YEAH! AN UPDATE IS HERE! XD They're constantly getting farther and farther apart. Not just with this one; with all my stories. Sorry… School prevents many of us from having lives. Especially exam week. But now I've finally finished this chapter. Yay! We left off at Odd's wonderful stupidity…

Chapter 11

"Let's see…" Yumi mused, "I know Odd's not leading them in the right direction, so where would he take them?"

Yumi and Ulrich exchanged glances, then immediately got the same idea. They both knew where Odd would go, and they both said the obvious answer.

"Food."


"We're getting close!" said Odd.

"We'd better be," Aelita grumbled.

"Okay, Odd," Jeremie said as they came to another intersection, "Now which—"

"I see him!" Aelita shouted, "I see him!"

"What?" Jeremie asked, "Where is he?"

"Over there!" Aelita answered, "Look!"

"Are you sure it's Ulrich?" Odd asked.

"He's wearing a hospital robe and he's in a wheelchair," said Aelita, "Who else could it be?"

"That is him!" Jeremie said, "And Yumi's with him, too!"

The three dashed over to Ulrich and Yumi, waving their arms and screaming to them. As they got closer, Ulrich and Yumi finally saw them, and began running full speed ahead. Jeremie, Aelita, and Odd all jumped on top of Ulrich in a group hug.

"We were so worried about you!" said Aelita.

"Yeah," said Ulrich, "It's great to see you guys… But you're crushing me... Please get off… You're heavy…"

"Oh," said Jeremie, "Um… Sorry."

"How'd you find us?" Aelita asked, "We'd been going the wrong way!"

"Well, we kind of figured Odd would be leading the way," said Yumi, "So we decided to check McDonald's to see if he ended up taking you there."

"That's weird," Odd said, "That IS where we were!"

"Your stupidity's kind of predictable," said Ulrich.

"It's great to see you, too, buddy," said Odd, ruffling Ulrich's hair. Ulrich smirked and pushed Odd, who responded by pushing him back.

"Um…" said Aelita, "Hate to break up the love fest, but we still need you to tell us just what's going on. Why are you running away? And what have the Men in Black got to do with it?"

"Well," Ulrich began, "This morning, the ones who shot me came to visit."

"And you had to escape?" Jeremie asked.

"That's one reason," said Ulrich, "But there's more, Jeremie. The Men in Black wanted to know about Franz Hopper's diary. They knew I had no idea, so instead of asking me where it was, they asked me where you were. They thought that since Aelita wouldn't tell them, they'd have better luck with you. And when I wouldn't say where you were, they just said they'd keep coming back until you showed up. And that's when I ran away. I had to warn you before it was too late."

"That explains why the Man in Black answered when I tried to call you," said Jeremie, "They took your phone so you wouldn't try to contact me, is that right?"

Yumi nodded. "And I think that's a good sign we shouldn't use our phones until we can get rid of those guys. We don't want them tracking us down. We need to get back to school and keep Ulrich hidden at all costs. If we know the Men in Black, it should be obvious that they'll do whatever it takes to get what they want, even if it means hurting Ulrich. He's the perfect hostage right now, so until he heals, he's pretty much a fugitive."

Jeremie pondered Yumi's words. She was absolutely right. The Men in Black could do whatever they wanted to Ulrich if they found him, and of course, if that were to happen, Jeremie would give in. And so they had to hide Ulrich so this opportunity wouldn't be given. But this still didn't seem like enough.

"I don't think they'd stop at Ulrich," said Jeremie, "Just because he's the most vulnerable of us doesn't mean they can't take someone else if they have to. I think that, like it or not, we're all fugitives now."

"You're right," said Yumi, "I didn't remember being a Lyoko Warrior was this dangerous… So basically we're all in peril here?"

"Yup," said Odd.

"Man," said Ulrich, "We need to get rid of XANA, and fast."

"So what are we gonna tell everyone when they see Ulrich back in school already?" Yumi asked, "I mean, he's not supposed to be out of the hospital for at least a week."

"Oh…" Odd said, "That's a good question…"


Ulrich wheeled into Kadic, unsure of what was about to happen. But he got a pretty good idea when Sissi came running up to him.

"Ulrich!" she squealed, squeezing him, "They let you out of the hospital early! Why?"

"My dad…" Ulrich stuttered, "Um… convinced them to let me return to my studies…"

"Yay!" Sissi shrieked, "Now I can help you heal, Ulrich, dear! Hehehe!"

"Okay… That's great…"

"Aren't you sooo excited?"

"Ecstatic," said Ulrich flatly.

Sissi squealed some more, and promptly jumped into his lap, squeezing him tighter.

"Ack!" Ulrich yelped, "Sissi, get off me! That's my bad leg! THAT'S MY BAD LEG!"

"I love you, Ulrich-y!"

"Ulrich-y?" Ulrich repeated, "When did you start calling-? Get-! GET OFF!"

Sissi jumped off, causing great pain, and walked away.

"See you late-e-er!" she sang out to him.

"Please don't see me later," Ulrich mumbled.

