Note: This chapter will be very long, since I have to incorporate a ton of new material into it. Also, for the sake of this story, Yumi is the same age as Ulrich and the others. She was just a year ahead at Kadic because she was so smart. Anyway, enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Code: Lyoko.
The Shadowed PathUlrich met the gang on the school's stairs the next morning. "Ready for your first day of American schooling?"
"Yeah, I guess," Yumi said, not looking too thrilled.
"Definitely!" Jeremie practically screamed.
"No," Odd chimed in.
"Yes, I'm really looking forward to it!" Aelita giggled.
"I am as well!" A sickeningly sweet, all-too familiar voice behind them said. Odd didn't even bother aiming; he just tossed his notebook over his shoulder, and was rewarded with Herb's cry of surprise as it hit him in the face.
"What do you want, Sissi? Or should I say Ms. Black-and-Blue?" Ulrich said, noting the large blue-gray bruise on Sissi's forehead.
"Sure, show off for your friends, why don't you? We all know how you really feel about me, and how you're only with her because you haven't gotten up the courage to ask me out yet." Sissi glared at Yumi, who was trying valiantly not to crack up.
Yes, it is kind of hard to face down a hideous monster… Ulrich thought to himself. But what he said out loud was, "You know, you're right. I guess I will tell you how I really feel. But are you sure you want me to say it in front of Yumi?" A smile slowly spread on Ulrich's face.
"Anything you want to say, you can say in front of her." Sissi grinned back.
"Okay. Sissi, I've been wanting to tell you how I truly felt for a long time…"
"Yes, Ulrich?" Sissi clasped her hands and jumped into the air, pausing to throw a dirty look at Yumi, who knew what had to be coming.
"You're a conceited brat with no regard for human emotions. You have the looks of a horse, but you're not nearly as smart. You try to use your rat-like scheming abilities to surpass your shortcomings, while usually your plans backfire and make you look like even more of an idiot." Ulrich could almost feel the anger and embarrassment coming off Sissi, but he didn't care. "Now, I'm being kind in my assessment. Are you having second thoughts about having me say this in front of everyone?"
Sissi just stalked off, her flunkies following her. Odd, Jeremie, and Yumi burst out laughing, while Aelita just smiled. "Serves her right for trying to break the two of you up."
"What do you mean, break them up? They're officially together?" Odd asked.
"Odd, when two people are about to kiss in the lobby of a movie theater, usually it means that they're together." Jeremie sniggered.
"And then there's how they were kissing during the movie!" Aelita pointed out.
"What'd you call what you and Jeremie were doing?" Yumi asked.
"This." Aelita pulled Jeremie into a passionate kiss, much to Jeremie's surprise. That continued for a while, Odd staring at them in amazement.
Finally, Aelita broke the kiss and said, "How was that?"
"Wow." Jeremie said, shocked.
Odd was about to make a sarcastic comment, but Aelita and Jeremie were saved from that by the bell. "This is it." Yumi stated nervously.
"Oh, stop it. It's just like school at Kadic, except we don't live on-campus. Just relax and you'll be fine." Ulrich reassured her.
They entered the building and headed for their lockers. Yumi's was right next to Ulrich's and Odd's was three lockers to the left of hers. Jeremie and Aelita had lockers across the hall. Ulrich opened his locker and shoved his backpack into it. He grabbed his books, and slammed his locker door shut so he could Yumi get her locker set up.
Five Minutes Later
The gang filed into their first class. "Man, Ulrich, I can't believe you got us into all the same classes!"
"Odd, it's easy to do stuff like that when you're the student liaison. I just told the school administrators that it would be easier for me to help you adjust if we had the same schedules. Oh, guys, I want you to meet some friends of mine," Ulrich pointed at two people that were taping a "Do Not Feed the Teacher" sign onto the teacher's desk. "These two clowns are Tyler and Jessa."
"Hey, Ulrich, are these your friends from France?" Tyler asked"
"Yeah, these are Odd, Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi." Ulrich pointed at each of them in turn.
"You do realize you blushed when you said Yumi's name, right? I assume she's the reason you wouldn't go out with anyone here?" Jessa grinned. Yumi got the impression that Jessa had been one of the people who Ulrich had rejected.
Ulrich flushed crimson, then socked Jessa playfully in the arm.
As they took their seats, Ulrich held a whispered conversation with Odd, which quickly stopped as the teacher abruptly walked into the room. Odd nodded once at Ulrich, who nodded back.
"Okay, class, we have some new students that are visiting from Kadic Junior High in Paris, France. Please treat them with respect, as they will be here for the rest of the year. Now, my name is Mrs. Ash, for all you new students. This is…"
As the teacher's monologue began, Yumi cracked a smile as Odd snuck up to the front of the room and started making faces behind the teacher's back. The entire class laughed out loud as he moved so that he was always behind Mrs. Ash, as she tried to figure out what was so funny. Odd tapped her shoulder, and kept moving so that she never saw what it was. After about five minutes of that, he snuck back into his seat while she was facing the board.
