Chapter 8 is up guys. Enjoy.
"Come on Odd, you are nearly there" Jason said to him.
In the meantime Odd was running trough sector five towards main frame to collect important data.
"Yeah, yeah I know" Odd responded after short silence "XANA won't stay away for to long. I'm on my way".
Jason started typing commands to allow Odd to collect that data.
Duo was doing this missions for past two weeks. Collecting data in order to make recreation program so they could try and get Franz and Anthea out of their prison. Others knew that two of them were up to something but they were convinced that it's for a good reason.
"Elevator is getting close Odd. Hurry" Jason said as he noticed elevator approaching.
"Got it" Odd responded and ran faster towards it.
And he arrived just on time. Elevator was going upwards and Odd boarded it. Elevator took him to outside area of sector five. Once he arrived Odd ran towards the screen.
"Alright Jas, I'm here" Odd informed him and started downloading data.
Jason started typing commands again "Alright, I'm taking control now. Stay alert, you can never be safe enough".
Odd nodded and got ready to fight.
Everything was peaceful so far but as Jason said you can never be safe enough. He started pacing around looking out for any trace of danger. There was nothing there so far.
"How is download doing so far?" Odd asked while still pacing around "I'm getting bored here".
As soon as he said that mantas started to spawn. Ten of them.
"Me and my big mouth" Odd whispered to himself and stood his ground.
"Just few more moments Odd, hang on" Jason told him and started typing faster "Come on, come on you piece of junk".
Odd heard him complain but had no time to waste reassuring him so he focused on incoming monsters.
"Alright, there is enough of Odd for everyone".
Monsters fired at him but he avoided all of their attacks successfully destroying some of them. Monsters kept attacking without any success. Odd avoided all if their attempts.
Suddenly monsters stopped attacking and retreated to the safe distance.
"What's going on?" Jason asked noticing manta's behavior "Odd, what's happening?".
Odd just stood there looking at the sight in front of him. It looked like every one of them merged together in some kind of ultimate manta.
"Uh, Jason" Odd said as backed away from that thing in front of him "I think it's time to get away from here".
As if it knew when it was needed to be done data was finally downloaded.
"Alright Odd it is finished" Jason said and launched devirtualization process "I'm bringing you in".
"I think it's to late for that" Odd whispered and closed his eyes.
Ultimate manta fired a huge laser at him and pinned him to the wall. Laser's power grew stronger so did pressure that was used on him. Odd screamed in pain as laser kept pressing him against the wall.
Jason just sat in the computer chair unable to figure out what's happening all of a sudden. Odd's life points were almost drained completely. But than he noticed something. Odd's life points were stuck at one percent. That explained the pain Odd was taking. Without being able to devirtualize all pain received on Lyoko becomes real.
Than something unusual happened. Odd screamed one more time and he exploded and his icon disappeared. Scanner door opened and Odd stumbled out of it and fell to the ground. He tried to get up but he was feeling like all of his strength got drained out.
Elevator door opened and Jason rushed towards his friend.
"Are you okay Odd?" Jason asked him worried "How are you feeling?".
Odd tried to talk but he wasn't able to do so. He felt so exhausted.
Jason helped him up and carried him towards the lab.
"We need to figure out what happened" Jason said as he placed him next to the holo map "And something did happen".
Odd slowly nodded and closed his eyes wanting to rest a little but Jason didn't allow him to do so.
"I'm sorry Odd but you can't go to sleep now. You look like you have been drained of your energy so we don't know what could go wrong if you fall asleep. You need to try to stay awake".
After this Jason turned his attention towards the screen and started typing some commands.
In the meantime Odd was just staring at the empty space.
Few minutes later Jason found something.
"This is really unusual" he said surprised "It appears that XANA drained your energy which is not that bad. What worries me the most is that nothing else is present and knowing our friend XANA there is something invisible for us to see".
"What should we do than?" Odd asked him tired "I'm feeling better now but you are right. There is probably something".
"I don't know Odd, I really don't" Jason said and shook his head "I guess we will need to wait and see".
Odd thought about that and nodded slowly and got up on his feet. Jason wanted to help him but he raised his hand as a sign that he is fine.
With this duo left the factory and walked towards the Hermitage.
After few minutes they arrived and noticed others waiting for them there. And they were inpatient.
"What took you guys so long?" Ulrich asked them "We were supposed to begin fifteen minutes ago".
"I'm sorry good buddy, we were working on this program" Odd said.
Others noticed the state Odd was in.
