Angel: Last episode of the season! I am on episode 79, so I will hopefully continue updating the way I have. Somewhere down the line, though, I might have to change it to one day just so I can get back on track. I usually stick to three days because of my schoolwork, in which something from all four of my classes has to be done by Fridays or Sundays, depending on the class. It works for me right now.
Oh, and to my Spanish reviewer, hopefully she can understand because I don't speak Spanish XD But Odd has been jealous before! It happened in Final Mix (35), Ultimatum (43) and XANA's Kiss (45), where he was jealous of Christophe twice. He also admitted that he gets jealous whenever a guy besides Ulrich and Jeremy is near Amy. Just because he didn't act upon his feelings for her doesn't mean it doesn't count on being jealous. Hopefully you've read those 3 episodes, because I know I've written Odd being jealous before.
Amy has never dated anyone besides Odd anyway, so he is her first boyfriend, and she is his first actual girlfriend. I probably should've made that clear, but oh well, kinda late for that XD
It's late at night while the others are in the factory. They're just about to make William a part of the group, and just like everyone else, he had to go through the scan that makes him remember everything that happens.
"You swear not to give away the secret?" Yumi asks him, surrounded by everyone except Jeremy. "I swear it."
"Good answer, William. Now for the final step, the scanner. We're going to record a virtual image of you in the supercomputer. After that, you'll be immune to the returns to the past. That'll really make you part of the group."
"Well? You're ready? You scared?" Ulrich questions and he turns around
"Me? No, why? What about you? Were you scared the first time?"
"No," He denies and Odd glances over his shoulder.
"Oh yeah right."
"I'm telling you, I wasn't scared," Ulrich glares at his friend.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I mixed you up with another Ulrich Stern. Jeremy told me all about it!"
Amy giggles as Ulrich grunts at him. "Hey, you can still change your mind," Yumi speaks up.
"Are you kidding?" He chuckles, stepping into the scanner. He slowly turns around and Jeremy starts up the scan.
"Scanner William."
His avatar appears on the screen and Jeremy smiles once it's done. "Welcome to the club, William."
The scanner opens and he leans against it slightly, eyes closed. "Well tell us, how do you feel now?" Odd wonders as they stare. He opens his eyes with a smirk.
"Ready to take on XANA and his monsters. And I just can't wait to see what I look like on Lyoko."
"Get real," Yumi crosses her arms. "XANA is much more dangerous and devious than you can imagine."
"Plus, before you can put up a decent fight on Lyoko, it's gonna take time. A lot of time," Ulrich adds in.
"At first, you'd better just hang back to check things out, and to try to learn," Aelita points to her eye.
"Okay, okay," He laughs, stepping out. "Don't flip out. I'm not the kind of gut who tries to steal the show."
Yumi looks doubtful at that statement, as she's seen him try to show off before. "It's just that...we've been fighting XANA for over a year. He's adapted, and you were just made into the group. You're a rookie, and our enemy has gotten much stronger," Amy holds up a finger. "Just watch us and learn piece by piece."
The six exit the elevator. Jeremy wasn't coming along as he was still working on how to get them to Sector 5 successfully.
"I'm really hoping that XANA doesn't go on the attack tomorrow. I'm signed up for the inter Academy skateboard championship! And I'm gonna win it too!" Odd smiles and Amy hugs his arm.
"I'll be in the front row cheering you on!"
Aelita giggles at the two. "You're not someone who likes to steal the show either," Yumi replies with a small smile.
"Odd is right, because in life, you should always aim for the top!"
"Why not? That way when you fall back down, you crash a lot harder," Ulrich jokes, causing all of them to laugh.
"So...can I ask," William starts off, glancing between Amy and Aelita. "How are you two sisters again?"
"Half-sisters," Amy corrects him, giving Aelita a brief look. She nods and they turn to him. "We have the same father...Franz Hopper. He's also the one who created Lyoko, and virtualized Aelita there. But he had given up his form to save us both. Though there was a piece of him saved, and so Jeremy's been working on a program to locate him! I didn't know about him until Jeremy had accessed his files...about how he helped my mom have me through insemination. He wanted to take me there too someday, but she refused, and I lived unaware of my past until a few months ago."
"Wow...that's deep," William blinks at her. He can definitely see that the two girls have the same pink from their hair, with Amy's streaks being the same color as Aelita's hair. But when he saw them the first time, he never thought that they'd be actually related.
"Yeah..." She sighs a bit. "But I've accepted it. I've only gotten the full story from my mom. Her...ex husband won't tell me a thing." Sometimes it still felt weird saying that.