Yumi knew that this was going to be a good year.
Two Hours Later
The whistle blew, and Odd watched as Ulrich and Yumi began to spar. Odd didn't know how Ulrich had convinced the coach to let Ulrich and Yumi have a martial arts demonstration, and frankly he didn't care. Odd just wanted a chance to rest. As Ulrich launched a series of kicks at Yumi, someone bumped into Odd from behind. He turned to find a dark-blonde haired girl climbing to her feet.
"Sorry about that. You're the guy that was making faces at Mrs. Ash, right? I remember that hair." She was the same height as Odd, and had light green eyes.
"Yeah, I'm the joker alright. My name is Odd."
"I'm Britta. You speak pretty good English for someone from France."
"Actually, I'm from New Zealand, but my parents sent me to school in France for some unknown reason. Ouch, that would hurt!" Odd watched Yumi plant a kick on Ulrich's torso. Surprisingly, Ulrich stayed upright, spinning around and leaping at Yumi. He began a flurry of offensive moves, driving Yumi back.
"Parents can be weird. Oh, there's the bell. I guess I'll see you around." Britta blushed.
Odd mentally smacked himself for not asking her out. God, I'm worse than Ulrich was…
Odd joined Jeremie and Ulrich on their way back to the locker room, who were discussing the demonstration, but Odd couldn't keep his thoughts off Britta…
One Hour and Fifteen Minutes Later
Yumi sat down at the lunch table, frowning when she noticed Odd had hardly touched his food. "Odd, are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine. I've just got some stuff I need to think about."
Yumi smirked. "Girl trouble, hmm? Maybe you shouldn't have been teasing Ulrich?
"Okay, how did you know?" Odd banged his head on the table.
"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you keep looking at that girl over there. The one in the blue shirt."
"Her name is Britta. I met her in PE while you and Ulrich were sparring."
"Well, go talk to her! She—" Yumi stopped as Ulrich entered the cafeteria at a run.
"Guys, we have a situation…" He spun as screams erupted from the table close to the door. A crab was in the double doors, looking straight at Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd.
"DOWN!" Ulrich screamed as the crab charged its laser. The laser fired, scorching the top of the table where Odd had been moments ago.
Ulrich ran over to the counter and leapt over it, into the kitchen. He grabbed several butcher knives, then tossed them to Yumi and Odd. "We've got to take this thing out and get everyone out of the school! Unless XANA's changed tactics on us, there'll be at least one more!"
Ulrich charged head-on at the crab, while Odd and Yumi flanked it. Ulrich jumped on top of it and stabbed down with the knife, leaving it embedded in the crab as he leapt clear. He barely made off before the crab exploded. He picked up his knife, shouting to the cafeteria, "Come on, we have to get outside! Odd, you lead them out while Yumi and I find Jeremie and Aelita."
Eight Minutes Later
Jeremie and Aelita were in the library, finishing off a crab that found them there.
"I have to run a scan and figure out where these things are coming from!" Jeremie ran to his laptop, typing like crazy.
After about a minute of typing, he went pale. "This is bad, this is very bad…"
"What is it?" Aelita asked, moving to read over his shoulder. She too went white. "Oh my god."
"It seems our good friend XANA has discovered a long-lost relative. From the readings I'm getting, he's found another supercomputer somewhere near here. The scan is showing a huge data transfer, which can only mean one thing—XANA has created a connection between itself and this other computer. He's using it to materialize the crabs here, instead of in Paris." Jeremie scowled. "This could easily finish us off. We're six thousand miles from the factory, and if we try to take a plane, XANA will probably crash it."
"Wait. You said that XANA had to be using this other supercomputer to materialize the crabs, right?" A smile slowly spread on Ulrich's face.
"What on earth are you smiling about? Yes, I—ohh…" Jeremie smiled too.
"If the crabs are materializing at that supercomputer, it has to have scanners, and if it has scanners, we can get to Lyoko to shut down the tower."
"Yes, but we still have to find the supercomputer. All I know is that it's within a few kilometers of here." Jeremie closed his laptop and put it into his bag. "We'd better start the search."
"I know where to start. There are a ton of old warehouses and factories in the middle of town, and if the same people made this computer, they may have used the same cover to hide it."
"Good thinking. Let's get Odd, and get to work."
Thirty Minutes Later
"I'd say that's the place."
"What tipped you off, Odd? Maybe it was the crabs standing guard?" Ulrich studied the building. "Obviously, we aren't going in through the front."
Ten crabs were guarding the door to the warehouse. Yumi scanned the roof, spotting a small air vent. "Maybe we could go in through the ventilation system?"
"It would be a tight fit, but I think it would work. Now the question is how we get onto the roof."
"There's a system of pipes along that wall. It would be fairly simple to climb those."
