"Where's Jeremy?" Ulrich asked. "Five minutes after school and he's still not here."
"Maybe he got caught up with something." Odd said. "I did overhear his physics teacher ask him to help with something after school."
Yumi raised an eyebrow. "And how did you hear that?"
Odd stumbled as all eyes turned to him. "W-well, there's a conference room right across his class, and they have really good snack...machines."
"Right." Aelita bumped in. She opened the main doors. "Let's just meet Jeremy there."
"Agreed." Ulrich hummed.
The others began walking through the doors, just as the entire eastern sector of the school collapsed.
Between the shouts of disbelief and the running of several students that were still on school grounds, The group shared one fearful glance.
"Jeremy."
Only one thing kept passing through his mind.
Don't fall off, don't fall off, don't fall off.
A girl started screaming. Shouts of distress rang through the air, and someone yelled, "Oh my god, there's a kid up there!"
Jeremy grunted as he shifted his weight. Just as the floor had collapsed, Jeremy had grabbed at the first thing his hands had come into contact with, unfortunately a cracking tile in the floor.
Or what was left of it.
His chest screamed in protest, scraping against broken concrete and exposed beams. His arms were tired and his fingers almost felt numb. If he strained, he could see his fingertips bleeding.
Great, knowing that his own blood was making it harder for him to hold on.
"Jeremy! Grab my hand!"
Looking up, Jeremy found his teacher straining her hand towards him. She passed several glances across the damaged floor and reached further. She had taken off her heels, dancing around the rubble like a frightened deer.
Jeremy looked down and closed his eyes, laying his head on the rubbled plaster. Coughing, he reached slowly for her hand, which she clasped quickly with her own. She tried to drag him back up but couldn't. She took another step closer, and the ground cracked at her feet, dislodging the tile that Jeremy had been holding onto.
It fell away from the building and shattered along with the rest of the rubble on the ground, churning Jeremy's stomach. If he had kept holding onto the tile...
At an awkward angle, Jeremy tried to push himself up, but only succeeded in scraping his chest against the broken cement even further. He gasped.
"Jeremy, you have to get up. Come on, give me your other hand."
Jeremy shook his head. "No, you'll," He was racked with coughs as he inhaled dust from talking. He groaned. "You'll lose your balance."
The physic teacher came close to saying something, but she was cut off as someone, or several people, were running through the halls. It was music to Jermy's ears as he saw Aelita and the others appear through the remains of the doorway.
They barely registered it as they started forward for Jeremy, who began stammering. "Nononono, get back! The ground's unstable!"
The others did as they were told, except for Ulrich, who had edged forward cautiously towards the Physics teacher. Slowly, he reached over the side and pulled on Jeremy's other arm. Something cracked behind them, the ground drooped and students screamed from below.
"He's not gonna make it!"
"Come on Jeremy!"
"You can do it Belpois!"
"Shut UP!" Jeremy shouted. He was already tired from hanging off the building for ten minutes and the halfhearted support wasn't doing much for Jeremy's metabolism. He started coughing again, and kicked blindly against air, searching for some sort of foot hold. Metal began to creak, forcing Jeremy to kick even more.
Ulrich and the teacher pulled on Jeremy's arms together, eliciting grunts of pain as the boy genius was dragged up through jagged rock and concrete. Jeremy bucked again, landing a tired leg onto the side of the ledge. He was hastily half lifted, half dragged away from the broken floor, a cheer rioting from the people below.
Tripping over his own two feet, Jeremy fell to his knees and started to cough, his throat scratchy from breathing all the dust and debris from the cracked ledge. Someone patted his back, while another thrust a water bottle under his nose. He took it with shaking hands and proceeded to drink, then started splashing it on his raw fingers.
The red tinted water spilled onto the linoleum tiles, flowing away from him."We have to get to factory." He said,when the teacher left to get bandages. "Just before the floor collapsed, my laptop started tripping."
"Where is it?" Yumi asked. "Did you drop it?"
Jeremy blinked. He placed a hand around his shoulder but only felt the fabric if his sweater. He swore under his breath. "Must've fallen off when I grabbed for the ledge."
He placed a still shaky hand on the wall by him and lifted himself up, only to fall back down with a cry. He placed a hand on his chest, breathing harshly.
Odd and Ulrich pounced on Jeremy, while the girls ran for the teacher.
"Jeremy, what is it?"
Jeremy didn't respond. Instead, he pulled his hand away from his chest, pale smears of blood staining his palm.
X.A.N.A left the school's basement in anger.
He hadn't thought that the boy might've stayed after classes to help a teacher, he became too eager. He hadn't foreseen any outcomes, he just jumped right into plan. He scowled at the thought of making a simple mistake.
He needed the boy to live, well, long enough for the task at hand.
But as X.A.N.A traveled through the wires and pipes, he couldn't help himself from smiling internally. Jeremy just wouldn't die. X.A.N.A had done so much to get rid of the child prodigy, but he kept coming back.
