Authors note
Okay firstly there is something in this chapter that might piss some people off, and I would like to say, this is not out of thin air, I started to develop the twist of this episode 2 years ago, yes I admit I had to spoil a twist, expect them from me, but I developed this idea before my year hiatus, and I hope I do who inspired me to do it justice may he rest in peace.
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Episode 71: Tip top Shape
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A day that practically everyone dreaded most about school, Medical Examination day, those who weren't physically fit felt intimidated by those who were, and some even threatened, and it was here that the Teenage fear of being overweight would cause heartbreak, as those who'd claimed they were fit and healthy were exposed as liars, the warriors however had different fears, Ulrich was physically fit, whilst Jeremie and Odd weren't prime candidates for a sports team, but their worries came down to the two oddballs Dallas and Aelita, the later had no past and as such no medical records, the former did but any thorough examination would reveal a sudden weight gain and too much iron, Dallas was keeping his cool though as he sat against the wall next to Jeremie who was as usual typing away on his laptop trying to pass the time, Aelita stood against the wall next to him looking down at his progress, Odd was across from them standing facing the wall, with Ulrich sat listening in on the conversations of the hallway,
"This New stuff will get rid of my unsightly zits for sure" said an enthusiastic Herb, this caused Nicholas to laugh whilst Adam sat seemingly unconscious further down the hall, Ulrich then noticed a fellow classmate reading a piece of paper, "Julian, do you mind telling me what you're studying" asked Ulrich, Julian one of the youngest in the class turned and looked at him showing him the paper which had been turned into a makeshift eye chart, "An Eye chart, I'm near sighted but I don't want to have to wear glasses" he said nervously with a chuckle, "That'd be too lame" he added as he returned to studying it, "Yeah being blind as a bat sure is cool" he said with a smile trying to contain his laughter, then he realised what Odd was doing, "Holding up the wall Odd" asked Ulrich, Odd didn't even turn and look at him as he said "no push ups why", Dallas stood up and walked over, "Uhh… you're meant to do it against the floor" he said confused, "uh… no" said Odd, Dallas then decided to mock him but dropping down and started to do them on his knuckles, "Like this" he said trying not to laugh, Odd got annoyed "I hate it when Dorothy calls me scrawny" he said, rubbing his head, "Odd if you see your chart you've always been skinny" said Ulrich as he reached for Odds to prove the point, but Odd grabbed it as quick as he could to stop Ulrich, "Hey don't go checking my Medical file" said Odd holding it close to his chest, "Jesus Odd don't get so defensive" said Dallas, Ulrich sat back down confused at Odd, then he heard a voice he'd rather not hear this early in the morning, or at any time of the day "Ulrich" said Sissi as she walked to him "You can look through my chart" she added as she sat next to him, "look at my weight Curve, Just right" she said proudly, this of course annoyed Ulrich as with Yumi now in her third trimester he was getting sick of the flirtations and advances, "Any my growth curve" added Sissi as she stuck her chest out "Just right" she finished, Dallas looked at her and said "Yeah what about when you removed the tissue paper" before carrying on with the push ups, meanwhile opposite them Jeremie was trying his best to explain everything to Aelita, "But you don't understand Aelita, you don't have a health record, you haven't even been vaccinated, only idiots do that by choice" Said Jeremie face palming having completely forgotten to forge all the necessary papers for her, then they heard an annoying voice "Hey I'm not vaccinated they're not good for you" said the annoying idiot known as James Norris, one time stalker of Aelita, "And yet you're still fucking breathing" said Dallas in response as he got on his feet ready for a fight, but he backed off seeing Dallas standing on his feet, "What if the nurse and everyone else finds out you're not really human" whispered Jeremie, Aelita didn't seem to take it seriously enough as she said "you mean you don't find me very human", Jeremie looked down "Yeah sure I do, but that's not what I meant" he said scared he'd upset her, "Jeremie relax, don't get so carried away" said Aelita trying to comfort him, then the door to the nurses office opened "Okay, Jeremie Belpois, Dallas Marshal, Odd Della-robbia and Julian Xiao" (I think that's what it is), said Dorothy as she read from her charts, she had a system of randomly choosing people so no one had any last minute tricks up their sleeves, the four moved into the next room, the four boys removed their upper body wear and stood shirtless, the difference between Dallas and the others was all too obvious, Odd stepped forward for the first examination, Dorothy placed her stethoscope onto his chest and back, "Well Odd you have the Heart of an Athlete" said Dorothy, but Odd knew what was coming next, "but you're looking a little skinny, are you sure you're eating enough" she added, Odd looked angry as he turned around, "by enough do you mean more than an elephant" said Jeremie, Dallas laughed covering his mouth as Dorothy placed her hand on the conspicuous scar on Odd's chest, "It doesn't hurt does it" she asked, Odd shook his head, "have you been keeping up to date with the hor…" she started but Odd Shushed her before she could finish, Dallas raised an eyebrow then it struck him as he looked at Odd.