The next morning, everyone competing in the competition having already arrived in the gym. There's a ramp in the middle of the court. "Thanks for coming with me, Ulrich," Odd says as he's lacing himself up. Ulrich and Amy are sitting at the stairs in front of him.
"Well somebody's gotta pick you up and dust you off every time you face plant. I mean, what are friends for, Odd?"
"Ha ha," Amy deadpans, lightly hitting him in the arm. "I've seen him practice, Ulrich. He's gonna win!" She pumps a fist. "I know you can do it, pudding pop!"
"Thanks, my little lady," He winks towards her.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Jim booms from the top of the stairs. "Kadic Academy is very proud to welcome you all today to this grand skateboarding championship. I'm sure all of you are going to knock us out with your knollies, your ollies, your kick flips, and other Smith grinds."
"Wow, incredible! You're really up on your skateboarding, Jim," Ulrich compliments him.
"Yep, I sure am. Actually, I was a roller derby champion way back in the 70s."
"That must've been around the same time he got into disco," Amy whispers to Odd, giggling.
"Oh, what a shame that you'd rather not talk about it?" Ulrich asks knowingly.
"Actually, I'd be glad to, but I don't have the time." He blows the whistle, the brunette blinking rapidly. That was a first for Jim. "Okay, into the pipe, all of ya!"
He sits at the top of the ramp, two boys ready to start. One of them is Christophe as Jim blows again. The two take off, but immediately fall as they tried to get back to the other side of the ramp. The crowd winces as it looked bad.
Another blow and it's Tania against another boy. Once they start, they fall once they get to the middle, a skateboard hitting Tania's head.
Next one up is Odd, Amy waving from the crowd. Odd waves back with a happy smile and starts. Unlike everyone else, he pulls out some impressive tricks. They start clapping, cheering at his moves. Ulrich stands up and pumps a fist. Amy gets onto her feet, bouncing up and down as she claps for him. He finishes off, the whole audience cheering.
"And there you go. The perfect combination of exceptional skills and incredible elegance! In a word, classy."
"That was amazing, Odd!" Amy is about to run over to him when a girl skateboards in front of her, facing Odd.
"Hey Odd."
He looks to see Sam in front of the brunette. "Great run out there."
"S-S-Sam?!" He stutters in surprise, falling off his skateboard. "How are you?"
"Not bad."
"Now that was real class," Ulrich replies smugly, Amy narrowing her eyes at the girl's head.
A beep goes off from Jeremy's computer, him and Aelita in his room. They were testing out a program. "Hey, it works!"
"Really?" Aelita asks happily.
"Yeah! Thanks to this program, we should be able to find your father on Lyoko."
"Let's go and check it out in the lab right now!" Aelita replies eagerly.
"Without Amy?"
"I want it to be a surprise for her!" The girl smiles at him. "As a thank you for everything she's done for me. She is my older sister, after all."
Tamiya is recording as Milly comes on screen. "And this is the room of our man of the hour, Jeremy Belpois!"
She knocks and he answers it. "Huh? What are you doing here?"
"You're kidding! Don't tell us you forgot," Milly smiles up at him.
"We're filming you for a whole day for our special edition of the Kadic Herald: A Day in the Life of Jeremy Belpois!" Tamiya explains to the boy.
"You are?" He forgot that he agreed to do it. With everything that's happened, it's easy to push things like this aside. "I did forget, completely. I'm sorry, but I have too many things to do today."
"Great! We wanted to film the Kadic Academy Valedictorian during his busy day. We've already filmed Kadic Academy Salutatorian, Amelia Smith! We even got her in some cute moments with Odd!"
"You won't even know we're there, I swear," Tamiya promises him.
"Don't worry, I'll go to the computer lab by myself," Aelita whispers to Jeremy. "I'll call you after I've tested the program."
"Okay!" He turns to the girls. "I'm all yours now."
They hum happily to his agreement.
Other skateboarders are doing their turn while Odd is talking with Sam. "Not that I'm saying I'm glad to see you, Sam, but aren't you supposed to be living somewhere out on the coast?" Odd wonders curiously.
"Yeah...I wonder just why you came back," Amy mutters, crossing her arms.
"I am, but I also signed up for the championship. I'm only here for the day."
"Samantha Knight," Jim announces and she turns back to him.
"My turn," She winks at him. "Don't move, I'll be right back."
Amy growls as she skates away. "How weird is that to run into her? I'd almost forgotten how she almost ruined my relationship with Ames!" The growl turns into a sigh in relief. For a moment there, she thought that he was happy to see her.
"And how you were really in love," Ulrich teases him.
"Come on! Can't you like somebody without being in love?" Odd retorts back.
