Chapter 34 Cold Sweat
A.N. – So, this is part one of a two-part arc which revolves around freeing Ulrich and a three-part arc which involves the rise of, the shadow of, and the fall of the Kolossus. This first part will involve that 'mistake' that Ulrich mentioned in The Lake. As well as new replica, and a new threat in the real world as well as The Rise of the Kolossus! Let's begin!
James Marshall – I don't know if I will be able to use it in my future stories as I don't have plans for the scyphozoa anymore. But if it happens to come up, I might use it if it fits. On your story idea, it could work, but still, I am focusing on finishing this as I am on the home stretch now.
Eexis – I don't see why not. I have another way for it to play out, but Ulrich will get his chance against the Kolossus.
Guest - 1. Yeah, I can use the full thing. 2. I can add an apology, but it won't be for the harsh treatment. Mostly it will be for the lack of faith she had in him. For me, he wasn't treated as he was portrayed in the original in this story.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko, the plot, or the story idea. The plot is owned by the creators and the idea was submitted by Voltronblues123.
Hiroki and Yumi are walking to school together on an early morning. "If you had the choice, would you rather be a screwdriver or a monkey wrench?" Yumi has an annoyed look on her face as Hiroki asks the question. She looks like she'd rather do anything else than to listen to this. "Hey, you dreamin' or what?"
"What was that?" She asks after a few seconds.
"If you were a tool, which one would you choose?"
"Can't you think of anything less dumb to ask?"
"Sure. When did you finally realize you loved Ulrich?"
"I don't know how you found out, but don't tell anyone, or I swear to God, I'll kill you!" Yumi threatens him as she walks off.
He snickers and swore he would never tell anyone else. He probably figured that everyone would find out in time. He doesn't know why Ulrich is the way he is now.
"Get your Kadic News hot off the presses!" Milly announces from the courtyard. "Rosa and the tuna salad caper! Jim Morales, a former professional athlete, tells us how to throw a shotput without breaking a toe! Mrs. Hertz reveals how to make a voltmeter out of your MP3 with just a few simple operations! Plus, an exclusive picture of the secret past of Yumi Ishiyama!"
Yumi just happens to be walking by. She steps short at the sound of her name. "Huh?" She grabs a copy and finds the photo. "But…where did you get that picture?" She demands to them.
"Sorry, but we never reveal our sources! It's an absolutely fundamental rule of journalism."
"Um, all we can tell you is that it's one of your very best friends, and that at this very minute, he's in the rec room" Tamiya tells her.
Yumi squeezes her eyes shut, growling in anger as she storms off. "Wait till I get my hands on him!"
"How could you do something so lame?!" Milly exclaims to her friend.
"What's wrong? I didn't say his name" she raises a brow, Milly looking away.
"It's the Champions Cup Final for the favorites Brazilian Coffee Beans. 6 to 5 against the German Liverwurst!" Odd announces in the rec room. "The tension is high; you can hardly hear a pin drop as Walter Brown-"
Odd's phone rings, interrupting him. "Another angry ex?" William asks as Odd answers.
"Hello? Oh, hi Milly. Yeah, what's happening?" William watches as his eyes widen. "What?! But why'd she'd have to do that? That's the last time I'll ever give you a scoop." He hangs up the phone.
"I think your time-out has expired" William comments to him.
"Yeah, we can play, but first. I've got a little problem with Yumi. You really have to bail me out this time."
"Odd, I just got off bad terms with Yumi, because of Ulrich. So, I'm only going to ask you once, what did you do?"
"A little practical joke, nothing at all, but you gotta say it was you," Odd points at his roommate, who raises a brow in confusion. "I mean, please?"
"Odd! You…didn't…answer…my…question?!"
"Please, in the name of our friendship?"
"Shatter one just for ours?!"
"You'll do it?! Lyoko Warrior's honor?"
"I never agreed, but I'll take the fall…just this once!"
"Great!" Odd puts down the ball on the foosball board. Yumi opens the door, shoving the paper into his face for him to see.
