Authors note
Nothing serious this time, just my 25th actual chapter, and I believe that is some form of celebration, I'm only a quarter of the way towards a hundred (sighs).
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Jeremie span his pencil in utter confusion, even Dallas, Odd and Ulrich where confused, they had been fighting XANA for well over a year, they had seen many things out of the ordinary, and yet this came as the biggest surprise of them all, Mrs Hertz was laughing, Jeremie and Dallas, where sitting in the front row whilst Odd and Ulrich sat behind them, they were next to the window in the science class room
"I've never seen her laugh so much" said Jeremie as he leaned back towards Odd, "your telling me I've never seen her laugh at all" replied Odd, with his hand to his mouth, they turned their attention back to Mrs Hertz, she was sitting at her desk, with two cylinders next to her on her left and on her right a bottle of water "the gas I've just in hailed in a small quantity is called nitrogen protoxide, N2O, for those of you interested in chemistry of course" said Mrs Hertz as she turned away adjusting her glasses, Dallas looked around the class room, only two people actually listened, he quickly refocused on Mrs Hertz "it's better known as laughing gas" added Mrs Hertz then her laughing became uncontrollable "you can see why this gas is often used in hospitals to relax the patients, who are going to be operated on" she added, before she started laughing again, "not a bad idea, nothing like a laughing attack after an appendix attack" said Odd sarcastically, Dallas then did a 'ouch' whistle, knowing what that felt like, "let's try to stay serious, in strong doses this gas can be highly toxic, and can provoke very serious modifications in perception and even lesions in the nervous systems, sometimes even fatal" she said, before breaking off into another laughing fit, Jeremie's eye brows shot up upon the laughing getting morbid "one can as the saying goes literally die laughing, only one thing can neutralize the gas, water all you need is one drop to volatilize it " said Mrs Hertz, she then un screwed the lid of her bottle of water, before downing some, she stopped laughing "would one of you like to try" said Mrs Hertz catching everyone off guard, no one seemed interested, "I sure as hell wouldn't" said Odd, Dallas chuckled and leaned back "dying laughing that's a new one" replied Dallas, he believed he was quiet but Mrs Hertz heard him talking "Mr Marshal" she said, "crap" said Dallas under his breath as he leaned forward "perhaps you would like to step forward and try" said Mrs Hertz and Dallas knew from her tone, it wasn't an option, he stood up and walked towards the desk at the front of the room "I'll only give you a small dose" said Mrs Hertz as she grabbed the mask that she had just used and placed it to Dallas's mouth, before turning the valve on the cylinder, she turned it back and pulled away the mask "how do you feel" asked Mrs Hertz expecting him to laugh, he didn't, Dallas moved his eyes looking around "was that meant to do something" he asked, the class was confused, except for Jeremie who believed he might know why "you should be laughing" said Mrs Hertz, Dallas smiled and said "guess you got unlucky" then he walked back towards his seat, Mrs Hertz wanted to get to the bottom of this, she placed the mask back onto her own face, and turned the nozzle, she started laughing immediately "okay how" asked Ulrich, Dallas turned back to him "gasses technically, effect the internal organs, my healing factor fixes the damage immediately" he replied then he turned back to Mrs Hertz, again she drank some of her water "enough of that, pull out a sheet of paper for a surprise quiz" she said, Dallas smacked his head into his desk and said "now I wish I was effected".
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later that day Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich and Dallas stood outside the main building, the watched across the courtyard as Yumi sat on a bench all by herself
"she's been sulking like that for two days, nothing seems to cheer her up" said Ulrich, Jeremie crossed his arms and said "what did you do" as he looked at Ulrich "nothing, why do you ask" Jeremie, Odd and Dallas rolled their eyes and raised their eyebrows, then they felt a pain in the arms, Ulrich had quickly super sprinted and punched them in the arms "I could try some of my jokes on her that might do the trick" said Odd, returning the subject back to what it was "I'm not saying you don't have a good sense of humour Odd" started Ulrich "but you don't" said Dallas, Ulrich looked at him annoyed that he was cut off "but I'd rather go and talk to her" he said, before walking off, Jeremie stepped forward causing him Odd and Dallas to be in a straight row "do you think Ulrich will get her to smile" he asked, Odd smiled and turned his head towards Jeremie "as soon as Julie Roberts calls and invites me out to dinner" replied Odd, "I retract my previous statement" said Dallas crossing his arms "your right she's really down, luckily for them Ulrich didn't hear this as he stepped towards Yumi
"Please Ulrich leave me alone, I really don't feel like talking" said Yumi, she knew what she said was harsh, but she meant what she said, "but I feel like talking, and with you" replied Ulrich, Yumi turned around and stood up off the bench "if you like talking so much, talk to yourself okay" said Yumi, she then walked away, Ulrich knew at this point it was really bad "don't worry Ulrich not all girls are like Yumi" said the familiar voice of Sissi, Ulrich turned his head towards her, she was trying to seduce him with her body movement, her hands held together around her crotch area, whilst she never broke eye contact him she turned her body from side to side, "yeah that's a shame" said Ulrich, before he started walking away, as usual Sissi wasn't having this, so she started to follow him "hey wait Ulrich are you coming tomorrow to the rehearsal" she asked as she caught up with him, Ulrich was trying to think of a plan to help Yumi, his hands buried deep in his pockets "yeah I'll be there" he said, then he looked at Sissi "but not for you" then he looked forward again "it's for Odd" he finished, Sissi raised her hand to get a point in "for your information it's thanks to me Odd's playing the music" she said, Ulrich tried walking a bit faster, to no avail "Sissi, Odd's playing the music because of Fort Minor's current popularity so people want to hear some of our music" said Ulrich, Sissi knew she was beaten on this one "anyway if you want to be a part of our group, the role of Romeo is just ideal for you" she said, in yet another of her attempts to woo Ulrich, again he turned and looked at her "and I suppose you of course are Juliet" he said, Sissi smiled believing her plan was working "yes that's perfect casting don't you think" she replied smiling, "well it's a perfect reason for me not to play Romeo" said Ulrich, as he looked forward again and walked off, this time Sissi didn't follow, she crossed her arms in frustration.