"Sure I can, but you were totally in love, good buddy."
"I'm gonna get something to drink..." Amy murmurs, standing up and walking away.
"Hey, cool it with that kind of talk around Ames, okay?" Odd glares up at Ulrich.
"I wasn't the one who decided to not regard her feelings when you started seeing Sam."
"Huh? She liked me back then?" He asks in surprise, blinking.
"She got so jealous, it was practically obvious to everyone except you."
His eyes soften, staring at the back of his girlfriend's head near the drink station. He knew that she didn't like Sam, but it must've really upset her back then...
He glances to Sam skating and she winks at him again. "Well, I feel nothing for her. Nothing I say!" Odd crosses his arms.
"Odd...you and I know both know that she was different."
"Well so is Ames!" He turns around with a fierce look. "I wouldn't just forget about her."
Aelita is testing the program to locate her father when the Core appears on screen. "Oh no!"
"For breakfast, you like juice or milk?" Milly asks Jeremy as they're standing in the hall.
"Hot chocolate."
"Eggs or toast?"
"Cereal," He looks away, hoping this will be over soon.
"Butter or jam?"
"Maple syrup. Honestly, are you sure your readers care about this stuff?"
"Look Jeremy, I'm the reporter, and I know what our readers want to read," Milly defends fiercely and his phone rings. He smiles sheepishly at them.
"Aelita? Something wrong?"
"Yes, XANA has launched an attack on the chamber in the Core of Lyoko!" She reports to him.
"Okay, tell the others. I'll be there just as soon as I can."
"So you're the reporter? What does that make me, then? Jeremy's right, you know, those are stupid questions," Tamiya is arguing with her friend.
"If you have better ones, what's stopping you from asking them, huh?!"
"You are, okay?"
"Um, ladies," Jeremy speaks up nervously. "I have an idea. We can do this interview later on, after you two have finished fighting with one another."
"You're staying here until you finish answering my fascinating questions!"
He frowns at Milly.
Odd is doing his turn again, Sam watching him fondly. "Oh that Odd, he's so...so..."
"So messy, you wouldn't believe what his room looks like," Ulrich leans in a bit towards her, trying to make sure that she left his friend alone. Not just for Odd, but for Amy's sake as she looks like she wants to kill someone.
"He's like me. My room is a permanent disaster zone."
Amy squeezes her cup, the water spilling all over her hand. "You two aren't good together," Ulrich shakes his head rapidly. "Besides, he's not in love with you."
Before Sam can say anything, his phone rings. "Aelita?" He whispers into the phone. "No problem, I'll tell Odd and we'll be right there."
"Ulrich Stern," The principal speaks up, getting their attention. "Someone here would like to see you."
"Hello Ulrich," Mr. Stern greets him.
"Dad, but..."
"Amelia!"
A loud voice suddenly booms and the girl looks up to see her 'father' storming over. She glares at his presence.
"What's he doing here?" Ulrich whispers to her as the man looks mad.
"I don't know," Amy whispers back and her father grabs her arm, making her stand up. "Hey!"
He lets her go when they reach the wall. "We're going to have a talk."
"Dad, not here."
"You can use her room if you like," Mr. Delmas suggests, Amy rubbing a temple.
"I wanna settle this right here and now!" Mr. Smith yells, getting some of the students' attention.
"Stop it!" Amy hisses at him. "You wanna talk, then we do it in my room, but not here!"
Mr. Smith looks around as half the crowd is staring at them. He growls in defeat because there's a chance that someone would recognize him and report this to the news. His family business wasn't something to made public unless it was on his own terms.
Aelita calls up Yumi next. "Yumi, emergency. XANA's attacking the chamber at the Core of Lyoko!"
"Oh no, not today!" She laments, sitting up. "My parents are gone for the day, and I have to look after my brother. Okay, calm down, I'll sneak out when he's not looking."
"Dream on, sis."
"Huh?" She looks towards her door to see a smug Hiroki leaning in her doorway.
"What are you doing here?" Ulrich looks up at his dad.
"I'm worried about your grades, son, that's the reason I came. I think you and I have to talk."
"I'm sorry, but today...today's not a very good time," He rubs the back of his neck, seeing Amy and Mr. Smith still whispering.
"And I think the time is long overdue."
"It's just that I wasn't expecting to see you-"
"And I wasn't expecting to receive a report card as bad as yours was. Come with me now. Mr. Delmas was kind enough to lend his office."
Amy glances at Ulrich and they look around as they couldn't leave without letting Odd know what to do. Since he's skateboarding, they didn't want to distract him. Ulrich jerks his head towards Sam and Amy sighs slowly. She didn't want Sam telling Odd, but she's the only person they know who would understand.
