Author note:
Jesus I have screwed the pooch this time, writing out Herb was probably a bad idea in short term as a decent amount of this chapter revolves around him, and I'm working some new ideas into this chapter and the series as a whole, gonna see where they go really, might end up being dropped no idea
(=======================================================================)
Episode 83: Lyoko minus One
(=======================================================================)
Sitting in their classroom felt worse than normal their previous history teacher Mr Fumet had against all odds won the lottery over the break and was now living his dream, and they were waiting on a new teacher, topped off with the heat wave they were experiencing the class room was full of sweaty and agitated students, Odd and Ulrich were turned back mostly focusing on Jeremie and Aelita but were also being distracted by the cold shouldering of Nicholas towards Hector, something they found hilarious,
"So we know Dallas is still in France which I guess is some good news" said Odd, but Ulrich was doubtful of it being good news, "I dunno, why hasn't he come back to us" he asked, Aelita shook her head "We dunno how he's taking it, he might still be angry" she replied before looking at Jeremie, who knew better than everyone how dangerous he could be when he lost his control "After all these months, I thought he would have cooled off by now" said Ulrich as he began to get upset, suddenly the door opened loudly catching everyone's attention, they all turned forward as their new teacher walked in, the first thing that caught everyone's attention about his very distinctive appearance was his face, his left eye had a massive burn scar encircling it making the students wonder if it even worked, along with another burn scar covering most of the left side of his face, long black but greying sideburns accompanied brushed back hair of the same colour, accompanying this was a thick goatee, his attire was no less normal, a large black duster coat was worn over a light black suit that whilst smart it was lacking a tie, and instead was accompanied by a blood red scarf, his left hand was covered by a leather glove gripping tightly onto a walking stick, "let me make this clear as I hate repeating myself, I'm professor Max Claudius, I will not tolerate being called sir, I will not tolerate being called doctor, I'm your new teacher of history and geography, any questions" he said as he walked to the desk and looking at the class, Nicholas raised his arm, "If it's about my face or my glove I suggest you mind your own business" said Claudius in a tone that could be described as rage filled, Nicholas sheepishly lowered his hand, "I will not be like your previous teacher, I do not accept lateness and I will not be made a fool of" added Claudius as he began to walk up and down between the desks, Jeremie felt confident compared to everyone else's fear, "now Mr Delmas has instructed me to have one of you be your class representative, so I'll leave that choice up to you, chose wisely" he added as he returned to his desk removing his jacket and placing it over a coat rack before sitting down, "Now turn to page one, there shall be no further formal introductions" he added as Odd began to stroke his chin.
(=======================================================================)
Exiting their class at this time felt weird for William and Yumi, the college classes were going to take some getting used to, especially as they could be on a break whilst their younger friends could still be in class as they currently were,
"I can't be the only one of us who keeps thinking we're gonna see the others" chuckled William as he pulled his bag over his other shoulder unused to the heaviness, "Yeah I guess" said Yumi as she kept looking down at Dallas's Jacket, William was still feeling sad, but knew she was taking it much worse, "I'm sure he's fine" Said William, but Yumi was barely paying attention, then suddenly there was a loud roar, William covered his ears, "shit what the hell is that" he asked, Yumi however had a different reaction, the noises sounded like an engine roar "Dallas" she mumbled before running off, "Wait Yumi, it's not…" started William but Yumi didn't listen as she rushed off to the source of the noise "Jesus Christ" he said as he rushed off after her, Yumi turned the corner to the parking lot hoping to see Dallas at the Wheel of his Interceptor she was disappointed as what she instead saw was a devilishly handsome young man with short blonde hair in a blue and black jacket and brown jeans stepping out of a red 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution, the body paint was adorned with black stripes, "Sorry" said the driver as he stepped out smiling "The engine too loud" he added his accent suggested he was from southern America but Yumi couldn't tell, William caught up from around the corner, "God, that bag is heavy" he said out of breath, then he took in the sight of the Evo, "Whose this guy" said William as he stood up, "WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THAT RACKET" shouted a very loud and evidently very angry Jim as he marched into the parking lot with Kidd in tow covering his ears, the racket even managed to summon Father Mulcahy but he was merely curious as to the noise "now you've done it" said Yumi as she turned around to move from Jim, "Sorry Boss" said the stranger as he gave another smile, "Who the hell are you, no students are allowed to keep cars on…" started Jim but the stranger held out his hand "Carter Pierce, new student teacher" he said with his handsome smile, "Student teacher" whispered William to Yumi quietly "No idea must be new program" she responded looking away depressed.
(=======================================================================)
"I'm not sure this is the best idea" said Claudius as he sat with his bum leg over his other one, Delmas pushed his glasses back onto his head and looked at Carter who was still smiling, which no one in the room could deny was charming, "the board of education has informed us that along with the new college opening up and due to Kadic being a high priority school we have to accept a student teacher" said Delmas, Claudius grinned as he stood up and walked towards the hat stand where he had placed his coat, "As long as he's not assigned to my classes" he said, Jim looked at Kidd before looking at Carter, "I'll be bouncing between classes" he spoke breaking the silence, Claudius froze in place before grabbing his coat, "this doesn't bode well" he said under his breath before turning back to his chair, "When does he start" asked Claudius almost like his tone had changed, no one however seemed to pay any attention but Carter gave him a small look, "within the week" said Delmas as he began to work on a pile of forms.