Just as Sissi disappeared down the hall, Herb and Nicholas came stomping up towards Ulrich.

"Well, well, well, 'Ulrich-y,'" Herb said, cracking his knuckles.

"Now, now," Ulrich stammered, "You guys really wouldn't beat up a cripple, would you?"

"Watch me," Herb grinned.


"Well, that won't work," Jeremie decided, apparently having a similar daydream to Ulrich's.

"So, then," said Odd, "If school's not an option, then where are we—"

"Wait a second," Yumi, interrupted, "Ulrich, you still need all those blood transfusions and pills and stuff. What are we gonna do about that?"

"Blood transfusions are already taken care of," said Ulrich, "And the pills…" Ulrich pulled a bottle of pills from his pocket marked "Stern."

"Nice," said Odd.

"And as for a place to hide," Ulrich said, "What about Lyoko?"

"Lyoko?" Jeremie asked.

Lyoko… Could they actually do that? Could they actually virtualize Ulrich and keep him there? XANA's monsters wouldn't possibly allow it. But it worked for Aelita all those years ago, didn't it? And she wasn't even armed. So, if Ulrich just stayed inside towers, then maybe…

"That's crazy," said Jeremie, "So crazy that it just might work…"


"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Odd.

"Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Odd.

"Virtualization!"

Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Odd landed in the desert.

"So, Einstein," Odd said, "Remind us again why we're all being virtualized and not just Ulrich?"

"Just a safety precaution," said Jeremie, "If anything goes wrong for Ulrich, you'll all be here to help him out."

"We've never had anyone wounded on Lyoko before," said Aelita, "So we're not sure if he'll still be injured or not."

"'Kay," said Odd, "So, then, cripple, how're you—WHOA! ULRICH, YOU HAVE PIXELS COMING OUT OF YOU!"

"What the-?" Ulrich yelled, and fell down. Just as Odd said, pixels were zipping out of his leg.

"Ulrich!" Yumi shrieked, running over to him. Aelita and Odd followed, and the three tried to gently lay him down.

"JEREMIE!" Odd called, "MAYDAY! S.O.S.! WE HAVE A MAN DOWN! REPEAT! MAN DOWN! WE NEED A VEHICLE! OVERBIKE! OVERWING! OVERBOARD! OVER HERE! NOOOWWW! ULRICH MUST SIT! ROGER ROGER! ROGER VICTOR OVER HOUSTON!"

"Odd!" Yumi yelled, "What are you talking about? You're just blabbering nonsense!"

"ROGER VICTOR OVER HUGO BRAVO CHARLIE FOXTROT!"

"ODD!" Yumi yelled again.

"INDIA GOLF NINER-NINER! KUMBAYA!"

"Jeremie!" Aelita called, "Do something before Odd's panic attack causes him to jump into the Digital Sea!"

"SWEET HOME ALABAMA!"

"ODD!" Ulrich bellowed, "SHUT UP!"

"VIVA LAS VEGAS!"

"I'm designing a vehicle, Odd!" Jeremie screamed, "Calm yourself!"

"Okay," said Odd innocently.

"Designing?" Yumi asked, "Why?"

"The OverBike has pedals," Aelita explained, using Creativity to create a cast for Ulrich, "And the OverWing and the OverBoard you have to stand on. Ulrich needs something more suitable for his condition."

"Ulrich," Jeremie said, "I'm programming your new vehicle now."

Ulrich watched as the wire frame of some sort of hover-chair appeared above him.

"I give you the OverChair," Jeremie announced.

"Just rub it in, why don't you?" Ulrich asked.

"Sit, boy," Odd commanded. Ulrich gave Odd the evil eye and sat.

"How does it feel, Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"Actually, it feels rather cozy," Ulrich replied.

"It feels rather cozy," Odd mocked in a highly uncharacteristic British accent.

"I'll talk how I want!" Ulrich snapped.

"Aw," said Odd, "Cripple's mad at me."

"Hmm," Ulrich contemplated, reaching over to a joystick with a button on top of it on the armrest, "What's this button do?" He pressed the button and a laser fired from the armrest at the giant purple cat.

"AAH!" Odd shrieked, jumping out of the way just in time for the laser to zip past his face, "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

"Good kitty," Ulrich teased.

"So he's gonna have to stay here until when exactly?" Yumi asked.

"I'd say about a week or two," said Jeremie, "We're only keeping him here because it's the one place where no one can find him. And him being on Lyoko might make things easier regarding his healing process. I might be able to help since he's in virtual form."

"Okay," said Ulrich, "I stay here and hide from the Men in Black and you work on programs to heal my injury, I get all that. But there's one thing I still don't quite understand."

"What's that?" Jeremie asked.

"What the heck am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Ummm…" Jeremie said.

"People stuck in their house for long periods of time are reduced to counting spoons to keep from losing their minds! And after that they lose their minds, anyway."

"And there are no spoons to count on Lyoko," Odd added.

"I could render up some spoons if you wanted," said Jeremie.