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In the now empty science classroom, one of the electrical sockets sparked suddenly, it burnt out leaving a black mark around it, a familiar black ooze began to seep from the socket and move towards the N2O cylinders, it moved the nozzles on top of them then it merged itself with the escaping gas, it went from an invisible substance to a visible cloud, it appeared to have eyes, before it moved towards the air vents, the cylinders where now empty and their contents now a weapon of XANA's.
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Later that night, Ulrich had super sprinted out of kadic, deliberately neglecting to tell Odd where he was going, he was now walking along towards Yumi's house, in his hand was a rose, he walked up towards the gate, he opened it before walking up the stairs, and ringing the doorbell, despite how nervous he was he knew he had to do this
"oh it's you darling I said to myself we couldn't stay angry at each other" said Mrs Ishiyama, then she opened the door to see Ulrich "oh hello Ulrich" she said, Ulrich coughed "good evening ma'am, I wanted to talk to Yumi" he said, a few moment later he was in Yumi's room, she was sitting cross legged on her bed, Ulrich was walking back and forth "What about your dad, where is he" asked Ulrich, Yumi smelt the rose "staying with a friend from work" said Yumi, Ulrich stopped walking "what was it your parents argued about huh" he asked, Yumi looked at him "I have no idea my mother tried to tell me, but I didn't understand and I'm not sure she did either" she said, as she layed down on her bed "yeah those arguments are the worst" said Ulrich, then Yumi smiled "I'm really glad that you came, thanks Ulrich you know how to cheer someone up" said Yumi , then Ulrich placed his hands on Yumi's they both smiled at each other "how's Hiroki taking this" asked Ulrich, Yumi shook her head "not well, he's staying with my dad" she replied, Ulrich looked down then up again, "does your mum know" he asked, "yeah, she goes out every night trying to persuade him to come home, and she doesn't return til just before I leave for school" said Yumi, then they heard a noise "Yumi I'm going to try and get Hiroki to come home" said Mrs Ishiyama, then they heard the front door close "so your home alone" said Ulrich, Yumi nodded then she rolled over, Ulrich looked down at his feet "I'll see myself out" he said, then he started walking towards the door of the room "Ulrich no" she said, he turned back and looked at her "stay with me please" she added, before moving onto the other side of her bed, she looked at Ulrich with eyes that Ulrich couldn't deny, he knew she was talking this hard, and he didn't know any more if he was doing it because of love, if it was pity or both, but it didn't matter, he walked over towards her bed, he took of his sneakers and his jacket and layed down next to her, he knew he could get in trouble if Jim decided to do a room inspection, but he forgot all about it as soon as Yumi placed her head on his chest and started to fall asleep, he placed his arm around her, he knew at this moment he had to help and make things right.
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Dallas and Jeremie had retired to their room for the night, both where in their nightwear; Jeremie as usual was at his computer talking to Aelita, Dallas was for once sitting next to him doing the same thing but writing in his book at the same time
"it's strange, that their mad at each other, Yumi and Ulrich always get along so well" said Aelita, Dallas looked up from his book "you know Aelita, people who get along very well often have fights" said Jeremie, Dallas looked from him to Aelita "it happens all the time even married couples argue" said Dallas, Jeremie nodded, and said "it's true my parents argue a fair amount of the time, did you parents ever argue" Dallas looked at him, "my mum died when I was young, if my dad and her ever argued, I wasn't their too see it" replied Dallas, then they both looked back at the screen "what about you and I, why don't we ever fight" asked Aelita to Jeremie, "I dunno, we err…, err… XANA's been too quiet lately, don't you think" said Jeremie, Aelita smiled knowing he wanted to change the subject "what I worry about is the risks you all take, you know XANA would really love to get rid of you" said Aelita, Dallas smiled and "ah he can try his best, gettin rid of me aint easy", Jeremie nodded and said "don't worry the only one of us in any real danger is Odd, he's rehearsing with Sissi today, that's what I call a risk".