(=======================================================================)
William and Yumi had retreated to the cafeteria as they began eating, Yumi was feeling more down having given herself false hope again, she was struggling to eat as she flicked her food about with a fork,
"You okay" asked William as he watched her play with her food, "Yeah I'll be fine" she replied as she began to try and eat when the others walked over, "You're late" she said trying to change the subject, Ulrich rolled his eyes as he sat down next to her "Yeah well our new teacher is a massive pain in the backside" he said as the other sat opposite them "oh god who did you get" asked William as he took a gulp of his water, "Probably the most stereotypical mean teacher we could possibly get" said Aelita in frustration, Jeremie chimed in "I'm confident I might be able to get on his good side, although he's treating us all the same" said Jeremie, William finished his drink as he looked at them "Don't tell me it's that guy in the massive weird coat with the face like a cooked onion" he asked then he noticed the others looked scared then William heard a quiet but angry voice "Cooked onion" it asked, William was too scared to turn around as he heard a cane strike the floor, "your name" he asked as he moved to face William, "Will… William Dunbar" he said nervous and starting to shake, "I'll see you in detention tomorrow, you can forget about the field trip you were due to take" said Claudius as he turned and faced Jeremie, "Belpois as you know your class needs a representative and I would suggest you put your name forward" said Claudius in a slightly threatening tone, he then looked at Yumi "Weird Jacket" he said as he took in the damaged jacket, missing the right sleeve below the elbow with several patch marks all over with three very distinctive slices over the left shoulder that Yumi had sown-up, Claudius walked away "Aint that just great" said William as he smacked his head into the desk, "I don't think I ever want to get on his bad side" said Odd as he slowly ate his food, William however was on his bad side and was regretting it.
(=======================================================================)
Whilst Kadic had numerous empty rooms for students, Jim, Kidd and Delmas were the only staff who lived on campus, of these only the former two were permanent residence, Delmas had returned from his cabin in Alaska, Claudius however made sure to live close to Campus, he'd not told anyone why as he was a private person, opening his door he limped in as is leg was hurting after his first day at school, he grinned as he locked the door behind him and limped towards his desk, his house was as strangely decorated as he was, his wall had many paintings along with two crossed swords above a fireplace,
"Later" he said as he looked towards the unlit logs, he moved towards his office removing his coat and jacket leaving him in a vest jacket, his desk sat with a pile of folders each of the students and behind him a gun cabinet with only a Luger pistol sitting inside of it, although a box sat underneath it, sitting down Claudius felt better getting off his bum leg, "first impressions were poor" he said as he began to flip through the pile of files, "Pichon? Oh yeah he's gone now isn't he" he chuckled to himself as he poured himself a drink, he flipped through each of the files finding nothing of interest, "Grades whilst maintaining a high standard have subtly dropped over the past two years, possible bladder issues" he said as he read the report on Jeremie, he leaned forward and muttered "I wanna see how far I can push you" before putting the folder onto his read pile.
(=======================================================================)
As break away, the Sub digital hit from the previous year, boomed from Odd's alarm clock at the strangely for him early time of 7:00 AM, Ulrich turned in his bed covering his head with his pillow,
"ODD WILL YOU TURN OFF THAT ALARM" shouted Ulrich his voice muffled by the pillow, but there was no response and the music continued "ODD" shouted Ulrich as he looked up from his bed, but he found the room empty save for him and Kiwi who simply barked back at him, Odd however was up bright and early, he'd made an unexpected visit to Delmas's secretary Miss Webber, "Here are the photocopies you asked me for Odd" she said handing Odd a pile of pages bringing a smile to his face, "You wanted 31 right" she asked double checking, "Yes 31 thank you" said a grinning Odd, whilst back in the dorm Building Ulrich knocked on Jeremie's door, there was as usual no answer, "Rise and Shine Einstein the birds are chirping away" said Ulrich as he saw Einstein hunched over his computer asleep, chuckling Ulrich shut the door behind him and crept towards Jeremie, he looked down at his sleeping friend "Jeremie" he said but there was no response, "Odd and Aelita are dating" added Ulrich and Jeremie suddenly shot awake, "What… oh it's you Ulrich" said Jeremie as he rubbed his eyes "Awful joke, what's the time" he added as he stood up stretching his arms, "What given up sleeping in a bed" asked Ulrich jokingly, Jeremie rolled his eyes and moved to replace his jumper, "no tryna find a way to send you guys into the internet, so you can track XANA" said Jeremie as he pulled off his jumper to grab an identical one, "any luck" asked an optimistic Ulrich, but Jeremie's response was less than helpful "Jack shit".
(=======================================================================)
Yumi stretched her arms, one thing she liked about not being pregnant was a nice night's sleep, something she had sorely missed, Aelita was still asleep not needing to be up anytime due to starting a little later than the college students, Yumi moved towards her wardrobe and grabbed a pair of her trousers, looking in the mirror she noticed her hair had been neglected
"Great" she said to herself rolling her eyes, but she didn't want to cut it and instead just tied the extra hair up in a tail, "Have to do" she said before moving over to carefully check she hadn't woken Aelita up, "sleep tight kiddo" she said before grabbing the Jacket and pulling it over her jumper, whilst down the corridor Sissi was going on a warpath as she, Adam, Nicholas, Evelyn and Hector were in her room, Evelyn hadn't bothered getting out of bed, nor getting dressed, Nicholas would have stared but Adam was shooting him death glares and Hector felt extremely uncomfortable,
"So why're we here again" he asked confused making sure to stand with his back to Evelyn "because we can't let Jeremie become the student rep" she said angrily folding her arms, Adam begin to light up his cigarette "Run for rep then" he said as he took a puff, Sissi slapped it from his mouth though "ALL STUDENTS RELATED TO STAFF AREN'T ALLOWEED TO" she shouted angrily, Adam chuckled as he stomped on his dropped cigarette, "oh well then" he said chuckling, "I can't run I'm in college remember" said Evelyn as she sat up, Sissi raised her hand to cover her view of the older girls chest, "put a shirt on" she said, Nicholas was about to turn his head but Adam menacingly shook his head, which was enough for Nicholas to turn around altogether, "Adam you need…" started Sissi but he raised his hand as he sat down at the foot of his sisters bed, "I got better things to do than take complaints from idiots" he said before looking at Hector "No offence" he added, Sissi stomped her foot "we can't let Jeremie win" she said in frustration, "What about me" said Nicholas but Sissi rolled her eyes "might as well through in the towel" she said before looking at Hector, "You, you'll run" she said, but her defensively raised his arms and waved them "Oh no, I can't… I don't…" he started nervously "come on it'll help you make other friends quick" she said but Hector was clearly unhappy about it, Nicholas was about to say something but Hector shook his head subtly to him causing the former to nod.
