The Seventh Lyoko Warrior

Part XXXII: Team Lyoko

I decided to make this chapter a bonding chapter for the Lyoko Warriors. Now that they're all together in this, they'll only get stronger. The next chapter I'm planning something a little different. A friend suggested an idea so I'm gonna try it. I'm also trying something a little differently, I'm trying to reach a review goal of 100 reviews for now. I hope to get more because people are awesome but not many people review. I'll review your Code Lyoko stories too if you guys want too.

After the Return to the Past worked, the Lyoko Warriors were spending their afternoon at study hall. Odd and Ulrich were playing their usual game of…I guess "paper volleyball" or something, anyone please tell me if that's right cause I don't remember. Jeremy sat down at the table with his laptop in front of him, periodically staring over at the them to see how the game is going. Yumi and Aelita were checking out a few books as Michael was busy with his head in a book.

Ulrich served this time by shooting it far to Odd's right, who also smacked it back to Ulrich's right to get back at him for starting it like that. They kept hitting the paper ball back and forth for a while as Aelita noticed Michael standing by himself. She quietly closed the book and held it in her hands as she walked over to him with a joyful skip. So far, no Xana attacks and already people were in a good mood.

"What are you reading?" Aelita asked. Michael looked around and noticed the grin on her face.

"It's about a little wolf pup who lost its parents and was instead raised by a little boy," he said.

"Is it a good book?" she asked.

"Yeah it is," he said, lowering the book to chest level. "It's funny, being a werewolf and all, sometimes I wonder what it's be like if I was a full wolf. Paw-Paw told me that when I was a baby, I turned into a wolf puppy for three weeks straight."

"Aww, you must've been so cute," she said, fawning over the thought of him being a wolf puppy. "I wish I could've seen you."

"I was cute, I eventually turned back though, turning into a wolf is pretty cool."

"I didn't know you could do that," Aelita said curiously. "I remember that big wolf man looking creature."

"To be honest I don't know where that came from," he said honestly. "I never could do that back when I was alive. Hell, I don't remember what happened to me after I died. One minute I died, the next I wake up sitting against a tree surrounded by a field of flowers and a small pond."

"That was pretty scary," she admitted. Her voice became a little shaky when she remembered watching him fight the three brothers.

She couldn't forget what he turned into, and what he did. He tore one guy's arm off and almost ripped another guy's throat out. She was happy he snapped out of it but in her heart, she's still terrified of it. Confiding in his good nature made her worry at first, but she was just happy that he let the guy go and not killed him instead. But the whole time she was scared, she's never experienced anything like that before.

Tears ran down her cheeks when she remembered him being gunned down in front of her and Jeremy. That was the scariest thing she ever saw, seeing her friend being shot to hell like that. But that last gunshot that made him collapse, that's was really tore her up. Even after Carlisle told her that Michael was okay, she couldn't get the images out of her head. It's something that'll haunt her until the day she dies.

She couldn't help but take quick glances at his chest, wondering how his wounds were doing. He told her that they were already healed, but she couldn't help but feel concerned. It's the first time she's even seen someone wounded like that, she never saw someone get shot before. Xana attacks are one thing but seeing him be attacked by a normal person questioned everything she believed in.

In her mind, she blamed herself for the whole thing. She couldn't fight back Jeremy tried to protect Michael as she was the damsel in distress. She brushed her hair a little thinking about how much it hurt when they kept pulling it. All she felt was weak, like she was useless the whole time. The thought of being a victim pained her, even when she found the Hermitage; Xana knocked her out and left her in a trap for her friends. Thankfully they turned out okay, but just the thought of not being able to do anything tore at her heart.

Michael looked at her and saw tears running down her eyes. Not even thinking twice, he pulled her into a hug. He listened as she was sobbing into his chest. Her tears made the front of his shirt wet but he didn't mind it. He knew what she was thinking about, she was still thinking about that night. He wanted to comfort her, tell her that she doesn't have to think about that night anymore. He couldn't stand to see her crying over him, he didn't want her to.