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In the main hall, Sissi, Odd and Herb where rehearsing, Odd was sitting on a chair at the corner of the stage, playing his guitar, Nicholas was standing at the other end of the stage whilst Herb stood centre stage with a script in his hands
"I don't know if she will appear tonight" said Herb, he then looked at his script, "eh let's see, but I know she loves me hmm" he said, looking up at Sissi who stood in a mock up tower with a balcony "that's awful, it's about as flat as a pancake" said Sissi, Odd stop playing his guitar and looked up "it's not me it's the lines" said Herb holding up his script in frustration, "what's wrong with the lines Hmm" said Nicholas, Herb tried not to laugh as Nicholas stepped towards him "I can't even say them" he said, Nicholas started to point at him and said "there's nothing wrong with them it's you, do you know how long I spent on that text", Herb made a thinking face for a moment "my guess would be 30 seconds" said Herb, Nicholas curled up his fist "I dare you to repeat that" he said as came close to head-butting Herb "look I'd rather you repeated you lines Herb and with feeling, Nicholas there's no reason for you to be on stage" said Sissi getting angrier by the word, she then pointed at Odd "and Odd you're playing much to fast" she said, Odd looked up at her "sure if I play a little slower, it'll give me more than enough time to take a little nap" said Odd, Sissi however was not amused by this "hey keep all your bad jokes to yourself huh, now let's take it from the top and try to concentrate" said Sissi, she then walked back into the small room in front of the balcony, Herb and Nicholas looked at each other, then Nicholas walked back towards his former position, Odd started to play his guitar again, and at that very moment unbeknownst to them, the gas moved from behind the curtain, it slowly made its way towards Odd, Herb repeated his line "I don't know if she'll appear tonight, but I know, that I don't know if she loves me", the gas moved closer to Odd "Oh a guard" said Herb, getting his line right "oh on guard" he said now getting his line wrong, then the gas struck Odd, who broke out with laughter, he dropped the guitar, Nicholas and Herb turned around and watched as Odd was having a laughing attack, Sissi stepped onto the balcony "what's going on" she asked angrily then she looked at Odd "what is it now Odd" she said, Odd fell out of his chair, "come on it wasn't that bad" said Herb, Sissi moved from the steps that lead to the balcony "you're not goanna wanna laugh when I get through with you" said Sissi as she grabbed a bottle of water "get em Sissi" said Herb, she walked over towards Odd, and poured the water onto him, the gas dispersed, and moved away without any of them noticing, it made a noise as if it was a scream, but only Odd noticed it as he stopped laughing "and don't bother coming tomorrow Odd, were preforming a tragedy, not a musical comedy" said Sissi, before she walked back towards the others "we'll just get Adam to do the music" said Nicholas, as he scratched his head "say where is he" asked Sissi, Odd suddenly shot forward and said "hey wait".
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Yumi found one of several houses that had recently been constructed, it had several bedrooms a single car in the driveway, the roof had obviously been converted into a bedroom itself, and there was a gate at the front, Yumi walked up towards the door, a man of Chinese decent opened the door he was wearing a green button up shirt, his hair was grey and his moustache was thin but visible as it went from the jaw on one side of his mouth to the other side, with a comb style above the mouth
"Yumi" he said, they had known each other from a few get together between the Ishiyama's and the residents of the house, "good evening sir, I would like to see my farther" said Yumi, as she stood with her hands behind her back "just a second I'll get him" said the man, he turned around, he then turned back, and looked at Yumi "would you know why your mother and farther aren't talking to each other" he asked, Yumi shook her head "I was afraid of that" he said gloomily, he turned back and walked down the hall, Yumi looked back to see Ulrich standing behind a tree giving her the thumbs up, she turned back as her dad appeared "Yumi how nice to see you, come in" said Mr Ishiyama, as he motioned for her to enter "daddy I want you to come home" said Yumi, her farther knew he had too but he couldn't he leant forward placing his hands on his daughters shoulders "listen Yumi this is between your mother and me, she and I have to work it out" he said, Yumi started crying "how you're not even willing to talk to each other" she said, as she turned around covering her eyes, Ulrich watched from across the road "I think I've got an idea" he said, then he noticed Yumi's dad close the door, Yumi started to walk towards him, Ulrich held her head up "it's probably not a constellation, but I'm here for you" he said, she smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, "come one, let's go back to mine" she said, Ulrich grabbed her and then looked around, before saying "supersprint" and then suddenly they were back at the Ishiyama residence, they went inside, up to Yumi's room, Yumi started to cry again, Ulrich didn't know what to do, he wasn't exactly close with his farther, and he and Yumi got along fine, "I can't believe this" said Yumi, Ulrich walked over towards the window, he looked out of it, he knew this was Yumi's problem, but for some reason he couldn't explain, he felt like it was his problem as well, he looked down, before walking over to Yumi "everything's going to be fine" said Ulrich, Yumi smiled and kissed him on the cheek, they then layed down on the bed, "is it more or is it warm in here" said Yumi, Ulrich smiled at least it was lightening the mood.
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In Jeremie's and Dallas's room, Odd had joined them and they were standing around the computer
"it was crazy, I really didn't feel like laughing at all but it was impossible to stop, as soon as Sissi poured water on me I stopped immediately" said Odd, as he looked at Dallas and Jeremie, his head looking back and forth between the two, "laughing gas, Mrs Hertz said the only think that could volatilize it was water" said Jeremie, "you think this could be a XANA thing" asked Odd, Dallas's eyes darted towards Jeremie, "you never know" said Jeremie, he then looked at the screen "Aelita keep looking around" he said, "okay, but there are no pulsations for now" said Aelita, Dallas quickly stood up changing his attire and throwing Jeremie his, "let's go and see if the bottle of laughing gas Mrs Hertz used is still in the science room" said Jeremie, as he put his jumper on, "Kiwi you stay here" said Odd, as they exited the room, Dallas grabbed his crossbow and followed them locking the door behind them "do you need that" asked Jeremie, Dallas looked at him "I don't know what it is I just have a bad feeling" he said, then they heard the floor boards creaking "it's Jim" said Odd, who quickly ran back towards his room, Dallas unlocked the door, and pulled Jeremie inside, quickly grabbing Kiwi and covering his mouth as Jeremie locked the door "I think we'll have to postponed that trip until the morning, thank fuck it's Sunday" said Dallas, as Kiwi bite him, his face winced, he unlocked the door, and quickly ran to Odd's room and put Kiwi inside "stay" he said, as he shut the door and walked back "Mr Marshal, what do you think you're doing at this late hour" said Jim, Dallas turned around "Returning from a walk" he said, Jim despite the rules he had broken, hadn't committed too big a violation "next time ask for permission" said Jim, as he turned around and walked away, Dallas returned to his room.
