The Change, part 1
ULRICH
I sat up yawning, and rubbed my eyes. That was what actually woke me up: my hands didn't feel right. When I looked at my hands, I saw why.
Wow! So Karen wasn't making that up!
My hands were claws – scaly, brown dragon's claws like what Karen had when Xana had infected her way back when.
All of a sudden, I got curious: what had happened to Odd? I slipped out of bed and carefully studied Odd while he slept. I didn't have to look far. The dork's forehead had gone yellow with larger scales than were on my hands and wrists, and there was even a purple scale right in the middle of its top row.
Is Odd going to get an unpleasant surprise when he wakes up!
I went to the door, planning to get my shower…and the doorknob slid in my hand. I gripped a little harder and tried again. That worked.
Letting the water fall over my head, I thought about what Turner had suggested:
"Can't I try talking to Xana and getting her to live peacefully with humans?"
That idea was getting to sound better all the time.
I'd just turned the water off and pulled down my towel – carefully, so that I wouldn't tear it like I had my nightshirt – when I heard Odd scream.
I figured I knew why he'd screamed, but I opted on pretending to miss the point. Stepping out, I asked, "Did Kiwi mess up your bed this time instead of mine?"
"What are you talking about?" he shrieked. "I'm losing my hair!"
I laughed. "Better talk to Karen about that, Odd, she'd know more about this shift than either of us. She'll know what's happening to you." I flexed one of my claws in the air. "Besides, what do you think of this?"
Odd calmed down enough to make a rational comment about it. "I think that's very appropriate for you. I mean, getting your claws first and all."
"Come on," I started out, "let's get dressed and see what's for breakfast."
While I was in our room, I studied my usual clothes. It didn't look like I'd be able to manage any shirts without accidentally tearing them, so I picked a jacket and pulled that on without a shirt.
"Is Yumi going to enjoy that new look or what?"Odd teased as he got dressed.
"Be quiet, Odd," I snapped. How did Karen manage to wear clothes for as long as she did without ripping something?
KAREN
I ran out with Aelita into the cafeteria. Everybody was together at the table. So they're not so far gone that they can't be seen in public yet! Whew!
"Hey, guys! What's new?" I asked.
Odd answered first. "What's new? What's new? Look at my face!"
I studied his face carefully. He had a large yellow scale right between his eyes, just starting to alter the shape of his face by spreading his eyes a tad further apart and pushing his nose slightly out of its usual shape. From there, similarly sized yellow scales spread out in an upside-down triangle, just over his eyebrows and up into his hairline, pushing down his hair. There was even a large purple scale right in the middle of the triangle's widest point, just like the splotch in his hair!
"There's nothing wrong with your hair, Odd," I reassured him, "the scales are only covering it, not replacing it."
He wiped his forehead, almost ignoring the scales. "Whew. Thank goodness!"
Ulrich held up his hands. "Check out these bad boys!"
I looked. Small brown scales covered his hands, even smaller scales covered his wrists, and his nails had altered into quite wicked claws. No wonder he was pleased.
"I just wish I could actually get a shirt on without ripping it. How did you manage?"
Oh, so he wasn't overly happy with them. "I knew that if I didn't teach myself, I'd be discovered."
Yumi interrupted us. "Forget about that. Aelita, what changed on you?"
Aelita waved her hands down towards her feet. "I couldn't get my shoes on this morning."
Her toes had gotten longer with sharper nails, and all her feet were covered with small pink scales, with her ankles covered with even smaller scales.
"Wow!" Sissi exclaimed as Aelita tilted her foot, "That's some pedicure, Aelita!"
It was a good shot. It made me laugh a little. For a situation like this, I prefer being able to laugh once in a while, or I start going into something resembling a depression.
"So," Jeremy asked, "how long will it be before none of the ninth-grade warriors can appear in public?"
I thought about that. "Hmm…judging by where everybody's starting…I'd say that if the changes take place in the same time sequence as mine did, Ulrich and Aelita will be able to stay in public longer than Odd will, and Odd probably will have to disappear tomorrow."
"Oh, man!" Odd moaned.
"As I was saying," I continued, ignoring Odd, "I don't know how long it'll take before either Ulrich or Aelita will have to disappear, though I'll have to guess it'll be about the time they sprout wings. That will probably take…" I thought to myself, trying to remember the math. Hands, forearms, upper arms, feet, shins, thighs, wings. One, two, three, four, five… "six days from today, for both."
"Yours took only that long?" Ulrich asked. "It seemed like less."
"We won't ask Aelita to show us what hers are for the next two days," Yumi said, "since it'll be about the same pace as Ulrich's changes."
"Hey," Odd piped up, "when will I get wings?"
"I don't know. I didn't start where you did. If I had to guess on a slightly unrelated area, though, you'll probably get your tail before they get theirs."
"Sweet!"
William spoke up. "I'll go tell Jim to spread the word through the teachers about what's happened to you three. Um…" he looked back at me, "has anything happened to you yet, Karen?"
"No. Xana's still too weak. Someone else will probably get wings before I start to change. Or…maybe not. I don't know, Xana's not talking to me much anymore."
WILLIAM
I went over to Jim. "We have a bit of a situation concerning Xana, sir. Thanks to her, Ulrich's got dragon claws, Aelita's got talon feet, and Odd's got scales on his face. Odd will have to be excused from class tomorrow and come to the cafeteria after everyone else, because the virus will change him in an area that can't be hid quickest."
"Well, if it's really that serious, I'll go tell the others," Jim declared. "Is Karen affected by this yet?"
"Not yet, sir." That worried me a little, but I believed Karen would trust us enough to tell us if anything came up.
She had to trust us; that was the only way we could get through this.
KAREN
Our day was pretty much the same. Then we all went to bed.
Xana was hysterical. Purely and totally hysterical.
What's so funny?
Odd! "Oh dear, I'm going bald!" Oh, oh my, that was worth every circuit of Lyoko!
Yeah, yeah. Then I ignored her and went to sleep.
A/N: Okay, this chapter just popped into my head! It is funny, right?