"It's okay," he said in a gentle whisper as he slowly rubbed her back.

"But they…." Her words became lost in her sobs. But he knew what she wanted to say.

"What happened in the alley was just a freak thing," he said with a calm and soothing tone. "I can't pretend that it never happened cause it did and I can't stop thinking about it either. But one thing I've learned, you can't let it drag you down. Yes they were evil and yes they were gonna do some horrible things, but we have to look on the bright side." She looked up with wide tear soaked eyes. "They shot me but I bounced back and protected you guys."

"But that last shot….." she wept. Michael kindly pulled away and looked her in her eyes.

"Could've killed me if not you and Jeremy," he said with joy in his tone. "I would've been dead if you guys weren't there. If anything, I should be thanking you guys. Thank you, for saving my life." His words calmed Aelita down as she started thinking about what he said. "Please don't cry anymore, there's nothing to be sad about." He used his left index finger and wiped a lone tear away from her face. "I'm fine, you're fine, Jeremy's fine, we're all okay. You don't need to worry, as long as you guys believe in me; I'll come through for you guys." Aelita rushed into another hug as she let out a small joyous sigh.

"Thank you Michael, I feel better now," she said.

"Don't worry Princess, I…." was all he said before a loud crashing sound interrupted him. They both looked over at Ulrich and Odd to see that Odd's chair fell over backwards and he slammed onto the floor hard enough to hurt.

"That was too hard Ulrich," Odd complained with a painful groan.

"Yeah you did that to me Odd, I'm just returning the favor," Ulrich chuckled.

Ulrich had smacked the paper ball hard enough that Odd had to lean far back with his chair to save the shot by keeping his right foot pressed up against the table's underside edge. He managed to hit it back and score, but a second after that he lost his footing and fell over.

Michael helped Odd up who grabbed his chair and stood it back up. Little did they know, Jeremy was walking towards them with an angry look on his face. Michael, not wanting Odd to get in trouble, took Odd's chair and quickly sat in it. Odd looked confused for a second before realizing what he was doing. But when he tried to stop Michael, he simply pushed him aside and acted like he was ready for Ulrich's next serve.

"What's going on here?" Jim asked as he walked in and saw what they were doing. THey all looked at Jim who wasn't happy with what he was seeing. "Michael, Ulrich, to the principal's office now!" They booth stood up with Jim walking behind them.

(At Delmas's Office) Michael and Ulrich sat side by side with Mr. Delmas looking them both over. Jim, standing by the door waited as Mr. Delmas was flipping through their permanent records. As he looked through them, he was astounded by what he saw on Michaels. But at the same time, he wasn't impressed by what they were doing.

Mr. Delmas calmly cleared his throat as he looked at the two. Both boys kept their gaze fixed on Delmas, but Ulrich occasionally looked over at Michael. He couldn't tell why Michael would just take Odd's place like that, he didn't do anything wrong. It was clear out of the blue that he just decided to take Odd's place. Not that he didn't appreciate it, but he felt that something was off.

"Ulrich Stern, Michael Elrick," said Mr. Delmas. Just like a dog, they both looked at Delmas and listened. "I'm not too happy about what I was just told, Study Hall is a time to catch up on missed work, work on your homework from a class you just had or take the time to read a book and learn something. It is not however time to place paper volleyball, you can save that your days off. Ulrich I can't understand why, you've done this before, but Michael, why would you? You're a good student, you hand in your assignments on time and I don't see any records of any issues with teachers or your work. I only see a few absences but those were excused by Dr. Carlisle. But could you please tell me why felt the need to play a game of paper volleyball in the library?"

"I thought it would be fun sir," said Michael. "My Grandpa used to tell me to focus on your work, but also not forget to have a little fun once in a while."

"Well I'm afraid that Study Hall isn't the time to be playing games," said Mr. Delmas. "Normally I'd give you a few days of detention, but considering your record I'll give you a few hours with Jim in the gymnasium to help him with whatever he needs. As for you Stern, considering that I'd give you four days, but I'll give you the same punishment as Michael. You'll both be helping Jim on Wednesday, that'll be tomorrow at five. Am I understood?"