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Julian was the next for examination and he stepped forward, he looked up at Dorothy and stood calm despite his worries,
"All right read the top line please" said Dorothy as she turned him towards the eye chart, "uhh" said Julian as he struggled to read it, and all he could see was a blur, "A, Q, T, Z" he said quickly thinking he'd gotten it correct, "Jeremie what do you see on line one please" said Dorothy turning to the speckled boy "H, B, Z and L" he said, Julian's dreams were crushed and he had been exposed as near sighted, "Really Julian, not only are you near sighted but you have a bad memory too" Said Dorothy placing her hand on his shoulder, "Dallas you're up next" she said as the warriors laughed at Julian, even though they found it kinda cruel, Dallas stepped on the scales, showing an extra 40 pounds of weight, "My god you don't look any heavier" said Dorothy as she wrote down the results, "It's all Muscle" Said Dallas quickly off the top of his head, she then examined his chest scars, "have they stopped hurting" she asked, Dallas had been sick to death of all the check-ups then and nothing had changed now, "Nope they're fine" he said as he stepped away, Jeremie moved up and followed the same procedure, showing him at nearly half of Dallas's weight at barely 70 pounds, "Ma'am is it bad if we forgot to bring our health record and haven't had all our vaccinations" said Jeremie trying to work out what Aelita could do, Dorothy took his weight which was barely 5'4, "Well yes it is" she said as she made a note of it, "but don't worry you're completely up to date" she added as she finished with the four.
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The four boys each with mixed emotions and thoughts exited the room and went to join their respective friendship groups, Jeremie moved back towards his laptop bag which Ulrich had been guarding, Dorothy stepped into the door way and called the next names on her list
"Aelita Stones and Elizabeth Delmas" she said crossing their names off, Dallas tried not to burst into tears as he heard Sissi being referred to by her birth name, Jeremie looked at Aelita as she passed him with a smile on her face, "Don't worry Einstein she thought you were human" said Odd giving him a nudge, needless to say this didn't help Jeremie's nerves, on Lyoko Evelyn smiled as she walked towards a tower on the edge of the forest sector, she placed her hand on the tower and with a surge of energy that moved through the power veins of the Plato the aura turned from blue to red, she grinned as XANA's cavalry appeared and moved to protect the tower, whilst on Earth, Jeremie's laptop let out a beeping noise, that all of them hated to hear, Jeremie and Odd rushed over with the former grabbing it out of his bag, he quickly opened it and their worst fears were confirmed "An Activated Tower" Said Jeremie as he clothed and Bagged it again, Dallas looked around trying to spot Adam, he was still seemingly asleep in his chair, "In the middle of a medical check-up, XANA has no decency" Said Ulrich, Jeremie quickly put on his bag and stood up, "Ulrich, Dallas stay here and bring Aelita to the factory when she's done, Odd and I will head over there now" said Jeremie as he and Odd ran off, "Good thing, who knows what they'd find wrong with you" said Dallas as he moved towards the door of the office.
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Outside on the running track William stood waiting to run his lap, Yumi was sitting on the side, excused for obvious reasons, Jim and Kidd were standing on the side, Kidd was silent and was admiring the athleticism of the students, but Jim was once again a roaring menace shouting at the students, doing little to encouragement
"Hey quit dawdling, this is a 100 metre sprint, no a chorus line" Said Jim looking at what he considered a pathetic time on his stopwatch, Yumi heard her phone vibrate on the stand and she grabbed it and heard Jeremie speak and inform her of the current situation "Okay Jeremie, we'll be there as soon as we can" she said, William looked at her, he'd taken on a role as her guardian when they were in class, she then gave him a small x sign with her arms and he nodded, they'd developed a signal that meant XANA, he quickly dropped down getting ready, "READY" Shouted Jim as he raised his hand "GO" he shouted lowering his arm, William and the two students net to him dashed off, William fell behind early but he used his reserved energy to dash off again taking the lead at the last second and quickly one the rash, Jim hit stop on the watch and was vocally impressed by Williams speed and Time, "yeah there you go" he said, Kidd was more silent as he nodded his head crossed his arms in approval, "Someone at least is putting their back into it" said Jim, then he noticed William had disappeared and so had Yumi, although no one had been paying attention to her.