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Ulrich opened his eyes as the light shone through the curtains and into his eyes, then it struck him, he didn't have curtains, he had stayed the night at Yumi's and even slept in the same bed, he looked at her, then he realised they were both in their underwear
"I must have been tired" said Ulrich, as he lifted the cover off of him, and tried to move out of bed, but he found Yumi holding onto him, he didn't want to wake her, but he knew they could get caught, and that was the last thing they needed, Ulrich started to slowly and carefully grab Yumi's arms, he then started to slowly move them off his chest, he almost had one arm off when Yumi spoke up
"please, don't" Ulrich stopped, he looked at her, she blew her hair away from her eyes, she looked at him, before giving him a kiss, "Yumi, we better get going, Odd's bound to have noticed that I'm gone" said Ulrich, Yumi smiled and let go, Ulrich stood up, he grabbed his trousers "pass me mine" asked Yumi, as she sorted out her hair, Ulrich knew he couldn't remember going to sleep, or getting undressed he looked back at Yumi "Yumi, we didn't…" he started unable to find the right words "didn't what" asked Yumi, Ulrich gulped and spat it out "have sex" he curled up his face, hoping that Yumi didn't hit him then and their "no, we didn't remember your only 15" said Yumi trying not to laugh, Ulrich was slightly embarrassed about the entire thing.
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Ulrich decided now was the best time to put his plan in motion, he had given Odd a fake story about where he had been all night, he knocked on Sissi's door
"if you've come to apologize Odd, don't bother" said Sissi, before seeing it was in fact Ulrich at the door, she turned around "oh it's you Ulrich, what are you doing here" said Sissi, as she straightened herself up as she put down her book "I was wondering Sissi, if there was a part even a little one that Yumi could play" said Ulrich as he stood at Sissi's door, "and why would I want to give Yumi a part" asked Sissi, Ulrich shook his head "forget that I even asked" said Ulrich as he began to shut the door "goodbye" he added, Sissi stood up "no Ulrich wait I" she said, Ulrich opened the door "their just might be a solution" said Sissi, twirling her hair, Ulrich knew this meant trouble.
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Jeremie, Dallas and Odd walked across campus before stopping at the science building, Dallas checked the electronic lock, it was a simple device that each time a member of staff wanted to access the building they had to use their id card which beeped and the door became unlocked, Dallas looked at it, before his iris's changed and he activated eagle sight, it was blue, Dallas felt it
"cold" he said, then he turned it off, before whistling to Jeremie, Jeremie quickly walked over to it and placed his hand on the lock, it made the beep noise which meant it was temporally unlocked, Odd quickly pulled the door open, and they entered Dallas carefully shut the door behind them, so not to cause any suspicion, the made their way up to Mrs Hertz classroom, the door was locked "keep an eye out" said Dallas, as he got on his knee, he extended his blade and shoved it into the lock, "Aelita and me we never fight, do you think that's normal" asked Jeremie, Odd looked at him "yeah… no, how would I know" he said, "do you think we'd fight if she lived here in our world" said Jeremie, Odd looked back at Jeremie from down the hall "what I do think is where goanna get caught, if you don't shut up and if Dallas doesn't hurry up" he said angrily "bingo" said Dallas, Odd moved from the wall to behind Dallas, then he noticed that Dallas had he door handle and lock in his hand "err…" he said, Jeremie looked at him, "I'll put it back" said Dallas as he set the mechanism to unlock, whilst he started to put it back, Odd and Jeremie walked over towards the cylinders, Jeremie turned the nozzle slightly, nothing happened "it's empty, I guess we ran outta gas if you pardon the expression" he said, "okay, later we'll go to the factory instead of the play and check things out" said Odd, Dallas finished putting the mechanism back into the door, he looked at them "no gas" he asked, Jeremie nodded grimly "I told you I had a bad feeling about this" he added, then he looked at a cupboard at the back of the room, he then walked towards it "what are you doing" asked Odd, Dallas read the labels on the door, "gas masks" said Dallas, Jeremie smiled and said "that might work", Dallas looked at the cupboard doors, no lock just in case of an emergency, Dallas smiled, he then opened the cupboard, the smile disappeared "fuck" he said, as he moved showing the others that the cupboard was empty "no" said Odd, as he stepped forward, "do you think Mrs Hertz took them" continued Odd, Dallas shook his head, "nah Mrs Hertz knows the danger if there was ever a gas leak or something going wrong, she wouldn't do it even when no one is here" said Jeremie, Odd snapped his fingers "what about the other rooms" he said optimistically, Dallas looked up from the floor "what do you mean" he asked, "well this is a science building other rooms must have gas masks" explained Odd, Jeremie shook his head "no this is the only room that has the gases in it, and the walls are designed to keep gases in, just in case of an emergency, and once it's through the vents and into the atmosphere, it's harmless, minus a bad smell of course" said Jeremie, then he noticed what Dallas was doing, "what are you up to" he asked, Dallas stood up, "I'm trying to track who might have taken them" he said, Odd shook his head "you've said before, you can't tell if it's XANA or people you don't like" said Odd, Dallas smiled, "that's using eagle sight, I can track normally" he said, then he noticed something "have you found anything" asked Jeremie, Dallas stood up, "theirs dirt in front of the cupboard" said Dallas, Odd rolled his eyes and said "woo who, dirt" sarcastically, Jeremie was confused "what do you mean" he asked, Dallas pointed to the floor "there's dirt here, right" he said, then he pointed towards the door "there's no dirt anywhere leading up to it" he added, Jeremie understood "so XANA must have done it, but how" said Jeremie, they then realised they had spent too much time in the room and they started walking out "XANA could have created a spectre" said Odd, Jeremie looked at him and nodded, "yes, but how would he have gotten access" said Dallas, Odd snapped his fingers "yeah but what about the gas masks" asked Odd, Jeremie again was confused "simple, their weren't taken anywhere" said Dallas, then they exited the building via the back entrance, "then where are they" asked Jeremie, Dallas turned around and said "there was a smell of something recently burnt in that room, and no gas masks, I have a bad idea of what might of happened in that room, and I don't like it".
