(A/N) Wow! Two new chapters in less than a weeks time. That last chapter really helped to destroy my writer's block. So I decided it was kind of dumb for me to ask for people to vote for the name of the new chapter so from now on I will tell you what I am going to call the next chapter. Not doing that again. So I decided to fuse the names of the two I like the best. So without further ado, here is chapter 3.
Chapter 3: Samurai vs Swordsman vs Geisha
Setting: Kadic Courtyard
The gang was so excited to be back in action. Yes, they were afraid of Franz Hopper's ghostly predication of "Xana mutating into something stronger" but they all agreed that they were up to the task. Especially once they found this "Weapon of Lyoko". They also agreed that once they found the Weapon and were able to see what kind of weapon it was, then they would decide who would get to use it.
Unfortunately, they could not all agree on everything. Ulrich was strongly against William joining the group again. Yumi was also against the idea, though not nearly enough as Ulrich. These two were most likely against this so much because they were the two that fought Xana-possesed William in the real world during the last battle before Lyoko was shut down.
Aelita and Jeremie were the main support for the argument to bring William back into the group. Odd was in the middle but did lean more towards allowing William to join again. He agreed with Ulrich and Yumi in that William was very bull-headed and dangerous but he also agreed with Jeremie and Aelita's statements about giving William another chance. He also could not ignore Franz Hopper's suggestion that William be allowed back in.
Eventually, they all came to a compromise. They would bring William into Jeremie's room (A/N: That sounded really dirty when I first wrote this) and then talk to William and let him know about Franz Hopper's messages and about their reservations to letting him back on the team. They also agreed they would do this after dinner.
Soon enough, they were all in the cafeteria, chowing down. As they were eating, Odd looked up and saw a certain tall, dark-haired guy walking towards an empty table in the cafeteria with his tray. Odd couldn't help but notice that he kept shooting quick glances over towards the Lyoko Warriors' table. He had a sort of lonely look in his eyes. Odd decided to do something about this.
(A/N: Don't worry. I am not going to be doing any WilliamxOdd. Or any yaoi or yuri for that matter)
"Hey, William," Odd called across the room, "Wanna come sit with us?"
William looked over at the group, then back at his seat, then back at them, and after what must have been a few minutes of internal struggle for him, he came over and, much to Ulrich's disdain, sat next to Yumi.
"Hey guys. How is it going?" William asked tentatively. He was nervous being around this group again. He had tried to help them twice before, but both times had ended up betraying them, thanks to Xana possessing him. He felt like he did not belong with them anymore, which conflicted with his other feelings of wanting to be friends with all of them and the love he had for Yumi. This emotional fight had been going on the entire summer vacation for him. Needless to say, he was glad that Odd had invited him over. He saw it as an opportunity to try and start over.
"We are not doing to bad." Aelita replied, "How was your summer vacation, William?"
"It was pretty good", William said, "I went camping with my Dad a lot. He and I had so much fun". He decided to leave out the parts about his emotions depressing him during break and his dad finally pulling him out of it by suggesting the aforementioned camping trip.
"Cool. So William," Jeremie started, "we need to talk to you after dinner. In private."
"Okay, but what is this about?" William asked.
"You'll find out." Jeremie replied. "Just meet us in my room after dinner and we will explain everything."
-Later on, in Jeremie's room-
The gang plus William were all sitting in various spot all around Jeremie's room. They all looked at each other and Jeremie decided to be the one to start.
"William, the reason why we asked you here is because we need to talk about Xana."
"Why?" William asked, "He is gone. You scanned me after Aelita killed him and you found no more trace of him in me. You even did a...uh, what did you call it, oh right, 'virtual purge' on me with the remains of that multi-agent program. As you said then, I no longer have any bits of Xana left in me. So why do you guys need to talk?"
"We are talking to you about this because Xana is back", Odd said, deciding to just get it over with.
William looked at them all, dumbfounded. His mind was racing around thinking of ways that this could not be true. This could just be a practical joke by Odd, albeit a rather mean one. Or this could all just be a hallucination. He pinched himself to make sure that it was not. Five seconds and three pinches later, he realized that this was real.
"No. Why...how...when?!" William asked desperately.
"Why: because Xana wants to take over the world; How: By somehow surviving the multi-agent program, and when: just today." Yumi listed off with precision, "We found out thanks to a time-delayed message from Franz Hopper".