"Odd! Are you the one who gave this picture to Tamiya and Milly?!" She demands him.
"Why are you angry? You look adorable" Odd comments with a small smile.
"For once, Odd the dope is right," Sissi speaks up. "It's true, pink does wonders for Yumi." The picture is of Yumi in a pink clothing with a blonde wig, basically looking like a fairy princess. "When I think of all the times you made fun of my look, you must feel like an idiot!" She giggles along with Herb and Nicolas.
"BLACK is my color. BLACK like your eye is gonna be if you don't back off!" Yumi threatens them. Sissi just hmphs and walks off.
"Come on boys, let me beat you at ping pong again!"
Yumi sighs in irritation. "This time Odd, you're gonna be sorry, because I'm gonna give Delmas a list of all the pranks you pulled over the past two years! I'm sure he'll be happy to have it!"
"No Yumi," William speaks up. "I gave them the picture."
"It was you? But why'd you do it?"
"I really don' know."
"Dumb dork! I thought you were better than this!" Yumi slams the door as she leaves.
"You really are a good friend. Thanks."
William was angry though. He grabs Odd's shirt. "Consider yourself lucky I don't deck you now! I gotta mend out another issue with Yumi! And don't let me remind you that we are a man down, and we all need to be on the same page to save him!" William drops him and leaves in anger. Odd begins to question if he made the right decision. He could possibly lose William and Yumi.
Yumi is walking through the school, blushing in embarrassment as girls are laughing at her picture. "Yumi, lend me your pink princess costume for Halloween?" A girl asks her.
"Can I use your wig?" Another one asks.
"Why don't you shut up?!" Yumi screams in response.
"Are you okay Yumi?" Jeremy asks as he and Aelita approach her.
"You look upset, is anything wrong?" Aelita questions next.
"I really don't want to talk about it. What's happening?" She asks.
"We've just located a new replica in the network!"
"We're gonna destroy it tonight. See you at the factory later!" Jeremy explains as the bell rings.
"I'll be there" she gives a thumbs up. "I've got history now, see ya."
Jeremy pulls out his copy of the paper. "Let's face it, she does look awful in pink. Although the color really looks great on you Aelita."
The two blush at the statement.
Later that night, Jeremy is in the lab while the others are on the replica.
"It's okay Jeremy. The skid is docked" Aelita informs him.
"That's great," he smiles a bit. "I'll activate the tower." He taps enter as they're on an ice replica this time. The tower turns green, the skid docked to it. "Well, who's gonna be teleported tonight?"
"I vote for Yumi and William. They're good together on a mission" Aelita speaks up, trying to get them alone to work out the issues.
"No way, I'd rather go on my own than go with him!" Yumi exclaims, still upset with him.
"Why did I say yes…" William murmurs to himself.
"Whoa, chill out Yumi," Jeremy smiles weakly. "Why don't you and Odd go this time?"
"Yeah, sure" Yumi agrees.
"What's wrong with me?" William asks.
"He wasn't dumb enough to make me look bad in front of the whole school."
"Odd, you and I are talking…now!"
"Uh, too busy for that, sorry. Teleportation time, Jeremy, come on, will you? Wake up."
"Patience, okay Odd?" Jeremy holds his head, getting to work. "Why is everyone so wound up tonight? Energize Odd. Energize Yumi." The two of them land in a place that's snowing. "Where are you?"
"In the middle of a snowstorm" Yumi shivers a little.
"That's like any one of a thousand areas" Jeremy smiles in amusement.
"I think I see some kind of base. We'll go check it out."
"Gotcha. Okay."
"Come on, let's go" Yumi points up ahead as they run off.
"Be careful guys" Jeremy warns them.
"So, tell me the truth, why is Yumi mad with you?" Aelita asks her brother.
"Because of that picture I gave to Milly and Tamiya" William responds.
"I said the truth."
"That obvious?"
"You're my brother. You would never pull an Odd-like stunt, and never jeopardize your friendship with Yumi."
"Problem is now, I can't get her to talk to me. Odd better fess up or he'll regret it!"
"Maybe you should tell her."