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In the nurses office Sissi had stepped onto the scales, the scales moved to 115 pounds this left Sissi shocked from the results and to say she was angry was an understatement,
"What" she said furious as she stood in her underwear, which since this was a serious medical examination she'd skipped the more adult underwear, she stepped off looking red in the face, Aelita was doing her best not to laugh at her misfortune, "Your scale must be broken" she said pointing at it, "That's 5 pounds over" she continued angrily, Dorothy simply wrote down the data on her clipboard "The Scale is perfectly Accurate Elizabeth" said Dorothy holding the clipboard to her chest, "ITS SISSI" responded Sissi loudly as she stormed off saying "I'm going to tell my father", Dorothy having dealt with tempter tantrums all her professional life sarcastically responded "I'd run if I were you, might help you lose a few pounds", Aelita's turn was up and she stepped forward "I'm really sorry ma'am but I forgot to bring my health record" said Aelita doing her best to sound upset, "Oh it's no big Deal I'll just put your results onto a separate piece of paper that you can staple in later" said Dorothy as she moved towards her desk, "I should have left my health record at home too" said a very angry Sissi as she reached for her clothes, Dorothy reached for a sheet of paper, when suddenly she noticed her desk light violently spark and a black ooze began to drip from it, "But why" asked Aelita looking at Sissi as she grabbed her trousers, "Because my perfect weight curve is wrecked by these five extra pounds" said Sissi, Aelita turned around and said "Well you can't really tell by looking at you", whilst over at the desk, the black slime moved and suddenly touched Dorothy and with a small scream XANA took over, she stood up and walked over towards Aelita, outside Dallas and Ulrich heard Sissi scream loud enough to wake the dead, "What was that" asked Ulrich, Dallas bolted upwards and said "well it's not Sissi screaming about being told to unstuff her bra", he then raised his leg and kicked in the door, to see an open window and Sissi standing in her underwear shaking "The… The Nurse… she" said Sissi trying to speak but she was too scared, Ulrich noticed the burnt and destroyed lamp, "Okay let's move" said Dallas as he and Ulrich darted out of the window in pursuit, "She couldn't have gotten far" said Ulrich as they ran into the woods, he quickly reached for and grabbed his phone and dialled Jeremie's number "Jeremie, Dorothy's been possessed by XANA" he said as they reached the hatch which Dallas quickly pulled open before pulling the Glock from his trousers, "XANA will probably try and reach the factory so it can hand Aelita over to the Scyphozoa" said Jeremie as he and Odd looked with relief as the Elevator opened to show William and Yumi, "We'll try and stop her" said Ulrich as he hung up.
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Dallas moved through the sewers first, with XANA in possession of Dorothy this meant that there were three agents at large, none of which were accounted for, he had the Glock raised ready to pull the trigger at any second, Ulrich followed down the ladder and caught up,
"See Anything" asked Ulrich, Dallas didn't look back as he carried on forward, "Nothing, this part might be the easy part" he said, then he looked back at Ulrich lowering his gun, "You're Odds best friend right" he asked, Ulrich was confused as he looked at him "Yeah I guess" he responded confused before asking "Why", Dallas stopped and looked at him, "Has he ever talked to you about his life before Kadic" asked Dallas, Ulrich was confused about the question and responded "A few things, but not that much why", looking down Dallas moved forward and said "Forget it".
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In the factory the others were arguing about the next course of action,
"Without Aelita we can't deactivate the tower" said Jeremie, William crossed his arms "So what do we do sit around with our thumbs in our asses" he said slightly angry, "What more can we do" said Odd, Yumi looked at both of them as she sat down against the wall, "We have to hope that Ulrich and Dallas can intercept Dorothy and free Aelita" she said rubbing her belly, "what about if we block the elevator, it might buy us some time" suggested Odd, Jeremie sighed at not having thought of it himself, "Okay" he said, he quickly typed, whilst in the elevator shaft the metal crate descended to the bottom of the shaft and then locked itself into position, "Its only gonna give us 5, maybe 6 minutes, XANA will take the service shaft, no more" said Jeremie as he sat back thinking, "so what do we do next" asked Yumi, Jeremie looked away slightly before taking a deep breath "I have one idea" he said nervously, William stepped forward "what would that be Einstein" he asked, Jeremie looked at him and nervously said "Well we could do battle on equal terms", the others were shocked and confused "Wait what" said Yumi as she stood up and walked over, "forget it, it's a stupid idea" he said, "No go on" said William as he unfolded his arms, "Well for a while now I've been digging into some of the coding we've been acquiring from sector 5, and I think I might be able to pixilize one of you" he said, the others eyes shot open "You mean you can turn us into people like the ones possessed by XANA" asked Yumi, William gulped and said "that sounds dangerous and downright scary", Odd of all people had a grasp on the idea "you mean instead of XANAfied, we'll be Jeremiefied… right" he said, Jeremie looked at him confused that he was the one getting it correct, "yep sounds Dangerous" said William nervously.
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Upstairs on the factory floor Dorothy with a coming to Aelita slung over her shoulder pressed the button to raise the Elevator but as per Jeremie's trap nothing happened, Adam appeared having exited from an old power box,
"What's taking so long" he said furiously as he pressed the button himself, again nothing happened, "the service tunnel" said Adam as the two moved towards it Ulrich and Dallas ran into the Factory, "We're too late" said Ulrich, but Dallas grabbed him and said "Hold on" he quickly jumped down ignoring the cables and landing on the concrete floor, however due to the weight of both Ulrich and the endoskeleton, Dallas went through the floor burying himself at the ankles, Adam and Dorothy stopped having seen the two, Dallas looked at his ankles and said "Now if I was still human that would have fucking hurt" as he pulled himself free, "Good, now the fun begins" said Adam as he charged at Dallas rugby tackling him as hard as he could, "GO" shouted Dallas as Ulrich ran after Dorothy and Aelita.