(=======================================================================)
Odds early rise had paid off as whilst Ulrich and Jeremie had taken their time getting ready, Whilst Jeremie had been pressured by Claudius into enter the running, and Hector likewise by Sissi, Odd was the only willing candidate for this class, Claudius watched as his students poured in each being handed a sheet by Odd, his candidate flyer was far from presentable as it featured his smiling face, a little detail about him and his Lyoko icon, which no one bothered looking at, due to it simply being Kiwi urinating,
"Take my platform" said Odd as he handed out another flyer, "Platform, but for what" asked Jeremie, Odd smiled as he held up his thumb and said "My platform, you're looking at the next student rep", this left Jeremie and Ulrich shocked, "You're running Odd" the former asked as he was shocked that the less than well doing Odd was running for a position that required the opposite of what Odd usually displayed, "Why didn't you say anything" he added, Odd pointed upwards striking a pose, "because Surprise is the secret weapon of my election campaign" said Odd, Aelita chuckled a bit having read his flyer, "And the second weapon is poetry" she said causing Jeremie and Ulrich to look at her, "if you all want to have your say, why not give the nod to good old Odd" she said extending her hand in his direction having really gotten into it, Odd simply smiled leaving Jeremie and Ulrich baffled, "Hey that's great, I love words that rhyme with Odd" said Odd tooting his own horn, as the last students poured in, Claudius tapped his cane on the ground "Okay everyone settle down, don't make me repeat myself" he said, everyone did as he said being too scared to dare ignore him.
(=======================================================================)
With William held back at the school with his detention Yumi and the rest of her class had boarded the school bus and had already departed, leading the trip was Mrs Hertz with Jim as her assistant, not who she wanted but he was all that was available, Yumi was sitting at the back of the bus alone, and with recent events no one wished to bother her,
"I'm warning you, if anyone tries to pull anything, Detention" said Jim, but no one was paying attention to him, "If you do, you'll Join that Smart Ass, Dunbar in the study hall" Added Jim, but Hertz who was for once in a good mood patted him on the chest and stepped in front of him, "Thank you Jim, I think you've made your point" she said, Jim saluted "Roger Suzanne" he said but he realised his mistake as she shot a grin at him "I mean Miss Hertz" he said correcting himself, "Right let's not forget what we're looking for, The purpose of our field trip today is to explore the effects of pollution on our eco system, and especially in the forest, an effect that one day might mean the end of our forest and all animal and plant life" explained Hertz, although the only one paying any attention was a now heartbroken and worried Jim, "are you saying their won't be any more bunny rabbits or little birds, or trees and mushrooms" he asked as he mimed out the animals, Hertz looked at him confused, Yumi however returned to looking out the window, although she kept seeing Dallas everywhere, but she knew it was in her head but it was still hurting her none the less.
(=======================================================================)
Back at the school Claudius was being driven out of his sanity as he listened to Odd's speech to his class, it was clear that the new teacher wanted Jeremie to be the rep, although his motivations remained unclear, Odd, Hector and Jeremie stood facing the class, Hector was clearly nervous about being in front of everyone
"and so I ask, why should a great student represent the bad, why not let a near drop out like me, represent all the other near drop outs" said Odd, he'd clearly made a good point as there was a lot of chatter, although Adam shook his head as he looked at the teacher before looking at Jeremie, Claudius began rubbing his chin almost looking concerned "Jeremie… I uh… never mind" muttered Hector, suddenly Odd extended his arm towards the two causing Hector to panic slightly, "look at Belpois, he always gets A's he doesn't know the fear of getting left back, he's not capable of defending our cause" said Odd making his point clear, he was there to defend the little man, Ulrich stood up holding up his fist in agreement "Bravo, Great job Odd, Okay other drop outs it's time to take a stand" said Ulrich, most of the class began to clap in support of him, Aelita and Nicholas included, although Sissi stared daggers at him causing him to stop, Claudius stood up stamping his cane on the ground violently "Okay settle down" he said borderline shouting then he turned to see Hector nervously clapping but he stopped scared of the teacher, suddenly Jeremie's laptop started to beep "Belpois turn that off or it'll be confiscated" said Claudius as he looked towards him, but the alarm was no lie in the forest sector Evelyn placed her hand on the tower turning its aura red, Yumi didn't need to wait to find out what XANA was planning as on the bus the dashboard suddenly sparked causing the driver to slam on the breaks, the violent stop caused Jim to shoot awake, "Move in the front, there's only one…" he said waking up from a dream, "What's going on" asked the driver to himself as the black ooze began to move throughout the bus, "What's the matter, are we already th…" started Yumi but then she noticed why they'd suddenly stopped, all the other student's along with the two staff members moved towards her "Oh shit" said Yumi as she backed up, Jim raised his arm now sparking and suddenly there was a sudden spark shot from his arm, Yumi ducked and the shot shattered the rear window of the bus, Yumi panicked as she jumped through the hole before Jim could fire again, quickly landing on the ground she turned around and raised her hand placing her other on her forehead, the shattered glass suddenly began to float and shot towards Jim, it struck and pieced him stunning him, but a brief flicker cause the glass to drop to the ground.
