Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Code Lyoko
Chapter 14
Aelita folded her arms and set her head on top, ready to take a nap on her history homework. It had been a week since that awkward cup of coffee, and in that week, she had reluctantly flirted with four other boys. Every time, Jeremie's thoughts on this were unclear. When she tried talking to him, he avoided the subject completely.
It was getting harder and harder to tell how Jeremie felt about her. He had said he was in love, but he didn't say who with. Jeremie was smart and handsome and kind, what girl wouldn't want him? Aelita didn't desire to be selfish, but it felt like she was the one he should be with. She blushed as this crossed her mind, but frowned when she thought about how he might not feel the same way.
She reminisced, just for a moment, the feeling of his arms around her. It truly felt like he did love her when they were like that. If she could just say it, she'd feel like that all the time. What was stopping her?
"Not on your life."
"Jeremie, come on," pleaded Odd. "It's the perfect thing!"
"No!" yelled Jeremie. "I am not doing that!"
"Einstein, it's simple!" said Ulrich. "I'm surprised we didn't think of it sooner."
"And just how is it simple?" asked Jeremie.
"You activate a tower and tell Aelita Xana's attacking," said Odd. "You fake order Ulrich to stay at the school and keep watch, while I come with you two, since we never let Aelita go to Lyoko alone. You said that you still have those robots that are trained to fetch a ball, right? And that you can program them to shoot lasers?"
"Yes, but I'm not doing it!" exclaimed Jeremie.
"We just pretend Xana possessed them," said Odd. "Ulrich will control them from behind a tree, you'll have to teach him how, and he'll make a couple of close shaves at you. Aelita panics, you act like you got hit and fall to the ground, she says she could never live without you, blah blah blah, you're dating. Told you it was simple."
"Do you hear yourself?" asked Jeremie doubtfully.
"Work with us, Einstein," said Ulrich. "It's not like we can get the other guys' help without blowing the whole Lyoko thing."
"Jeremie, Aelita's going to think this is just another attack," said Odd. "It's not like she'll find out you're pretending."
"For some odd reason, I think that's exactly what will happen," retorted Jeremie. "Faking like Xana nearly killed me? I don't think so."
"Just give it a chance!" begged Ulrich. "Nothing brings two people together like tragedy!"
"You know, usually it's real tragedy!" argued Jeremie.
"And usually, a person doesn't go through over a year and a half of trying to tell a certain someone how they feel!" replied Odd. "What have you got to lose?"
Jeremie frowned, not knowing anything else to say. He had compromised nearly everything in his attempts to woo Aelita. His health, his happiness, not to mention his dignity. What else could go wrong?
"Fine," said Jeremie hesitantly. "I'll do it."
Ulrich and Odd whooped and Jeremie rolled his eyes, smirking. Something in the back of his mind was telling him this would not bode well.
"Ulrich, how're you doing with the robot?" asked Jeremie, turning around in his chair.
"I've got it," said Ulrich, flipping switches and pressing buttons at random on the remote control for Jeremie's newly modified robot. "I think I have the hang of-woah!"
Jeremie flinched as he saw a bright flash of red light. Ulrich swore loudly and Odd snickered.
"Thanks, Ulrich," said Jeremie, shaking his head. "You just shot a hole through my science homework."
"Ugh, maybe I need some more practice," said Ulrich, grinning apologetically.
"Yeah, that would be a good idea," said Jeremie. "But we don't have a lot of time left, so we'll cross our fingers. I'm activating the tower...now."
A tower activation alert window popped up on the screen and Jeremie whipped out his mobile.
"Aelita, Xana's attacking," said Jeremie, trying to sound strained like he usually did. "I don't know what he's planning, but I'm honestly not very eager to find out. Head to the factory, I'm keeping Ulrich at school to defend the home front."
Jeremie stood up to face the other two, looking pale.
"What's wrong?" asked Ulrich. "Didn't she believe you?"
"Yeah, but that's the problem," said Jeremie grimly. "I hate lying to her."
"Don't worry about it, the end justifies the means, right?" offered Odd. "Come on, let's go."
Jeremie nodded, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He followed them out of the room. A few minutes later, a second window came up on his computer screen. It also showed a glowing tower. However, Jeremie wasn't the one activating it.
"Jeremie!" called out Aelita, stopping in her tracks as she saw the two racing boys dashing through the forest. "Odd!"
"Aelita!" replied Jeremie, running over to her. "Have you seen anything?"
"Nope," answered Aelita. "Come on, we're almost halfway there-"
She was cut short by a whizzing sound, followed by a small mechanism coming out from behind a tree.
"J-Jeremie, why is your robot out here?" asked Aelita nervously.