"Are you feeling okay Odd?" Yumi asked him worried "You don't look so good".
Odd smiled at her "Don't worry Yumes, I'm okay. Just a little tired".
They exchanged looks but decided to let it slide and turned back to go and work.
For the past two weeks group was spending all of their free time repairing Hermitage. With financial help from Odd's family their goal seemed closer and closer. Junk was already taken out, windows were replaced with new ones, new furniture was brought and will arrive some day this week, electricity already existed so there was no need to do anything about it, basement was clean and was used as a storage. Even tho work was doing great there was more work to be done.
At the end of the day group headed towards the school while Jason stayed at the Hermitage. Before they separated Jason talked to Odd about what happened today.
"If you notice something unusual happening remember to call me okay?".
Odd nodded "Okay. I will see you around".
On their way home others talked about how good they did today at the Hermitage. Odd stayed at the back holding his head. It hurted a lot.
"Odd?" Aelita's voice brought him back to reality "Are you okay?".
He smiled at her "Don't worry Princess. My head hurts a little that's all".
She returned the smile "If you are sure".
And with this their conversation ended.
During those two weeks Aelita and Odd were trying to keep themselves at the safe distance as much as possible. Odd made the first move and distanced himself from her. When she asked him why is he doing that he just told her that it's complicated. And it stayed at that point. It was hard doing so because the two were roommates but it still somehow worked.
When they arrived at the school and said their goodbyes to Yumi, Ulrich and Jeremy, Odd and Aelita went to their room. Once inside Aelita fell on her bed.
"I'm so tired" she whispered "And now I need to study some more for tomorrow test. I hate it".
Odd didn't even listened to her as he walked towards his closet and picked up his night clothes and a towel.
"I think I'm going to take a shower" he said and left without another word.
Aelita just sat there and looked at the door.
"What's wrong with him now?" she wondered for herself and went to find notebook so she can study. She found it in the first drawer and took it back to her bed. She fell down on her bed and studied.
In the meantime Odd arrived to the showers and went in one of them. He turned water on and allowed it to flow down his body trying to relax. His head hurted even more since they left the Hermitage and also it was to late to call Jason now.
Suddenly pain became unbearable and Odd fell to his knees holding his head. He was feeling like his head could explode any second now. He heard unbearable buzzing inside his ears.
"Make it stop. Please make it stop" he pleaded but there was no one that could help him. At one moment his eyes rolled upwards and he fell down on the floor motionless. Sometime later he got up but he wasn't the same. There was mark of XANA in his eyes.
Odd picked up his stuff and walked back towards his room. Once he was inside he saw Aelita being asleep and growled at her. Mark of XANA was pulsing really hard. He tossed his clothes inside the closed and walked towards his bed but instead of laying down he just sat down and spent the whole night growling angrily at his roommate.
When Aelita woke up next morning she saw Odd sitting at the edge of his bed looking at her.
"Odd, what's wrong?" she asked him worried.
"I'm fine" he responded "Nothing to worry about".
With those words he left the room leaving Aelita alone thinking about what happened.
"He is definitely acting strange" Aelita wondered for herself "Something is wrong".
She got up to her feet and walked towards her closet and opened it to get her clothes out. What she found there surprised her. Once she opened it she saw Kiwi hiding in there shaking in fear.
"Are you okay boy?" she patted him on the head feeling how scared he is "What happened?".
Aelita picked him up and carried him a little to try and calm him down and she successes in doing so. She lowered him back on the ground and he walked back to his hiding place.
"Okay Kiwi" Aelita said in her calming tone "Stay here if it make you feel better. I need to go to breakfast".
She got dressed up and left the room.
In the meantime Odd walked towards the cafeteria. Once he got inside he noticed Ulrich, Yumi and Jeremy already sitting at their usual places eating their meal. He growled and walked towards them.
"Good morning Odd" Yumi said to him kindly as he sat down.
He looked at her for few seconds before answering "Morning".
Others exchanged confused looks wondering what got inside their friend. It seemed like he was in bad mood.
"What's wrong good buddy?" Ulrich asked him "Anything bad happened?".
Odd didn't even bother to answer him. Instead he started eating his meal not paying attention to anyone around him. But Ulrich wanted to know what is the cause of his behavior.
"Is Kiwi okay?" Ulrich asked him again and again there was no answer. So Ulrich asked him again.
"Is Aelita okay?".
To his surprise instead of answering Odd smashed his fist on the table and looked sternly at him.