(=======================================================================)
"I Guess in conclusion I just wanna… help the… the little guy in ways other than academic" said Hector as he had stuttered throughout his speech, Claudius rubbed his chin curious as to his points, although he seemed dismissive of them, whilst it got the students talking they didn't cheer like they had done with Odd, although Sissi stood up and started clapping, "Bravo, Bravo way to go Hector" she said but no one joined in, not even Nicholas or Adam, "Clap stupid, go on" said Sissi looking down angrily at them, but only Nicholas clapped, Aelita rolled her eyes at the two, "I'm gonna vote for Hector are you" said Sissi looking the others, but Ulrich and Aelita shook their heads, it was clear that whilst Hector had good ideas his nerves would cause him to crack under any pressure, "You're turn at bat Einstein" said Odd, his two opponents had made good points, and he didn't have many but he couldn't help but feel that he was the candidate that Claudius was pushing for and wanted to win, it started to scare him "Odd this isn't a game, being elected class rep is a serious job with a lot of responsibilities" said Jeremie still confused that his friend wanted the role "Let me guess you don't think I'm capable of handling them" said Odd poking Jeremie's chest, "I never said that" said Jeremie defensively "Yeah but it's what you're thinking" retorted Odd, Jeremie didn't know what to say, then the two were pushed apart by Claudius and his cane, "Maybe we should take a break before we continue" he said almost angrily, Jeremie moved towards the door as the students began to chatter among themselves, Aelita and Ulrich approached them, when Jeremie's phone began ringing, "Hello… Yumi" he said, Ulrich suddenly became slightly concerned, "Jeremie" said Yumi as she ran away from her class mates, "My whole class… has been XANAfied" she added as she ducked through some bushes, her pursers weren't too far behind her though "are you sure" asked Jeremie briefly hoping it wasn't true, "Belpois I don't like phones in my class room" said Claudius as he looked towards Jeremie, "I gotta hang up, I'm on it" said Jeremie before he pocketed his phone, Jeremie leaned towards the others "XANA has launched an attack" he whispered to them, before looking at Adam who waved his fingers whilst grinning, "Belpois are you ready" asked Claudius in a subtly threatening tone, "I had some notes but I left them back in my room" said Jeremie in a blind panic, as he grabbed his bag and rushed out of the door, "BELPOIS" said Claudius angrily but Jeremie was already out the door, "I'll go and get them" added Jeremie with Aelita behind him, "I'll go with him" said Odd dashing after them with Ulrich in tow "TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE COMPETTION" shouted Odd back to the class, "I'll go too to stop them from killing each other" said Ulrich as he stopped and smiled, Claudius stood up and limped to the door, "Someone go after them" he said, Adam grinned as he stood up and walked to the door, "I'll take of it" he said as he rushed after the warriors, "See that you do" said Claudius as he turned back to his class, Hector stood confused and nervous, the silence was interrupted as Sissi said "Does this mean that Hectors won".
(=======================================================================)
Yumi had managed to gain some ground on her pursuers but she was running out of energy and they were steadily catching up, meanwhile back at Kadic, William was stuck alone in the study hall, Carter was watching him, and he was watching William like a hawk being it was his first role as a teacher, William was leaning back against the wall as far away from Carter as possible, suddenly he felt his phone vibrate, he grabbed it from his pocket under the table and looked down seeing a single word, XANA, he pocketed it again and raised his arm,
"Can I go to the bathroom" asked William, but Carter shook his head, "I know that trick, I'm only a few years older than you" he replied as he kept watching him, William felt thwarted as he looked at the table, he reached back into his pocket and typed out on his phone, outside Odd felt his phone go off, "You're kidding" he said annoyed, the others stopped "What" asked Aelita as she looked at him, "Williams held up in detention, and he can't sneak away" said Odd, Ulrich turned back towards the school, "I'll bust him out and get Yumi" he said as he started moving, "But Ulrich" said Jeremie, "JUST GO" shouted back Ulrich as he disappeared from their line of sight, back in the study hall William was looking around for a distraction, he wanted to use super smoke but that would cause more issues, suddenly there was a knock at the door, Carter stood up and walked towards the door to answer it, William smirked and as Carter wasn't looking he quickly said "Super smoke" and vanished, however in his quick movement he hadn't thought of an exit and was now on the roof of the building, "Can I help" said Carter as he opened the door, Ulrich had quickly knocked on the door and had moved to hide behind a pillar so Carter couldn't see him, "What the" said Carter as he closed the door behind him, Ulrich let out his breath as William appeared next to him, "Jesus" said Ulrich as he stepped back extending his wrist blades, "It's me" said William raising his hands, "Don't do that" said Ulrich as the two darted off towards the woods, "What's XANA doing then" asked William as they cleared the school, Ulrich however grabbed Williams neck "Hold on" he said but William didn't have a chance to respond.
(=======================================================================)
Yumi had been running for what felt like forever but the XANAfied class weren't giving up anytime soon, she quickly looked back as she but this was a bad move as she tripped on a tree root and was knocked to the ground, the class caught up and began to flicker as they looked around but the clearing where Yumi had tripped was now empty, they looked around like blood hounds following a sent, but Yumi had taken another risk and was floating above their eye line, she hovered towards a tree and rested on a branch, after all the running and using her telekinesis she was completely drained of all energy, Jim looked around and sniffed like a tracker dog before looking around as the rest of the class wandered off trying to find her, Yumi looked down from the branch,
"This used to be so easy" she said nervously, but then Jim grinned and turned around and raised his arm shooting electricity into the branch causing it to explode from the tree, Yumi screamed as she was thrown from it but with what little strength she had she grabbed onto another branch to break her fall but she was unable to help herself up and collapsed to the ground, Jim grinned as he moved towards her seemingly unconscious body.
