Chapter 7: Killer Music

Jeremie's POV

"Kaitlyn Brielle Belpois!" I yelled. "Either turn the music down or turn it off! I'm trying to work on my robots! Plus, didn't you study for the exam?!"

I don't even think she heard me. She had her earbuds turned all the way up. "Oh, oh, oh, I'm so glad when you're so bad!" she sang, almost repeatedly. What a badly-written song.

I went back to putting the screw I was working on back into my robot; when I was startled with "YEAH! I'm so glad when you're so bad!"

"Kaitlyn, cut that out! We have a physic's exam tomorrow," I protested. It's not like she heard me, because she was still singing. Don't get me wrong, she could sing like an angel, but I wasn't in the mood. "I don't want you to get a zero!"

She took out her headphones, "What did you say? Sorry, I can't hear a thing."

"Please turn the music down or off, Kaitlyn. We have a physics exam tomorrow, and I don't want you to fail."

She blew it off, and went back to her song. "That's alright, Jeremie. I can just look off of yours. You let Odd cheat all the time!"

"I'm not gonna have a female Odd Della Robbia in my family!" I protested.

Kaitlyn pulled her earbud out. "Hey, instead of being lame like you always do, why don't you listen to what I downloaded from the web?"

"I'm not feeling like it, Kaitlyn."

"Aw, come on, cuz. You can use a break from your robots," she asked, her voice dripping honey.

I sighed. "Maybe another time, Kaitlyn. I have robots to work on and I need to work on Aelita's materialization."

"Dude, I swear you have a crush on her," she giggled. "I hear you talking in your sleep about how beautiful she is, how she's in your dreams, and how you can't wait until—"

I ran over to her, and covered her mouth. "Shut up, she'll hear you!"

She pulled my hand away. "Cuz, your computer is connected to Lyoko 24/7. She probably has heard you talking in your sleep."

She was really starting to upset me.

"Jeremie, she won't think much differently if you just fessed up. She once told me on Lyoko that she loves you," she smiled, possibly using the never-old Belpois Sense.

Her eyes widened, as I could hear the song restart on her phone. She put her earbuds back in, and started singing full-blast all over again.

And I thought the stereotypical teenager stuff skipped a couple generations, I grumbled in my mind.

Then again, looking at Kaitlyn she had many of those qualities. Pink pajama set, almost identical to Sissi's; except Kaitlyn's had a heart on the chest. Long, blonde hair tied up in a high bun during the night, almost like Yumi's, except hers was way more bulkier because of how long her hair was.

As stereotypical as she seemed, Kaitlyn was my cousin. Maybe her listening to music was a coping mechanism she acquired. I didn't know what she did to cope with grief. When we chatted, she was cheerful, almost bubbling with energy. She never told me if she was troubled by someone or something. There was no way I could fault her for things beyond her control.

Not knowing what else to do, I decided I would go to Odd and Ulrich's room to finish working on my robot.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kaitlyn asked, taking her headphones out.

"To Odd and Ulrich's room to get some peace and quiet." I mumbled.

Along the way down the hall, I saw my German-named buddy. "Hi, Einstein."

"Hi, Ulrich. Let me guess: Odd."

"Yep. Kaitlyn?"

"You guessed it. She's been singing the same song in my room for over an hour, and it's messing with my work."

"Odd, too. Can we just go to an empty dorm room and study or something?" he asked.

"Sure. I can even give you some help, if you want." I smiled appreciatively at him. Ulrich Stern, a kindred spirit.

"I could sure use some," Ulrich nodded.

Kaitlyn's POV

I laid down on my military cot, still listening to Glad When You're Bad.

I turned over, and looked at the computer. I took one of my earbuds out.

"Hey… Aelita? Are you there?" I asked.

"Loud and clear, Kaitlyn." The elven pink-haired girl said, popping up on the screen. "What was that all about between you and Jeremie?"

"He just has some flower-sniffing issues," I giggled.

"What does that mean?" she asked curiously.

"It's based off a phrase that says, 'Stop and smell the roses.' Basically, Jeremie is too focused on one thing to stop and enjoy the smaller things in life," I explained.

"Oh, I see."

"You know, Aelita, I could totally see you as my cousin by marriage one day." I said, smiling.

She'd blushed if she could. "Thank you, Kaitlyn. You should probably get some rest, you do have a test in the morning."