"Sam?" Ulrich sits next to her. "Can you give Odd a message from us?"
"Yeah, sure," She glances at Amy, who's staring at her father. Sam could already tell Amy didn't want to look at her, and the feeling was mutual. Then she gasps as she sees the necklace Odd gave the brunette for Valentine's Day, gritting her teeth and glaring at her.
"Tell him to get to he-knows-where right away."
"Okay," She replies, watching the two teens leave with their fathers.
William is practicing out in the woods when Aelita calls him, a slightly worried look on her face. Everyone else seems to be too busy, unfortunately... "Yes? Aelita? Cool, great! I'll be right there." He runs over to the secret entrance.
"Wow!" Odd walks over to Sam and sits next to her. "Now this is what I call fun! Hey, where did Ulrich and my Ames go, Sam?"
She grits her teeth to herself at the nickname. Odd never gave her a nickname... "I dunno."
"They didn't say anything?" He asks in confusion, wondering why they left without a word. Amy would've at least mentioned something.
"...No," Sam lies again. Maybe if he stayed, she'd convince him that she was the right girl for him. Amy left even though this was important to him, but she didn't.
"Okay! Then tell me, how was I?"
"Wow, you really rock!" She smiles up at him, glad he's not suspicious.
"Come on, Hiroki! Do me a favor! Let me go and don't say anything to Mom and Dad. I'll make it up to you, I promise!" She pleads to her little brother, who's sitting in front of her door and blocking the way.
"You'll make it up to me how?" He asks curiously and she glances away, trying to think of something.
"Look, I'll...want me to give you my discman?"
"No~"
"Oh..." She sighs, looking away again. "I'll...I'll find you the entire saga of Surfer Zombie!"
"Johnny just lent it to me."
She frowns at her bad luck. "Mm...I'll...I'll do all your homework for a month!"
"Including my math homework?"
"Yes!" She smiles, hoping that he'll relent.
"Huh, interesting...but no."
She groans at this.
"If XANA's monsters destroy the sphere, Lyoko is gone for good and without Lyoko, we don't have any way to fight XANA!" Aelita explains to William once he's arrived.
"I read you, loud and clear. Well then, what are we waiting for?"
"For the others to get here," Aelita says obviously.
"They can meet up with us later, and from what I've heard about Mr. Smith, he's never gonna let Amy leave. Let's not waste time. After all, that's the reason you recruited me...right?"
However, she has a bad feeling about it, since he's inexperienced.
A couple of mushrooms are laying around in the science room. "Mycology is a very complicated science," Jeremy states to the camera while holding one. "It's the branch of botany that deals with all forms of fungi. There are several thousand species, and they range in form from a single cell to a mass body of branch filamentous hyphae that often produce specialized fruiting bodies. The kingdom includes easts, mold, smut, and mushrooms."
"That's what you call an interesting question?" Milly replies sarcastically.
"My question was fine, it's the answer that's a bore!" Tamiya states as Jeremy's phone rings again.
"Yes Aelita?"
"I'm sorry, but I've decided to take back control of this interview," Milly orders her.
"Oh sure, that's just typical. As soon as I'm the one to ask a question, you get all bent out of shape!"
"Completely untrue!"
"No it isn't!"
"Yes it is!"
"William's right, Aelita. Saving Lyoko takes top priority. So go in, and I'll be there as fast as I can to transfer Odd, Amy, Ulrich, and Yumi when they show up," Jeremy answers, and they can hear the arguing in the background.
"Okay, but don't drag your feet. Come on, let's go."
"Yeah!" William cheers at her.
"And that's just the way it's gonna be!"
"Uh, ladies, I have...uh, go to the bathroom," He speaks up, and the two stare at him. "You weren't planning on filming me in the bathroom?"
"I've started up the virtualization process, to bring us directly into Sector 5. We only have a few seconds to get to the scanner room and go in."
"Let's go," William rushes towards the ladder and she frowns at him, still unsure if this was the right thing to do...
"How long were you planning to shoot this door?" Milly wonders as Tamiya is filming the bathroom door.
"Interesting to know how long a really good student uses the bathroom, right?"
"Wrong!"
Jeremy climbs out the window, landing safely on the steps. And with that, he runs off.
Aelita and William both step into the scanners. A few seconds later, the doors close around them, William smiling smugly. They're both transferred, scanned, and sent to Sector 5. They land there safely and Aelita lands in front of William.
William examines his sword. "Wow...that's some pretty classic gear. And you? No weapon? You fight with your bare hands?"
She turns around, slowly getting annoyed with all of the questions. "What's your superpower?"