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In the lab the warriors looked at each other confused as to Jeremie's madness but they were hoping for a method in it, which he was all too happy to oblige and explain
"So how do you plan on Pixilizing us" asked Odd, Jeremie smiled as he began typing "First we activate a tower" he said as he quickly punched in the code, "You know how to do that" asked Yumi as she stepped back scared, "Theoretically… yes" he said with little confidence in himself, "It doesn't work" said Jeremie as he lost all the confidence in himself, "wait a minute look" said Yumi, on Lyoko in the mountain sector a towers aura turned from blue to green, and it appeared on screen, Jeremie smiled with both joy and shock, "I… I activated a tower" he said, he leaned forward again "Now using this tower, I'm gonna send a Digital impulse travelling at hyper speed, through all the networks and gather huge amounts of energy and I'll guide it by remote control to the exit I chose" Jeremie added as he felt proud of himself, it was the first time he'd really been in control of the super computer, he quickly finished with the dumbed down version of "and the impulse will come out as a spectre", the others were shocked "and this is safe?" asked William nervously, "English translation please" asked Odd, Jeremie looked back at him turning the chair, "You'll become a spectre" answered Jeremie, the others looked at each other, Yumi rubbed her belly scared at the thought, William took a deep breath and was ready to volunteer but suddenly Odd stepped up and said "I'll do it" he was strangely enthusiastic "Are you sure" asked a worried Yumi, Odd smiled and replied "I've got a little score to settle with Dorothy", William stepped forward "Odd it could be dangerous" he said as he placed his arm on Jeremie's shoulder.
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Upstairs on the factory floor, Dorothy with a semi-conscious Aelita draped over her shoulder was moving towards the hatches service tunnel, suddenly Ulrich appeared
"Excuse me ma'am you forgot to give me my health check-up" said Ulrich sarcastically, Dorothy turned around and looked at him letting out a XANA growl, "and I brought my health record and everything" he added to mock and goad her, Dorothy dropped Aelita as she raised her arms, Ulrich didn't expect what happened next as a massive ball of energy began to form between Dorothy's hands, she moved to through it, but Ulrich held his breath and everything slowed down, he quickly dashed towards Dorothy, he breathed again, Dorothy was caught off guard, he quickly jumped and raised his legs drop kicking her and knocking her off guard down the flight of stairs, Ulrich quickly flipped back onto his feet, "How're my reflexes" said Ulrich as he stood ready to fight again "What about my eyesight" he added, this was met with another growl, in the confusion Aelita had gotten up and had moved towards the service tunnel and was trying to unlock the door that lead into the corridor but it had been locked as a precaution, she quickly grabbed her phone and speed dialled Jeremie, "Jeremie" she said in a panic, "Aelita" responded Jeremie glad he was hearing her voice, just wishing it was under better circumstances, "Are you Okay" he added, Aelita tried pushing against the door "Yes, but I can't get through the corridor" she responded, Jeremie Gulped and quickly typed "hold on we're coming" he said before looking at Odd, "Get ready Odd, this is gonna be big time" he said with underserved pride, "If this ends Badly Jeremie, do you promise to look after Kiwi" said Odd getting cold feet, "if this ends badly Odd, there will be no one to look after Kiwi" he responded as he carried on typing frantically.
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Upstairs on the factory floor Ulrich was providing an adequate enough distraction for the XANA controlled Dorothy, whilst Adam was going toe to toe with Dallas, the former had him pinned to the ground throwing every punch he could, but Dallas having to rely on brute force was blocking by covering his head, his arms raised forcing every blow to strike his fore arms,
"Why won't you stay the fuck down" screamed Adam as he began to lose steam, Dallas took the moment and threw a punch back, the southpaw hook caught Adam off guard and he stumbled backwards, Dallas then charged him, but Adam jumped using the acrobatic ability he had over the clunky machine and wrapped his legs around Dallas's neck, pushing him down onto the ground, "looks like you're shit outta luck" said Adam as he held him down, "Han…" said Dallas as he struggled to speak, "What" asked Adam confused as to what was happening, "HANG ON" Shouted Dallas as he grabbed Adam's legs and then standing up he rushed backwards through the barrier, Adam grabbed onto Dallas but it was too late as the two tumbled towards the ground, Dorothy and Ulrich looked back as Adam hit the ground and with no time to move, Dallas came down next, everything below Adam's upper body was crushed beneath the lumbering frame of the X-800 endo skeleton and the massive displacement of his internal organs forced a large amount of blood out of his nose and a larger amount to be spat out from his mouth, Dallas stood up, barely fazed by the fall he stumbled as he looked at his rival who was clearly in worse condition, "XANA" he shouted, Dorothy looked back at him as he raised his foot and stamped down, Dorothy in a XANAfied tone simply said "Pathetic" as she moved away from her fallen subordinate, raising a hand she suddenly amassed a huge ball of electricity and threw it towards Ulrich who was running away from her as fast as he could without burning out his energy with a super sprint, "Crap" said Dallas as ran towards Dorothy, the ball struck Ulrich sending him forward, and knocking him into a girder rendering him unconscious, Dallas charged Dorothy, but she turned and grabbed him by the throat, due to his motion the rest of his body carried suit and she then smashed him into the ground leaving him in the same state as Ulrich.