"Good point." I said. "I guess I'll see you in the morning, Aelita."

She smiled. "Goodnight, Kaitlyn. I'm signing off."

"Night." I said.

I put on my headphones, only to see the song on my phone had changed to Party Monster by The Weeknd. This was a rather more explicit favorite of mine, but I turned it back to Glad When You're Bad.

Boy, I should have kept listening to Party Monster.

The second the song turned on, my head felt like it was squealing.

Then, everything went black.

Jeremie's POV

I shook my friend on the shoulder the next morning. "Time to get up, Ulrich!"

He grumbled, a smile plastered on his face, "Too tired…"

"Do I need to remind you, you have a test this morning?" I asked gently, putting on my turtleneck.

He rolled over onto his belly, rubbing his eye. "I didn't get a lot of sleep!"

"Well, how come?"

He came up beside me. "I'll tell you how come. 'Aelita… oh, Aelita, you're in my dreams! I can't wait until—'"

I slapped my hand over his mouth for a brief second, a blush overtaking my face. "Sh… Not you, too!"

He looked at me. "Between you and Odd, I can't study or sleep."

"Hey, you're not going to tell anyone, huh?"

Ulrich grinned. "Promise, Romeo!"

Reassured, a similar smile appeared on my features. "Let's get some breakfast!"

"Yeah, but not with Odd. He made me so mad last night!" he growled.

I shrugged. "Whatever you say." However, I remembered I left Kaitlyn alone, too. I'm pretty sure she'd be in the cafeteria, as well.

Ulrich got dressed and tied his shoes, I gathered my robot, and then we left the empty room.

We walked down to the cafeteria, only to see there was no Odd or Kaitlyn. Strange…

I sat down at our usual table and started picking at the strudel in my hand.

"It's not like Odd to skip a meal." I said, starting to worry a little. Kaitlyn is never late either.

"I couldn't care less!" Ulrich said, drinking from the mug of hot cocoa.

Suddenly, Sissi passed by, headphones around her neck. Nicholas looked at her curiously. "What's the song's name?"

"The song is called 'Glad When You're Bad!' I can't believe how unhip you guys are. You're a couple of real losers! You oughta go out once in a while. Hmph!" She walked off.

He and Hervé followed her. "Well, then fill us in, Sissi! What kind of music is it? Is it R&B?"

"'R&B?' Why not waltz music?"

Such bad music taste. I thought. No bad feelings towards Kaitlyn, but it seems this repetitive song is everywhere now.

Ulrich and I finished our breakfast, and we headed outside of the cafeteria.

"Hi," Yumi greeted, approaching us. "Odd and Kaitlyn aren't here?"

"No, and I'm beginning to worry," I blinked.

"Have you checked their rooms?"

"Not yet. We're going to do that right now, right, Ulrich?"

"No! We'll be late for the exam!" he protested.

I placed my hands on his shoulders, leading him away from Yumi. "Not if we hurry."

"Keep me posted, okay?" she asked.

Ulrich and I walked up to the dorms, looking around on the way up for a sign of Odd or Kaitlyn at this point. There was still nothing. Where could they be?

"He sang that same dumb song over and over." Ulrich ranted as he opened the door to his dorm, revealing Odd on Ulrich's bed. "Look! Now he's fast asleep!"

"Let's wake him up," I suggested, shaking his shoulders. "Hey, Odd, wake up, will you?!"

He didn't move. I started to throttle his body, jostling his headphones off his head.

"If this is a joke, it's a bad one! We're going to be late!" Ulrich protested.

I turned my friend onto his back. "Something is wrong! Odd?! ODD?!"

He still lay there, as though a serial killer came into his room in the night. "This isn't a joke!"

My eyes widened when I realized something. "Oh, no! KAITLYN!"

I pushed Ulrich out of the way and bolted from the room, dashing into my own. Sure enough, Kaitlyn lay on the cot in just the same way Odd did. My heart just stopped, my blood running cold. I couldn't believe it. All this for some peace and quiet.

We carried Odd and Kaitlyn to the infirmary, and we waited for Yolanda to come in. When she did, she rubbed his forehead. "Odd… Odd, can you hear me?"

She repeated it to Kaitlyn.

Mr. Delmas walked in, looking very concerned.

Yolanda straightened up. "Call the hospital!"

Ulrich and I gasped. What happened to them?!