"Nothing is wrong Ulrich" Odd answered in serious tone "Everything is perfectly normal".
"Are you sure Odd?" Yumi joined in "You seem like something is wrong".
This time Odd exploded at her.
"Will you shut up already?!" he shouted at her leaving Yumi in shock and leading to whole cafeteria looking at their table "I said it a million times already and I won't do it again. Everything is perfectly normal".
Yumi was stunned by this and didn't know how to answer but Ulrich surely did.
"Hey! What the hell is your problem?! It's not Yumi's fault if you have bad day!".
Odd laughed at that "That's right Ulrich, protect your woman! This is so romantic, knight in shining armor protecting his beloved princess! So pathetic!".
And in the next moment things went from zero to one hundred in less than a minute. Odd shouted at Ulrich, Ulrich shouted at Odd. Odd insulted Ulrich, Ulrich insulted Odd. One thing led to other and soon fists were flying.
Odd managed to land a blow on Ulrich by hitting him in the side of his head and knocked him on the ground. He launched himself at his downed friend but Ulrich was fast to react. Ulrich raised his feet in the air so he can use that to toss Odd over himself. And he managed to do so. Odd went flying over Ulrich and fell on the floor. Both of them got up to their feet ready to exchange more punches.
"Guys calm down" Jeremy tried to calm the two down "This is pointless".
But two were so heated that Jeremy's advice haven't got to them. Jeremy approached Odd and tried to stop him but instead got hit and knocked to the floor.
Seeing this Ulrich rushed at Odd and tried to tackle him down but he wasn't fast enough and Odd managed to trip him over to the floor. After he was down Odd jumped at him and proceeded to punch him again and again and again.
"Odd!" someone shouted and grabbed him by the arm.
Odd stopped hitting Ulrich and elbowed that person in the face. Person fell on the floor with a thud. Odd turned around and looked at the person. It was Aelita. She was laying on the floor unconscious and her nose was bleeding.
Suddenly Jim barged inside the cafeteria.
"What's going on here?!".
He saw Yumi and Jeremy helping Ulrich get up on his feet, Aelita being unconscious and Odd standing above her.
"Della Robbia! To the headmaster's office, now!" Jim shouted and grabbed Odd by the arm "Three of you get Stones to the infirmary".
And with those words Odd was taken to the headmaster's office.
"This is unacceptable! Attacking other students, breaking nose to one of them and knocking her unconscious!" Delmas shouted while Jim stood by the door "This is it Odd! I don't want to do this but I need to! You are suspended. I'm going to call and inform your parents about this".
Delmas picked up the phone but Odd grabbed his hand.
"Not my parents" he said angrily.
"What are you-" Delmas said surprised before Odd tossed him at the wall knocking him unconscious.
"Della Robbia!" Jim shouted and grabbed him from behind.
Odd wasn't resisting at first so Jim thought that he has this under control but suddenly Odd released some kind of electric charge that launched Jim at the wall. He was unconscious as well now. And after dealing with two of them Odd simply walked out of the office.
Ulrich, Yumi and Jeremy were sitting next to Aelita's bed in the infirmary waiting for her to wake up. Events from earlier today still floated above their heads. Ulrich was still messed up from the fight he had with Odd but other than that he was in good shape. Yumi approached and hugged him from behind.
"Are you okay Ul?".
Even if he was in the worst shape possible Yumi's hug could make him feel thousands times better. He took her hands and sighted.
"If I'm being honest I had better days" Ulrich responded softly "But I'm doing okay".
Duo looked at Jeremy and Aelita. Jeremy was sitting by Aelita's holding her hand and kissing her fingers.
"Please be okay Aelita" he whispered sadly "Please be okay".
Minutes passed by and nothing new happened. Nurse visited them few times, gave Ulrich some painkillers and focused her attention on Aelita. She was still unconscious but her state was getting better and better, or at least that's what nurse told them. Nurse looked at them and decided to ask them about what happened.
"If you don't mind me asking" she began "What exactly happened? I mean some students said that Odd gone bananas and attacked you. Is that true?".
Others sighted and decided that it was for the best for Yumi to describe the events that occurred.
"I'm not exactly sure why it happened at all" she began "It was normal morning, we were having normal conversation and than Odd walked in. He looked like he had bad night and wasn't in any mood to talk to us. Ulrich and I tried to talk to him but he exploded at us, insulted me and Ulrich. One thing led to another and than this happened".
Nurse looked like she was unable to think about anything to say to them and instead she just nodded and left the room.