"Yessir!" they both said in perfect sync.

"Okay then," said Mr. Delmas, going back to his computer. "You two are dismiss, please go back to your next class."

Ulrich and Michael both stood up and quickly walked out the door. Jim was about to follow but Delmas wanted to talk to him. Now that they were in the clear with only a few hours of detention, everything went smoother than usual. As they walked towards the library, Ulrich couldn't help but question what just happened.

"Michael?" he asked. Michael glanced over towards him. "Why did you take the blame instead of Odd? You and I both know that you were innocent. So why did you do that?"

"I actually wanted us to talk, in private," said Michael. That peeked Ulrich's interest as he listened to him talk. "Why did you start trusting me all of a sudden? I mean, we didn't have much of a good relationship when I first joined you guys. I don't know, I just figured I'd ask."

"Odd told me what you did for me, finding Yumi's bracelet," said Ulrich, stopping and looking out of the window. (This is from The Seventh Lyoko Warrior Christmas Special) "I must've looked for hours trying to find it. How did you find it?" Michael raised his hand and pointed to his nose.

"Being a werewolf has its advantages," he said. "I can pick up almost any scent thanks to this puppy." Ulrich hunched over with his arms crossed onto the bottom of the windowsill as he continued to look outside.

"I've acted like a jerk," he said, sounding depressed. "I treated William almost the same as you, except I ignored you. I guess maybe to be honest, I was a little jealous of you." Michael looked curiously at Ulrich as he talked. "I'm used to always protecting the group, always keeping my friends safe. But now, with all that's going on, I don't know what I can do. I'm just so tired of all this, it never ends. After what happened to William, I didn't want to see it ever again. Then you come in and I….I guess I just freaked out. When you were possessed, I was afraid that we'd never win. You can do so much more than me. You can protect them better than I ever could. I just feel so weak." As Michael listened to him talking down on himself, a lone tear fell from Michael's cheek. Deciding he heard enough, he stood by Ulrich's right side and looked out the window with him.

"I don't think you're weak," said Michael with a kind tone. "Maybe you lost your edge, with everything going on, I wouldn't blame you. I was just happy to know that those dreams I was having were actually happening. Seeing how you guys work together how good of friends you are, I'm honored to be with you guys. I've only heard stories about things that happened before I came here. Yumi told me how you went to save her and Odd when they were kidnapped by Mr. Delmas and taken to a refrigeration warehouse." Ulrich looked over at him, remembering the incident.

"They told you about that?" Ulrich asked as he stood up straight.

"Yeah, I really enjoyed listening to it too," said Michael as he gently patted Ulrich on the shoulder. "She told me how you went by yourself with an EMP bomb that Jeremy made and saved them when he tried to kill them." As Ulrich listened to him, a warm feeling in his heart comforted him as his new friend talked. "I have superpowers, big deal; anyone can save anyone for whatever reason. You saved them because you truly cared, that's a big thing to me. I think you're stronger than you realize." He stood up and walked away, leaving Ulrich there pondering what he just told me.

Ulrich wasn't far behind but his mind was filled with thoughts. He cared about his friends more than anything. He saved them because he wouldn't be able to stand himself if he didn't. Listening to Michael talk ignited a small fire in his heart. He wanted to learn more from Michael about being stronger. He wanted to do more to boost his confidence, but more importantly, he wanted to build his friendship with Michael.

When they got back to Study Hall, Yumi and Aelita welcomed them both back. Jeremy, who was working on his laptop, looked up and waved to them. Yumi and Aelita were talking about "girl stuff" when they walked in. But Odd wasn't with them, he was actually talking to a girl on the other side of the library. Even though they couldn't see him, a sudden loud slap told them was just happened.

Odd walked back with his head down and a bright pink palm print on his left cheek. He sat down and was quiet, which slightly worried everyone.

"What happened Odd?" Jeremy asked.

"Tammy broke up with me cause she found out about Melanie," said a depressed Odd.