"This isn't a video game, William. Let me remind you that we have an important mission to accomplish!"
"Okay, okay, sorry," He nods at her, looking around. "So, where are the monsters?"
"Follow me, we only have a couple of minutes to trip a key lever that gets us into the chamber at the Core of Lyoko."
"Killer! This is 10 thousand times better than Galactic Battle!" He places his sword on his shoulder, following after Aelita. They only have 3 minutes to press the key.
Jeremy is in the sewers on his scooter, hoping that his friends weren't in any danger.
William runs in front of Aelita, both of them stopping in a room that is totally flat. "It's a movie set, wow!"
She searches for the key and points across the room. "The key, it's over there!"
"I'm on it!" He runs towards it.
"No, wait!" She tries to warn him, but it's too late as a pillar appears in front of him.
"What?' He asks in confusion, hearing a roar. "What's that noise I hear?"
"Creepers!" She turns to some appearing from a hole.
"Creepy crawlers? I love this! You take care of the key, I'll take care of these guys!" He lifts up his sword and it falls onto the ground. William picks it back up.
"Watch it, they can be really tough!"
"Works for me, so can I," He runs up towards them and she sighs wearily. They really should've trained him more...
"Geronimo!" William hollers and the two take off to deal with their perspective goals.
Amy opens the door and storms in, slamming it when her father enters. "What gives you the right to embarrass me like that in front of my boyfriend at his skateboarding competition?!" She yells loudly as soon as she faces him.
"Boyfriend? Boyfriend?!" He booms right back. "The heck he is! I come here to discuss your two Bs and I find out you have a boyfriend?!"
"Bs...?" She blinks at him slowly, her anger boiling. "You came here to yell at me...for Bs?!"
"Yes," He replies thinly. "You should be getting straight As. When you take control of my company-"
"No!" She interrupts sharply. "That's not the point! I don't even want to be a CEO! I wanna be an artist, Dad! Or should I even call you that?"
He chuckles at her exclamation and she stares at him. It's like she's looking at a totally different person...a crazy one.
"Oh, honey. An artist is not the job you're working for. By the time you graduate, you'll take over the company. And if you think you can get away with this, I'll not only drag you outta here, I'll take Della Robbia with me. He's a punk kid, a player. He doesn't care about you. He just wants to accomplish his romantic conquests. He'll break your heart, and he's not good enough for you. I've seen his grades, and they're horrible. Not to mention his family isn't financially stable enough to support you. You're too young to have a boyfriend, anyway. So if you can't understand that, then I'll make you see."
She pauses at his threat, not sure of what to do now...
"I really want to understand why your grades are so consistently poor," Mr. Stern demands to his son.
"It's just that I...can't seem to concentrate all the time." He can't say the real reason: that XANA sometimes affects his studies.
"Why not?"
"Well, you remember when you were my age."
"Yes! At your age, I had straight As. And I was preparing my college application!" He shouts at Ulrich, who sighs to himself.
Aelita dodges past pillars as they're coming out of nowhere now. She's almost to the key as William flings his sword around, firing little slashes at the monster. He cuts one and he smirks at one in front of him, slashing it to destruction. He then spins around and defeats three of them in one go.
"Wow! I can't believe it! I am the man!"
Aelita focuses on the key up ahead, with only 15 seconds left on the clock. A platform appears in front of her and she jumps onto it. She leaps onto another one and presses the key. She lands back on the floor, standing up.
"It's okay, William. Come over here," She calls out and he continues defeating monsters.
"Wait, just one or two more of them, okay? This is too cool," He runs up to two more and defeats them...but a wall appears between him and Aelita.
"William! No...!"
"Aelita. What's going on? Where are Ulrich, Odd, Amy, and Yumi?" Jeremy asks from the lab, as he's finally arrived.
"How would I know? Last time I checked, big sis was with Mr. Smith. The others aren't in the computer lab?"
"No."
"Hey, Jeremy," William speaks up. "There's this really weird-looking creature that just showed up." He backs away slowly. "Like some kind of uh...giant jellyfish?"
The Scyphozoa is floating right in front of William. "What?! Aelita, you have to get to William. Hurry! You have to go around the outside."
She appears in the hall, looking around and going left.
"Take the next hallway on your left. No, left! Faster, before the Scyphozoa goes after William! Take the corridor on the right, go on! William, get out of there, hurry up! William, do you hear me?"
"I'm not afraid of some dumb jellyfish," William replies arrogantly.
"William, just do what I say. I don't know what the Scyphozoa wants with you, but it can't be good!"
The jellyfish knocks the sword out of William's hand, and it slides to a stop. "Rats..." He's now defenseless against the monster.