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Jeremie hit enter on the keyboard having finished the code, he sunk into his chair with nervousness as the slime emerged from the supercomputer and moved towards Odd, suddenly he screamed as he began to pulsate and shake, William and Yumi stood back scared as Odd Hunched over before standing up triumphant ready to fight,
"Odd" asked William scared to go near him, "How do you feel" asked a just as nervous Yumi, Odd smiled saying "fully charged"
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Aelita had still not managed to open the door to the service corridor, it had been lock on the other side, she continued to struggle but stopped as she noticed Dorothy moving towards her, she nearly screamed but knew it would get her nowhere, she grabbed her phone which had been left on call,
"Jeremie please hurry up, she's here" said Aelita almost too scared to speak, moving back as far as she could against the door her phone fell out of her hand which Dorothy stood one crushing and destroying the device, she then lunged at the young girl, but she was suddenly caught off guard as Odd leaped forward towards her with an inhuman amount of strength and knocked her backwards, "RUN" he yelled back as Aelita moved through the door making sure to lock it behind her, Odd looked down at the pinned nurse, "So Ms nurse you think I look scrawny now" he said his voice having a feedback to it, Dorothy growled as the two looked in each other's eyes, suddenly another Blast of energy emitted from Dorothy, Odd was thrown from her, but due to his gain abilities, he curled up and kicked back off a wall towards her, "this way Nasty nurse catch me if you can" said Odd as he ran off leaving a burn trail of his image following him, with a growl XANA took the bait.
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In the factory Jeremie was getting slightly frantic at the computer as he repeated constantly into his mic
"Aelita do you read me, Aelita" he said getting worried, "Loud and clear Jeremie" Responded Aelita as she climbed down the ladder, Yumi rushed over and hugged her, "Aelita, are you okay" asked a now relieved Jeremie, "I'm alright" she responded then Yumi moved away grabbing her belly getting concerned "Wait where's Ulrich" she asked concerned, William moved forward "we can't accept the worst" he said, then they heard a loud clanking noise as Dallas moved into the lab carrying Ulrich, a few small cuts adorned his face exposing his endo Skeleton "he's fine, maybe a broken rib or two, that's gonna look horrible on the medical record" Said Dallas as he lowered Ulrich onto the ground, "How did Odd turn into fucking Kal-el up there" asked Ulrich as he rested against the wall "that Jeremie for you" said William as Yumi sat down and cuddled up to her partner, "I have no idea how long Odd is gonna be able to go toe to toe with Dorothy though, so we need to get that Tower deactivated now" said Jeremie, William moved towards the hatch "Let's get going then" he said as he opened it, "He's getting more keen" said Yumi as she slowly stood up.
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Down in the sewer system that ran into the river in the basement of the factory, the battle between Odd and Dorothy was evenly matched and was almost a back and forth game, Dorothy threw a energy sphere, Odd simply jumped up dodging the attack and summing up a sphere to throw it back at her,
"Okay that's cool" he said with joy as the nurse was knocked back, into the water, "Better and Better" he said at the pure bliss he was feeling from the discovery and use of his new powers, whilst in the scanner room, the warriors stepped into their scanners, "Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Aelita, Scanner William, Scanner Yumi" said Jeremie as he hit enter, the four began to spin and rise "Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Aelita, Transfer William, Transfer Yumi" added Jeremie as he punched in the rest of the code, "Virtualization" he said as their blue squared outlines appeared and gained texture dropping to the ground, "The Over-Bike and the Over-Wing are on the way" said Jeremie as he selected the vehicles for them, "Okay Dallas, lets…" started Ulrich then he remembered that the Dallas that was located on Lyoko had gone missing, and he'd hoped that he'd show up, but the area was empty of him, "The activated tower is dead ahead" said Jeremie, the vehicles spawned with Yumi and Aelita hoping onto the Over-Wing, Ulrich mounted the Over-Rider, with William reluctantly getting on behind him, "Don't scratch the paint" said Ulrich jokingly trying to break the ice, "it'd improve it" he said responding with a slightly chuckle, the two vehicles then shot off "Jeremie Any news from Odd and his private nurse, last time I checked the atmosphere was electric" Said Ulrich, the two girls looked at him and rolled their eyes at how terrible the wording choice was, "He should be hanging in there, for now that is" said Jeremie, Dallas moved away from the computer "I better go help him" he said, then Jeremie looked at the radar, "You guys better be careful I'm tracking Evelyn and a bunch of monsters" added Jeremie as he heard the beeping, "Isn't that a surprise" said William.
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In the water room Odd jumped around, he was getting concerned about the all too quiet room, Dorothy was not in sight, and he was worried that she hadn't resurfaced, for all he knew she could have drowned, he looked down in the water, suddenly without warning Dorothy emerged from the water with a scream, she punched Odd in the face and knocked him to the ground, she then charged at him, but Odd quickly moved as she threw another energy Sphere, he quickly prepared to fire another one himself, but then it stopped in his hand and dispersed,
"oh shit" he said, he was then hit by another blast and knocked into the water, "ODD" screamed Dallas as he moved towards the two fighting, Dorothy turned and threw a sphere towards him, but with only a second to spare he dodged behind one of the hydro banks, he quickly drew his Glock and his phone and dialled the computer "Jeremie" he said as the window opened on the computer screen "is Odd meant to be losing all of his power" he added as he loaded his pistol "Uhh" said Jeremie, Dallas looked down as he chambered a bullet, "bollocks" he said as he moved out from behind cover and fired several shots towards Dorothy, each bullet being dodged by the super human speed, Odd quickly emerged from beneath the water but was struggling to stay afloat, Dorothy suddenly grinned and turned around firing another sphere at Odd hitting him and knocking him back, "Jeremie better figure it out soon" said Dallas as he pocketed his phone and moved after Dorothy.