"That's what you get for dating two girls at once," Ulrich chuckled. Although Odd didn't feel like laughing, that didn't stop everyone else from quietly laughing to themselves.

Ulrich walked over to him and sat beside him. Yumi and Aelita went back to talked with each other. Michael sat beside Jeremy as he looked at the genius working on something. He looked at the screen, the only thing he understood was the image of the Skid. Michael's stomach turned thinking about having to ride in the Skid again. He didn't want to after almost being lost at sea.

"I'm trying to track William through the network," said Jeremy, breaking the silence. He huffed in frustration, making Michael realize that he's been working on this since the beginning of Study Hall. "I keep trying to scan the network but I just can't find his digital signal anywhere. Whatever Xana did to hide him has me stumped. Unless I can find a trace of him, I won't be able to find him.

"What about Sector Five, couldn't you find something there?" Michael asked. Jeremy pulled his off, rubbed his eyes and quickly put them back on.

"I've tried so many times but there's something interfering with the signal," said Jeremy. "I can't figure out what it is but maybe with some luck I can. If I can find the right program, maybe it could work." Michael grabbed his bag and started searching for something. As he rummaged through it, he couldn't help but notice Jeremy leaning back on his chair with his arms crossed and a worried look on his face. "At this rate I'm getting nowhere, everything I try doesn't work and what's worse, I'm running out of ideas. I have to find a way to free William, but nothing I do works." Jeremy, frustrated, jumped out of his seat and walked up to a random bookshelf. He just started picking random books and flipped through them without saying a word.

As Michael watched his friend blow off steam, he noticed some random window pop up on his screen. He looked at it for a second; quickly realizing that it was something Jeremy was running earlier. He could read it, but all the scientific mumbo jumbo just confused him. It just scrolled through random equations on its own without Jeremy looking at it. He does understand some things about scientific equations, but he's not really a techno geek.

"Jeremy!" said Michael. Jeremy sat the book down and looked over at him. But in the corner of his eye he saw the screen. He walked over and sat down, carefully studying the screen. After a minute, Jeremy took a deep breath and finally started to relax. "What's up?"

"A few hours ago I ran a program through the supercomputer to upgrade the Skid's sonar to be able to track William," said Jeremy, sounding calm.

"Did it work?" Michael worriedly asked. He expected Jeremy to say no, but a huge smile on William's face said otherwise.

"It works!" he shouted. That got everyone's attention as they gathered around him.

"What's going on Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah tell us, is there anything new?" Odd asked.

"I found a way we could track William," said Jeremy. Everyone gasped at the good news.

"Does it work?" Yumi asked, hoping for a yes.

"Maybe, but we need the Skid, we just have to find him," said Jeremy. "If Aelita can fire a small tracking beacon at William's Nav Skid without devitalizing it; we can track where he goes."

"Why do I get the feeling that there's bad news?" Ulrich angrily asked.

"Unfortunately we only have one shot at this," Jeremy said bluntly. "If we miss, we won't get another chance. Recreating the program won't be easy, it took me weeks of calculating everything. And it took me another week to run trial and error tests on it. Plus I had to convert enough energy from Sector Five to get the program to work. I could do it again, but it'll take a few days and who knows what Xana has up his sleeves."

"Then let's do it!" Odd cheered. Odd's cheerful was interrupted by Jeremy shaking his head in disappointment.

"We can't yet, I need to modify the Skid to be able to use this," said Jeremy. "I was lucky to be able to get these results, but I haven't been able to set the Skid up for this to work. I need sometime, a day or so to make sure everything's in order."

"Okay then, we can wait a while," said Yumi with a confident smile.

"Once it's up a running we can go whenever," said Ulrich, eager for a fight.

"Do you need a hand Jeremy?" Aelita kindly offered. Jeremy looked over towards her with a smile.

"I'd love some help," he blushed a little as he talked.

Aelita changed seats, quickly sitting beside Jeremy as she helped him. Odd and Ulrich started talking about whatever they talk about. But as Yumi noticed Michael reading his book at the end of the table, she smiled. She had been wanting to talk to him since they helped him get Ana back. He hasn't been sulking, but working hard to rebuild their relationship. She was happy that they were back together, what Xana did was just low.

