A/N: This block will focus mainly on Dan. I think that you guys will like where this is going though. I'll also try to avoid doing too much with him since he is an ACC. I also decided to do away with the "mystery man" chapter becuase you know Dan's past has finally been revealed. Anyway, without further delay:
thesuperdot: I'm never going to forget what you posted. NEVER. Thanks for reviewing.
Black Cherry Cola: This is a typical plot from the depths of my mind. I like complex characters (remember FF7 anyone?). Just remember that there is a reason for everything…thanks for reviewing.
Janika: My AWE count is at 12 now. I'll think about you in the future. Thanks for the offer and your review.
J(at)Lyoko: You'll find out in the first paragraph. Yeah Sissy is on that list but...thanks for reviewing (I don't want to say too much).
Blood Vampire: Sorry, not yet. I think you'll like this though. Thanks for reviewing.
The 13th Pearl: You'll find out what she looks like in this chapter. I actually thought about ending this story like that but then I decided to put a twist on things. It's not going be like you said. Thanks for reviewing. Also, Janika's name in real life is not Janika. Thanks for visiting my website and yes, I did name Dan after myself.
Kree the Wolf: Your wish is my command! Well, no; not really. Thanks for stopping by.
A/N: Due to the many double/triple postings by The 13th Pearl my review count is off which means I haven't reach the 100th review mark yet. So sorry (I told you not to double post). Anyway, the real count is 99!!! Lol. So read and review…quickly! Anyway, I thought I'd be nice and give him one for the heck of it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Code: Lyoko or any of the characters except for Dan and Jessica. Do you guys get sick of reading disclaimers? I do.
This chapter is dedicated to:
The 13th Pearl
Dan's room---
I handed Jeremie the folder. That vanilla flap contained all my efforts over the past few months calibrated into four different people. Emily Leduc, Naomi N'Guyen, Rachael DuPont and Elizabeth "Sissy" Delmas are the four suspects. I know that Sissy is dead but I can't eliminate her yet.
Due to the fact that I hadn't seen Jessica for the past four years I had no idea what she looked like. For all I know she could have had plastic surgery, although I doubt that, changed her hair color and/or altered some other features to hide who she really was. As a matter of fact, the only search criteria I was able to use with complete accuracy was her date of birth which was sometime in the spring thirteen years ago and her eye color which was brown.
The last time I saw her was in court, obviously. She was the same height as me with long hair that went down to mid waist and was styled in one long braid. Jessica also had a pretty smile. However, there was one feature that distinguished her from every other girl and that was the color brown. She had brown hair, brown eyebrows, brown eyelashes and even her skin complexion was slightly tan.
In order to avoid suspicion and not violate any privacy laws, I agreed to myself to only look up information on people who came into the infirmary. As a result, I could only do limited searches whose results were usually incomplete; I didn't have full access to the school's database.
However, I persevered and eventually narrowed the majority of the student body down to four people.
Jeremie interrupted my thought process, "Hey, Dan, I don't think Sissy could be Jessica. She's been here since before we came here and that was about a year-and-a-half ago."
"Well, that's good. I guess I only have three suspects then," I replied, "By any chance do you guys know the other three?"
Jeremie studied the three remaining profiles and then passed it to Odd.
"We've done a few things with each of these girls but I think we could help you more if we knew what Jessica looks like." Jeremie stated. I then told them my last interaction with that murderous maniac. By the time I finished the file had managed to make its way back to me and I put it back on my desk.
After thinking about the situation for a few seconds Odd concluded, "That could be any of them, then."
"Exactly," I nodded, "The only way to find out which one of those girls is Jessica is to get to know them and find out about their pasts."
Odd's eyes lit up like a pin ball machine, "Hey! I got it! We could take each of these girls as our date to the new headmasters' inauguration ball this Saturday!" His comment was quickly responded to by Ulrich's foot. He rammed it into his gut just like Yumi did earlier. I laughed. Yumi smiled at Ulrich.
"Odd, you're going to get killed by the end of the day if you keep this up," I thought out loud, "Jeremie and I am the only ones left to hit you."
Jeremie rebutted, "That's not exactly true, Dan. You did punch Odd after dinner before we returned to the past yesterday." Apparently, I punched Odd before time was set back but the only way I could have done that would be if he hadn't apologized for breaking into my room. Suddenly, all the facts seemed to come together like a jigsaw puzzle.
I stood up and uttered, "You unrepentant little weasel, ODD!" However, I was too late. Odd had already dashed out the door which just then clicked shut. I'm not going to forget this.
"He's going to get it." I said returning to my chair. At this time, I also decided to put my skin and my shirt back on.
"Don't worry about it, Dan," Jeremie said, "We'll help you out. I'll take Emily, Odd will go with Naomi and you can take Rachael. I guess Ulrich is going to go with Yumi." I turned my head to see Yumi laying on Ulrich's shoulder smiling. One of Ulrich's arms was around her waist.
He asked her, "Well, you wanna go, Yumi?"
"Sure. Why wouldn't I?" She replied.
"Oh, how cute," I said sarcastically, "Come on Jeremie, let's go work on that device."
"Uh, wait," Ulrich said. I sat back down and listened, "Dan when I was fighting you yesterday X.A.N.A. said through you that you knew a lot about fighting. Have you been trained to fight or something?"
"Not exactly," I replied, "About six months before I came to Kadic, I checked myself into a mental institution because I was having suicidal thoughts.
During one of our group therapy sessions, we were told to tell our roommate why we were there. My roommate's name was Jack Wade and his story was that he was a CIA operative in the past. However, he quit earlier that year but couldn't stop thinking about his missions. He claimed that the CIA must have put a chip in his head before he left because he was thinking about them so often.
For all I know he could have been right. But I'll get to the point. After I told him my story he offered to teach me what he learned during his training. He said that if I were to see her again I should be prepared for a worst-case-scenario which was if Jessica tried to kill me again.
Since then I haven't forgotten what he taught me. It's also the reason why I come up from behind people when I want to talk to them. The best way to get a truthful answer to a question from a person is to ketch them off guard when you ask it.
So, there you go. Jeremie, shall we?"
A/N: The first reviewer gets a chapter dedication!