Episode References: Double Take
"How long do you think it'll take for the upload to go through?" I said, having my head tilted sideways on my phone as I typed on the computer.
"A few minutes at the least, a half hour at the most. But we got the desert sector fully restored," Jeremy said. He was at the factory while I was sending data through his computer. His computer was more powerful than mine, so it would be more effective to use his while he handled things at the factory.
"That's good news, at least. What about those upgrades you were working for everyone?" I asked.
"Those are also in the works. I have to say, having some help on this really speeds everything," Jeremy said.
"I know. It's hard to do everything yourself. But sooner or later, things'll be right where they're supposed to be. With Lyoko restored and us kicking XANA's ass," I told him before sitting upright. "Anyway, I'll start working on restoring the mountain sector. You can focus on the upgrades."
"Will do. Thanks," Jeremy said, cutting off the call. I put my phone on my desk before cracking my knuckles. I had a lot of work ahead of me.
Code. I had seen a enough of it to last a lifetime. Even compared to a tech designer. All of the sectors were built on big walls of code, and each individual sector was built on very specific code. Atmosphere, setting, tower locations, etc. The code altered every now and then, but the structure was the same for the most.
The problem was that the coding went on for miles. Which is understandable because theoretically, the sectors are pretty much endless. The coding was more tedious and time consuming than it was difficult. Even if you could type fast.
"I'm in for a long few hours," I thought as I took a sip from the bottle of water I had next to me. And I wasn't wrong.
I sat there for about two hours just typing away. I had long ran out of water, so there went any hope of hydration until I felt like getting up. But I felt like if I got up, I wouldn't want to come back. So staying was probably the better option. At least the music player I had in my ears was helping with the boredom.
I felt a tap on my shoulder all of a sudden, and I turned to see Aelita standing there. I removed my headphones while turning my neck.
"Where's Jeremy?" she asked.
"He's at the factory working on a few upgrades for everyone," I said as I turned my back and cracked it. Felt amazing. "Anyway, I'm busy myself. Writing the code the mountain sector takes forever."
"How long have you been here?" Aelita asked.
"Two hours," I said, rubbing my eyes.
"And you haven't eaten in that time period?" Aelita asked with a raised brow, making me laugh a little.
"Surprising, isn't it? Anyway, I..." I said before letting out a huge yawn. "I need to get back to work."
"Has Jeremy gotten to you?" Aelita questioned.
"A little. I know how important this is, and I know that even though he can do all the work himself, he shouldn't have to. So I at least want to finish the mountain sector by the end of the day. Or almost done with it," I said, starting to type again.
"When me and Jeremy worked on restoring Lyoko and Sector Five, it took about a week between the both of us working. Restoring the sectors won't take as much time, but it'll still take a lot," Aelita told me.
"I know that. It's all the more reason why I need to get a head start. I'm not going to skip class often like Jeremy does, but a lot of my free time is going to have to go into this," I said, turning back to the computer.
"It wouldn't hurt for you to take a break," Aelita said.
"I know it wouldn't. But I have the strangest feeling if I get up, I'm never going to come back," I said, making her laugh lighly.
"Oh, I know that feeling very well. Well, if you're set on this..."
"I am. I'm sure the others can provide some company. Feel free to stay and watch me code if you want. Or if you feel like helping Jeremy with his upgrades, that's cool too," I told her.
"I think I'll opt for hanging out with the others, thanks. But at least let me do you a favor," Aelita said.
"And that favor is?" I questioned, trying not to take my eyes off the computer. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw her grab my water bottle.
"Since you feel like you can't leave the chair, I'll go refill this for you," Aelita said, making me smile.
"Thanks. Water helps with staying awake," I told her as she nodded and walked out.
"Boy, oh boy. I can't believe Jeremy could even think for a second stuff like this could remotely be counted as fun. Maybe I should introduce him to video games. They're not as good in this dimension, but I'm sure they have a few good ones," I thought as I continued to type.
"You're welcome," Aelita said with a grin as she laid the bottle next to me.
"Thank you very much," I said as I cracked my knuckles. Then I saw her nick my headphones. "Hey, those help with the boredom. Go get your own."
"But yours are right here. It's convenient," Aelita said with a grin. "If you want them, I suppose you'll have to... get up."
"Then I suppose..." In a quick movement, I stood up from the chair and grabbed the player and the headphones before holding them out of her reach. She moved close while standing on the tips of her toes to try and reach, but I was too tall. I was grinning at her futile attempts.