"I've got a funny feeling Xana's behind this," said Odd, backing away. Aelita agreed, but couldn't help noticing that there was no Xana symbol anywhere on it.
Ulrich tried his best to work the infernal contraption, and was able to pull off a decent job so far. It shocked him abruptly and he yelled out from behind a nearby bush. He stumbled back a few feet and he tripped, landing in a heap, unable to get up for the moment. On the bright side, at least Aelita hadn't seen. On the other hand, he hadn't seen a certain sign start to flicker on a small screen on the back of the robot.
"Jeremie, what was that?" asked Aelita, hearing the cry but not identifying the source.
"I, I don't know," said Jeremie. If Ulrich wasn't working the robot, then why was it still moving around, rather expertly at that?
"Einstein, heads up!" warned Odd, watching the robot powering up a red light. Aelita watched in slow motion as it fired, the Xana eye flashing, and Jeremie crumpling to the ground.
At first she just stared. Then she fell down next to him, shaking him by the shoulders. She shook him harder and harder, letting out dry sobs every few seconds, too surprised to feel miserable, until he sat up suddenly, his eyes still closed.
"How'd you survive that?" asked Odd in awe, not able to make a joke. Jeremie slowly rose to his feet, brushing himself off, but not saying a word. He opened his eyes. "Oh, no."
Jeremie frowned, one of the most hated symbols pulsing where his pupils should have been. He bared his teeth and took a fighting stance, staring daggers at Odd.
"Aelita, I'm gonna try and hold him off, get to the factory!" ordered Odd, beckoning Jeremie closer. Aelita didn't move, she just continued watching. "Aelita, run!"
Aelita stayed rooted to the ground, watching Jeremie bring Odd down in a few blows. She was shaken out of her shock when he turned his head to her. Jeremie grunted and she started backing away, but he grabbed her by the elbows.
"Jeremie, listen to me-" said Aelita quickly, but the last thing she saw before she blacked out was the electricity shooting out of his fingertips.
Jeremie heaved Aelita over his shoulder and started making his way to the factory, skipping the shortcut through the sewers all together. Xana obviously didn't want to go through the hassle. They were confronted soon enough.
"Belpois!" roared Jim, blocking their path abruptly. "What happened to Stones?"
"She got tired, sir," answered Jeremie politely.
"Since when do you have the muscles to carry her?" asked Jim. Jeremie stammered, trying to think up something to make Jim leave. "I'm just messing with you. You know, love has done some crazy things for me, too. But, then again, I'd rather not talk about it."
"Uh, that's great Jim, but I better get going, see you later!" said Jeremie, already sprinting away.
He made it to the bridge without anymore encounters, but realized that Aelita was wriggling out of his grasp. Jeremie lifted her off his shoulder and in front of him, one hand holding her off the ground, blue light dancing around the other.
"Jeremie, I know you're in there somewhere!" said Aelita fearfully, attempting to keep her gaze on his face and not on his now lethal left hand. "Xana is the enemy, remember? Please, I'm begging you!"
Jeremie's expression didn't change. Aelita braced herself as his hand got closer, but instead felt her feet touch the ground. Jeremie was kneeling on the bridge, his head down. Aelita looked behind him but saw no one else, so it couldn't have been Odd or Ulrich.
"G-Go," said Jeremie, raising his head. He pointed at the limp ropes. Aelita smiled at the piercing blue irises she adored, even though she knew they wouldn't be there for long. "Go!"
Aelita swung out on the rope, landed in front of the elevator gracefully. She glanced back up at the bridge and heard Xana fighting for control. She knew she had to move fast. She started up the virtualization process and stepped into a scanner.
"Ulrich, you take care of Jeremie, I'll help Aelita out on Lyoko, since she still thinks you're at school," said Odd seriously.
"Wow, some pretty good thinking in that hair gel-filled head," teased Ulrich, pushing the skateboard faster through the sewers.
"Ha ha, very funny," retorted Odd, sticking his tongue out. "Watch yourself, you hear? Last time Einstein got possessed by Xana, I nearly got fried."
"Must be because you're so scraw-I mean-svelte," said Ulrich, smirking.
Jeremie hopped into his chair and typed faster than he ever had before. Having a computer virus controlling your every move had its advantages, in a way. His mouth twisted into an evil smile as he watched Aelita running to the tower and called up the Scyphozoa.
"Wow, Ulrich, he doesn't look happy," said a voice from behind. Jeremie frowned and swiveled the chair around. Odd was standing with his arms crossed while Ulrich came darting out. "Good luck, buddy!"
"You know, Jeremie, you really do spend too much time on the computer," said Ulrich, blocking the monitor. "It definitely won't help you with Aelita."