They then let William watch the video. His stomach fell when he heard Hopper mention Xana returning. He did, however, blush a bit when Hopper started talking about him. But then, his curiosity got piqued when Hopper mentioned the Weapon. Not because it was a new weapon, but because it might be the way for William to get revenge on Xana for making him hurt his friends.
"So, am I back in?", William asked hopefully.
"That is the reason why we brought you here, William", Ulrich said, finally speaking up. "Jeremie and Aelita are all for giving you a third chance and Odd kind of agrees with them, but Yumi and I don't think you should be allowed back in. You are just too dangerous and cocky."\
"Yumi, is this true?" William asked, "You don't think I can be trusted?"
"I am sorry William but I don't think it is a good idea for you go to Lyoko again." Yumi answered.
"But what about what Hopper said? You guys need me!" William retorted, "Also, what about me? Can't you guys give me a chance to get revenge on Xana?"
"Do you really want revenge on Xana or do you just want a chance to get close to Yumi again so you can flirt with her?" Ulrich asked aggressively.
"Ulrich!" said Yumi loudly, "What is the matter with you?"
"If you haven't noticed he has spent the last two years hitting on you, expect for the times when he was being controlled by our worst enemy".
"Ulrich, I swear that all I want right now is revenge on Xana.", said William calmly, "I give you my word."
"I don't know", Ulrich said, doubt still lingering in his head.
"Once we are done with Xana, then I will start going after Yumi", William said.
"That's it!" Ulrich yelled, jumping at William with his fists up.
The two scuffled for a few seconds before Odd and Yumi were able to break it up.
"What is wrong with you two?", Yumi yelled at the two. "Can't you two just stop fighting?"
"I think they can't because their problem is not really with each other," Aelita interjected, "The real problem between them is you, Yumi."
"Me?!"
"Yes you. You keep saying that you are just friends with them but then you start flirting with one or both of them. You probably don't mean to, but you are really just leading them both on and it is destroying both guys. I think the only way to solve this is to choose."
"I can't. At least not yet. I need some time to think." said Yumi, her head and heart starting to hurt a bit now.
"Okay", replied Aelita, "but until you do there will be friction between these two. And friction can eventually lead to fire."
"Alright, I will try to make a decision soon, but for now lets vote on if William should be allowed back in" Yumi said, inwardly cursing Aelita for being so intuitive. "I don't think William should have a vote though since this is about him getting back into our group." Everyone agreed with that, even William.
"Okay, I vote for", said Jeremie
"As do I", Aelita added on.
"Well, I am against", voted Ulrich.
"Big surprise there", William said quietly.
"This in no way affecting my choice between Ulrich and William but I vote against too", Yumi said, her eyes directed down towards the floor.
"Well, I guess it comes down to me then", Odd piped up. "While I do agree that William is stubborn, cocky and more than just a bit of a showoff, I have to remind you, Yumi and Ulrich, that both of you were like that at the beginning as well. That is why I am going to vote for! I believe William deserves revenge for what Xana did to him and with our help, he can get it."
"Thanks Odd! You have no idea how much this means to me" William said, hardly able to believe what had just happened.
"Don't make me regret this William", said Odd, a serious look on his face. A rarity when it came to Odd.
"Okay, now that we have William with us, we can take on Xana once we have gone to get the Weapon of Lyoko," Jeremie instructed. "But not right now. Right now what we all need to get is some shut eye".
"Agreed," said everyone else.
And with that everyone went off to their dorms, or in Yumi's case, her home. As they each fell asleep, they were all wondering about issues that were important to them.
Jeremie: "I wonder how Xana is planning to take over the world this time."
Aelita: "I wonder what else my father left us in his message."
Yumi: "I wonder if I will ever be able to choose between Ulrich and William."
Ulrich: "I wonder if Yumi loves me like I love her."
William: "I wonder how long it will take for Yumi to decide to choose me over Ulrich."
Odd: "I wonder what's for breakfast tomorrow."
End of Chapter 3
(A/N) Finally finished with that chapter. Did you like what I did with the Ulrich x Yumi x William love triangle? By the way, I have decided that this is going to be a long fanfic. Like I am talking maybe into the 20s or even the 30s in terms of numbers of chapters.
Anyway, the next chapter is going to be called "The Weapon Room". I will try to write it some time soon. At the very latest it will be out in 10 days. Until then, keep writing those addictive Jerlita Fanfics. And who knows, maybe I might start writing some.
