Double Trouble
The pink-haired girl tilted her head. The mechanist's room was deathly quiet, compared to Jeremie's humming computers, yet Sissi could still hear Aelita's confusion from the bed. "Stop looking at me like that," She grumbled lowly from her desk, "I did do anything wrong."
"So you know what you did?"
"Yes, Aelita. Look, maybe we're worried over nothing. Maybe Sam and William will just be friends? Oh gosh, I sound like Yumi," Sissi muttered.
"It could happen."
"Don't mock me, Aelita. I can hear your smirk from here."
"I didn't know smirks made sounds," Aelita teased. A tiny growl echoed from Sissi's throat.
"Can we talk about something other than my... my-"
"Odd problem?" Aelita chirped.
"Sometimes, I wonder where you get your sass from."
"It's most likely from you."
"Hmm," Sissi mumbled, rubbing her forehead, "Okay, what about Lyoko? With all the misadventures, we're down to just the Mountain Sector, and Jeremie hasn't figured out a way to get us straight into Sector Five yet?" Aelita shook her head. "Right. XANA has used birds, nearly had the factory blown up, and made Odd and Ulrich insane. Meanwhile, we quite easily fixed the Sabotage attack, managed to get Ulrich back in his body, and suffered having 3 Odds at one time. Oo, my head hurts just thinking about that one."
Aelita smiled, "And we're still doing good in school."
"Actually, Ulrich and Odd are doing better in school."
"They weren't in the previous timeline?"
"No. Of course, Ulrich really didn't have stellar grades before that either. I just know that when it comes to grades, his dad is a very... stern guy."
"A pun?"
"Not really. The guy walks like he had a pole rammed up his butt," Sissi said. The two laughed. The Mechanist connected the last wire in place and pressed a small button on the side of the device. Her computer rang up beeping noises and, finally, a pleasant ding made Sissi smile. "Okay, now we have something I can use. Now I just got to get everyone's shoes."
"What?"
"I'll explain when I have the thing ready. But," Sissi got back on topic, "we have to be on our guard. I have a feeling that our test is just about to get harder."
Of course, things did. Yumi's frequent absences alerted the attention of the principal, much to Sissi's annoyance. Love for her father was all she knew, but that didn't mean Delmas could frustrate her from time to time. Especially now. If the individual problems started to mount, XANA could easily divide and conquer; Sissi knew this. There had to be a way to balance out school work with fighting XANA. Aelita proposed a recruit, someone that Yumi wasn't fond of.
"Well, there's William," Aelita said, "He's already shown us what he can do from the Krab attack and the time XANA nearly blew up the factory."
"Absolutely not!" Yumi shouted in the airy computer lab. "No way! He's too much of a hothead to be trusted."
"I think it's a great idea," Odd said.
"I'm telling you," Yumi insisted, "Getting William is the worst thing that could happen. Sissi, you agree, right?"
The Mechanist gave a sharp sigh. "I'm saying no for his own sake, not because of him."
"Look, we're all tired and should get some rest. Sissi will help Ulrich and Odd get ready for the exam tomorrow. I'll stay here and crunch some numbers to get you into Sector Five."
"Jeremie."
"I don't need that much sleep, Sissi. I'll be fine," The blonde replied. Sissi glanced at Aelita who shrugged as they both went to the elevator.
Riding their way up, Sissi sighed loudly. "We might have to recruit William."
"I said no."
"I don't care," Sissi grumbled back to Yumi. "Right now, Daddy's on your tail, we all have to focus on our schoolwork, and if we don't give Jeremie enough time for getting us straight into Sector Five, XANA will take advantage of it." The tiger silently growled to herself. "But if we do, we'll have to be careful."
"Why?" Odd asked.
"I remember something happened to William around this time. You guys seem very depressed. I think... something terrible happened to him."
"Was he de-virtualized or something?" Ulrich asked.
Sissi stroked her chin as she gazed at the elevator floor. "And you still want him on the team?" Yumi asked.
"Because we don't have a choice," Sissi said. "The only other person I can think of is Jim."
"Nah," They all said. For the rest of the night, no one said a word until the next morning when Jeremie proclaimed he found a way into Sector Five and wanted others to explore it.
"Uh uh, I need this exam. This could finally put me at A range," Ulrich said to Jeremie. "That trip straight into Sector Five will have to wait."
"Some adventurers you guys are," Jeremie snarked.
"Don't be like Jeremie," Aelita soothed, "After the test, we'll go to the factory."