"There's a reason knights protect princesses. We're imposing figures," I said right before her hands suddenly went for my armpits. That caught me off guard and I bent my knees from trying not to laugh, but it was all she needed to take them from my grasp. "Well played."
"I would like to think so," Aelita said right as I wrapped one arm around her waist and the other reaching for the headphones. Unlike her, I had the necessarily arm length to grab them from her when she tried to hold them out of reach.
"Stop. We're going to give this cord a shortage if we keep playing like this," I said with a small grin.
"We might. But I at least I got you to lighten up," Aelita said with a grin.
"Thanks. I needed that. I wish Jeremy had a more comfortable chair. That one is the devil," I said, pointing at the chair in question.
"It certainly doesn't look all that comfortable," Aelita said, tilting her head at it.
"It's not. Believe me. Save your butt the strain," I told her as I sat back down and got back to typing.
"I'll go meet the others. Do yourself a favor and try not to kill yourself working on the program," Aelita said.
"I definitely promise you that I won't do that. I like life. I love seeing the sun," I said dryly.
"Just making sure," Aelita said with a grin before walking out. I shook my head, still grinning as I went back to typing up the code.
"Something about this girl gets anyone to lighten up," I thought cheerfully. I found that I wasn't having as bad of a time as before.
"Ok, I've had about all I can take," I said as I sat down for lunch.
"What were you doing?" William asked me. It took some insistence from Yumi most of all, but I insisted that William sit with us. If he was going to be part of the group, he needed to be treated like it. It would also help with seeing whether or not he was maturing enough to be allowed on Lyoko.
"Rewriting the mountain code sector. It's not so much difficult as it is time consuming," I said as I noticed we were minus one person. "Jeremy not coming?"
"Nope. I called him. He said he would rather spend the time working. At least you have the common sense to stop working every few hours," Aelita said, stabbing her food. The rest of us were all somewhat wide eyed by the bitterness in her tone.
"You know Einstein. He wouldn't be able to take a break if you paid him," Odd said somewhat jovially, trying to brighten the mood.
"Hey. What he's working on is important," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I know that. It's just... There are some things about him that I can't fathom for the life of me. It's why..." Aelita suddenly snapped her mouth shut, and I tilted my head and the gesture.
"What?" I asked.
"It's just... something I've been thinking about," Aelita said, turning away from me. I didn't miss the slight redness of her cheeks. Don't what she was thinking about that got her all flustered, but I would leave it be.
"Anyway, how's the code coming along?" Ulrich asked me.
"Do you remember Mrs. Hertz's two hour lecture last week?" I questioned.
"No. I was half asleep during the whole thing," Ulrich said.
"I didn't mean literally. I'd rather listen to that then type up the code. Because at least her lecture has an end in sight," I told him.
"That bad? We got that lecture earlier than you all did," William told me.
"Yes, that bad. But I'd rather not talk about that, and I'm not meaning to mimic Jim," I said, making everyone grin. "How about the rest of you? How'd you all get along?"
"I've been occupying my time with homework," Yumi said.
"Unfortunate. Odd?" I questioned.
"Been practicing fighting with Ulrich. I don't know why, but I decided to let him teach me a few things," he said, shaking his head.
"And how is your young grasshopper?" I questioned in a cliche Chinese accent, making Ulrich grin.
"He's fast and flexible, but he's horrible at picking up some of the moves," he said.
"Hey! I could be the next Bruce Lee if I wanted to!" Odd exclaimed, making all of us laugh.
"Yes Odd. I'm sure you could,"I said with a placating tone, reaching across the table and giving him a mock pat on the shoulder. Which made the volume of laughter increase.
"William?" I asked.
"Took a trip into town, got something to eat. And um... I picked this up," he said, handing me a badge of some sorts. But I grabbed it, and the material on it didn't feel fake. It felt real. I looked at him.
"What is this?" I asked.
"It's one of my grandfather's war badges. After he died, he left me a few," William said, making me try and hand the badge back to him.
"Oh, no. I can't take this," I told him.
"Yes you can. And you will. Not only do I have more than one from him, but you saved my life. You could've died for doing what you did," William said, his expression and tone never looking and sounding so serious. "Whether everyone knows it or not, you saved my life. And I caused the problem because of my own stupidity. All in all, I'd say you deserve it."
I looked at William before looking at the badge in my hand. It was a bit much to take in. This was the badge of a war veteran. The badge of a... hero. I could never think of myself as anything relating to a hero. More than anything, I just wanted to help my friends. And here I was being handed a war badge. Like I had done something to equate to that amount of hard work and suffering.