He had thrown Jeremy in a lake, down the elevator shaft, electrocuted him, even put him in a coma, and yet he still came back, fighting. As much as he hated to admit, Jeremy was a formidable foe, albeit with brain rather than brawn.
Such a shame that he would have to put such a talented mind to waste. The least he could do for Jeremy was place his laptop safely away from the wreckage of the building, but rest assured he was going to put the boy at risk.
"You just have a small graze."
"Spanning my entire chest, Ms. Perraudin."
The nurse lowered her clipboard, grabbing a brown unmarked bottle from a table nearby. She opened the cap and the faint scent of hydrogen peroxide wafted into the room. Jeremy lowered his shirt.
"Okay, I think I've had enough pain for today."
Ms. Perraudin snapped her fingers. "You sit right there Belpois. You can risk an infection, so you need this whether you like it or not."
Jeremy groaned and lifted his shirt. After a minutes pause, he removed it completely. Dried blood and dust couldn't really do much for him.
The smell of peroxide became stronger as she dampened a towel with it. She silently made her way to Jeremy who flinched at it's strong odor. "Is this really necessary?" He asked.
Ms. Perraudin gave him a small conspiratorial smile. "You've already suffered through ten minutes of hanging off a building. I think you can handle a little sting."
Jeremy opened his mouth to retort but yelled when the nurse stuck the cold towel onto the injured skin. The pain was explosive, it seared through the cuts and flowed around it, swathing most of his chest with a throbbing sensation. Jeremy almost hunched over, when the nurse put her hands to his shoulder's.
"Try not move much." She instructed hastily.
Jeremy grit his teeth. "Easier said than done." He gripped the chair's sides tightly, riding out the agony as if it was a wild car ride. The pain slowly ebbed away, and Jeremy sighed. He struggled to stand, and the nurse helped him up with a surprisingly strong grip. She straightened, producing a salve from her pockets.
Jeremy eyed her cautiously. 'You guys better be in Lyoko right now.' he thought.
Aelita paused when she typed in the data for her timed virtualization. What if X.A.N.A sent a polymorphic specter to destroy the computer while they were still inside? What if Jeremy couldn't make it to the factory in time? What if a polymorphic specter was sent to go after Jeremy?
Aelita shook her head as she slid off the typists chair and made her way to the elevator. "I'm worrying way too much." She muttered.
The elevator descended quickly, slowing to a stop and opening up to the scanner room. The others had already gone to Lyoko, most likely engaged in combat with X.A.N.A's monsters. Aelita sighed as she stood inside the scanner,wincing when she heard Jeremy's prerecorded voice ring through the speaker system.
"Scanner: Aelita."
She felt the air change in the scanner, and she held her breath. 'Please get here Jeremy.'
Jeremy could not get to the factory.
From the painful effort it took just to sit down or stand up, or from the constant waves of media desperately trying to get answers, Jeremy just couldn't find an opening.
A woman flashed her camera, making Jeremy flinch. A man was speaking loudly into microphone. Another woman waved a notepad. Camera people loomed over him.
Jeremy felt stifled. A hand grabbed at his arm and he was pulled away from the crowd, the hand belonging to none other than Principal Delmas. "Come along now, Belpois." He muttered over the rumble of the press.
The Principal kept an arm open, ushering away any reporters that stood in his way. He growled at a rather persistent man that leaned very close to the small boy.
"I've been told that you were hanging off the building for a whole ten minutes." He said. "How do you feel about the lack of help?"
Frustrated, Jeremy slapped at the man's microphone, letting it crash to the ground. Delmas proceeded to walk Jeremy further as the man stood behind, muttering about the cost of equipment.
The principal opened a door, and suddenly the loud noise of the reporters was muffled. Jeremy looked around, sighing with relief when he recognized the dark mahogany desk and carpeted green floor. He turned to Delmas.
"How long am I going to have to wait here?" He asked. He gripped the sleeve of his sweater, a spare Ms. Perraudin had in closet. It was thick and woolly, as well as dark green.
Jeremy preferred it over the crimson one she also had.
Delmas locked the door of the office and made his way towards the windows, where a pair of eyes was barely seen from the other side. A clipboard was beside him. Delmas scowled as he pulled the shades over the windows. "Darn reporters." He turned to face Jeremy. "Not for long, you just have to lay low for a while. Press can really tear someone apart." He chuckled.
Jeremy frowned. "This happened before?"
The principal flinched, and he slowly sat in front of his desk. "The last time we had this much media, was when a teacher disappeared."
Jeremy stiffened. The principal was talking about Hopper.
"Out of the blue, he just vanished. Of course we couldn't just have a few dozen teacher-less classes, so we had a replacement," He paused. "Who is now your Chemistry teacher, Ms. Hertz." He gestured to the chair in front of him. "Please, sit. I can't have you standing around for so long."
