The conversation vanished as everyone mimicked Jeremie. Aelita looked up with damp, olive eyes. Seeming startled and embarrassed to find everyone staring at her, she coughed and brushed her sleeve against her face.
"I-I'm ready. Go ahead Jeremie."
"Are you sure, Aelita? This can wait—"
"No. I can't wallow on the past again. It was for the good of everyone in the world."
"It's not everyone if you're not happy," Jeremie countered.
"Jeremie, I'll be fine. I mean it. I'm actually a little happy. Lyoko was like my second home, anyway." She smiled and the light returned to her expression. "I'm ready."
Jeremie was quiet for a moment, then yelped in surprise and pain as Odd slapped him on the back. His hand slipped from the lever.
"What are you waiting for, Einstein? Princess here is ready too, so let's go! Ladies and gentlemen, the sequel to Odd the Magnificent and his humble troop of sidekicks is about to begin!"
"More like Odd the Malnutritioned," Ulrich retorted and Odd frowned as everyone laughed.
"Well, it looks like we're all ready for this," Jeremie said. "On a count of three!"
"One…" Jeremie reached for the lever again.
"Two…" He braced himself and tightened his hold till his knuckles turned white. Suddenly, five more hands placed themselves on his own, and he saw the grinning faces of his friends as they joined him in turning the computer on again. This time, he was not alone, and he will never be. Franz, I owe you more than anyone can ever imagine, he thought as he smiled too.
"Three!" With that word, the six of them pushed downward on the lever. Immediately, the dull yellow began to glow, growing brighter and brighter till it became a blinding white. The gang stepped back, shielding their eyes as the machine whirred to life again. The ground vibrated with the revival of the supercomputer. And as quickly as it appeared, the light faded to the old warm glow of the designs on the cylinders. A stunned silence that followed was broken by a whoop.
"The Lyoko Warriors are BACK IN BUSINESS!" Odd hollered, and the others cheered along with him.
"Let's do this," William agreed, and they split, Jeremie heading up to the computer and the rest of the gang taking to elevator to the old scanner room.
"Aelita, are you sure you're alright?" Yumi asked. The pink girl's sparkle had vanished with the light.
"Yeah, what's wrong, Princess?"
"It's nothing…well actually, I've been getting a strange premonition again. Like the one of my father sacrificing himself to destroy XANA," she confessed.
"Did you dream it?" Ulrich asked.
"No, just a feeling, which is why I'm not sure about anything," Aelita replied. "I just hope we'll be alright, returning to Lyoko like this."
Somewhere in France, in another high-tech laboratory, a massive computer screen lit up and flashed a bright, obnoxious red. A strange white symbol flickered in the intervals between the flashes. Two lone men, who were typing away at smaller separate PCs jerked their heads up and stared at the screen, as if they couldn't believe their eyes.
It was difficult restraining themselves from snatching the kids from their school or just barging into the little factory and smashing up the computer. But their higher-ups had forbidden them from harming the children and what they needed to destroy was inside the supercomputer, not the actual machine itself. And that machine was the only key to destroying what was within.
The two men, all dressed in black except for a small patch of spotless white beneath their blazers, looked at each other and nodded. They replaced their black glasses over their eyes. One of them tapped his Bluetooth and spoke into the mic.
"The rats have returned to the nest."
A/N:
Please don't kill me. *dodges lasers*
I've been thinking about the relationship between Ulrich and William for a while. In terms of Lyoko and Yumi, they hate each other, but I think other than that, they'd be pretty decent friends.
So they've realized the gravity of their situation and since they've matured (I'll be writing that in more too) they can at least call a truce.
Speaking of truces, I still have no idea why guys shake arms. I've seen it before…why? If I have a male reviewer…why?
Aelita wants to know, too.
And just curious... WxY or UxY? What's your preference?
Thanks to obsessivefanno.4 and SecretKeeper96 for their reviews~
See those pretty little words down there? The 'Review this Chapter?'
*hint hint wink wink*
~Wings~ flying off