"Maybe, but Odd will pay for this."
The two arrive at the base. "Jeremy, I think I found a clue. It says Union Base, position 63 degrees, 16 minutes, 143 degrees, 15 minutes east." He types in the coordinates Yumi just gave him and locates them.
"You're in Siberia, at a scientific base that Xana's taken control of. I'll see if I can download a floor plan. Go on inside at the meantime" he instructs the duo. They open the door, stepping inside. Yumi closes the door behind her.
"How could William have done such a thing? I think he's a good friend, and then he betrays me like this!" Yumi exclaims, still mad at him.
"Even the day when I threw your math homework in the incinerator?" Odd asks.
"Are you trying to get on my hit list or what?" Yumi asks in annoyance.
"Oh, come on, relax. After all, you've gotta admit that the photo thing was funny, wasn't it?"
"Ha ha ha, NO" Yumi narrows her eyes.
"Oh yeah, sure it was. You don't think so?"
"It was mean and nasty. I don't even know if I can call William a friend after what he did. What do you think?"
"Uh, nothing. Why don't we just concentrate on the mission? Hey Jeremy, how's that floor plan coming?"
"It's coming!" Jeremy informs them. "Okay, now I've got you. Head for the staircase at the end of the corridor. It'll take you right down to the basement."
"We're on our way Einstein!"
Together, they go down the hall. Then Jeremy gets an alert from his end. "Rats," he gives an annoyed look. "An activated tower. Yumi, Xana's counter-attacking."
"Roger" Yumi states as a door opens, both ready.
"What kind of an attack?" Odd asks.
"Search me. Surprise." (Don't know why these are the lines the creators chose. They make no sense.)
Suddenly a flash of green lighting strikes the base, and with a flash of light, Ulrich appears kneeling. He looks up at them.
"Surprise. You're not the only ones who can use teleportation you know." Ulrich tells them as he draws both sabers.
"Ulrich!" Yumi exclaims. "Did you get that Jeremy? Xana's managed to teleport Ulrich!"
"That is a pretty awful surprise" Jeremy deadpans at this.
"Sure is. This might be a good time to deactivate the tower!" Odd tells him.
"I'm on it. You two head for the door on the other side of the room. Aelita, activated tower east of your position."
"We're on our way. Disembarking" Aelita and William get teleported out of the skid.
"Here comes your vehicles."
"Thanks Jeremy" Aelita replies as the Overbike and Overwing appear. The siblings take off.
Yumi pulls out her fans and throws them. Ulrich uses his sabers to deflect them back.
"Laser arrow!" Odd fires at him, but Ulrich absorbs his arrows.
"You'll have to do better than that" Ulrich says as one hits him in the arm. He drops a saber. Odd kisses his knuckles.
"Come on Odd. Hurry up!" Yumi runs past Ulrich.
"I'm coming!" Odd follows, the door closing.
Ulrich picks up his second saber and prepares to fight the two. He also locks the door.
"Jeremy, Ulrich has locked the door!" Yumi glares at him.
"Don't panic, I'll take care of the door in no time," he replies as he works on the door. "Okay, I just have to crack the code for the electromagnetic lock. Can you hold on that long?"
"We'll try" Yumi states. Ulrich approaches them.
"Laser arrow!" Odd fires once more, Ulrich absorbs the arrows. Ulrich swings his saber at Yumi, stabs the door, and Yumi flips away. He uses his second saber to strike her down, but she uses her fan to stop it. "Laser arrow!" Odd hits him from behind. Ulrich starts to flicker, and then he disappears.
"There you go!" Jeremy taps the enter button. "Open sesame guys."
The door opens for them, and they step backwards. "Nice work Einstein," Odd comments as they step into the hallway. "Laser arrow!" He hits the lock, trapping Ulrich, who is unconscious, inside the room.
"Jeremy, which way do we go?" Yumi asks.
"Take the second hallway on your left" he instructs them.
"Okay, we're off."
"William, Aelita, how's it going?" Jeremy wonders as Aelita squints up ahead.