"Yes, but that's inside the crabs' field of vision. There's no way we could make it up without them seeing us." Aelita pointed out.
"I'll go distract the crabs." Odd said. Everyone turned to stare at him. "I'll get their attention, then run off. Hopefully they'll follow me, and the pipes will be clear."
"Sounds like we've got a plan. Now let's put it into action." Jeremie started to move toward the warehouse, with the rest of the gang following quietly.
One Minute Later
"Hey, you! Yeah, you, six-eyes! Come and get me!" Odd attracted the attention of the crabs. He ran toward the highway, but unfortunately, only six of the crabs followed him. The other four remained in position around the door.
"Well, this we can handle!" Yumi said, brandishing her knife, "For Lyoko!"
She leapt out of hiding and ran at the crabs. Ulrich and Jeremie weren't far behind. As Yumi reached the first crab, it fired a laser at her, narrowly missing to sizzle harmlessly into the ground. Yumi got under the crab, stabbing upward wildly with her knife.
Meanwhile, Ulrich had his hands full with two of the remaining crabs. They were alternating between firing lasers and swiping with their claws, and Ulrich could barely avoid their attacks, much less mount one of his own. Finally one of the sweeping forelegs hit him. Ulrich was sent flying, crashing into a wall and falling to the ground.
As one of the crabs charged its main laser, Yumi came flying out of nowhere to land on top of the crab. The other crab tried to shoot her off, but instead it hit the crab's XANA symbol. Yumi leapt off, and the crab crumpled behind her. She made quick work of the other crab, cutting through its joints and then stabbing its XANA symbol.
Ulrich climbed to his feet woozily. "Thanks. I thought I was a goner." He gave Yumi a quick kiss.
"Umm, guys, a little help here?" Jeremie was barely able to ward off his crab. He had long ago dropped his knife, and had picked up a large metal pipe.
Before Ulrich or Yumi could react, however, a pink and red blur came flying out of a tree. Aelita knocked the crab over with a flying kick then impaled it with her knife.
"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Ulrich asked incredulously.
"Yumi taught me. After you were gone, there was one less person to fight XANA, so I needed to be able to defend myself if necessary." Aelita grinned at Yumi.
"Later. Right now, we need to get inside." Ulrich started to climb the pipes.
"Wait. Why don't we just go in the front? The guards are gone now." Jeremie said.
"Think about it, Jeremie. The scanners are probably spewing crabs by the dozens, and unless you're feeling suicidal, we probably don't want to have to fight the entire way."
"Good thinking. Let's do it your way."
Five Minutes Later
"Well, that was easy, wasn't it?" Jeremie dropped out of the air vent into the control room. He took a seat in the chair while the others barricaded the door.
"This place seems much more…primitive than the factory." Aelita noted, examining the computer and the flickering hologram above it.
Jeremie called up some status windows. "Actually, this computer appears to be a prototype version of XANA. It has much less processing power, so it can't support Lyoko. Most of this thing's memory is being used for the connection."
Jeremie brought up several more windows, then typed for a few minutes. "That should work. I've just modified the connection to XANA, so now we can use the link to transfer into Lyoko. I've also blocked XANA out of the scanners, so no crabs will materialize when we go into the scanner room."
"What do you mean, we? Since when do you go into the scanners?" Ulrich asked.
"I can't monitor Lyoko from here, and activating the time-reversal program on this machine is out of the question. I'm going to use one of the scanners to transfer myself to the factory."
"You can do that?" Yumi wondered. "Also, what happens to the connection when we deactivate the tower?"
"The connection should remain, but just in case, I'm going to download a copy of the program onto this." Jeremie pulled out a USB mini memory stick. "I formatted this so that XANA's time-reversal program will ignore it, so any contents will remain after we return to the past. Now, let's go. Aelita, you manage the transfer, then I'll transfer you once I'm in the factory."
"Umm, guys…Where's Odd?"
"He was supposed to double back once the crabs had moved off! I thought he was behind you, Aelita."
"Ulrich, you go search for Odd. The rest of us will transfer."
Ulrich was already climbing up into the vent.
At that very moment, Odd was in trouble. The crabs had managed to follow him as he ran through the streets toward the freeway. He had tried to double back to the factory, but the crabs split up and caught him in a pincer movement, trapping him in a dead-end alley. As the crabs advanced, Odd searched frantically for a weapon, but nothing was within reach.
A crab's leg hit Odd in the stomach, sending him flying back into a wall. His head cracked loudly against the bricks, and the last thing he remembered before the darkness overtook him was blue blur launching itself at one of the crabs and a scream…
(End Chapter)
(A/N) Muahahaha! Another cliffhanger, another contest! Can you guess who came to Odd's rescue? (Here's a hint—this is taking place at the same time as Ulrich is climbing into the vent). When you post your guess this time, include your favorite hero (not including Jeremie).
Congratulations to KeikoNishidera, who correctly guessed what XANA found!
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