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Later that day Jeremie, Dallas and Odd had gone to the factory, Dallas and Odd were against the wall with a deck of cards, whilst Jeremie sat at the computer console
"Aelita can you hear me" said Jeremie, whilst in the mountain sector Aelita was being chased by two blocks, both of them where in a single file, until they reached a section of the plato, that was a circle with a hole in the centre, they two split and went around the circle, both then fired a barrage of lasers at Aelita, missing but the shots where close hitting just behind her, Aelita ran towards a giant stone, but the blocks were still keeping up, back in the lab Jeremie was worried, "guys it's time to go" he said, Dallas and Odd threw down their hands and ran towards the ladder, Dallas grabbed Odd "hang on" he said, as he jumped down, using eagle sense to slow him down, Aelita was running, she had managed to gain some distance over her pursers, but this victory was short lived, she stopped having reached the end of this section of the plato, she stopped before looking down through the clouds, with no second thought she spread her arms and jumped down, she landed perfectly, she turned around to see the bowl, the warriors referred to it as the bowl because the tower was in the middle of the a giant curved stone structure, which happened to be bowl shaped "thank heavens, a tower just in time" she said, before she started running towards it, the two blocks had caught up and again had started shooting at her, and again they were missing, the stopped shooting once Aelita, had passed through the walls, Jeremie meanwhile had got the pre-virtualization ready, "I'll transfer you too the mountain region, I've spotted some monsters there" said Jeremie, as Dallas and Odd stepped into a scanner "the tower can't be far from their" added Jeremie as they turned around, then suddenly unbeknownst to them the gas quickly got into Odd's scanner "Transfer Odd, Transfer Dallas" said Jeremie as he pressed enter, inside the scanners Odd and Dallas felt themselves rise "Scanner Odd, Scanner Dallas" said Jeremie he was about to press enter when a massive heap of the gas seeped in through the vent, Jeremie turned, but before he could hit the final key, he quickly ran, and climbed the ladder into the service shaft, the gas split and one half followed Jeremie whilst the other moved towards the chair, it suddenly formed a humanoid figure, it was about to stop the process when it heard a voice, the voice of XANA calling to it
"no, make it interesting", the figure smiled, and typed quickly before finishing the virtualization process, Dallas and Odd then felt the blast of air, whilst on the screen a red exclamation mark in a red circle appeared in a new window, the figure smiled, before turning back into gas, and flying after Jeremie like the other half of the gas.
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Dallas's and Odd's blue square outlines appeared in the sky, but what was strange was this time, they were a fair distance away from each other, and around Dallas's right wrist, and Odd's left a chain connected the two of them, they suddenly dropped, missing the platform and what stopped the from falling was the chain which got caught around the platform, the two collided as they swung under Neath it, Odd looked pale and weak, Dallas looked up at the chain then at Odd, before looking down into the clouds below
"How did this happen, we're smarter than this" he said, as he grabbed his end of the chain and started pulling it, Odd looked up "I feel very weak Jeremie did anything happen during the transfer" asked Odd, "Jeremie can you hear me Jeremie" said Odd, Dallas looked around, "any ideas" he said, whilst inside the tower Aelita was trying to contact Jeremie "Jeremie, Jeremie can you hear me… Jeremie" she said, whilst back outside, Dallas looked around even further "okay Odd, I'm goanna try and get up onto the platform" said Dallas, then he started to swing, back and forth, then using a little bit of eagle sense, he managed to grab the rock face, and climb up, he then wrapped the chain around his right hand before grabbing it with his left and started to pull Odd up by dragging the chains "that's about 10 life points I've lost" said Dallas, as Odd got onto the platform, he was on his knees, "I don't know if I can move" said Odd, Dallas grabbed his crossbow and put it down, before grabbing Odd, and hoisting him over his shoulders, he quickly grabbed his crossbow, before he ran starting to look for Aelita.