"We can see the activated tower" she reports to him, with surprisingly no monsters guarding it.
"Good. From this end, everything's cool for the moment. Go for it."
The two race forward on their vehicles. A megatank appears nearby, opening itself up and preparing its laser. Aelita looks on in alarm, going upward as William jumps off before the bike is hit. Aelita fires an energy field and destroys the monster with one hit. William lands behind her.
"Now that's what I call sibling coordination" he compliments his sister.
"You're gonna need it. Two tarantulas at 11 o'clock."
Unfortunately, they're right in front of the tower…they begin firing at the two.
"Strategic retreat" Aelita turns around and goes in the opposite direction. One of the lasers hits the Overwing, causing them to fall onto the platform. They turn around to the two monsters, who get on their knees and fire again. They hide behind a rock.
Ulrich stabs the panel on the outside, overriding the lock, opening the door. He has a look of annoyance on his face as he runs in the direction the two went.
"Odd, Yumi," Jeremy speaks up. "Ulrich is on your tail. Hide somewhere until Aelita has deactivated the tower."
"Okay, we'll hide in the room just in front of us," Odd opens a door. The two step inside and they look inside the room to see a room that has wires and panels everywhere. "Wow, this looks like Dr. Shrank's laboratory!"
Yumi steps further into the room. "What's this stuff, I wonder?" She looks at the pods.
"Beats me," Odd steps up to her. "Looks like some kind of soup." He looks closer and it looks like a brain inside. "And it's beginning to look like brain soup."
"Listen William," Jeremy says once William's ID card pops up. "Odd and Yumi have Ulrich to deal with. I hope your sister is already in the tower."
The two are still at the same position, and the tarantulas are still guarding.
"Yeah, about that. Time to be bold" William says drawing his sword.
"Have you got a better idea?" Aelita asks.
"Not really."
"Do you think it might work?"
"Time to find out. Super smoke!" He turns into smoke and approaches the tarantulas. They fire at the smoke but can't damage him. He reforms jumping into air. He throws his sword, destroying the tarantula. He lands and the other aims at him. An energy filed hits it and he blocks his face from the explosion. He looks to see his sister out of hiding. "Nice job sis." He compliments as his sister runs into the tower. "Go stop Ulrich."
She reaches the center and rises into the air.
Ulrich opens the door and draws both sabers.
"He never gives up!" Yumi exclaims. "Jeremy, Ulrich is here!"
"Don't sweat it," he pushes up his glasses smugly. "Aelita's already in the tower."
She reaches the top and walks to the interface. She hesitates to log in and remembers something. "Xana's mistake. Uh, Jeremy?"
"A problem?"
"This tower commands Ulrich's teleportation, so the interface must contain the programs that Xana uses to bind Ulrich to him, including the link to the network and the virus Xana uses to control him."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, let's take advantage of Xana's mistake. If we hack in, we can find all the data we need to deactivate the virus, break his link to the digital sea, and ultimately free Ulrich!"
Jeremy smiles in realization. "That's right! Aelita, you're a genius!"
"I'll send you the program" she taps the interface.
Ulrich swipes both of his sabers. Yumi and Odd both jump back.
"Yoohoo! Ulrich!" Odd sings as he waves to him. He prepares his arm as Ulrich turns around. Ulrich throws a saber. Odd ducks to avoid it, and the sword ends up in the wall. Yumi throws a fan at his leg, and he looks to see it flickering. She catches her weapon, closing it with a smirk. "Laser arrow!" Odd's about to fire, but he's out of arrows. "I'm out of ammunition!" Ulrich kicks him across the room.
"Did you expect to beat me Odd? I was always better than you!" Ulrich says with an evil smile.
"Jeremy, it's no picnic around here! Is Aelita gonna deactivate the tower or not?" Yumi tells him.
"Yeah, right, yeah. Hang on a minute," he tells them. Aelita is interacting with the interface and then she stops. "Okay Aelita, I've got what I need. You can enter the code Lyoko" Jeremy informs her.
Yumi hits the wall as Ulrich places his second saber at her neck, laughing.