"Look, I'm sure if he were alive and knew what you did to save my life, he'd probably give you one himself. So just take it," William insisted.
"I'm... kind of lost for words," I said, looking back up at him.
"You don't have to say anything. I swear on everything I own that I will not let you down for deciding to trust me," William said firmly. Everyone was looking at him when he said this. And then I could see it. This type of... shift in him. This change.
"Then I'll hold you to that," I said, making him nod. I then pocketed the badge. I couldn't necessarily wear it. People would ask where it came from, and I didn't have an answer for that. But the gesture itself... that was more than enough.
"It seems someone else realized just how amazing you are," Aelita said with a gentle smile. I blushed slightly from the compliment, but a smile crept onto my face. That feeling... holy crap, that feeling. That was the warm feeling of being acknowledged. Except it was more intense.
"Thank you. All of you. I can't really stress this enough, but thank you. You've all changed me. Into someone that actually does something. Into someone that's willing to give everything to help someone besides himself," I told them.
"And we have to thank you as well. You've changed us all as well. You made us have to look beyond what we're used to seeing and make us look at the bigger picture. What else is out there," Aelita said.
"What else is out there..." For some reason, that statement stuck to me. And my eyes went to the pink haired girl in front of me.
"Nope. Nope. Now is not the time. Now is not the time to be crushing on one of your friends. You will fuck everything up if you do it," my mind insisted. I forced myself to get my thoughts back to the present before I looked up and saw everyone staring at me curiously.
"I need a new word for overwhelmed, because that's what I'm feeling right now, only more intense. Before I came here, I would never think that I would actually do something like this. Saving lives and being appreciated like this. This feeling... there's no way to describe how good I feel to have friends like this," I explained. It was a bit of a redirect of my thoughts that I was trying to get in order, but the statement was still very truthful.
"No matter where we end up after school, we'll all be able to grow up knowing we did something worthwhile," Ulrich said.
"I think saving the world qualifies as something more than 'worthwhile,'" Odd said with finger quotes, making us all laugh.
"We all deserve medals for what we're doing. But we don't tell anyone. We do it in secrecy because it's the right thing to do," Yumi said.
"There's a saying I've heard before. 'Everyone eventually has to make a choice of what is right and what is easy.' Big or small," I told them.
"That statement is very true. Keeping all of this a secret and trying to balance a normal life is not easy," Yumi said.
"But it's the right thing to do," Aelita said, making all of us nod.
"How long have you all been doing this stuff?" William asked.
"Since the start of last year. We met Robert not long after," Odd said.
"That's a long time to be fighting this XANA," William said.
"It's worth it. It's all been worth it," I said, looking at the others. We all shared a knowing smile.
We all then continued to eat before starting to talk about, well, anything. Everything. It was those moments of normalcy that I loved. That were able to act like regular kids and pretend like we didn't battle homicidal AIs. I knew I went over this fact so many times, but it didn't make it any more meaningless. It just solidified the fact that I knew what we were doing was right.
The moment felt incomplete. That was probably because we were down one Lyoko Warrior and friend, who was still at the computer. Aelita had a point. It was really kind of impossible to comprehend what went on in Jeremy's mind. He was crossing a line between being driven and obsessed with taking XANA down. After a while, he may forget what it's like to be a regular person after XANA is gone.
"Boo!" Aelita exclaimed, making me have to restrain from acting on my reflexes.
"If I didn't know your voice, I would've smacked you so hard out of reflex," I said, trying to relax my muscles.
"You've been in deep thought a lot. Shall I offer a penny for your thoughts?" Aelita said, putting her chin on my shoulder as she looked at me. This looked so weird while were were walking. I didn't mind it as much as I should've.
"Well..." I didn't think it was the best idea to mention Jeremy considering what she said earlier. That bitterness was a bit uncharacteristic of her. "...I'm still thinking everything over. It's a lot to take in."
"What is? The fact William is showing the fact that he appreciates someone?" Odd said with a grin.
"Hey, I'm not afraid to tell someone I appreciate them!" William said in an indignant voice, making all of us laugh.
"He knows that. Since you're new to how Odd works, you'll have to realize that you never want to take Odd serious most of the time. To be honest, you should know that even though you're not in the group," Ulrich said with a grin. William shook his head, a grin creeping onto his face.
"True," he said as he pointed a finger at Odd. "I'll remember that."
"If I have it my way, you'll never know when it comes," Odd said with a grin.