"Okay, deal. I need to go to my room for a moment. I'll catch up." Jeremie walked away. An unnerving tingle shimmed down Sissi's spine until the blonde finally left.
"Guys, I know it's crazy, but-"
"You think XANA's afoot?" Surprised, Sissi spun her head to them. "We felt it, too. Something was off about Einstein," Odd said.
"Come to think of it, Jeremie would never tell us to skip a class. He knows how important it is," Ulrich said.
"So what do we do?" Sissi asked.
Ulrich snapped his fingers. "You and Aelita try to finish the test as fast as you can. Odd and I will stay with XANA's copy. Yumi will have to find a way out of her photography class. Now we just have to make sure the real Jeremie is okay."
"XANA would have destroyed his phone by now," Sissi sighed, but then her head popped up. "But the S-Watch should be fine. I updated it so it has a communication feature."
"Oh, so that's why you have your own. I thought you and Einstein were fashion-trending," Odd smirked. Sissi rolled her eyes and pressed the side button on her big-faced watch. Each press made a high-pitched beep; it worked by Morse Code.
Beep
The watch made a low tone beep and started relaying a message.
"That's him!" They listened silently. "He says he's fine," Sissi sighed, relieved.
"Okay, but what do we do? Take the test or save Jeremie," Ulrich asked.
Sissi groaned, "I hate to admit it but as long as the Fake Jeremie is here with us, we should be fine. Let's get this test over with."
"Right," The team said as the school bell rang. They filed into the classroom one by one.
Sissi's jaw clench, "I hope I'm not gambling Jeremie's life. I hate that parents think school is everything."
"Like you said, since the Fake Jeremie's here with us, we have the upper hand on XANA. Let's just keep it that way," Aelita said. The black-haired teen slowly nodded.
"Remember, eyes on your own paper," The teacher said. "and when you're done just hold up your test. You may begin." It must have been five minutes until Sissi's paper shot up. "S-Sissi?"
"I'm done, ma'am."
"Me too!" Aelita quickly said. The whole class gasped. The teacher looked at their tests, clearing her throat.
"Uh, well, these certainly look good-"
"Thank you," Sissi quickly answered, grabbing her stuff and cane, passing Jeremie. "We'll be in my room. Call us when you're done." The fake Jeremie smiled and nodded. Sissi and Aelita sped walked out of the classroom. The black strap on Sissi's back looked much like a sachel so no one batted an eye. The mechanist strapped her cane on her back and darted for the forest. "What about Yumi?"
"Hey, guys!" Yumi ran behind them.
"Hey! How did you get out of class?" Sissi asked.
"William's covering for me." The Mechanist lifted her eyebrows. "Yeah, I know. I didn't have a choice."
"Sounds familiar," Sissi smirked.
"We can worry about that later," Aelita interrupted. "Hurry up." They sped over the bridge, jumped into the elevator, and opened the computer lab door. A water-soaked blonde sat at the computer chair.
"Uhh, why are you wet?" Sissi asked.
"My copy tried to drown me. What about the others?"
"They know about your other Jeremie. They stayed to make sure he's not out of line. Anyway, we've got to go to Lyoko. Yumi, go with Aelita."
"What? Why not you?" asked Yumi.
"XANA's gonna come for Jeremie once you get on Lyoko. Someone needs to be here with him," Sissi explained. Yumi and Aelita nodded and rushed to the scanners.
"The tower is Northeast in the Mountain Sector," Jeremie said as Sissi pulled out long gloves that rode up to her arms from her purse.
"This time, I'm prepared for XANA. Call Odd and tell him to get over here quick, okay?" Sissi said.
"Right," Jeremie dialed the number, "Odd? Odd, can you hear me? You have to make it to the factory, Xana's... he's right next to you, isn't he?"
"Oh no," Sissi said with dread. She rushed to the computer and grabbed Einstein's headset. "Odd! Get away from him! Odd! ODD!"
Nothing.
She slammed the earpiece to the keys and glared at the screen with gritted teeth.
"He's okay. Odd's strong enough," Jeremie assured.
Sissi's shoulders sagged as she sighed, "Get the others to Lyoko."
Soon, the Yumi and Aelita landed on the purplish rocky terrain and zoomed onto the tower with their vehicles. "Watch out, guys. You have some bugs on your tail," Jeremie said. Then the elevator door opened up to his double. Jeremie spun around and gasped at his evilly grinning twin.