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back at the school, Sissi put up several script pages on the balcony set, she stepped back
"well there we are, I put your lines up everywhere Ulrich, you'll see, you'll make a perfect Romeo" said Sissi, she then walked off stage for a moment, Ulrich looked at Yumi who was standing next to him, "hey I'm doing it for you" said Ulrich, Yumi knew this and winked at him, but to give the impression that they weren't dating she knew she had to be harsh about it "she's right you know, you do make a perfect Romeo" she said, loudly but as Sissi turned she realised that Ulrich was her Romeo, "okay Yumi, come with me so I can show you your costume" said Sissi, Yumi crossed her arms and followed her, Herb walked onto the stage and squared himself up to Ulrich "I can't believe you stole my part" he said, Ulrich wasn't happy about this entire affair and now he was getting the wrong end of it "it isn't my fault Herb I swear" said Ulrich, Herb raised his fist "I wonder why I don't just slug you" he said, Ulrich smiled and said "fear maybe", then Yumi and Sissi walked onto stage "please tell me I don't look too dum" said Yumi, who was wearing a baggy suit that look uncomfortable, it had red and green vertical stripes, Yumi's helmet was coloured gold and made of plastic, in her right hand was a stick with a knife on the end, the old weapon known as a pike for some reason Sissi was being nice and reassured her "don't be silly you look really stunning" she said, surprisingly Sissi actually knew of Ulrich's plan and had agreed to help "hope we're not doing this for nothing, did you talk to your folks" asked Ulrich, "yeah their goanna come" replied Yumi, Ulrich crossed his arms "Both of them, how'd you do it" asked Ulrich, Yumi smiled, "I lied I told each one of them that the other one wasn't goanna come" she said, Ulrich chuckled and said "had adults can be such children sometimes".
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Jeremie was still be pursued by the gas, he was running through the boiler room, he quickly jumped over several of the large pipes, he kept looking back as the gas got closer and closer to him, whilst on Lyoko, Dallas was still carrying Odd over his shoulders, his crossbow was in his left hand, they were going around a rock
"you way a lot for a small guy" said Dallas, as he kept looking around sweeping the area, "why would you say that" said Odd, raising his head before it dropped again "breaking the silence, can't stand it" replied Dallas, as they went around the rock, before they saw the bowl and the tower "uh oh" said Odd, as he noticed the blocks "this isn't a good time to dessert us Jeremie, the welcoming committee looks really mean, and I'm not feeling so good" said Odd, Dallas raised his right arm and put his hand above his eyes "ow" said Odd, Dallas looked back "sorry" he said, before turning his head forward "a group of blocks" he said, then the blocks, turned and noticed Odd and Dallas, the latter put the former down, "okay I can't charge and attack, and I can't reload my bolts fast enough" said Dallas, Odd looked up at him, before struggling to stand up "okay, we'll have to take two out, then we're jumping over the edge" said Dallas, Odd looked at him then at the chain "which way we going" asked Odd, Dallas looked at him "uh right" said Dallas, then he noticed Odd was on his right and wouldn't pull him down "no left. Left go left" said Dallas, Odd looked at him "okay we're goin left right" he said, Dallas looked at the blocks who were slowly moving towards them "right, right" he said, "right as in we're going left, or right as in we're going right" asked Odd, Dallas looked from the blocks and said "now you've gotten me all mixed up".
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in the sewers Jeremie had found a burst of strength and was running along the path they took to and from the factory, but the gas was still in pursuit and was gaining on him, it caught up with and surrounded him, but then Jeremie fell into the water, the gas seamed to scream as it moved from the water, it's sized decreased but still just as dangerous, Jeremie emerged from the water breaking the surface, Jeremie knew the gas couldn't attack him as it would cause it to deplete even more, but he couldn't stay in the water for long as he would soon freeze to death.
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The even soon came, and Delmas was standing outside the hall welcoming the parents and careers who had come to see the play
"good evening" said Delmas to every guest as he shook their hands, Ulrich and Yumi watched through the curtains, Ulrich was in costume which consisted of a stripped torso which was two shades of green the sleeves where shite with string tied around the forearms, but despite this both loose, his trousers were black,
"theirs my mother" said Yumi, as her mum walked up to Delmas "Good evening Akkio, I assume your husband is meeting you here tonight" said Delmas, who obviously knew Mrs Ishyama outside of work, "uh… no my husband is unable to come, he isn't feeling very well" said Akkio before she walked off, Delmas watched as she walked away, he then turned back "ah Takeo" he said in a near disgusted tone as Yumi's dad walked towards him, he extended his hand to shake it Takeo, shook it to find Delmas was squeezing it "I'm, delighted to see you're feeling better already" said Delmas coughing at delighted suggesting he was less than, "feeling better" asked Takeo, "your wife has just arrived" said Delmas extending his arm towards the hall "my wife is here" asked Takeo, as he walked towards a seat which happened to be next to Akkio, "you're not out of the woods yet" said Ulrich, then Yumi looked at Ulrich in his costume, she tried not to laugh, Ulrich walked over towards a box, with a vambraces on it "what's that" asked Yumi, as Ulrich slipped it over his left sleeve "Dallas texted me, saying expect trouble" said Ulrich, as he extended the blade that was at the base of the vambrace "you tell me this now" said Yumi, Ulrich looked at her and said "you've got a bloody pike, I've got what is essentially a knife".
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On Lyoko, Dallas and Odd side by side as the blocks stood in front of them as if making a wall, Dallas and Odd where uneasy about the way they were standing
"why are they just standing their" asked Odd, Dallas scratched his chin "their playing us for time" said Dallas, then he raised his crossbow "ready" he said Odd nodded then raised his left arm "wrong arm" said Dallas, Odd then lowered it and raised the other arm, "laser arrow" said Odd, as he fired his arrow, whilst Dallas, fired a bolt, both striking a bolt, the two remaining blocks charged the shots "okay jump" said Dallas, unfortunately they were still confused about which way they were jumping, and ended up in the same position as when they first arrived "I said left" shouted Dallas, "you said right" shouted Odd, Dallas looked at him "I said left, right" he shouted Odd tried to climb up the chain "you have confused me again" shouted Odd, Dallas the used eagle sense and quickly flew them around the bowl and landed out of sight of the blocks, they quickly ran around the tower, Dallas grabbed his crossbow, and started to reload it "Aelita are you their" said Odd, then the two blocks got closer, "fuck" said Dallas as he fired his reloaded bolt into one of the blocks destroying it, but the second still fired at them, Dallas yanked the chain pulling Odd, out of doge, Aelita emerged from the tower, the block noticed her and turned to look at her, it charged it's laser, then Odd raised his arm and fired another of his arrows before collapsing to his knees "come on" said Dallas, as he hoisted Odd onto his shoulders and walked over to Aelita, "hurry up XANA might send us more monsters, we better not stay here" said Aelita, then they ran out of the bowl.