When she started walking towards him, she noticed that he noticed her coming as he casually looked up from his book and looked at her. He set his book down in front of him and invited her to talk. Seeing what he was doing, she walked up and sat down right beside him.

"How are you?" she asked. He puckered his lips slightly and nodded his head.

"Pretty good," he said. "How are you?"

"I'm good too, I noticed that you were sitting by yourself, and I wanted to ask you something," she said, looking into his eyes. He looked at her, acknowledging her request with a studying gaze. "How's Ana doing?"

"She's good," he said with a small chuckle. "Have you ever heard of the Kitty Parade?" She shrugged her shoulders, confused by his random question. "Ana wants to go to this carnival; she says it's only in France once a year but I've never heard of it. It's supposed to be this Japanese party where everybody dresses up as cats and party. She told me that if I wear whatever she wants me too during the party, no matter how ridiculous it is, we'll officially get back together." Yumi started giggling, which made Michael worried.

"She's gonna make you look ridiculous," said Yumi, busting out laughing. "I'm sorry, but she's gonna make you look crazy." Michael let out a loud huff, which only made him more worried.

"I don't really like cats, they're freaking evil," he said. His eyes were wide and his mind wrapped around the thought of going to a cat party. But he couldn't help but think about his experience with his grandma's cat. "When I was little, my mom would take me to my Grandma's house when Paw-Paw was away. She was my mom's mom, and she was pretty nice. Not as nice as my Grandma on my Dad's side, but still pretty cool. But she had this cat, and every time I'd go to her house this cat would give me this look like it was plotting on me. Well one night I slept over, Grandma would always tell me to keep my door closed so this cat wouldn't get in. Well one night I forgot, the cat walked in and scratched me. I peed myself when I woke up, I was terrified." Yumi was giggling more as he continued. "So my Grandma locked the cat in the bathroom, well one night I walked in, it bit my ankles. She wanted to lock the cat in her room but she couldn't breathe with all the dander this cat would kick up in the middle of the night. Every morning she'd crack open the windows and vacuum the floor and the couches just so she could breathe."

"It sounds like she was really allergic," Yumi said jokingly with a chuckle. Michael nodded his head.

"Oh yeah, she was allergic," he said. "She just loved this cat so much and she couldn't stand to have it put down. Little did she know that it wasn't the cat, it was actually pollen that did it. Since she left her windows open all the time during the day and only closed them at night, it pollen would get in and lay around anywhere it could."

"That does suck," she said, still laughing. "Maybe you cou…" was all she could say before a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Hey Yumi?" Ulrich asked as he was walking towards them. Yumi turned to face him as Michael returned to his book.

"What's up Ulrich?" she asked, eager to hear his answer. Ulrich looked over at Michael for a second who wasn't paying attention and then looked back at Yumi.

"How are you today?" he asked.

"I'm good," she replied with a smile. But then her face turned serious "Can we talk for a minute?" Without another word, they both walked off to a more private spot behind one of the many bookshelves so no one could see them.

As Michael read his book, Odd walked over and sat down beside him.

"Hey Michael!" he said with a cheerful hint to his voice. Michael sat the book back down and looked at Odd. "Thanks for covering for me back there, Mr. Delmas would've given me detention for two weeks." Michael smiled, appreciating Odd's thank you. But then Odd quickly looked into his backpack and pulled out his sketchbook and pencil and started doodling in it.

After a few minutes, Michael slickly tilted his body to the side without Odd noticing and looked down at the picture. He wasn't too sure exactly, but he knew that it was about him because he easily recognized himself. But as Odd kept drawing, a wave of curiosity hit Michael as he kept staring at the picture, excited to see what it's gonna be. Odd finally noticed him as he leaned back and showed Michael the picture.