Few moments after nurse left Aelita slowly began to wake up. Yumi and Ulrich walked towards her bed and looked at her.
Aelita looked around herself. She saw Ulrich and Yumi standing next to her bed, Jeremy sitting by her side and holding her hand. He was smiling at her.
"Good morning beautiful" Jeremy said and leaned in to kiss her forehead.
Aelita returned the smile and kissed him on the cheek "Morning".
Yumi and Ulrich just stood there feeling their hearts melt from seeing the sight in front of them.
"How about we give them some privacy Ul?" Yumi suggested and Ulrich simply nodded following her outside the room.
After they were left alone Jeremy and Aelita simply looked at each other's eyes like there was some kind of haven inside of them. It didn't matter to them that they were surrounded by silence. Only thing that mattered was that the two of them were together and that they were both okay.
"Are you okay Aelita?" Jeremy asked her kindly, still holding her hand.
Aelita was smiling at him warmhearted "I'm okay Jeremy. What about you, are you okay?".
Instead of answering her, Jeremy just smiled at her and hold her hand tighter afraid of letting it go. Another wave of peaceful silence fell upon them. They were together and they were happy.
Few minutes later Ulrich and Yumi joined them again.
"Sorry for interrupting you two lovebirds" Ulrich joked with them and both of them chuckled a little "But we need to spend some time with sleeping beauty too. Don't kick us out Jeremy".
Jeremy laughed at his comment "I would never do that. Alright maybe I would someday".
Group burst out laughing "Einstein the comedian! Are you sure you are okay? Maybe you were hit to hard".
As soon as Ulrich said that mood in the room dropped. They remembered what happened today.
Aelita was the first one to decide to talk about that "Does anyone know what caused that?".
Others simply shook their head "No. We have no idea" Yumi responded "Ulrich called Jason to come here and see if he knows anything about that. He should be here in few minutes".
Jeremy looked at Aelita and sighted "I hope he knows what's all this about".
Suddenly someone screamed outside the room and loud thud was heard. Ulrich and the others jumped at their feet and looked at the door. They opened and Odd casually walked inside.
"Odd?" Yumi said surprised "Weren't you supposed to be in the headmaster's office?".
Odd just laughed at her "Those stupid fools, thinking they could keep me in there".
Aelita looked shocked at him "What did you do? What did you do?!".
He focused his attention to her now. He laughed again and grinned "I did the same thing that I'm going to do now".
His message was loud and clear.
Ulrich, Yumi and Jeremy stood between him and Aelita ready to defend her. It was Yumi that made the first move and that was their first mistake. Odd quickly blocked her punch and pushed her so hard that she went flying at the medical cabinet breaking it to pieces and knocking her out. Ulrich was the next one. This time Odd rushed at him and grabbed him by the collar and lifted him from the ground.
"You can't stop me" Odd said and tossed him at Jeremy and both of them were launched at the wall. Jeremy got knocked out but Ulrich was still in condition to fight. He got back to his feet and looked at Odd.
"Don't even think about it" he said sternly "I'm not out yet".
"Yet" Odd simply answered and rushed at him. Ulrich dodged most of his attacks but some of them still managed to hit him. After being hit few times Ulrich decided to deal some damage back and launched some punches in Odd's direction. But instead of dodging them Odd simply didn't bother to defend. Ulrich punched him over and over again but Odd didn't even flinch even after the strongest punch Ulrich could land but he still kept going over and over again.
Once Odd got tired of this game he simply grabbed Ulrich's hands and spun him around and after the couple of swings he tossed him out of the window. And now with Ulrich out of the way Odd simply walked towards Aelita.
She was trying to walk away but was still dizzy from earlier and Odd caught up with her quickly. He grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall.
"No way out now Aelita, just you and me" he said looking her directly into the eyes "I would gladly finish this right here, but XANA has better plans for you. Come on, let's go see your new master".
"Please Odd, fight it" she pleaded "You are stronger than him. You can do it, you can-".
But before she could finish her sentence Odd punched her two times in the face knocking her out again "Finally, some silence".
Odd tossed her over his shoulder and left the infirmary by jumping out of the broken window. Once he was outside he looked at Ulrich's motionless body on the ground and smiled. He focused his attention back to the forest and started running towards the factory.
Well this is it for this chapter guys and I must notice that it is one of my longest so far. I apologize for posting this so late but I had some stuff to do and I wasn't able to get free time so I can focus on this. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this part and if you did remember to R&R. And until the next time, peace out.