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back at the school, Ulrich was butchering Shakespeare, he was struggling to remember his lines, he kept on turning back and forth,
"I… I… I don't know if she will… she will appear tonight at her balcony" he said, as he turned extending his arm towards the balcony "I'm" he started, but he couldn't remember or see his next lines, the crowd looked at each other, they were unable to understand what was going on, "what's it say I can't read it" said Ulrich quietly and to himself, he then edged towards the sheet of paper "does she" he started, "what does it say" he said quietly "oh right" he said then he turned around placing his hand on his chest "does she love me, anyway I think she does" he said, "enter guard, oh, guard, guard" said Ulrich as he dived behind one of the fake bushes, the crowd couldn't help but laugh "hide, hide" he said, then Yumi walked onto the stage "look it's Yumi" said Takeo, Akkio looked at him, he noticed and both of them stopped laughing "boy their tough" said Ulrich, as he looked over the fake bush, Yumi looked around, before seeing her parents, she then turned around and walked off stage, Ulrich then emerged from behind the bush "Oh no where are my next lines" said Ulrich as Sissi walked onto the balcony, she was wearing a yellow dress with string around the arms and a veil at the back of her head, Ulrich looked around "I see em" he said.
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back in the sewers Jeremie was starting to feel the cold of the water, the gas was still near him, but the gas had the advantage either way
"go away" said Jeremie splashing water towards the gas, it dodged it, whilst back in the mountain sector Aelita and Dallas where walking along a thin path whilst Odd was still over Dallas's shoulders
"there must have been a problem during the transfer, I feel weaker and weaker" said Odd, Dallas turned his head and looked back at him "save your energy mate" he said, then Aelita looked at him "how many life points do you have left" she asked, Dallas thought for a moment "not many, I had to sustain flight and carry Odd that puts me down a lot" he said, then suddenly he felt his arm pull back he turned his head as Odd's hand now rested on his head, "you okay" asked Aelita, "Yeah I'll be just fine" said Odd, then she and Dallas noticed something "you gotta hang on , you see those Pulsations that means the tower that XANA activated can't be too far" said Aelita, Dallas smiled, "hope not" said Odd, who then fell off Dallas's shoulders "what's that" asked Odd, Dallas and Aelita looked up from Odd, "Oh no that's all we needed a labyrinth" said Aelita, Dallas grabbed Odd, and placed him on his shoulders "come on you" he said.
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Back at the school, the gas was beginning its attack on Ulrich and Yumi
"…lest you're here, you who is so fair and uh, fair" said Ulrich who was still forgetting his lines, as the gas moved forward at leg level so no one noticed, not even Sissi as she was more focused on Ulrich below her, whilst on Lyoko the three warriors where walking around the labyrinth, Dallas had tried eagle sight, but that was draining his health, Odd felt like two cinder blocks where squeezing his head together, Dallas stopped and looked around, whilst Aelita placed her hand on Odd's head
"how is he" asked Dallas, then he turned and looked at Aelita, she shook her head, and they carried on looking "we've been here before I'm sure" said Aelita, Dallas looked at the walls, "lost without Jeremie's help it's all over" said Odd, Dallas looked at him "don't give up hope" he said, even though he was close to it himself at this point.
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Jeremie was losing heat fast; he needed to do something now
"well Jeremie, how do you wanna die freezing or laughing, I gotta do something I can't hang on any longer" said Jeremie to himself, he then held his breath as he dived underwater, the gas believed for a moment he might have drowned, but Jeremie was actually swimming back towards the factory, he then quickly moved towards the surface for some air, before quickly dropping back underneath the water.
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Shakespeare must have been turning in his grave at this point in the play
"you who lights up my days, you who is the sunshine of my nights" said Ulrich as he got on his knee his arms spread, "this is awful he's massacring my text, even you were better" said Nicholas, as he pointed at Herb off stage behind the curtains (please bear with me at this point, I haven't a clue what is being said in the actual episode) "oh my Romeo, you are my boo, oh Romeo carameo, amora meo" said Sissi, Ulrich prepared to say his next line "uh…" he said, then the gas struck him and he burst out with laughter, the audience didn't realise what was happening and started laughing too, whilst Sissi looked down from the balcony at him "huh, what did I say" said Sissi (I don't know) "what's so funny" she said as she turned her head towards Yumi, who was also attacked by the gas, she broke into laughter dropping her pike and her helmet "everyone is laughing at me know" said Sissi, Ulrich was now finding himself unable to breath, Yumi was in the same situation "It's not normal their going to choke" said Akkio, Takeo looked at his daughter with worry "we've got to find a way to help" said Takeo, as he and his wife clambered onto the stage, Sissi who had descended from the balcony walked over towards them "I know what to do" she said, as she unscrewed the lid of a water bottle and poured it onto Ulrich, the gas flew off him "what happened" said Ulrich, who was coming to his sense "it was like I was being controlled" he added, Takeo and Akkio were confused, "what's he talking about" said Takeo, Ulrich looked at Yumi she hadn't been given any water, "H2O" he said, then he stood up "Sissi give me…" he started then he noticed it was empty, he had a moment to think then he walked over to Yumi, she looked up at him unable to stop laughing, Ulrich knelt down and said "sorry Yumi" before he kissed, her clean on the lips, the gas then flew from Yumi, what he had done was used his saliva as a source of H2O "Yumi you okay" said Ulrich, he expected Yumi to hit him, but she smiled at him, the actual blow came from Takeo "how dare you do that to my daughter" he said, as Akkio knelt down next to Yumi, she was joined by Takeo "oh darling we were so frightened" said Akkio, Ulrich despite the blooded mouth he had received from Takeo smiled, but this happiness was not to laugh the gas attacked Ulrich again, who broke into laughter, then it attacked Yumi again "what's going on, what's the matter with them" asked Delmas.