"One thing I have to bring up. I know for a fact that Jeremy can't afford to miss track. He's been skipping Phys Ed a lot lately," Ulrich said.
"You're right. Call him about it," I told him as I took a seat on the bench.
"How far did you get on the mountain sector program?" Aelita asked me.
"Fairly far. The codes take forever to write, but I'm like a quarter of the way through. Recreating the entire sector is no cake walk," I said.
"I told you," Aelita said.
"Yeah, well... it has to be done. And there was only so much I felt like doing without feeling like I was going to die of boredom," I told her.
"I can take on some the workload tomorrow. Just show me where you left off on the code, and I can take it from there," Aelita said.
"Sure you want to spend a weekend working on that code?" I asked.
"I don't want to. I'd rather play with the mixing board or help you with your guitar playing. But like you said. It's a necessary evil," Aelita said.
"It'll be over. Eventually," I said as I turned back to Ulrich, who was still on the phone with Jeremy. But not longer after I looked, he hung up. "What did he say?"
"He said something about improvising for the class. Whatever that means," Ulrich said.
"Probably make a duplicate of himself. Because of the extra tower encryption, he can certainly do it without XANA taking it over," I told him.
"That sounds about right," Ulrich said as he stood up while putting his phone in his pocket. "Anyway, we have a few minutes before we're due for Phys Ed. What should we do in the meantime?"
"Just do something until it's time to leave. Whatever Jeremy's going do, I'm sure it'll handle his situation well enough," Aelita said, making me nod.
We ended up near the vending machine where Odd was busy trying to get the damnable thing to work. Ulrich was next to him, and Yumi was showing Aelita something her phone. I was over at the side talking with William.
"You know dealing at you at times was like dealing with a very stubborn bull. But I have to say that you are changing for the better," I said with a smile.
"I feel like you would've been the only one to give me a chance," William said.
"Which is ironic because I was the main person out of all of us who wanted to keep you out. More than anything, I was looking out for everyone's best interests," I told him.
"But now..." William trailed.
"Now you may be able to help us instead of being an unwilling participant of hurting us," I told him.
"I would definitely prefer that," William said with a nod. I then looked over and saw Jeremy heading towards us.
"I don't believe it," Odd said.
"He sure got ready fast," Yumi said.
"Hey," I said, waving at him. But he took the can he was holding and kicked it multiple times before it landed in the bin. "I'm going to assume clone."
"What makes you say that?" the clone asked with a wide grin. But then my phone rung, and I immediately answered it.
"Yup. It's a clone," Jeremy said over the phone.
"Thought so. You know Jeremy, you could just take a break," I suggested.
"I will once I finish the upgrades. Besides, you already know I'm not the biggest fan of Phys Ed anyway," Jeremy told me.
"I know that, but still. It wouldn't hurt to visit," I said.
"I'm close now. I promise I will after this, alright?" Jeremy said.
"Alright. I'll leave you to it then," I said, hanging up the phone. I shook my head as I put it back in my pocket. "Well, I guess we're heading to class with..." I cut myself off as I saw Jeremy's clone against the wall while looking at Aelita, his glasses lowered. By the looks of things, Aelita was not very comfortable with the look.
"Um... what did I miss?" I asked.
"Apparently Jeremy's clone is the biggest flirt in the universe," Yumi said, jerking a thumb towards the clone.
"Alright, calm there Casanova. Just get ready for Phys Ed," I told him. He nodded and stepped back. Aelita gave me a grateful look, and I nodded before the bell rang. Perfect timing.
I changed into a light black T-shirt and sweat pants for the class, and I met up with the others for the class. Except Yumi and William. They had Mrs. Hertz's class right now.
I idly held my hands behind my back as I looked at Jim talking to Jeremy's clone. Jim never missed an opportunity to make a field day out of making Jeremy look bad every time he showed up. When he did show up. He didn't mind missing Phys Ed as opposed to his other classes.
"One of these days, you're going to burn up in all of that black," Aelita said with a grin.
"I like the color," I said with a smile.
"So it seems. I have to say, it would be refreshing to see you in something other than black, blue, and/or red," Aelita said.
"How about this. That day will come when you wear something other than pink. We'll make a day out of it," I told her.
"I'll take you up on that deal," Aelita said, holding out her hand. I shook it with a grin. It'd be an interesting day when Aelita shows up to school in something other than pink. I guess the same could go for me showing up in something other than black. I might just go with white as a stark contrast.