(=======================================================================)
Jeremie, Odd and Aelita had made their way to the tower, with no resistance from Adam, it was less than they'd like for an Lyoko team but with the other half dealing with the attack and Dallas still awol they had little choice,
"The activated tower is in the forest sector" Said Jeremie as Odd and Aelita stood in front of a scanner, "I'll try to get you in as close as possible" said Jeremie as the two stepped into their respective scanners, "Transfer Aelita, Transfer Odd" he said as he began typing and selected their ID cards, "Scanner Aelita, Scanner Odd" he added as they began to spin and rise, "Virtualization" he finished as they felt the blast of air and were transported to Lyoko, Their blue square outlines appeared before dropping to the ground "Okay we're here Jeremie" said Odd as they looked around, the forest was almost strangely empty, "I wonder if XANA is using too many resources to summon monsters" asked Aelita, Jeremie however was focused on the tower, "the tower is due north you should be able to see it from where you are" said Jeremie, the others turned and looked "Can't miss it" said Odd with a determined smile, "Here's your Taxi" said Jeremie as the Over-Board began to virtualize, Odd jumped on before having his arm "Hop on" said Odd, Aelita smiled and took his hand mounting the board "Don't mind if I do" she replied before Odd shot forward, Jeremie watched the map closely, "Evelyn and a few monsters, How original can you get" said Jeremie sarcastically, Evelyn stood by four tarantulas, she held the handle of her Rapier whilst it remained in her sheath, "XANA hates it when we're bored" said Odd cheerfully, Evelyn however grinned as she raised her Rapier and pointed forward, "Okay lets be polite and say hello" said Odd as he sped forward, then the Tarantulas knelt down and began to fire at them, "Careful Odd if anything happens to you I won't have any competition except for Hector" said Jeremie with a chuckle, Odd swerved the board to avoid the lasers, "Careful" said Aelita as she almost slipped off, "Don't worry Einstein I'll take care of them and then I'll go after you" said Odd as he raised his arm too confidently ready to fire at the monsters, "Laser Arrow" he said as he fired, the shot cleanly hit one of the Tarantulas head causing the monster to explode, "I'm doubling back" said Odd as he got cocky and turn around to keep attacking them, Evelyn grinned as she drew her musket and was ready to fire but the Monsters surrounding her were already unloading a barrage of lasers towards her, one of the lasers struck the base of the Over-Board but instead of destroying the vehicle, Odd struggled to maintain control and the board was now locked on and no longer controllable, Odd and Aelita were moving fast towards a tree, without the option to bail, Odd leant forward and grabbed the front of board and began to pull upwards forcing the board to move Vertically, but this sudden movement caused Aelita to loose balance and she fell from the board and struck the ground, "AELITA" Screamed Odd alerting Jeremie as he suddenly leant forward watching the screen "Better be careful Aelita lots of Tarantulas on the way" said Jeremie as he watched the monsters and Evelyn more towards Aelita, Evelyn grinned and pointed her Rapier forward and the three monsters opened fire at her, Aelita rolled and threw an energy sphere towards them, she didn't have time to aim and it subsequently missed but it managed to distract the them, "Pathetic" said Evelyn but she was caught off guard as Aelita ran past her barging through her and disarming Evelyn, the latter fell to the ground dropping her musket as Aelita rushed past holding onto her Rapier, "Aelita what're you doing" asked Odd as he managed to regain control of the Over-Board "I dunno I'm winging it" she replied half laughing as the Tarantulas turned around and fired at her, the shots struck the Over-Board finally taking it down and throwing Odd as it exploded, unfortunately for the two warriors they collided as Odd hit the ground.
(=======================================================================)
The Tarantulas started moving towards the two with the lead creature moving solely onto its hind legs to fire its lasers at it gave pursuit, Evelyn grinned as she moved forward grabbing and sheathing her sword,
"The game is a foot" she said as one of the Tarantulas stopped for her to mount it, "forward" she added as the creature moved off to join the chase, whilst in the real forest Ulrich and William were following what they were hoping were Yumi's tracks,
"You sure you know what you're doing" asked William as he got both nervous and impatient, Ulrich stood up from looking down at some foot prints "I dunno, I know a bit of tracking but Dallas didn't…" started Ulrich but he stopped before he could finish "Ulrich…" said William not knowing what to say in comfort, "Come on" responded Ulrich as he started following the tracks, he recognised Yumi's shoes but was unable to tell fresh from old, "Ulrich you need…" started William but Ulrich yelled "William just shut it, I've got enough to worry about" before he started running as he followed the tracks, "XANAfied people don't leave tracks, so this is all we have to go on" said Ulrich changing the subject, then they heard screams "What was" started William but Ulrich ran off recognising it as Yumi's, further along in a clearing, Adam stood with his phone to his ear whilst shocking Yumi with lightning blasts, it was clear that the blasts weren't meant to be lethal, although Yumi was in no less pain as she flinched as smoke emanated from her, Adam hung up his phone pocketing it "Son of a" he said as he kicked Yumi whilst she was down, "Yumi" said Ulrich as he was about to attack Adam but William grabbed him, "We've still got the element of surprise" he said as he pulled Ulrich back into the bushes, Adam kneelt down to Yumi and grabbed her head, "well looks like your boyfriend and lover are coming to save you" said Adam grinning before deciding to rile her up knowing that Ulrich was nearby "neither is that pathetic son of yours" he said, Yumi's face turned from pain to anger, but it was nothing in comparison to the anger that Ulrich was now possessing as he screamed "ADAM" the aforementioned looked up grinning as Ulrich jumped up using super sprint and extending his wrist blades he span towards Adam who despite stepping backwards hadn't done it fast enough and the hook blade sliced into his face and completely sliced his left eye almost tearing it out thanks to the hook, "awwww" screamed Adam in pain as he grabbed his now bleeding face "You fucking" he started, Ulrich stood ready to attack again his face seething with anger, but Jim and some of the other students grabbed him with Jim holding him down on the ground "NO" shouted Adam as he raised his free hand, "He's mine" he added as he stumbled forward, Jim moved from Ulrich, the later looked up but this only welcomed him to a kick in the face as Adam's foot collided sending him backwards and landing next to Yumi "Ulrich, Yumi" said William within the trees as he looked down, "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE DUNBAR" shouted Adam as he looked around with his good eye, "IF YOU DON'T SHOW YOURSELF, THEY'LL GET WORSE TREATMENT" Adam shouted before seeing Ulrich reach his hand towards Yumi who was now unconscious, Adam snarled his face before walking forward and stamping on Ulrich's hand, with a loud crack Ulrich screamed in pain "that's for my eye" he said kneeling down grabbing Ulrich's face, "I don't know why XANA doesn't just let me kill you" said Adam as he threw down Ulrich "Then do it you bastard" he replied mocking Adam, the latter turned around drawing his anaconda and pulling back the hammer "You've ruined my life already, you've ruined hers" said Ulrich looking at Yumi, Adam was almost ready to pull the trigger in a warning shot but he lowered the revolver, for the first time in his life he felt guilt and decided to not hurt them further.