"You're a real good swimmer, I give you that. I'm almost proud to be in your likeness," the XANA copy sneered.
"You're such a narcissist." The Jeremie copy looked up as Sissi jump down. Her electrified hands shocked him horribly, sending him buzzing back to the elevator. The Copy growled and got back up. "You like it? New and improved." She smirked, clicking her heels together. "I got the idea from you, so I should thank you."
"Grrrr!" The copy zapped her with purple lightning, but Sissi held out her hands and stopped it. "WHAT?!"
"And I can redirect your energy," Sissi smirked. She cracked her knuckles with a slight grunt. "Now, I can make up what you did to Odd." They fought each other. Each blocked electrified hand infuriated the Copy more and more. Sissi ran to him and kicked his side. The Copy buzzed uncontrollably. Why? "Oh! I forgot to mention my shoes."
"Do you really think it's a good idea to tell him all your secrets?" Jeremie asked. Sissi grabbed the Copy by the collar. It smirked and electrocuted her sides. She tumbled to the ground again.
"You're right, sorry, got cocky," Sissi grunted. She quickly rolled out of the Copy's electric balls. "How's Yumi and Aelita doing?"
"Not good. They're being held up by the Kankerlots and the Scyphozoa just arrived," Jeremie said.
"Then materialize me already Einstein," said a voice from the scanner.
"Odd? When did you get down there?"
"We could hear the excitement from the door."
"We?" Sissi asked. Suddenly the Copy buzzed into a black ghost and tumbled to the ground.
"Yes, we," Ulrich said behind the Copy. "Thought you could use some help. I've got to say, these XR-Sleeves are really handy." A low growl rumbled from the Copy as it stood up.
"Well, we're gonna have to make the most of them," Sissi said. Meanwhile, Odd jumped onto the scene and blasted two Kankerlots right off the bat.
"Did you miss me?" Odd smirked.
"Not now. Aelita's been possessed by XANA. She's heading for that wade tower," Yumi said.
"One shot from my arrows should- AHHH!" A Kankerlot's laser from behind. "Yumi, go after her. I'll take care of the monsters!" She nodded and zoomed after the elf on the Overwing. Just as Aelita neared the tower, Yumi dropped in from the sky and threw her fan at her.
But Aelita ducked and charged into the tower. "NO!"
"This isn't good," Jeremie cried out. "Aelita's made it to the wade tower. She's gonna erase all of the Mountain Sector."
"What? DAHHH!" shouted Ulrich as the Copy zapped him. Sissi struck the Copy on the head and sent it buzzing back. But then,
Beep Beep Beep.
"Tell me that's good news," Ulrich grunted from the ground.
"I wish. I have got to get better batteries," Sissi grumbled.
"To be honest, they lasted longer than I thought they would," Jeremie said from the sideline.
The Copy sniggered and held up an electrified hand. "Uh oh." Sissi smacked her gloves twice and held her arms out. The Copy zapped her, but something happened. She didn't scream in pain or anything. She just stood there with her hand extended. Then with horror, the Copy realized what was happening. She was absorbing its energy. It stopped and gritted its teeth. "I thought of everything, XANA," Sissi smirked. But then, the Copy fizzled again, all on its own, and disappeared into thin air. Sissi ran to Ulrich. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live," He moaned.
"What happened?" She asked Jeremie.
"Give me a moment," He hastily replied. "Rematerialization!" The blonde managed to get the team off of Lyoko just in time. Jeremie sighed and rubbed his glasses. Sissi walked over to him.
"How badly did we lose?"
"The Mountain Sector is gone," Jeremie groaned.
"All of the sectors are gone. Without them, we can't get into Sector Five, and XANA will destroy Lyoko," Jeremie sighed. The others all sat in silence.
Beep Beep Beep
The computer sounded off. "Hey, these are the calculations I did earlier this morning," Jeremie said.
"So what does that mean?" Odd asked.
"Hmm, I think I've figured out a way to virtualize you straight into Sector Five."
"You mean the fight against XANA rages on?" Ulrich smirked.
"He's not finished with us yet," Jeremie said vengefully. Sissi chuckled at the brainiac's face. She didn't think he could become almost like a kid getting revenge on the school bully. She ruffled his hair. "Hey!"
"Way to go, Einstein," Sissi smirked.
"If that's the case, we have to get another recruit. After this loss, we don't have a choice it seems," Yumi said. Everyone looked at her. "What? I changed my mind, so?"
"Mmmhmm," Ulrich hummed.
Continued...