"I don't want any spoons!" Ulrich snapped, "My point is that it's impossible to stay on Lyoko for that long without going insane."

Aelita raised an eyebrow. "Ahem!"

"Oh," said Ulrich, "Sorry…"

"You hadn't experienced the world," said Odd, "So you weren't really missing anything."

"Staying in a tower for two weeks is gonna make me claustrophobic," said Ulrich.

"We'll stop by every now and then to keep you company," Yumi reassured.

"Is that a promise?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi laughed. "It's a promise."

"Don't worry," Aelita added, "You won't go insane; you have our word."

"Okay, then," said Ulrich, "Now just one last question. Since we can't return to the past anymore… How are you all gonna explain why you missed school today?"

Odd grimaced. "Oh… My list of excuses is back in the lab."

"You have a list of excuses?" Yumi asked.

"For these cases," said Odd.

"For your sake, it'd better be just these cases," said Ulrich.

"You don't trust me?" Odd whined.

"Since you asked," said Ulrich, "Not really, no."

"ANYWAY," Yumi interrupted, "What's on the list?"

"Well," said Odd, "Going outside and getting mauled by a man-bear…"

"Really?" Aelita asked, annoyed with such oddity.

"Well, that was an early one," Odd defended.

"What's one of your more reasonable excuses?" Jeremie asked.

"Ummm… Well… Hmmm… Reasonable…" After a moment of thought, Odd slumped. "I got nothing."

"You're a big help," said Yumi.

"Well, what about this?" Odd asked, "People are gonna find out Ulrich's missing, so…"


"And just when did you find out Ulrich was missing?" asked Principal Delmas.

"Yumi told us this morning," Odd replied.

"She went to the hospital before school to go see him," Jeremie continued, "and when she saw that he wasn't there, she called us."

"We had to go looking for him," Aelita finished.

"Was he found?" asked Principal Delmas.

"No, sir," Aelita answered.

"So if I were to call Miss Ishiyama right now, she'd tell me the exact same thing?" the principal asked.

The three of them nodded.

Principal Delmas sighed. "I can never tell with the five of you. You have quite a history of missing classes, and occasionally even a full day, like this. But you do always have a reasonable explanation, so if Yumi does confirm everything you just told me, I'll let you off the hook."

"So is there any way we can make it up?" Aelita asked.

"I'll make sure your teachers give you something to catch up on what you missed," said the principal.

Fortunately, they had everything worked out. Odd finally came up with a story that they could use. Yumi repeated the story over the phone to Principal Delmas, who then kept his word and gave each of them an excused absence.

"How long do you think it'll take until all this blows over?" Odd asked as they walked back up to Jeremie's dorm.

"I'm sure the Men in Black will suspect foul play," said Jeremie, "So it might take a while. But there's no way that they'll be able to get to Ulrich when he's on Lyoko."

"I know that," said Aelita, "Even if they figure out that's where he is, they won't be able to reach him. He's safe… But… He's not the only one they're after."

"Huh?" Jeremie asked.

"You may not remember this, Jeremie, but the reason Ulrich was running in the first place was because of you. He was trying to warn you… They want anyone who knows where my father's diary is, and you're one of those people. So I'm not as worried about Ulrich as I am about… About you."

"Me…?" Jeremie repeated, confused, "Aelita, you…"

Aelita turned away. "What if they find you?"

Jeremie paused, uncertain of how to respond. Aelita looked perhaps near tears at this point, which pressured him even more to say something. But she was right; he was in danger. Jeremie hadn't realized this before, and so now that Aelita had pointed it out, he was almost as afraid as she was.

He had been in this position before so many times… Back when Aelita was trapped in Lyoko, so utterly defenseless and vulnerable. And even after that, Jeremie had still worried countless times for Aelita's life.

What was his consolation?

"Aelita…" Jeremie said, laying a hand on her shoulder, "You know that I've had these same worries about you, don't you? I understand how you feel… I don't know what I'd do if anything were to happen to you. But just look at the way things have turned out for us. We've already spent two years risking our lives like this. And not once were the odds so critically against us that we couldn't endure it. Even when we thought we'd lost… We still lived through it… You still lived through it." Jeremie knew that Aelita remembered what he was referring to. "And even now," Jeremie went on, "After a whole year of lost experience, we're still alive. Even during one of the most dangerous encounters of our lives, by some miracle… We actually seem to be winning. If we can stand up to XANA, then surely we can stand up to the Men in Black. We'll get through this… together."

Aelita finally looked back at Jeremie. And not only that; she walked into his embrace and stood there.

"Together," Aelita repeated.

The two stayed that way for what seemed like forever. Neither wanted to move…

For the first time since all this began… They felt safe.

"You guys do know you're not the only ones here, right?" asked Odd.

Jeremie and Aelita quickly detached themselves from each other, severely embarrassed.

"Together," Odd mocked. Aelita smacked him on the back of the head.

"Shut up, Odd."

I love it when a chapter ends in "Shut up, Odd…" Tee-hee. Now the wait begins again. Sorry. Life is pain… Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is selling something…