Jeremie growled and pushed him roughly to the ground. Ulrich grabbed a spare piece of metal and managed to knock Jeremie out with it temporarily.
"Odd!" yelled Ulrich into the headset. "I"m gonna try and get you to Lyoko, just bear with me."
"Okay, but don't land me in the Digital Sea!" warned Odd, chuckling as he walked into the golden cylinder in front of him.
"Not. Helping!" said Ulrich,his fingers shaking over the keys. "T-Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Odd. V-Virtualization!"
Odd plummeted into the icy tundra of Lyoko. He saw a blur of pink ahead and cupped his paws around his mouth.
"Aelita!" yelled Odd, running forward. She turned around and waved.
"Odd, how'd you get past Jeremie?" asked Aelita, waiting for him to catch up.
"I have my ways," said Odd vaguely.
"The tower is west," said Aelita, pointing to the glowing figure.
They sprinted in its direction until Aelita halted. She had spotted something green out of the corner of her eye. She turned around, and saw...a green tower.
"Odd, why is there a tower that was activated from Earth?" asked Aelita, not moving. Odd grimaced.
"I'm not sure...maybe Lyoko is having a few glitches," said Odd. "We better deactivate the real one, though. If we don't hurry, Jeremie could hurt himself."
This made Aelita stop wondering and start running to the red tower again. A sting in her shoulder alerted her of two tarantulas that were guarding it. Odd nodded to her and she hid behind a glacier while he took care of them.
"Okay, Princess, bring Einstein back!" hollered Odd, watching her enter the tower. He smiled at a job well done.
Ulrich felt perspiration beading on his forehead as he tried to keep Jeremie away from the computer. The raging genius lunged at him and Ulrich braced himself, but felt nothing. Jeremie had frozen and place, and Ulrich sighed with relief.
"Way to go, guys," said Ulrich thankfully, watching Jeremie wobble. "Jeremie, are you okay?"
"Ugh, w-what happened?" asked Jeremie, holding his head in his hands. Ulrich helped him steady himself, peering at his eyes just to make sure. Blue eyes. At least he didn't pass out like most ex-Xanified victims.
"Xana got to you, but I don't know how," answered Ulrich. "You think you can bring Odd and Aelita back in?"
"Sure," said Jeremie. The pounding in his head made it hard, but he started the devirtualization program. "Odd? Aelita?"
"Jeremie?" asked the two.
"I'm bringing you back to Earth," said Jeremie. Everything was still jumbled up in his head, so he couldn't remember a thing after getting hit by his robot, let alone figure out why Odd and Aelita were on Lyoko.
Aelita fell panting out of the scanner, but she didn't waste time trying to catch her breath. She darted to the elevator; Odd was lucky to have made it.
"Impatient, are we?" asked Odd, smirking. Aelita smiled but gave no verbal answer. She squeezed through the doors while they were still opening and was at Jeremie's side in a moment.
"Are you okay?" asked Aelita nervously, squishing him in a brief hug.
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Jeremie, still woozy. "I'm just a little confused. What happened?"
"Well, your robot started attacking us in the forest," explained Aelita. "It shot you-"
"Which, by the way, made Aelita freak out like crazy," pointed out Odd. Aelita glared at him then continued.
"-and you fell down," said Aelita. She added, with a more choked-up voice. "We thought you were dead."
"You stood up a few seconds later," said Odd. "Then we realized you went to the dark side. You took me out then delivered Aelita to Lyoko."
"Really?" asked Jeremie, his eyes wide. Aelita pondered whether she should tell him what actually occurred, but decided against it. For now. The fact that he was the only one who had ever actually fought against Xana's control, and won, was still a huge surprise to her.
"Really," lied Aelita. "But at least you're back."
"I can't believe this," muttered Jeremie. Xanafied people always hurt others. He already must have shocked Aelita and nailed Odd, which was bad enough. What else did he do?
"Well, it's over, and you should rest," said Aelita. "You didn't black out after I deactivated the tower, so you're most likely exhausted. Come on, let's get you to your room."
"Hey, Einstein, you're not guilty because you nearly killed Odd and Aelita, are you?" asked Ulrich.
"Well, yeah," said Jeremie. "Aelita, are you sure you're okay?"
"Hey, she just got shocked!" said Odd. "You went all black belt on me!"
"And me!" said Ulrich.
"I"m fine," said Aelita, laughing. "You're the one who needs to be cared for."
Jeremie blushed and followed them out of the elevator. He could use a nap right now. He'd need his energy for the next brilliant plan Odd and Ulrich cooked up for him to win over Aelita, since this one had turned out so well.