(=======================================================================)
Back on Lyoko Aelita and Odd were close to the tower however with the open space it meant they were easy targets for the remaining Tarantulas and Evelyn, the two quickly ran to hide behind one of the trees, the monsters however didn't give up with their laser barrage, Odd poked his head out but it was nearly shot off,
"I'll keep them busy, as soon as the coast is clear head for the tower" said Odd, Aelita was sceptical but nodded saying "okay", Odd quickly jumped like a feline from the side of the tree, dodging the lasers he ran towards the creatures, which were confused by his actions allowing him to get closer, Odd jumped and swung himself around the front Tarantulas leg, he let go throwing himself into the air before bouncing off onto another heads before running in the opposite direction, his plan worked as the Tarantulas turned around and started firing at him, "Come on Odd" said Jeremie as he held his hands together, Odd began to run and then around another tree dodging the lasers, the three monsters moved to the base of the tree and began to fire upwards at him but none of the shots collided with him, Odd stopped and dug his claw into the tree and fired back at the monsters, with two arrows colliding into the lead Tarantulas head, it screamed before it exploded, "nice going Odd" said Jeremie as he smiled, from behind the previous tree Aelita poked her head out ready to run "Aelita wait, they're still too close" said Jeremie was e watched the screen, but then suddenly she was grabbed by Evelyn who said "boo" before grinning sinisterly.
(=======================================================================)
Adam sat down on a large rock as the possessed Miss Hertz tended to his eye, he winced at the pain, all she was able to do was bandage it up, the first aid kit was back on the bus, he kept thinking about what he'd done by not pulling the trigger for the warning shot, as he was focused on this the rest of the class stood searching the bushes for William, they were having no luck as he stood in the trees on the branches trying to find a way of contacting Ulrich and Yumi, he looked around but he was out matched, Ulrich was still conscious although he was in some severe pain, with a bloodied and broken nose and his right hand shattered he was in too much pain to Super sprint, suddenly he heard a groan and recognised it is as Yumi's
"shhhhh" he said, Yumi turned her head to face him "Ul… Ulrich" she said noticing his face and hand, "Stay silent" he said, Yumi slowly nodded before looking at Adam, she smiled at him trying to make him feel better, but Ulrich couldn't focus through the pain, then he noticed the tree leaves rustling, he squinted his eyes as William made himself visible enough suddenly he heard his phone vibrate, Adam looked at Ulrich, "What was that" he asked as he stood up, the phone vibrated again, Ulrich quickly reached for it "I SAID WHAT WAS…" started Adam yelling but before he could finish in a split second William appeared through super smoke and then disappeared again in the puff taking Adam with him, Hertz looked around confused but then suddenly Adam's screams were heard as Adam fell into view landing spine first onto the rock he'd previously been sitting, the fall had built enough momentum that at the point of collision his spine shattered and split upwards erupting from the front of his body along with a large amount of blood from his mouth and nose, Hertz looked around as William appeared again on the ground, he was ready to throw up but he quickly shoved her down before running off in the opposite direction, the rest of the class were alerted and quickly ran after him, Yumi seized the moment standing up and grabbing Ulrich before running off in the opposite direction, Hertz however looked at them and began to run after them.