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On Lyoko a Krab moved to intercept the warriors, Evelyn stood atop of the creature with her hand on her Rapier, the two vehicles came to a holt,
"Guys can you hear me" said Jeremie, Yumi looked up at the sky "Yeah we can hear you" she said, Jeremie opened a window and saw what was happening with Odd, "It's Odd, we have a big problem" said Jeremie, the 4 looked at each other "Its not looking easy on this end" responded Yumi, suddenly two more Krabs moved into an attack position "Scatter" said William, Ulrich quickly reversed and moved away from the Over-Wing to give them more targets, "Blades out" said Ulrich as he moved towards one of the Krabs William held up his sword as Ulrich swerved to avoid any shot that was fired, he managed to get underneath the Krab, William raised his sword again, the blade punctured the undercarriage and as the bike moved forward the creature exploded, "Nice" said William as Ulrich skidded to a halt, but a Kankrelot appeared and fired a shot into his arm, "Another customer" said Ulrich as he revved up his engine and moved towards the creature with William holding out his blade slicing the creatures upper body off, Evelyn who stood watching smiled "you're improving" she said with a laugh, meanwhile the girls moved towards one of the other Krabs, Yumi yelled as she threw her fan at the creature, it scratched the Krabs Body causing it to explode.
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"Guys, XANA has hijacked the tower I activated to make Odd powerful, its currently draining his energy, I can't stop it from here" said Jeremie trying his best to remain calm as the tower in the Mountain sector turned from red to green, "Whenever you mess about with the supercomputer Jeremie it means trouble for us" said Ulrich as he moved the Over-Bike towards the girls so they were able to regroup, "Do you think XANA will try and take control of Odd" asked Yumi, Jeremie quickly checked the data flow, "Nope looks like it's just trying to drain his energy" responded Jeremie, Aelita looked nervously at the others "You mean until he" she asked, but no one wanted to give her the answer she already knew, Jeremie took a deep breath "Okay Jeremie where is the other tower" asked Yumi, Jeremie leaned forward and replied "in the mountain sector theirs a way tower to the west", the two vehicles turned and started moving towards the tower, Evelyn's smiled increased as she shouted "ATTACK" point her Rapier forward, suddenly a large swarm of Hornets moved towards the warriors, "Oh shit" said William as he looked back at the creatures, "Did I ever tell you about my fear of insects, it just developed" he added trying to remain calm, "Ulrich, William you two stay here, we'll save Odd, its top priority now" said Aelita as the Over-Wing moved away, "Ready" said Ulrich as he slowed down the Over-Bike to turn around to face the swarm, "most kills buys lunch" said Ulrich as he looked at William who looked down at his teammate, "I'll take you up on that" he responded.
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Back in the sewer room Dallas was continuing his pursuit of Dorothy,
"Odd are you okay" he yelled out, Odd was barely conscious and was struggling to stay afloat, Dorothy walked towards the exit to the room, then suddenly she felt the barrel of the Glock 17 placed at the back of her head, "The bullet shouldn't kill Dorothy, but it'll stun you XANA" Said Dallas as he pressed the weapon forward, "You might want to help him" said Dorothy as she looked towards Odd who was starting to sink underwater, "If you keep holding me here, he'll drown" she said, Dallas was about to squeeze the trigger, but he lowered the weapon and rushed towards Odd, diving into the water and grabbing the sinking boy, Dorothy took the opportunity to make an exit.
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Yumi and Aelita moved into the way tower and were now transporting between sectors before exiting into the mountain sector, but there was one problem that was plain to see, there wasn't anything to see,
"Jeremie I know I didn't finish my medical exam but I'm certain my eyes are working" said Aelita as she noticed the empty sector, the only thing in sight was clouds and the sky, "what do you mean" asked Jeremie, Yumi was looking around in case there was any hint of land "XANA has cloaked the Mountain sector" she said, Aelita rolled her eyes and said "XANA's getting lazy, it's already pulled this trick" and then as if on cue from the insult a laser moved through the air towards the two, they quickly dived from the Over-Wing as the laser struck and devirtulized the vehicle, "Okay you're right at the edge of the cliff, you need to hang on" said Jeremie, the two girls were falling then Jeremie said "now" Yumi stretched her arms out and grabbed the cliff, Aelita followed suit and landed next to her, "Listen to me I'll guide you" said Jeremie, the two pulled themselves up onto the invisible Plato, "The Tower is dead ahead of you, keep walking until I say stop" said Jeremie, Yumi was nervous as she took a deep breath and stepped slowly forward with Aelita holding onto the back of her with a look of fear in her eyes, the walking felt like it went on forever when they suddenly heard "STOP" being shouted by Jeremie, the two stopped but Yumi lost her footing and almost fell forward of the cliff, but Aelita managed to pull her back, "Thank god you don't have the baby weight here" said Aelita, Yumi looked back at her with a childish smirk on her face, "Jeremie next time can you give me a little more warning" said Yumi, Jeremie sheepishly replied "Sorry, I can't judge differences to well on my screen", then he loaded the map again "Okay turn right and keep moving" he added, Yumi and Aelita quickly broke into a sprint.