Aelita stops, wondering where to go next.
"Aelita, check the next hallway on your left. It's not much further."
She does so and sees another opening. "William, get out of there right now! William, do you read me?!" Jeremy urges, but William just picks up his weapon.
"Relax. The Scyphozoa hasn't moved an inch. Must be scared of-whoa!" The tentacles touch him.
"I don't believe it! William's been captured by the Scyphozoa! Oh no! Aelita, XANA's possessed William through the Scyphozoa!"
"I'm almost there," She reports, finally reaching the room. The Scyphozoa flies away and William is kneeling nearby. He stands up slowly as she approaches him from behind. "William? Are you okay?"
He pants slowly...then turns around and reveals his XANA eyes. She gasps, backing away and firing her energy fields at him. He deflects them with the sword like it was nothing. He then devirtualizes her in one slash, roaring. This was his new self now...
Amy sighs slowly as she paces around. Odd hadn't done anything to suggest that he'd gone back to his womanizing ways. She didn't really care about his grades, because smarts weren't something she looked for in a guy. He makes her laugh, he supports her and her dreams, and he makes her happy... That was really all she wanted, and she could care less about how much money they had. Money didn't make the man that Odd is today. Instead, her 'father' is being a jerk, again. He can't control her like a puppet. Not after what she found out.
"I know about Franz Hopper."
His eyes widen as he looks at her. She turns away from him, looking out the window. "I know about him, and that he's my father. And I know that his daughter Aelita is my half-sister. So as far as I'm concerned, you're not my real father. The father I have would never hurt me like this."
"...Who told you that?"
"So you did know!" She yells, whipping around to him. "After months of calling and asking for the truth, you finally admit it! Why didn't you tell me, huh?! Why did you and mom have to lie to me, to my own face?!"
"Did your friends show you this?" He crosses his arms in denial. "I made sure those records were sealed. So how did you get across it?"
"It doesn't matter how I found out, and what my friends do is none of your business," She seethes, slowly walking up to him. "But since you're here, you're going to listen to me now. This is my life. I make my own decisions. So don't stand there and think you can threaten me or my friends. Because if word of this gets out, your whole world just falls apart if the judge finds out that you swept this under the rug."
He sweats a bit at her revelation. She knew that he'd lose everything if the news found out. "Is this how you're going to speak to me?"
"Oh, I'm not done," She shakes her head, chuckling bitterly. All of a sudden, she had all the confidence she needed to talk back to him. "You don't get to make my decisions for me anymore. If I want to be an artist, I can. I don't need your approval," She leans her head back in disgust.
"Amelia, if you don't stop, I'll cut off the money and then you'll be stuck here. And if you don't think I can, try me. My assets may have been gone, but I have a separate secret account that's still going towards your tuition."
"Fine! Go ahead, do it! But you know what happens if you do. Either way people will find out like I did about Hopper! You still lied, you can't just make it go away. You'll lose custody and I'll still be rebelling against you! So either you shut up and listen or I tell the press how you left your daughter on the streets!"
He seethes as he keeps his mouth shut.
"You're gonna continue funding, and I'm going to college to be whatever I choose to be. Odd and I are staying here. And you're no longer my father. All my life, you've hated. I hate what you say. I hate what you think. I hate you," She growls out. "Screw you for not telling me the truth. You don't care about me, you're making this all about you as usual."
"...Is that all?" He asks slowly, gulping at how she has the advantage. When he came here, he was expecting her to comply, not this conversation.
"Other than the fact that you don't get my friends involved in your problems...no. And to go to hell, now get out," She points to the door.
He says nothing, looking back at her one last time before he closes the door. Her phone rings and she answers it. "Yes?"
"Amy! Aelita told me that your dad showed up..." Jeremy starts off in concern. "Is everything okay?"
"...You know what, Jeremy? Yeah...I'm okay."
"I'm especially concerned about your friends, Ulrich. I don't think they're a very good influence on you. Especially that Odd and Amelia."
"How would you know?! You don't know my friends! You don't even know me in fact!" Ulrich argues back furiously. "We haven't spoken for a year!"
"That doesn't mean I don't know what is best for you!" Mr. Stern shouts back, standing up.
"Oh yeah and what's that?"
"That you show respect for your work! Need I remind you that I'm the one paying and you're costing me a small fortune!"
His phone rings and he answers it. "Yes Jeremy? Be right there. I've gotta go."
"I'm not finished speaking to you!" Mr. Stern narrows his eyes.
"Well I finished listening." And with that, he slams the door shut, leaving a shocked father...
"Take one more step and I'll tell Dad everything!" Hiroki threatens his sister at the front door. Her phone goes off and she answers it.