(=======================================================================)
Odd looked down at the two remaining Tarantulas before he kicked off from the tree and dived away, he turned and raised his arm and shouted
"LASER ARROW" and he fired at one of the creatures he moved onto its hind legs before it exploded, Odd landed on all fours and began to run away as the last remaining Tarantula turned around and gave chase, Odd lured the creature away from the area, leaving the activated tower unguarded, However Odd was unaware of Evelyn's presence, neither was Jeremie, Evelyn had Aelita by the throat and had been using the latter's signal to appear invisible on the screen, "Aelita Go" said Jeremie but there was no response, "Aelita" said Jeremie but there was still silence, Jeremie was getting worried, and quickly phoned Ulrich, in the woods Yumi and Ulrich were hobbling with Hertz pursuing them, Ulrich grabbed his phone with his good hand "Ulrich" said Jeremie, Yumi and Ulrich ducked through some of the bushes trying to loose Hertz, "Jeremie, what's going on" said Ulrich, Jeremie was confused as he heard the pain in Ulrich's voice, "me and Yumi are running from Hertz, Williams taking everyone else away" replied Ulrich as they moved again, "We're okay Jeremie, well able to run at least" said Yumi as they found themselves in another clearing, then on the computer screen the Scyphozoa warning appeared, "hang on" said Jeremie as he hung up and watched the screen, "Aelita can you hear me" said Jeremie but again Aelita didn't respond, Evelyn pushed Aelita into the arms of the Scyphozoa, it began to wrap around her, before it began to activate, "What the hell" said Jeremie as he watched a window open showing what appeared to be an upload, whilst further along Odd was pinned behind a tree as the Tarantula made sure to keep him pinned down, "Odd you need to rescue Aelita" said Jeremie, Odd was confused "What" he asked as he narrowly avoided getting hit by a laser "Aelita's being attacked by the Scyphozoa" responded Jeremie as he began to panic, "Son of a… I'd love to help, but my new playmate doesn't seem to agree" said Odd as he raised his arm and cocked it ready to fire, he suddenly moved from behind and fired three arrows but he missed due to the rapid fire and because the Tarantula fired back at him rapidly, Odd looked around before grabbing a rock and throwing it one side of the tree, the Tarantula took the bait and fired at it allowing Odd to dive from the other side and run towards the creature, repeating his previous action he swung around its leg and bounced off its head before running to help Aelita, but it was too late as the Scyphozoa dropped her and backed away as Odd fired at the giant squid, Evelyn hid behind a tree waiting, Odd slid to his knees and grabbed Aelita, "Aelita wake up, it's me Odd" he said, but as Aelita's eyes opened her irises were replaced by XANA's logo, Odd noticed too late as she smacked him away sending him flying, the Tarantula moved past him now having no interest in him, "Jeremie problem here" he said as he stood up "Something's wrong with Aelita" he added, Aelita however with a blank thousand yard stare walked towards Odd, "Aelita it's me Jeremie, wake up" said Jeremie as he tried to snap her out of it, "Come on" he added but there was no response, Aelita raised her arm and suddenly an energy sphere formed and was fired at Odd, he ducked and it struck the tree, but he didn't require a second shot and he quickly ran behind the tree, Aelita didn't seem focused on him any further and moved towards the Tarantula, Evelyn moved from cover and walked towards the two, "Go to the tower, I'll deal with cat boy" she said drawing her rapier, Aelita nodded and the Tarantula kneelt down allowing her to sit on its head, Odd poked his head out but Evelyn fired her musket striking the tree causing Odd to hide again, "Shit" he said looking up, "Deal with Evelyn and then follow Aelita" said Jeremie, Odd raised his arm and cocked it again before diving and firing at Evelyn, she managed to blocked the Arrows with her sword but Odd was now charging at her, he jumped and lunged at her with his feet knocking her back, Evelyn dropped her Musket and Rapier, Odd quickly grabbed the musket and as Evelyn raised her hand to shock him he pulled the trigger and she devirtulized, "I don't…" started Odd before he shook his head choosing not to finish "Good now after Aelita" said Jeremie, Odd looked at the activated tower "But what about the tower" he asked but Jeremie didn't respond.
(=======================================================================)
In the woods, Ulrich and Yumi were out of breath and could no longer run from Hertz, she grinned as she got closer to them, Yumi grabbed Ulrich
"Come on we need to run" she said, but Ulrich was too weak from the pain, "STAY WHERE YOU ARE" shouted the digitized voice of Jim as he and the other students moved into the clearing with William being held by Jim, the behemoth threw him towards the others, "Sorry the jumps made me throw up and they…" started William as he felt woozy, "Its fine, you did what you could" said Ulrich smiling despite it hurting his nose, "What now huh XANA" said Yumi as she looked at the XANAfied class but they said nothing as they surrounded the three, it was almost like they had no further communication, but the three warriors weren't strong enough to test them.
(=======================================================================)
On Lyoko Jeremie had spawned the Over-Bike for Odd to use, and as such Odd was racing after Aelita,
"Jeremie" he said as he was getting close to them, "I have a feeling she's heading towards the way tower" he added, Jeremie stroked his chin "That's just what we needed" he said sarcastically, whilst on Lyoko in front of the way tower the Tarantula kneeled down and let Aelita off, Odd raised his arm ready to shoot at her but he couldn't bring himself to do it and lowered it, Odd rocketed towards them with the Tarantula turning around and focusing its attention on him again it fired hitting the Over-Board, Odd jumped off as it skidded and exploded, the two then stood facing each other ready to fire, but then they watched as Aelita stepped into the way tower, "Aelita" asked Jeremie but there was again no response, she stepped towards the centre of the tower with the platform lighting up the closer she got, she then began to levitate towards the top platform landing she placed her hand on the screen and it read out AELITA as usual but then CODE XANA the latter word in red, outside the tower the Tarantula suddenly began to shoot before it disintegrated as there was a loud roar throughout the sector, suddenly the way tower began to disappear from the base up, "What is going on" asked Odd then Aelita dropped to the ground, Odd ran towards her and was nervous before touching her, she shook her head and looked at him, "Odd? What happened" she asked confused as the two looked around, "Uh I'll tell you about it later, but right now let's run for it" replied Odd as he helped her up, the two began running as the behind them the sector began to disintegrate behind them, it began to vanish pixel by pixel, "What's happening now" asked Jeremie as he watched the sector vanish on the screen, "THE SECTORS DISAPEARING" shouted Odd as they ran past the activated tower, as the disintegrating sector caught up with them and the tower disappeared from the base up "Dematerialize us" said Odd as two were barely keeping ahead of the edge, Jeremie quickly began typing, in the woods following the vanishing of the tower, the class suddenly collapsed as they were no longer possessed, the three warriors looked around and hugged each other Naively in celebration, whilst on Lyoko the disintegration caught up with Aelita and Odd and fell towards the digital Sea, "JEREMIE HURRY" Screamed Aelita, Jeremie calmly typed and hit enter saying "Dematerialization", the two warriors then lost texture seconds before hitting the digital sea, the two then exited their scanners, unusually not exhausted, "I… I dunno what happened" said Aelita as she looked at Odd, "I know one thing, that was close and I dunno either" he replied as they walked towards the elevator, "But I'm pretty sure Einstein can tell us" he added, whilst back in the woods Yumi looked at Ulrich's hand, "You two better head back to school, before either of you get in trouble" she said, Ulrich nodded again causing him some pain, William stood up, he didn't feel much better but he knew that they would be in deep trouble if they were absent again.