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Dallas placed Odd up against a wall to allow for better air flow, Odd began to groan and move,
"No don't XANA is draining your energy, best you don't move" said Dallas as he sat down next to him "Thanks…" said Odd which was slurred slightly, Dallas looked at him, "Why didn't you tell us Odd" said Dallas, Odd despite the lack of energy felt a small rush of adrenaline as his heart beat began to race "Tell you what" he asked, Dallas didn't turn his head away, "you were pretty good at hiding it, I'll give you that, but one small mistake, wasn't even yours gave it away" he said as he cracked his fingers with his thumb, "it's what Dorothy said isn't it" said Odd, Dallas nodded, Odd looked down and sighed, "After the treatment they gave me, I didn't know how everyone else would react to my transition" he said almost beginning to cry, Dallas sighed "Yeah people can be like that" he responded, Odd was getting nervous, "They Called me Odd, hence the well odd name, because I didn't feel comfortable and wanted to be who I am now, so when I had the operation, I changed my Name to Odd as a way of owning the insult" he said, Dallas placed his arm around Odd, "if you try and Australian handshake me to find out if that's been added, I'll save you the time, I have had it added" Said Odd trying to laugh off the situation, "Not the best thing to do, not when its apart of who you are, but now you're Odd, who you were prior doesn't matter to us" said Dallas as he finished cracking his fingers.
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"I wonder what XANA's got in store for us next" said Yumi as she and Aelita cautiously ran through the invisible Mountain sector, "You're gonna have to go around a rock, the best solution as I see it is go around to the left" responded Jeremie as he tried to monitor the radar, the two girls came to a standstill as they reached out and felt the invisible rock in front of them, "Better take it slow" said Aelita as Yumi took the lead with her hand stretched out against the rock making sure she could still feel it "Are we there yet" asked Yumi getting anxious at being one step away from death, "After the rock, straight ahead of the tower, you're almost there" responded Jeremie, then he heard the beeping and leaned forward towards the screen "Oh no" he said with a slight panic, "What" asked Yumi, then they heard the buzzing of their winged friends, "Wasps" said Jeremie, the two looked around "Where" asked Aelita, then they heard Jeremie Yell "DUCK", the two quickly dived to the floor, as numerous lasers fired at them as if being spat out by the sky, the monsters were clouded by the fog that surrounded the two girls, "run straight ahead to the tower" said Jeremie, the two girls stood up and quickly ran blindly towards the tower, with the barrage of lasers following them, the rapid firing eventually forced them to stop and the lasers overshot before stopping, "where are they Jeremie" asked Yumi, Jeremie looked at the map but he was unable to find them, "I don't think I can see them" he responded then the beeping started again "I do now, they're diving down straight at you" Jeremie added, Yumi and Aelita quickly ran again as a storm of lasers rained down at them, "Aelita run to the tower" said Jeremie, Yumi quickly skidded to a halt as she drew her fans and turned around, she held them up and blocked numerous shots, but these started to knock her back, she was unable to withstand the kickback from the lasers, and then a laser struck her knocking her down, "Yumi" said Aelita looking back but refusing to stop, more lasers rained down towards the older girl who quickly rolled out of the way, "Hurry up" said Jeremie as he looked at the radar, "You're almost at the tower" he said, Aelita finally buckled under fear and watched before passing into the tower, the laser fire increased and Yumi rolled off of the Plato and before she fell towards certain death she grabbed the side, whilst back in the factory Odd had collapsed having no energy at all, Dallas ran back to grab him to carry him, inside the tower Aelita placed her hand on the screen, the mountain sector returned to sight and Jeremie's experiment ended, Odd's eyes shot open and her took a deep breath shooting forward, "You okay" asked Dallas as he placed his hand on Odd's shoulder, on Lyoko Yumi looked down to see the drop beneath her was barely more than 4 foot, she dropped down "Spotted" she said as she threw her fan towards the two wasps and as her fan sliced into one of the creatures it carried on and sliced into the other, "Jeremie, any news from Odd" she asked, Jeremie wirily responded "No I'm afraid not", Yumi got worried as she said "We're heading back to Ulrich and William right away", Jeremie took a breath trying to remain composed "okay I'm spawning the Over-Board for you" he said, then he switched zone channels "Ulrich, William…" he started but he was caught off guard as he heard Ulrich saying "79, You're falling behind Billy boy" followed by William responding "I'm at 87 you idiot" followed by a laugh, Jeremie rolled his eyes, when suddenly he smelt burning, he looked up and noticed Dorothy as she fired an energy sphere towards him, he dived from his chair, whilst on Lyoko all of the Wasps that had swarmed Ulrich and William in the forest sector had been destroyed, Evelyn watched atop of her Krab, "If you want something done right" she said as she jumped down she then charged towards the two, "Ulrich watch out" said William as he dived towards his friend and raised his sword blocking Evelyn's Rapier, Ulrich raised his Katanna and swung at her, but she jumped back avoiding the attack, in the computer room Dorothy moved towards Jeremie as he hid behind the Hollosphere generator, "It was pretty rude of you to leave us in the middle of the conversation Dorothy" said Odd as he appeared behind her, Dorothy turned around, Jeremie looked up but Dallas pulled him down and placed a finger to his lips, he grabbed a pebble from the base of his shoe and threw it at the wall, Dorothy who'd been building a Energy sphere turned her head, Dallas quickly moved up and charged her, but Dorothy was prepared she fired the energy sphere at Odd knocking him back and quickly turning she grabbed Dallas's right arm and smashing down on it, suddenly he felt no movement from it as she knocked him down, he moved his fingers but they moved all at once not individually, "shit" he said as she kicked him in the head knocking him out.