"And tell them that it's very, very urgent."

Just as the principal called the hospital, Yolanda placed a stethoscope under Odd's blood pressure cuff, listening. "His blood pressure and his heartbeat are slow."

She did the same to Kaitlyn after. "Same symptoms. I don't understand!" She said, in defeat.

"Kaitlyn…" I whispered. What have I done?!

The paramedics loaded Kaitlyn and Odd into the ambulance outside.

Yumi rushed over to us. "What's the matter with them?! Is it serious, huh, is it?!"

"Their hearts are beating very slowly," I reported sadly.

"XANA!"

"XANA's not capable of attacking human beings directly."

"If only we had stayed with them last night, this wouldn't have happened! We blew up at them and spent the night in an empty dorm room," Ulrich moaned.

Yumi put her head on his shoulder, rubbing her hands on them comfortingly. "How could you have known that?"

He jumped into the ambulance. "I'm staying with them!"

Mr. Delmas put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ulrich, but I can't permit you to leave the school grounds!"

"I'm staying with Odd and Kaitlyn!"

"Ulrich, get away from that ambulance! That is not the right way to help them! I'll permit Jeremie to go, because he is kin to Kaitlyn but that is it!" he demanded.

"I don't care. I can't let them be taken away like this!"

He sighed and backed away. "Alright, you can go."

"Thank you, Mr. Delmas." I said.

"Are you crazy?!" Yumi leaned to my ear, lowering her voice. "What if XANA launches an attack?"

I patted my laptop bag. "We'll stay in contact! Call me if there's the slightest problem." Then I rushed into the ambulance, taking my place beside Ulrich. The ambulance doors closed and we sped off to the hospital.

"WE CAN'T HANDLE MANY MORE EMERGENCIES!" One of the nurses yelled. We walked down the hall to where Kaitlyn and Odd were kept, they had roomed them next door to each other.

"Doctor Miller is wanted in cardiology." A receptionist said over the speaker.

Ulrich stood leaning on a rail, outside of Kaitlyn's room.

I sighed. "Ulrich, it's not our fault," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. "Even if we had been there, we couldn't have changed anything. I'll go get us a soda, that might make things a little better." I said, walking away.

I walked down the hall to look for a vending machine; when I came across a Janitor's closet. I should probably contact Aelita, I thought.

I walked into the Janitor's closet as I pulled my laptop out of my bag, and I put on my earpiece, typing on the keys. "Aelita, Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Jeremie. How's everything going?" My pink-haired sweetheart popped on the screen.

"Not good at all. Kaitlyn and Odd are in a coma, it's really weird. Their hearts have almost stopped beating!" I said.

"Oh no," She gasped. "I talked to Kaitlyn last night before she went to bed, and she seemed perfectly fine. What happened after I signed off, I don't know."

I thought for a moment. I couldn't think of what could have happened. It all didn't make sense. "No one knows what to do, and the weird thing is is that Odd and Kaitlyn may not be the only ones affected."

"Bizarre," She said. "Do you think XANA is capable of creating a disease?"

"I can't believe he was actually able to attack humans directly," I went on.

"Looks like he may have found a way," Aelita pointed out.

"By the way, I better warn Ulrich and Yumi," I said. "Meanwhile, see if you feel any pulsations."

"Okay." She said, as she signed off.

I closed my laptop, and put it back into my backpack. As I went back out into the hospital halls, I noticed it was now much more busier. This can't be good, I thought.

I walked into Odd's room, where I saw Ulrich mourning by his bedside.

"Ulrich," I said. "I just spoke to Aelita. She's going to try and see if XANA is the cause to our problem."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "If he did this, I can't figure out how." I said.

All of a sudden, I heard a lot of crying outside.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER?!" I heard my uncle's familiar voice yell outside. Oh no.

Peering through the cracked door, I looked only to see my aunt and uncle, who I hadn't seen in ages, in nothing but tears. Thanks for the lovely family reunion, XANA.

I walked outside, "Oh! Uncle Mark, Aunt Katie!"

They turned over to me. "Jeremie! What's wrong with Kaitlyn?!" Aunt Katie shrieked at me.

I looked down to the ground. "They haven't the slightest clue. We have a friend who's got the same symptoms in the other room… it's really bizarre."

My uncle looked down on the ground. "Will she be okay?" He asked, trying not to cry.