Jeremy slowly eased himself into the chair, sucking in a breath as his chest strained through the pain. "Mr. Delmas I really should-"
Brip brip brip
"Pick up your phone." The principal finished for him. After staring at Delmas blankly, Jeremy pulled out his cellphone from his pocket, staring at the caller ID typed into the screen. He didn't recognize it. He put the call through, holding the phone up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Jeremy. Oh goodness, are you alright?"
Jeremy gasped, he turned away from Delmas, who had begun to rise from his chair. Jeremy waved at him to return to his seat.
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweety. I'm here. There's news everywhere that the east sector of the school collapsed, and you were caught in it."
Jeremy sighed. "Yeah. I was, b-but I'm fine now!" He added quickly. Jeremy's mother remained silent for a second.
"Are you sure? I can pull you out of school an-"
"No!" Jeremy yelled. He flinched when he heard his mother suck in a breath. "N-no mom, please, I'm fine. Promise."
There was a moment of silence, and he heard a sigh from the other side of the phone.
"Okay. I'll try to reign in my motherly instincts," She said with a halfhearted laugh. "I suppose your father will want to hear this. I'll have to do it later because your father's at work, and I'm using a payphone right now."
"Don't worry, I'll tell him."
"You're a sweetheart Jeremy."
"Okay. Bye mom."
"Bye Jeremy, love you honey."
"Love you too, mom."
Jeremy closed his cell with a soft click, sighing while turning to principal Delmas.
He had an understanding smile on his face, and he pulled out some papers from his desk. "Did your mother wish to speak to me?" He asked.
Jeremy shook his head. "She just wants to let my dad know."
Delmas nodded slowly. He stood up from his chair and proceeded to the door, where he unlocked it slowly and peered out carefully. During his few minutes with the principal, Jeremy hadn't noticed the press vanishing so suddenly. Something felt wrong, almost disconcerting.
"Alright, I guess you can leave now." Delmas said while waving him out of the office. "You usually disappear when something like this happens. Good day."
With a final shove, the principal led Jeremy out of the office and into the secretary's room. Jeremy looked around, and found the secretary with disheveled hair, concluding that she had probably mussed it up when pushing back the reporters. She looked up at Jeremy. "Do you want me to escort you to your room?"
"No, it's alright. I can go myself, thank you." Scrunching the fabric of his sweater, Jeremy left the office and made his way towards the gym. The halls were strangely quiet, and there was no sound to be heard as he walked away from the school.
'If I were principal, I'd probably evacuate the whole school,' he thought. 'But there should still be some people around.'
Crossing the grounds, Jeremy opened the gym doors slightly and peered inside. The gym lights were off, and it was deserted. Jumping into the vast room quickly, Jeremy strained towards the tunnel in the back of the gym, running as fast as he could towards the abandoned factory.
Thank's to his scooter, Jeremy had a pretty smooth ride across the sewer, except for each jump across a break in the platforms. His heart beat rapidly, eager to get to the supercomputer and his friends. Abandoning his scooter with a clatter, Jeremy grasped the handles of the ladder and slowly made his way to the upper room.
Jumping into his seat, Jeremy held up his earphone. "You guy's would really start without me?"
Yumi had just cheered when she hit a Blok right in it's target. She caught the fan in her hand with deft agility, right when Aelita landed a perfect flip right beside her.
"How many more monsters?" She asked. Yumi glanced across the desert sector and counted the swarming amount of Tarantulas, Kankrelats, and Bloks.
"At least fifteen more." She said. There was a boom and shattered debris crashed to the ground alongside them.
"Fourteen!" Laughed Odd. A laser struck his foot and he jumped. "Hey!" He yelled at a Blok. "I'm walking here!"
Ulrich turned from a Tarantula. "Did you just quote Midnight Cowboy?"
"I don't know, did I?" Odd asked rhetorically. After a few minutes silence, he shrugged. "What?"
"That wasn't even the littlest bit funny, Odd."
Odd pouted. "Well." He scoffed. "I"d never-"
"You guy's would really start without me?" Jeremy's voice boomed through the atmosphere.
"Jeremy!" Aelita cried. "Thank goodness you're alright."
"Just some grazes." Jeremy paused, most likely checking the surrounding area for any more of X.A.N.A's monsters.
"Odd, you have a few life points." He said after a short break. "Ulrich, two shots and you're done for."
"What about the girls?" Ulrich asked.
Jeremy snorted. "They know how to prioritize." Jeremy paused again, the clatter of keyboard keys strumming through the synthesized air. "The tower isn't far from here. I can't detect any more monsters but be careful."
"Alright, an escort for the ladies."
The air shifted, the matrix of code creating Yumi's Overwing, Odd's Overboard, and Ulrich's Overbike.
"Come on." Jeremy said. "We have a certain A.I's butt to kick."
Almost twice the amount of the average words per chapter, and we're still at the beginning.
Kind of.
Hope you enjoy, and please review!
Bye!