Aelita logs in.
Aelita
Code
Lyoko
Ulrich then suddenly disappears into thin air. Yumi sighs in relif.
"Nap time…" Odd says, laying back.
"Tower deactivated" Aelita says as the tower goes inactive.
William sees the tower change from red to blue. Jeremy scratches the back of his head in relief.
"Odd, Yumi, go back into the hallway. The supercomputer is not too far away. Nap time is over" Jeremy informs them.
Aelita steps out of the tower with a smile. "That takes care of that."
"You took your time. You found something else, did you?" William responds.
Aelita was about to answer, when Jeremy intervened. "Guys, we got a problem" Jeremy tells the two as something approaches the skid.
"What's going on?"
"Ulrich is back, and he's heading straight for the skid. He can still wreck our mission if he enters the code Xana in the tower."
Ulrich reaches the tower laughing.
"Even under Xana's control, Ulrich's just as stubborn as ever. He just doesn't quit."
"Any vehicles left for us in your garage?" Aelita asks Jeremy in amusement.
"Odd hates lending out his equipment, but anyway, hers' the Overboard" Jeremy materializes the vehicle.
"Odd can sacrifice it for the good of the group," William gets on it. "Hop on sis."
Aelita gets on and they race towards the skid.
Yumi is running along with Odd. "Stop!" Jeremy commands as they both screech. "To the right!"
They turn to the right to be met with a locked door. "It's locked Jeremy!" Yumi informs him.
"Okay, I'll hack the lock. Just give me a couple of seconds."
Yumi glances at Odd. "Odd, you should know William well by now. Why'd he do it?"
"Oh, are you still hung up on that dumb photograph?" He responds casually while sitting on the steps.
"I wanna know why, that's all!"
"I don't know why, maybe he…uh, he thinks he's gonna lose you!"
"Lose me?" Yumi responds, confused.
"Well, after that whole ordeal with telling us you were going to be with Ulrich, maybe he thought he would see less of you until you just vanish. Or maybe he's still jealous."
"What did you just say?"
"That William would see less of you?"
"Uh-uh, after that."
"It's open, get going" Jeremy suddenly interrupts.
"Sorry, no time to chat Yumi. Let's go!" Odd runs inside the room.
"Mm, yeah…" she decides to let it go for now. She follows Odd inside
Ulrich reaches the tower and the skid, stopping in front of them.
"Hey Stern!" William calls out, and he turns around to see the two-coming in. William jumps off the Overboard while Aelita takes flight. The Overboard flies towards Ulrich, intending to hit him, he dodges out of the way, and it hits the tower. "Oh no, Odd's board, real bummer." William wanted some payback after taking the fall for Odd.
Aelita stares at Ulrich as he draws both sabers. William draws his own sword, dodging Ulrich's slashes. The two exchange and dodge each other's blows. Ulrich tries a jump attack but get his saber stuck. He goes to retrieve it but is hit from behind, Aelita flies in to join her brother.
"Triplicate!" Ulrich declares.
William and Aelita stand back-to-back, surrounded by 3 Ulrich's.
"You should rethink your fighting strategies, they're outdated. If there was one of us maybe, but two is a different story" William tells him.
"Hey bro, how about you and I use some of those moves we practiced together training?" Aelita asks.
"Sibling combos? I like the sound of that."
Aelita holds up her hands to form two energy fields, seemingly to fire at the two Ulrich's in front of her while William slowly walks over to the one in front of him. After a few tense seconds of silence, the siblings make their move.
"William! Super smoke!"
Aelita turns and fires her energy field at William who super smokes into the ice for a brief second, catching one of the Ulrich clones off guard to be destroyed by Aelita's energy field. William pumps his fist victoriously as he re-emerges.
"Oh yeah! One down! Just like practice!"
Ulrich quickly retaliates by using his sword beam ability. Aelita uses her energy field shield to hold it back and struggling to do so. The second does the same and breaks through Aelita's defense, and the beams send her flying and screaming.
"Aelita!" William cries out. He runs and catches her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, thanks William" Aelita responds.