"Well what a coincidence, it's Dad. Go on and tell him."
He takes the phone as she smirks. "Daddy, Yumi wants to-" She walks right past him as he gives a look of confusion. "Hey, that's not Dad, it's Jeremy!"
She walks right out the door, no longer caring if she got into trouble with her parents. Her friends needed her. He glares at the entrance.
"Odd, what are you doing?" Ulrich asks into the phone while rushing to the park. "You're not in the computer lab?"
"Why should I be in the lab? I'm in the finals," Odd replies in puzzlement.
"But didn't Sam tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
As soon as he hears the explanation, he watches the girl finish her round and she smiles at him. "I'd like to see you top that!"
Odd narrows his eyes at Sam. "Sam, why didn't you give me Ulrich and Ames' message? It was really important."
"Important? Oh...I'm sorry, I just...I just really wanted you to stay. Amy isn't good enough for you, you know. She didn't keep her promise to stay for you. I stayed, and look where we are now. We're so lucky to be together again, even for a day, and I'm leaving tonight."
"Not good enough?!" Odd's hands turns into fists. "Ames is sweet, beautiful, funny, and I would rather be with her than be with a liar. If the reason she had to leave was important to her, it's important to me! I'm not sorry, Sam, but I'd rather have the girl I love."
Her mouth opens in shock at his confession. She thought Odd was just using Amy, but...he loves her?
"Now there's something I have to do," He walks past her.
"Even more important than hanging out with me?" She frowns and he comes to a stop, turning his head to her.
"Yes! And I don't want you around me or Ames again. I don't want to be with you, and I never will."
The whistle blows from Jim. "The next contestant is Odd Della Robbia." However, Odd has already left. "Odd?"
"I don't believe it!" Jeremy exclaims at what's going on.
"Ready," William orders all the monsters in the chamber room. All of them are Creepers...a whole bunch of them. "Yaaaa!" However, there's a slight hesitation in his eyes as he looks around...
"Jeremy, we're here," Yumi reports to him.
"At last! Get to the scanner room. I'll explain everything on the way."
The Creepers prepare their lasers, charging them up in their mouths. William holds his sword, which lights up. They all stare at the two shields from the heart.
Yumi and Amy are virtualized first. "Virtualization."
The two appear back to back, landing in the Arena. The boys appear soon after and they wait for the door to open. Once it goes, they run through the passage.
"Fire!" William orders, firing his own attack as all the monsters fire at the same time, immediately destroying the first shield.
"We've just lost the first shield layer!" Jeremy states as Aelita's mouth is open in shock.
They jump onto the elevator and it spins all the way before coming to a stop. They rush forward towards the door.
William prepares another attack. "If the second one goes..."
"Lyoko will disappear forever," Aelita finishes for Jeremy.
"And William along with it."
The four have reached the chamber, going up the flight of stairs. "At last, they're there now!"
Yumi flips to a stop in front of the others, and they look up to see what's going on.
"Fire!"
And with that, the second shield layer is gone.
"WILLIAM!" Ulrich shouts up at him. He finally notices the four and throws his sword. It lands nearby and he lands with a large thump, even leaving a hole in the floor.
"He doesn't look too happy to see us," Odd comments as he's across them.
"Yep. Looks like me when I saw my father," Ulrich mutters and Amy shakes her head.
"No time for family chats. We have to stop them," She narrows her eyes.
"If we lose Lyoko, Amy and I lose our father as well!" Aelita gasps in realization.
"That's right..."
Something suddenly pops up on screen. "Is-is that the program I started a while ago?"
"Yes! Unbelievable! It really works! I found Franz Hopper!"
"Run the rematerialization program, hurry!" She urges him.
William takes his sword, putting it over his shoulder. He chuckles at the four, Ulrich staring him down. "Okay, now," He tells the others, who run to go stop the Creepers. William sees them and fires an attack, devirtualizing Odd instantly.
Ulrich super sprints up to him. "It's not very nice to attack people from behind."
He says nothing and attacks again, knocking Ulrich's sword out of his hand the second time. It goes flying and Ulrich has no time to react as William slices at him from behind, and then he's gone too. He looks up at the girls, who start destroying monsters. Suddenly Amy falls off the platform as the sword went flying like a boomerang. She screams as she falls, devirtualizing slowly. William lands behind Yumi and catches his sword, hitting her too. He stares at her as she looks up at him.
"I knew it was a bad idea to bring you into the group..." Is the last thing she says before she disappears.
Yumi appears in the scanner room, frowning up at the others.
"Nothing can stop them anymore," Jeremy says gravely as they look at the heart.