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in the sewers the gas had located Jeremie who was a quarter of the way up the ladder, it suddenly struck him causing him to laugh and at the same time, fall from the ladder, he landed on his back, but he couldn't stop laughing, and due to the fall he found himself unable to roll into the water, whilst on Lyoko, Dallas and Odd were falling behind Aelita, she stopped and looked back at them
"we're almost their Aelita, I just had a physic vison, you have to go left you hear, and don't wait for us, we're too weak to go" said Odd, Dallas nodded, "okay Odd' I'll get their don't worry" said Aelita, as she waved goodbye to them "oh I'm not worried" said Odd, then Aelita, started to run away towards the tower, whilst in the sewer Jeremie was choking, he had lost so much air he couldn't even laugh anymore, whilst on Lyoko Aelita, quickly ran into the tower passing through the wall, she quickly walked towards the centre of the platform and began to levitate upwards, whilst at the school Ulrich and Yumi were now unable to laugh, they were lying next to each other, holding each other's hand
"water and call for help, please hurry" said Akkio, Delmas quickly ran out the building screaming "HELP, HELP" whilst in the tower Aelita was close to the top platform, in the sewers Jeremie began to fight the air starvation, but it was hopeless, at this moment Aelita landed on the top platform which illuminated she stepped forward and the blue screen appeared, she placed her hand on the screen the word AELITA typed in then the words CODE LYOKO, the gas stopped and the warriors felt their breaths return to them, the surrounding blue screens descended into the void and the Return To The Past had begun…
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a few days ago, the warriors were sitting beside a bench
"you gotta be kidding, I won't ever be part of that dumb play again" said Yumi, due to the Return To The Past her parents were arguing again, "well at least we know how to get your folks together" said Odd, Yumi turned around and said "I'm never goanna wear that dumb costume again" then Sissi walked over "one was expecting this" said Dallas, he decided to keep his mouth shut though "high Ulrich, the part of Romeo is still available in the play" she said, suddenly Ulrich looked at her, since Yumi wasn't going to partake this time, he was going to say no, but suddenly a log snapped off one of the trees that was next to the bench, it fell hitting Sissi in the leg, Dallas raised his crossbow aiming towards the tree line "my leg" said Sissi, Dallas quickly rolled it off her, "I'll take her to the infirmary" said Dallas, as he carried her away, he returned a few minutes later "her leg is broken" said Dallas, Jeremie looked at the others "we'll there goes my idea" he said, then Dallas had one himself "the show must go on" he said, Ulrich and Yumi looked at him "what do you mean" Ulrich asked, Dallas smiled.
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Ulrich stood at the base of the balcony, kneeling down
"a guard hide" he said, then he jumped behind the fake bush, and then emerging in Yumi's clothing was Herb, he looked around before walking off the stage again
"wasn't Yumi supposed to be in the play" said Takeo, then emerging onto the balcony as Juliet, was Yumi, Dallas's idea was terrible, but it was a good one, Yumi then acted out the rest of the play, Dallas sat in the crowd next to Jeremie, "you have no idea how terrible this play is" said Dallas, then Jeremie nudged him in the arm, he expected Dallas to smile, but he didn't.
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the next day, the group was sitting in Jeremie's and Dallas's room, Jeremie was at the computer whilst Dallas was sat on his own bed, his hands where holding each other he was leaning forward, the others were sitting on Jeremie's bed
"come on it wasn't that bad" said Yumi, as she laughed, "the kiss was the only believable thing in it" said Odd, Ulrich raised his right eyebrow "and what's that supposed to imply" said Ulrich, Jeremie and Aelita where laughing then he noticed Dallas, "lighten up" he said, Dallas looked up "we've got a problem" said Dallas, then the cheerful atmosphere dried up "I've been evaluating the last few attacks and even further back, I think XANA is keeping tabs on us" said Dallas as he looked at the others, "what do you mean" asked Jeremie as he was the only one who actually dared to speak up "I mean I think XANA has a spectre, in our classes, whoever it is they must have a fake background or something it'll be impossible to track them" said Dallas, who then leant back against the wall, "who could it be" asked Odd, Dallas closed his eyes and breathed "it has to be someone who was in our classes from the very beginning, so no I have no clue" said Dallas, then Aelita spoke up "if it's a spectre, shouldn't there be an activated tower" she said, "a spectre or someone who is working for XANA" said Dallas, they looked at each other knowing this had changed everything, and they know knew that XANA could be watching their every move…
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Authors note
Thanks for reading, was actually a short episode, but my original scenes bumped it up, hope you enjoyed them and I would like to point out now before I get any backlash Delmas isn't a racist, just read and see.