"I don't know, Uncle Mark. I'm scared." I could feel tears coming on. "I-I have to get back to school, call me if anything happens, please?"

They nodded their heads.

I watched them walk into the room, as they stand on each side of Kaitlyn, holding each one of her hands.

Looking at this, my depression went away. Instead, I started to feel nothing, but pure rage. I didn't need verification anymore; I knew this was XANA's doing.

You wanna mess with my friends and I... Fine. You wanna mess with my family? You're going down like the Titanic, XANA.

I walked back into Odd's room.

"Ulrich." I said.

He looked up at me.

"This is definitely XANA's doing," I said. "The only way to save them is to go to Lyoko, so let's go."

Ulrich stood up, and bent over Odd's bed. "We'll get you and Kaitlyn out of this." He glared at him in determination. "I swear we will."

Ulrich and I made a dash for the factory.

Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

"Hello?"

"Jeremie!" I heard Yumi's breathless voice say. "How are Odd and Kaitlyn?" She asked.

"Their heartbeats are getting weaker and weaker." I said, trying to catch my breath.

"Sissi's got the same symptoms, it's spreading!" Yumi exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure it's an epidemic started by XANA." I said.

"Did you reach Aelita?"

"Yes, get over to the factory fast!" I hung up with her.

"Connecting… connecting…" the supercomputer said.

"Aelita? We're in the lab." I said.

"You better hurry, the pulsations are getting stronger! The activated tower can't be too far away!" Aelita exclaimed.

"Are there any monsters around?" I asked.

"Not yet, no."

"Ulrich's coming soon, stay where you are!" I said.

"Okay, I'll wait here." Aelita said, as she disappeared off the screen.

Almost immediately, Yumi's contact popped up on the screen. "Jeremie! It's the song that's causing it!"

I scratched my head. "The song? I don't understand."

"It is! It's the song, 'Glad When You're Bad!'" Yumi said breathlessly.

My blood ran cold. "Oh no! I think that's the song Kaitlyn was singing last night!"

"Same with Odd!" Ulrich said, doing a facepalm.

"XANA's using the media from maximum coverage."

"He's formatted the song, and now he's spreading it all over!" Yumi said, breathlessly.

"A deadly melody," I muttered darkly.

"Considering what it's done to Odd and Kaitlyn, we better deactivate the tower fast." Ulrich raced into the elevator car. "Send Yumi as soon as she gets here."

"Okay, Ulrich." I typed on the keys. "To the Mountain Sector."

I waited for Ulrich to get downstairs. "I'm ready to go, Jeremie." I heard him say.

"Transfer, Ulrich!" I pressed the Enter key. "Scanner Ulrich!" I waited a few seconds the scan to finish. "Virtualization!"

"Ulrich!" I heard Aelita say, as I could see her yellow arrow running toward his green on the interface.

"We need to get to the activated tower!" Ulrich said.

"Look, it's there, you see?"

I watched their arrows race in the direction I believed that Aelita pointed out.

"Okay," Ulrich said.

"We're at the tower," Aelita sounded pleased.

I saw a notification pop up from France 24 News. I decided to open it.

"Just this morning, we've been swamped with calls of a serious epidemic. For an update, let's go to Bill Amstar who is on the scene. Bill?"

"Thank you, Olivia. As soon as news of the first cases were announced, I went to the neighborhood, and things have been dramatic here to say the least. For now it seems the authorities can't seem to quote a number on how many people have been stricken by the illness. The victims seem to be under the spell of a disease whose origins are unknown and the outcome could be fatal."

"That's the music," I mused.

"Public health officials are currently on the scene."

A few minutes later, I heard Ulrich's voice. "No monsters anywhere. That's suspicious."

Suddenly, I saw three Bloks pop up on the screen.

"Ah! There you are!" Ulrich said. "Aelita, take cover somewhere!"

I saw the yellow arrow race away to another platform. Good job, both of you.

Suddenly, after one red dot disappeared, Ulrich's arrow froze. "Ulrich, you're out-of-bounds for three minutes!"

I looked up, and I saw Yumi's familiar black outfit run into the room. "Everything okay on Lyoko?" She asked.

"Not really. Ulrich's frozen solid, and Aelita's alone!" I answered.

She blinked, racing back to the elevator. "I'm ready to go!"

"To the Mountains."