"They're going to destroy the sphere!"
"Almost there..."
All the Creepers roar as William himself floats over to the sphere. He then pierces it with his sword, an evil grin plastered on his face.
The others appear via elevator, running up to the computer. "It can't be!" Aelita says in lament. Orange blurry lines gather around Lyoko...and then the screen disappears.
"I couldn't rematerialize Franz Hopper. I didn't have enough time..."
"We've lost everything," Aelita frowns, Amy sighing sadly.
"William as well..."
It seems not, as William is floating around in the darkness, in a new form. He opens his eyes, the XANA symbol flashing onto his chest.
Everyone is gathered around inside the Hermitage, contemplating what's happened. Jeremy speaks up a few seconds later in the sad silence. "We have no other way to fight XANA now...the entire world is in danger."
"It's impossible even to imagine it," Ulrich says gravely.
"And William...do you think he's...?"
"This is horrible!" Odd holds his cheeks as Amy closes her eyes.
"Yeah...and there's nothing we can do."
"I was really hoping...we'd see our father again," Aelita glances over her shoulder to Amy as she's holding a picture of Franz Hopper.
"I'm sorry...I did everything I could," Jeremy glances between the two sisters. They couldn't be anymore different...and yet they were still related. All they had for family was each other now.
"I know you did, Jeremy..."
"It's not your fault," Amy opens her eyes to look at him. The laptop starts beeping, getting their attention. Jeremy opens it and sees something.
"Hey! What the...? This is incredible!"
"Well tell us. What's going on?" Odd asks curiously.
"I just received a coded message. A message directly from the internet, and it's signed..."
"Who?" Aelita stares at him. "Tell us, Jeremy!"
"...Franz Hopper."
"Huh?!" They all gasp in unison.
"Wow, I can't believe you told him off like that," Yumi says in surprise once they're back in the doorms. It's nighttime as Yumi is on the phone.
"And you confronted him about our father?" Aelita asks her.
"That's right," Amy nods at them, narrowing his eyes. "He can't order me around anymore if he's not family."
A knock is heard at their door, Aelita glancing at Amy. "Come in."
It's Odd as he rubs his neck. "Ames, can we talk? Alone?"
Amy looks at Aelita, who gets the hint. "I'm going to head for the showers," She walks out the door, closing it behind her. Yumi silently hangs up. Odd sits next to Amy, who sits up.
"I'm...sorry about Sam," He whispers softly. "And I want you to know that part of my life is over. It has been since we got together." He reaches out and takes her hand, rubbing his thumb against it. "I promise I'll be the best boyfriend you deserve."
She smiles at him sadly. "Odd...there's something I have to tell you."
He looks concerned, turning to face her. "What?"
"My father...threatened to take you out of Kadic. He said I had to either...break your heart or he'd take us both out of school," She shakes her head. "And I just didn't want to do that. I cherish you too much to let that happen."
"S-So," He stammers in a broken voice, "Are we both leaving?"
"No," She denies to his relief. "I told him that I knew about Franz Hopper. He didn't bother denying it, but he also didn't tell me his side of the story. The coward. I cut him out of my life. From now on, I make my own choices and live my life the way I want to."
He smiles softly, kissing her cheek. "I'm glad, Ames. You took a stand against him."
"Thanks," She hums, closing her eyes. "But...be careful, okay? I don't know if he'll go against his word to leave me alone. And...I don't wanna lose you."
"You think I want to lose you too?" He chuckles a bit, hugging her. "You're stuck with me wherever you go, goddess."
She laughs at his joke and then suddenly her phone rings. They both stare at it skeptically, wondering if it should be answered. Amy lifts it up, sighing in relief.
"It's my mother," She gets out of his hold, sitting up as she answers it. "Hello? ...He did what?" She sounds more surprised than horrified. Odd waits for a while as she listens. "Wow...so it's over? ...Okay. I'll call you tomorrow."
She hangs up, sighing slowly. Odd looks at her for an explanation.
"...He gave up custody," She closes her eyes. "Not that it makes a difference. I still hate him."
Odd rubs her back and she rests her head on his shoulder. "She told him that they couldn't have a child, and that what I found out from Hopper was true. Mr. Smith," She grits her teeth at the mention of him, "And my dad were friends. She was grateful for everything he did to help her have me, and Mr. Smith kept it hidden so that the press wouldn't find out his precious child wasn't his. She didn't say much since I already know everything."
"At least they're not denying it or lying," Odd hugs her waist.
"I wish that they told me," She whispers softly. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I'm moving on with Aelita as my sister and I'm taking my life back."
"And I'll be right there with you, Ames."