"Jim!" The voice of Mrs. Hertz suddenly pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see her looking out of the window, an irritated expression on her face. "You're worse than those barbarians who burned down the Alexandria Library!"
"Thank you Susanne!" Jim said, raising two fingers.
"That's not a compliment," I told him.
"It's not?" he questioned. I groaned and shook my head. Jim turned back to pay attention to the clone Jeremy's excellent performance as far as his throwing arm. But that barely happened before my phone started to ring. "Yeah?"
"XANA's started an attack. Luckily enough, your program still holds as far as him trying to take over the tower. There was definitely an attempt to interfere with it," Jeremy said.
"Alright. We'll get there as soon as we can," I told him.
"XANA?" Odd asked.
"Yup. We need to get to the factory," I said. Odd and Ulrich began to slide over, and I followed their lead.
"Stern! Della-Robbia! Morgan!" Jim suddenly exclaimed, making them stop in their tracks. "Go on! Pick yourselves a lane, and see how you are in the four hundred meters against Belpois."
"While he's focusing on us, you can slip out towards the factory," I whispered at Aelita before standing to my feet. I cracked my neck before walking onto the field. I then looked at Jeremy's clone.
"We need a way to slip out," I told him, making him smirk.
"Leave it to me," he said.
"On your marks. Get set. Bang!" he exclaimed before Jeremy's duplicate ran off in the blink of an eye. But instead of going forward, he went backward. And Jim was rendered unconscious soon after.
"That works," I said as Jeremy's clone pretended to fake concern for his unconscious state. It was a perfect distraction to get away.
"Those activated towers are dead useful," Ulrich said as we caught up to Aelita.
"Yes, they are. He'll keep everyone distracted while we can slip out with ease," I said.
"Was definitely a good idea to spend time on that program," Aelita said, making me smile as I removed the manhole cover. I took a last look around the area. Never knew if someone was tailing us.
But suddenly I found myself launching and I ended up landing in the water. My reflexes for swimming kicked in, and I made my way to the surface. I was even more grateful for those swimming lessons Jeremy gave me.
"Son of a bitch," I said, spitting water out as I climbed out on the side where I got knocked off. I looked over and saw Aelita running ahead while Ulrich and Odd were defending themselves against a possessed Jim. It seems he got away from Jeremy's clone.
I backed off before rushing in after Odd got kicked back. My first two punches were deflected, but I lashed out at his stomach with a kick as Ulrich kicked his leg and lowered him into a kneel.
"Let me try," Odd said, making me immediately move to the side. Odd ran up and jumped and dropkicked him in the face. Then I ran up to his face and jumped, my knee landing on his face with a crunch.
"Oh, Jim's going to hate me for that one," I said as shook my head free of water. Then I pooled the water out of my ears as Jeremy's clone caught up.
"I missed the fight?" Jeremy's clone asked, quickly catching up. "He caught me off guard."
"Yeah, he's out for now. But it's good to make sure he won't get up. Keep an eye on him," I said, making him nod. Then we continued towards the factory. I ended up removing my shirt and started wringing it out.
"Run into any... problems?" William questioned as he looked at me wringing out my shirt.
"He possessed Jim and caught up to us. I got knocked into the water. Once again, I thank you for those swimming lessons," I said.
"You're welcome. Aelita, are you alright?" Jeremy asked.
"I'm fine," Aelita said, waving a dismissive hand. I looked towards Yumi, who was looking away slightly. But she had a strange expression on her face. William had a similar one on his face.
"Why are you all looking like that?" I asked.
"It's not important. We need to get on Lyoko," Yumi said. But I had the strangest feeling she was holding back a laugh. But why?
"Yumi's right. William, I need you to stay here. My clone can definitely keep going, but there's a fairly high chance that Jim will be able to overpower him, so having you here to help defend is a good precaution," Jeremy said.
"Sounds like a plan," William said with a nod.
"And the rest of us will head to the scanners," I said I put my somewhat damp shirt back on.
Me, Aelita and Yumi were the first ones on Lyoko followed by Odd and Ulrich. I smiled as I looked at the others' redesigns.
"I see you finally got your reskins," I said with a smile.
"So did you," Aelita said, pointing at me. I looked down, and she was right. Rather than my traditional Ceremonial Jedi Robes that I had grown fond of, it was replaced something I liked a little bit more.
It was a lightly armored black ninja outfit that revealed nothing but my eyes. I was reminded of the vigilante outfit from the Arkham Origins game. Only it was something similar to black knight armor, rather than a full on ninja look with robes.