"I'm trying to draw another picture of all of us again," said Odd, studying his work in frustration. "But I just can't seem to get this part right." He pointed at Michael's hair. "I've only seen you with your hair down. I really wanted to draw you with a ponytail." Without another word, Michael reached into his backpack and pulled out a small black hair tie and quickly tied his hair back in a tight ponytail with only two long thick bangs hanging down the side of his face beside his ears, one on each side. Odd looked in wonder as his noticed that the tip of his ear was slightly pointed, almost like an elf's. "Are you an elf?" he jokingly asked. Michael couldn't help but laugh too.

"No, I just woke up like this," he said honestly. "Back when I was alive I had normal ears."

"I think they look cool," said Odd, quickly turning his focus back to his sketchbook. After he finished Michael face and hair, he showed it to him, relieved to finally know what he looks like that way. Michael studied his face and quickly smiled at the precision his friend has for the smallest details. "Thanks, I've really wanted to draw this, this'll make it easier."

As Odd kept drawing, Michael returned to his book and read it quietly to himself. The next few minutes were calm as Odd doodled away and Michael was quiet. But then they noticed Yumi walking towards Aelita and Jeremy as Ulrich was walking towards them. Looking happy about something, he sat down beside Odd and sighed in relief. Odd put his sketchbook away and Michael closed his book again and sat it back down on the table. Both looked at him curiously as to what was making him happy.

"So what happened?" Michael asked. Ulrich looked over at them and laughed with glee.

"Yumi's having a sleepover tonight at her house and we're all invited," he said, excited by the news.

Both Odd and Michael cheered at the news. Michael was excited because he's never been to a sleepover before and he was excited to go. Well he had one at Liana's house but never really had one with a friend before. He didn't want to embarrass her because he's a guy but at the same time, he likes hanging out at her place.

Both Odd, Ulrich and Michael stood up and sat down at Jeremy's table to discuss the details. Jeremy closed his laptop and Aelita was focused on listening to her friend.

"Okay so my parents aren't gonna be home until ten tonight, so they said that I can have you guys over as long as I babysit Hiroki," she said, annoyed by the fact that she has to babysit her little brother. "Unfortunately, they also wanted me to babysit him and his friend Johnny and make them both dinner." Michael smiled.

"I can help you make dinner," he said, offering his services. Yumi looked at him wondering if he knows how to cook because she's never seen him do it before.

"Do you know how to cook?" she asked, sounding skeptical.

"Yeah, I used to help Hel…uhhh….a friend cook meals when I was little," he said, sounding a little shady. They looked at him, wondering who he was talking about but quickly realized that it was probably something he didn't want to talk about yet so they left it alone.

"How good are you with Japanese dishes?" she asked, hoping that he could do it but still afraid he'd say no.

"I can make sushi and a few ramen dishes, but I can learn," he said, reluctant to help.

Yumi thought it over for a second before she came to the conclusion that it'd be a good idea. If anything, she could teach him some new things if he didn't know. Not only that but she actually wanted to make them dinner to celebrate that now they're all together in this. Since Ulrich trusts Michael, everything should get easier.

"I'd really appreciate it," she said, graciously accepting his offer. She didn't say it but she actually wanted him to help her. She could ask Ulrich but she wanted to have this opportunity to talk to Michael about something. She didn't want to talk to Ulrich because it was very personal and she felt that Michael would be the best to answer it. "We just need to keep things quiet though, I was lucky to convince them to let us do this."

"We all could use a break," said Aelita. "Keeping up with Xana, trying to free William and trying to keep up with our schoolwork and lives is stressful. It'll be good to take a night off."

"Yeah but will Xana?" Jeremy cautiously asked.

"You can bring your laptop just in case, I'll just tell Hiroki that we're studying," said Yumi. She looked at the clock and noticed that Study Hall was almost over. Her gently clapped her hands together and took a deep breath.

When the bell finally rang, everyone collected their things and walked out. Saying their goodbyes, everyone was anxious for tonight. After everything that's happened, they could use a nice break. Plus with Yumi and Michael cooking dinner, everyone was anxious to try what they make. But until then, they have a few classes until the end of the day. Then after that, it's off to Yumi's.

Find out what happens next in Part XXXIII: Yumi's Confession