They see the two Ulrich's walking towards them, and they share a nod before Aelita activates her wings again and takes flight into the air. William rushes and engages in a sword fight with both Ulrich's locking all five blades. Aelita fires an orb which causes all of them to jump back. Aelita distracts the two, while William uses a sword slash to defeat the last clone, leaving Ulrich alone. Aelita flies near her brother.
"Looks like your all-alone pal!" William tells him.
"I can crush you both by myself!" Ulrich declares.
The three fight. Ulrich is eventually hit by Aelita's energy field and William's sword slash.
"Jeremy, what do we do with the supercomputer? Should we bust everything, or should we finesse it?" Odd asks as they stare down at the machine.
"I think finessing it would be a safer bet," Jeremy explains as they stand down with their weapons. "Describe the thing to me."
"Well, there are a lot of wires and a ton of electric thing-a-majigs" Yumi says.
"Thanks, that's a big help," Jeremy replies sarcastically. "You're gonna have to be a little more specific."
Aelita fires two orbs at Ulrich, which he deflects. William then uses his sword slash and knocks one of his sabers away.
"William! Hold out your sword!" Aelita tells him.
William does and Aelita fires an energy field. His sword absorbs it and it glows pink, surprising Ulrich. He reels back his blade, before giving a swing, sending out a beam of pink energy. Ulrich tries to hold it back but can't and is devirtualized.
"All good Jeremy. We took care of Ulrich" Aelita informs him.
"Perfect!" Jeremy smiles at the news. "It's smooth sailing from now on!"
"We so rule together!" William exclaims.
"We so do! Those were great moves out there!" Aelita exclaims back.
"You weren't so bad yourself sis."
"Thanks. I guess all that practice we did together really paid off."
"It sure has. You and me, we make a pretty much unstoppable team. Up high!"
"Yeah!"
The two siblings share a high five.
"Yumi, Odd, I think the supercomputer is based on a Russian M13 machine!" Jeremy tells them.
"Da, if you say so comrade!" Odd just agrees since he didn't know. "Give me a couple of minutes, and I'll tell you how to destroy it." Suddenly, something starts to happen in the network. "What do you know?"
"Jeremy, what's going on?" Aelita asks in front of the tower.
"Xana's consolidating the energy from all of the replicas!" He explains to their surprise. "And I'm not talking about just two or three!"
"Why is he doing it?" Aelita questions curiously.
"I wish I knew…"
Her question is answered a few seconds later as there's a big thump. They look at their feet and it happens again.
"What was that?" William asks.
"I have no idea," Aelita answers him, and it happens a third time. Suddenly a monster made out of volcanic rock and lava steps in. She glances at her brother. "What's that noise?"
"That came from behind." They turn to see the new creature. "Oh…my…God…" The two are in shock. "Uh, Jeremy?"
"William! I'm getting something on my screen! What is it! William? Aelita?"
"Jeremy, Xana's made a new friend for us, and he's huge! Only one problem: how do we kill this thing?"
"Sorry guys, I have no solutions. The only thing you can do is run!"
The two run from the tower. The two try to hit it, but the monster remains unfazed. The new monster swings its sword arm on the ground, devirtualizing them immediately. Jeremy sees their ID cards disappear. The two reappear in the scanners.
"Jeremy, Xana has created a new kind of monster!" Aelita reports to him. "And he's gigantic! He could destroy the skid in a fraction of a second!"
The new monster now aims to destroy the skid. And with the others in the real world, they can't stop it…
"Yumi, Odd." Jeremy contacts them.
"Has he got any info?" Odd glances at Yumi. "Not that we're bored or anything, but uh…"
"I'm gonna bring you in."
"Huh? We're so close now" Yumi gestures to the computer.
"We have no choice. If not, you can stay virtualized forever! So, let's not waste any time. Energize Odd. Energize Yumi."
Odd appears in the pilot seat and sees the terror. "Wow, what's this chunky thing doing here? He's probably as mean as he is ugly."
Once Yumi appears, her eyes open in shock. "Jeremy, major trouble, get us out of here now!"