I typed the coordinates for where Yumi would be virtualized. "Alright, here we go." I pressed the enter key. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi." I waited a few seconds for the scan to finish. "Virtualization!"

Yumi popped up as a yellow triangle on the screen. I also checked Ulrich's timer.

"Thirty seconds left, Ulrich!" I yelled.

"Stay behind me, Aelita. I'll handle them." I heard Yumi's determined voice say. Great job.

"How much longer, Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

Ulrich's timer was now up. "He's coming." I said.

"HI-YA!" Ulrich yelled, as the red dot disappeared from the screen.

"Good to see ya," Yumi's voice sounded appreciative.

"Stay alert! Two more bloks are headed your way!" I said.

"That one's yours, Yumi." Ulrich said. He reminded me of Odd when he said that. I sure hope he's okay.

"Well done, guys!" I said, as I seen the two bloks vanish.

"According to the public health department, the first cases were discovered at Kadic Junior High School." The news anchor said.

"Huh!" I said, as my eyes widened.

All of a sudden, the video vanished and the eye of XANA replaced the news video. The song started playing.

My head started to hurt. Really fast like, I got up from the computer and unplugged all sound components. Nice try, XANA.

I was dead wrong though. The song continued playing.

"NO!" I yelled, as I covered my ears. My head was hurting really bad, worse than your typical migraine. I fell down to the floor.

"Jeremie! Do you read me?!" I could hear Ulrich faintly, under all of the music. You're definitely not fit to be a DJ, XANA.

I wormed across the floor slowly; I could barely move.

I grabbed onto the computer chair, pulling myself up. "I have to enter the coordinates for the return trip."

I honestly just wanted to pass out, but I kept Odd and Kaitlyn on my mind. Whether or not they were aware of it, they were really counting on me. Not today, XANA. Very sluggishly, I typed on the keys, entering each letter and number slowly. "Launching!"

With my last little bit of strength, I pressed the enter key.

"I did it… I DID IT!" I cheered.

Everything went black.

RETURN TO THE PAST, NOW!

I found myself back in the chair. Part of me wondered if it had worked. I turned around, and a smile formed on my face. Kaitlyn was laying on her cot, listening to her music all the way up, just as she had before.

"KAITLYN!" I shouted, as though I was yelling for Kiwi, racing over to her and wrapping my arms around her tightly.

"Uh- Jeremie. Are you okay?" She giggled a little, then groaning from how tight I hugged her.

Tears streamed down my face. She was alive, out of her coma. "Do you remember anything?" I asked.

"Uh...no, cuz? Just listening to music, having you leave, and talking to Aelita for a bit," she blinked.

I sighed, a smile slowly growing on my face. "XANA reformatted the song you were listening to, and you fell into a coma because of it. Your heartbeat was slow, and you almost passed away. The same thing happened to Odd. It appears you two have similar music tastes."

"But I'm here, Jeremie. I'm sure Odd is, too," she giggled. "XANA's music must have been pretty killer!"

Before I could respond, Odd's voice filtered through the hallway into our room. "And if you need help, THE REINCARNATION OF EINSTEIN IS READY TO GIVE A LESSON TO A SAWDUST-FILLED HEAD!"

"See what I mean, cuz?"

We both snickered. XANA thinks he can bring us down? He must be out of his own motherboard!

"WAIT! Kaitlyn?" I asked.

"Yes, cuz?"

My cheeks heated up a bit. "What exactly did you and Aelita talk about?"

"You, then a few cute things about you and she being a perfect match for each other, then she signed off on the grounds that I needed my rest. Nothing more or less," she smiled.

"Um- what kind of cute things?" I asked, curiously.

"Materialize her first, then I'll tell you!" She yelled, playfully.

"Na-ah!" I smarted, a mischievous grin appearing on my face. "Come on, cuz… Otherwise, I'll tickle you…"

I heard Aelita laughing over my monitor. Ugh… I forgot to make that mute-Lyoko program.

"You touch me, I'll tell Aelita everything. Oh wait, she probably knows everything already, Mister I-Talk-In-My-Sleep!" She played.

I charged for her.

"AELITA! JEREMIE LOVES YOU!" She taunted, while laughing.

"HEY! YOU TWO QUIET DOWN, YOU HEAR!" I heard Jim yell outside my door.

Kaitlyn and I laughed the night away. If there's one thing XANA does in the end, he always brings us closer.