(=======================================================================)
Later that Day, Yumi had covered up her class not remembering anything and wondering how they'd suddenly ended up in the woods from the bus, although it meant that Yumi now had an extra medical check she was going to need to attend, William had snuck back into his detention his excuse was he was helping Ulrich to the nurses office having been texted about his injury's, and thankfully Carter bought the excuse, Ulrich however was worse off, his nose was plastered and his hand was in a splint with two shattered bones in his wrist and hand, the 6 warriors had met in the tower,
"It's no use the forest sector is missing, XANA has wiped it off the map" said Jeremie, Aelita was moping feeling heavily responsible, "If only I hadn't gone into that way tower, and if only I hadn't punched in that code" she said, but Jeremie and Yumi patted her on the back, "Aelita it's not your fault XANA used you, he launched an attack just to lure us to Lyoko" said Jeremie as he sat back into his chair, "but why would he do that" Asked Odd confused, William stepped forward "I thought he needed the towers to attack" he asked, Jeremie shook his head "without the surface sectors, we won't be able to get to Sector 5 anymore" answered Jeremie, Ulrich's eyes shot open "You Mean XANA plans to destroy all the sectors" he asked, Jeremie woefully nodded, "if only I could materialize you on Sector 5" said Jeremie as he began to rub his chin, "looks like I've got a load of work ahead" he added then there was a twinkle in his eye, "Looks like I won't be elected class rep" he added joyful and looked at Odd, "You mean you're gonna let Odd win" asked Yumi, Odd smiled in joy.
(=======================================================================)
To the annoyance of Sissi and strangely Claudius, Odd one the vote in a landslide, Hector was happy that he wasn't chosen and had sunk into his seat in joy, Claudius looked at Jeremie as he said
"I'm disappointed" under his breath, Adam had recovered although his back was hurting as he looked at Ulrich, he was still confused by his own actions, practically every student was cheering for Odd, all except Sissi, Hector, Adam and Ulrich who couldn't, Carter was also present because Ulrich's writing hand was broken and he'd been assigned to help, "Nicholas don't tell me you voted for Odd" asked Sissi angrily as she saw Nicholas clap for him, "Uhh Yeah" he responded clueless, a load of the students were approaching Odd and as they each read out their issues Odd realised he may be in over his head.
(=======================================================================)
The previous night in the city had been eventful, it was a slow news day and as he sat against the bar counter drinking his 5th bottle of J&B Whiskey straight from it, Dallas sat almost silently, the bar tender was confused as she'd never seen someone drink that much Whiskey before, the sound of the TV was drowned out by the loud yelling and cheering of a group of men at one of the booths behind Dallas, he took another gulp of his drink, since defeating his attacker he'd managed to find some clean clothes and was again wearing a navy blue button up shirt with brown cargo trousers, he raised his hand and slammed some money down on the counter
"Another" he said without the slightest indication that he was intoxicated or that he'd had any to drink, and he'd been trying to drink himself unconscious for the past 4 hours, the Bar tender nervously gave him another bottle as she took his money, "Don't you think you've had enough" he asked, the bar tender was a few years older than Dallas and her outfit was very revealing, her bosses choice, "I'm fucking paying aren't I" responded Dallas before looking at the TV station, then as he was about to take another gulp of Whiskey he was knocked by one of the men who'd drunkenly stumbled into him, the man laughed at the spilled drink on Dallas's shirt "Ha baby needs a bib" he said mockingly, Dallas snarled his face and drank some saying "You need some fucking manners", the man looked offended and asked "What" but Dallas didn't answer "WHAT" he asked again practically shouting, but instead of answer Dallas quickly turned punched him in the face with his right hand first then his left before smashing the man's head into the counter with his right hand and then spin kicking him away across a table, his friends at the booth looked at Dallas who seemed almost unfazed by the violent action he'd just committed and returned to his drink, however the man's friends were fazed and moved towards Dallas the first a small but faster man moved placed his hand under the bottle and smashed it up wards into Dallas's face before throwing him across a table, Landing on his feet Dallas shook his head again unfazed, then the second man attacked Dallas with a move that caught him off guard by jumped and launching himself off the table spun kicked Dallas against the wall, Dallas retaliated however by grabbing his arm and snapping it at the elbow against his shoulder causing him to scream and then violently kicking out his ankle, the man screamed before Dallas kicked him in the head knocking him out, the third of the men charged Dallas but he jumped up and lunge kicked off of his head and landed on a table, the third attacker grabbed his head the impact wound causing a heavy bleed, Dallas laid down as if the fight was over and had never occurred, the third attacker suddenly grabbed a bottle from the table he was at and smashed it before charging at Dallas who slid from the table causing the attacker to lean over it before Dallas smacked his elbow into the back of his head rendering him unconscious, as if the fight never happened Dallas walked back to the counter and slammed down more money saying "Another" scared the bartender nervously passed him another bottle which he snatched from her, then there was a slow clap emanating from the room, Dallas turned around to see a man sitting at the booth, he was dressed in a smart black silk suit, a navy green shirt with no tie and Matching Black waist coat, the man's claps were a combination of sarcastic and impressed, Dallas looked at him and said "The fuck do you want".
(=======================================================================)
Authors note
Okay sorry about the long delay since the last chapter, at the beginning I really wasn't feeling this one, but then I got into it a bit more and despite the heavy changes, IE William is a warrior and Herb has been replaced by Hector I decided to keep this one more close to the original episode, and I actually barely changed the Dialogue from the original I decided to keep it close, the main reason this took a while was because of a huge collapse in my personal life, and I didn't have any motivation to do anything, although I feel now that Season 3 and the rest of the series is firmly set up thanks to several plot elements introduced here.