"You got it. Docking release" Jeremy says.
The skid is released and Odd flies away as the new monster nearly destroys it. They enter the digital sea.
"Close one. Good work Einstein" Odd says. Jeremy places down his headphone in relief.
"He's a mountain, not a monster" Aelita points out.
"I wonder what Odd's going to name him" William smirks in amusement.
"Hmm, the Kolossus, with a K like in KO!" Odd smiles once he thought of the name.
"I think we got KO'd, but it works" William responds.
"We'll never make it now. Soon as we step foot on a replica, he'll be there to devirtualize us before we can say Lyoko" Yumi points out.
"One thing is for sure, we gotta change our strategy. Because right now, Xana controls hundreds of supercomputers all over the world. We'll never be able to destroy all of them…" Jeremy rubs his chin as he thinks.
"Got anything in mind?" Aelita asks him.
"No, nothing yet. But I'm working on it."
Odd lets out a yawn. "Stick with it. But I'm ready to stick to my pillow right now. If not, I'll sleep through my math test tomorrow!"
The group walks away. "Should we tell her?" Aelita asks.
"Let's wait till I have an effective program first. I don't want to give false hopes" Jeremy responds.
The group walk down the bridge to Kadic. "Odd, tell her or I will, and you'll regret it" William threatens him.
"I want to, but I can't. I'm too chicken…"
"You want to get plucked tonight?!" William says grabbing his shirt.
"Okay, okay, but let me think it over a little."
"How long?"
"Mm, a hundred years?"
"How about one minute?!" William holds a fist to him. Yumi approaches the two.
"Can I talk to you William?" Yumi asks.
"Well, I'm off to bed! See you guys, see you!" Odd enters the sewers.
"I had a talk with odd about the photo…" William glances at her, waiting for her to speak. "And I think I understand why you did it."
"Listen, the real reason-"
"No, no, let me talk," she shakes her head, interrupting him. "Let me talk, okay? You thought once Ulrich was back, you would eventually never see me again."
"Huh?"
"We'll never stop being friends, even if I'm not in love with you," she hugs him, and walks off. "Next time, just talk to me."
William is really confused. "What did Odd tell you?"
Yumi arrives home, her phone ringing. "Hey Odd, what's the matter?"
"You see, I can't go on being such a coward. I wanna tell you the truth, the photo prank was me."
"WHAT?!" Yumi shouts at him so loud he moves the phone away.
"William took the blame to cover for me, but he's innocent. You're not still mad, are you? Let's forget about it and start from square one tomorrow, okay?"
She hangs up and punches the gate open. "What a bunch of dorks!" She receives a text from William. "Odd is the one behind the photo. Want to help me get him back?" Yumi gets an idea.
"Y-Yumi? You still there? Yumi?"
"Something wrong?" William asks.
"No, I'm cool."
The next morning, there's a newspaper out. "Get your Kadic News here! Extra!" Tamiya exclaims, waving a paper.
"The Kadic News: How to be first in line for your medical check-up, another easy, quick recipe- liverwurst pancakes, and an exclusive picture of Odd Della Robbia, that you're definitely not going to wanna miss!" Milly announces as they walk by.
"What, did you photoshop this thing?" Jeremy looks up as they're in the courtyard.
"No way, I took it when he was coming out of the shower" Yumi replies.
"You told me to tell her, didn't you?!"
"And I told you, you were going to regret it!" William responds.
Yumi and William high-five, both with smiles on their faces.
"You were in on it?!"
"It was our idea!"
"Face it Odd. You just got out-pranked!" Jeremy laughs along with everyone else.
A.N. – And so ends part one in a two-chapter arc with Ulrich. Next, the freedom, and shadow of the Kolossus. One of the best duels in the show in my opinion happens. And with the stakes higher than before, Xana will not let his new puppet go so easily. And things on real world go south when Ulrich's parents arrive to see what the deal is with their son. Another problematic chapter awaits us next time! PM me with story ideas if you have any! Don't forget to review with questions or comments! I will respond! Stay safe and healthy out there! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97