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On Lyoko, Aelita and Yumi moved towards Ulrich and William, they got close when suddenly the Krab opened fire on them,
"Thanks for the warning Jeremie" said Yumi, but there wasn't any response, "Jeremie" asked Aelita, then the concerns grew, the Krab fired again missing them, Evelyn kicked William away and swung at Ulrich, the two styles clashed as Evelyn went for a sophisticated one handed duelling style, whilst Ulrich was two handed and on the defensive, William noticed the Krab, "Super smoke" he said as he disappeared into his black cloud and moved towards the creature, the smoke then shot into the air and he appeared swinging his sword, with a spin he sliced off the creatures right legs, it suddenly toppled under its own weight and collapsed, Yumi and Aelita waved as they passed towards the tower, William stabbed down into the Krab and destroyed it, Evelyn watched and as she deflected a swing from Ulrich and a kick to his chest knocking him back, she drew her Musket and aimed but as she squeezed the trigger, Ulrich managed to impale her with the Katanna, she looked down to see the blade through her torso, "that's for attack my family you bitch" said Ulrich as he collapsed exhausted, Evelyn devirtulized and the Blade fell to the ground, Yumi and Aelita Descended towards the tower, whilst Aelita ran into the tower Yumi ran over and hugged Ulrich, in the computer room, Jeremie moved towards Odd and helped him against the wall as Dorothy moved towards them, she raised her arm to fire another energy ball, but in the tower, Aelita placed her hand on the screen and all the blue screen's descended into the void, XANA's control of Dorothy suddenly ended and she briefly had consciousness before she collapsed from exhaustion "I really think XANA needs to work on its bedside manner don't you think" said Odd.
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Back at the School Sissi had gotten other authority figures from the school, Delmas, Jim, Kid and Father Mulcahy all of them were sceptical
"Dorothy turned into this super scary demon turned into this super scary demon and jumped out of the window" said Sissi, Mulcahy gave a small chuckle and said "The Only demons we have to deal with are those in our souls and our actions", Jim rubbed his chin "reminds me of the time I worked in the Psychiatric hospital" he said, Delmas looked at his old friend and asked "You worked in a Psychiatric hospital Jim", then Jim realised and said "I'd rather not talk about it", the hope in Delmas's eyes suddenly died out, Kid shook his head "I doubt the nurse is that athletically fit nor capable" he said trying to entertain the idea, "but it's the truth I tell you" responded Sissi sick of the lack of belief in her statement, "listen Sissi dear, stop this nonsense and tell me what really happened" Said Delmas who was starting to get sick of all the fun and games and was starting to lose his temper, then the door opened "Why don't you ask Dorothy" said Ulrich as he and Jeremie carried her in, she was still unconscious leaving the others in a state of minor shock.
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After sometime had passed and Dorothy had awoken the others except for Odd and Dallas stood around her, she'd been placed on a hospital bed,
"Nurse Dorothy wasn't feeling well so she stepped outside for some air" said Aelita recounting her side of events that were obviously fake, "out the window" said Delmas who was highly doubtful of the story "Uhhh… Yes" said Aelita sticking to her guns, "is that really what happened Dorothy" asked Delmas as he looked down at his employee, "uh… I guess so" she said, she felt so weak and the XANA control had clearly left her with some short term memory loss.
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Dallas had his arm in a clamp on Jeremie's desk in his room he wasn't wearing his jacket as he had a load of tools on the desk, he looked over at Odd who was sitting at the end of his bed, he was clearly nervous and his leg was shaking,
"what's wrong" asked Dallas as he picked up a scalpel and moved it towards his damaged arm, "I'm worried, I mean are you going to tell them" asked Odd, Dallas put down his instrument "Its not my place to, you tell them if you want, my mouth unlike my arm in a minute will be shut" he said giving a reassuring look to his friend, "do you think I should" asked Odd, Dallas looked down and said "it's not my choice, nor should I influence weather you should or not", Odd stood up and began pacing back and forth "you have no idea how it felt growing up, not feeling comfortable being in the body I was born with, being the runt of the litter because I didn't want to be who I was born as" said Odd, Dallas gave a reassuring smile, then the door handle turned "think about it" said Dallas as he began to fix his arm, Odd took a deep breath and turned around "Guys" he said, the others looked at him confused "I want to talk to you about something".
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Authors note:
This chapter was not easy, I'm not gonna lie and say I took my time to make sure I wanted the meat of it to be good, no I took the time to A. get Odd's revelation right and B. to stop crying about my friend, ironically and in a cruel universe joke, it was two years ago today I lost him, we started developing the idea together and when I failed him and he died… I haven't been able to forgive myself, and yeah he was transgender it was where I got the idea, he loved the idea and I hope two years on I've done you proud Jamie.