"This is fucking sweet," I said, admiring the look of the costume.
"Looks good," Aelita said with a nod.
"You don't look so shabby yourself," I said, crossing my arms and looking at her costume up and down.
"Don't stare too long genius," I thought, mentally snapping myself out of my trance.
"These twin blades will definitely help. I can finally find out how useful it is," Ulrich said, looking at me.
"They're dead useful when things come down to the wire, trust me," I told him with a nod.
"I can definitely get down with this style as well," Odd said, looking at himself.
"I love that skirt Aelita," Yumi said.
"And those shoulder pads aren't bad either," Aelita complimented.
"Hey, you all can discuss fashion later. The activated tower is north by northwest," Jeremy told us.
"Once we're done here, we'll discuss how fabulous we all look," I said in a cliche feminine voice while pretending to flip my hair, making everyone laugh. But Aelita hopped on my back while the others climbed on their vehicles as we went towards the tower.
"And there it is," I said as we began to approach it. Guarded by two mega tanks and four tarantulas.
"Looks like we got some company," Ulrich said as I ignited my sabers.
"Aelita, you've got some wings now. You can use them to help with getting an aerial advantage on the monsters," Jeremy told her.
"Really?" Aelita said. "Well, how do I use them?"
"They should automatically deploy if you're falling out of the air, but I'm sure with practice, you'll be able to deploy them any time," Jeremy said.
"I'll figure it out," Aelita said as she jumped from my back and her wings deployed.
"I hope you enjoy jumping from my back," I said as I threw out a push to briefly stun a tarantula that was shooting at me. I was deflecting rounds from the other tarantulas as I spun in the air and slashed the stunned tarantulas' target area before I flipped out of the way of a mega tank blast.
"They really don't like you, do they?" Odd said as he rained down arrows. He destroyed one tarantula with the volley.
"For good reason, I suppose. He must've thought he got rid of me," I said, charging energy in my hand. I then lashed out with the charged energy, knocking the remaining two tarantulas down and forcing the mega tanks to roll back a few meters. Then, putting my lightsabers on my waist while turning on my heel in a flourish, I lashed out with lightning and stunned the tarantulas. The mega tanks' protective shells prevented them from being stunned, so they opted on rolling towards me. I halted the lightning before jumping out of the way of the mega tanks, causing them to hit each other and bounce back.
"Stupid pinballs," I said as Ulrich leaped from his Overbike and ran towards the fallen monsters.
"Impact!" Ulrich exclaimed as he stabbed a fallen tarantula. Then he used his Super Sprint to run to the other one and then impale the other one.
"Good. Now the tanks," I said as one opened its targeting area to charge up for a blast.
"Oh, now you don't!" Yumi exclaimed as she threw a fan at the tank and hit its targeting area right as it deployed its blast. I easily side stepped the blast, but I felt myself being lifted off the ground as I was barely moved to the side to dodge the second one.
"That was oddly strategical on their part. Thanks," I said.
"Think of it as partial payment of the many times you've saved me," Aelita said with a grin as she summoned an energy ball to her hand while turning to face the tank.
"Duplicate!" Ulrich said, all versions of him helping to surround the tank. I smirked as Odd and Yumi floated side by side in front of the tank.
"Should I feel sorry for the poor thing?" I said, tilting my head at the tank.
"Nope," Aelita said as it opened up to fire a blast.
"Thought not," I said as activated a saber and threw it into the tank's target area in the blink of an eye. I then moved my arms as if a wave was traveling through them before turning on my heel and raising my hands in the air.
"What was that?" Aelita asked, looking at me with a hand on her hip.
"That was me actually enjoying the situation," I said as I jerked a thumb towards the tower. "But you've got business to take care of princess."
"Duly noted," Aelita said dryly as she went to go activate the tower. I looked back, and Odd was unmistakably smirking at me.
"What?" I asked, raising my arms.
"Oh, nothing," he said, turning away.
"Alright, I feel like everyone knows something I don't," I said, looking between everyone.
"That's because we do. Don't worry. We'll tell you at a later point if you haven't already figured it out," Ulrich said with a smirk, making me point a finger at him.
"Mark my words. I'll figure it out," I said.
"In all honesty, I hope you do," Ulrich said, making me raise an eyebrow. I had absolutely no idea what he meant by that. Knowing my luck, it would probably be something that's staring me right in the face.
A/N: I don't know anything about William's grandparents, so I could improvise for that scene. I liked writing it.