Ulrich had been ignoring the others as of late, and Yumi was going to the gym when she saw him with Sissi. "I can't even train with him." The Japanese girl's shoulders sagged. "And we used to be really good friends." She wiped a tear from her eye. "More than that." She somberly walked away from the gym, supressing sobs.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie and Aelita were working on the Translation program. "I think we should see if we can do it from here first." Aelita tapped on the screen.
"Without the Skid? With the Skid, it's easy enough to do, but if we can use a Translation without the Skid..." Jeremie continued typing. "Even from Lyoko, it will be a big step forward."
"But the errors that might come up could damage the person's profile. If we can't reload them, we'll be a warrior short until we fix it. Let's start with the Skid first, okay, Jeremie?" Aelita bit her lower lip in worry. "We'd have to tell them the dangers, even with the Skid."
"We'll ask for a volunteer. I'm hoping for Yumi or William."
"Why them?"
"Ulrich, Alex and Odd are upgraded and you're needed to deactivate Towers. Ulrich will freak out and probably get violent if Sissi disappears, so she has to stay too. The other two are just there."
"They're important members of our group."
"That came out wrong, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that William and Yumi aren't upgraded. Ulrich, Alex and Odd could get you to a Tower without the help of anyone else. Just you and one of them would be enough. Even though Yumi and William's lives are invaluable, they aren't vital to the group like the upgraded three are."
"We'll see who volunteers." Aelita stated flatly, obviously irked. With that, they continued to wordlessly work late into the night.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie was sneaking back to his dorm room when a door opened in front of him. "Oh, Jeremie." Odd poked his head out.
"What are you doing up this late?"
"Waiting for Ulrich." Odd yawned. "I'm guessing you were up late with the Princess."
"We were working on the Translation program." Jeremie continued to his dorm room.
-( ( • ) ) -
The next morning, Ulrich was nowhere to be found. "Um, Odd, have you seen Ulrich?" Sissi sat down next to the others.
"No, wasn't he with you last night?" Jeremie looked up at her.
"He ran off saying there was something he had to do." The others sitting at the table looked at each other. "There wasn't a Xana attack, was there?"
"I don't think so. Did you call him, William?" Aelita glanced at William, who shook his head. "Alex?" He, too, shook his head.
"I didn't either." Jeremie looked back at Sissi. "We don't know where he is."
"Oh, okay. I'll check the infirmary." Sissi slowly strolled away and out of the cafeteria.
-( ( • ) ) -
During classes, the group was left wondering what was going on. Ulrich was still missing. "Maybe Xana went after him." Jeremie checked his laptop.
"He was missing since last night." Aelita looked over at Jeremie. "We were at the Factory. We would have heard the Super Scan activate if Xana did it."
"Then where is he?" Jeremie asked, still staring at the Super Scan and garnering a shrug from Aelita.
-( ( • ) ) -
During lunch, Yumi plopped down next to the others. "William said Ulrich's missing. Did Xana attack?"
"No, Yumi. There is not and was not an activated Tower on Lyoko." Jeremie shook his head.
"Then where is he?" Everyone glanced at each other and shrugged. "This isn't good." Yumi took a bite of her sandwich, but stopped chewing. She was too worried about Ulrich to eat. Even if he had been acting like a jerk lately, he was still her friend. Her really good friend. Maybe more.
-( ( • ) ) -
As afternoon classes started, rain began to pour.
"Okay, pansies, it's just a little rain. You won't melt." Jim barked. A clap of thunder resounded and lightning flickered across the sky, and he jumped in fright. "We're going inside now." He blew his whistle just as another bolt of lightning crackled nearby, and booming thunder resounded almost instantly.
"Jim?" Odd walked to Jim, who was holding his throat. "Anything wrong, Jim?" Jim coughed hard, and the whistle popped out.
"Uh, I'd rather not talk about it." Jim stood at the gym doors and waited for everyone to get inside.
-( ( • ) ) -
As the kids stretched in the gym, another crack of lightning flashed in the sky outside, and the lights flickered out. "Everyone sit down where you are. With the lights off we won't be playing dodge ball."
"Jeremie, do you hear that?" Odd tapped Jeremie's shoulder.
"Hear what?"
"It sounds like your laptop." Odd pointed to Jeremie's bag, sitting by the bleachers.
"You can hear it from here?" Jeremie closed his eyes and strained his ears. "I can hardly hear anything, much less tell it's my laptop."
"Upgrades." Odd scooted slightly toward the bleachers, then came back. "I think it's the Super Scan. Does it make seven beeps really fast?"
"Yeah, so that means Xana is attacking." Jeremie looked around for Aelita, and saw her a few meters away. "Aelita, come here." She schooched across the floor over to Jeremie. "Xana is attacking."
"How do you know?" She stared at him.
"Odd can hear the Super Scan."
"All the way over here?"
"His upgrades, plus he scooted a few meters closer a minute ago then came back."
"Oh. We need to get to the Factory."
"And find Ulrich." Jeremie and Aelita stood up. "Come on, Odd." Odd crawled up as well.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Jim marched over to them.
"Sorry, Jim we have to go." Aelita smiled sweetly, then the three took off.
"Wait!" Jim tried to run after them, but accidentally tripped over Azra Urgup and fell, hard, to the ground, landing on Theo Gauthier's leg.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie pulled his cell phone out and called Yumi. "Yumi, Xana's attacking." He tried to ignore the rain.
"Okay, we'll be there." She crammed the phone in her pocket while slowly inching out of her desk in Ms. Hertz's science class. "William, Alex, Xana's attacking."
"Okay, let's go." William nodded and the three all stood up.
"What are you three doing?" The trio completely ignored Ms. Hertz and sprinted out of the room, slamming the door behind them. "Get back here!" Ms. Hertz ran into the hallway and stood just outside the classroom, screaming at the three as students crowded around her. "No, go back inside!" She directed the students who had gathered at the door.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie called Ulrich next, but he didn't pick up. He then tried Sissi, who didn't answer either.
Sissi wandered through the woods, but not near the sewer entrance. She was looking for Ulrich, and she had every intention of finding him.
Lightning flashed in the sky. Thunder boomed loudly. The rain poured unrelentingly. The trio of sophomores made it to the sewer entrance. As Jeremie was climbing down, he slipped on the wet ladder rung and fell to the sewer floor below.
"Jeremie!" Aelita cried, clambering down the ladder to help him.
"Einstein!" Odd slid down the ladder and checked Jeremie's pulse and breathing. "He's okay. He's just knocked out." He lifted Jeremie bridal-style.
"Are you sure?" Aelita placed a hand on Jeremie's forehead, brushing the hair away.
"I'm positive." Odd nodded, and Aelita took his legs while Odd kept his arms. The two carefully carried him toward the Factory, making absolutely sure not to drop Jeremie.
-( ( • ) ) -
The trio of juniors arrived at the sewer entrance and climbed down with no incident, and got on their skateboards. With a few kicks, they were off.
The storm became more violent with high winds and merciless rain. Lightning flashes filled the sky with nearly deafening thunder, and Sissi began to give up. She turned and ran for the Academy.
The juniors caught up to the sophomores before too long, since Aelita and Odd were slowed by having to carry Jeremie. "What happened?" William demanded worriedly. The older three dismounted their skateboards.
"Jeremie slipped and fell off the ladder." Odd explained.
"Oh, so no Ulrich yet?" Yumi bit her lip. "I hope he's okay."
"I can carry him." Alex bent and lifted Jeremie onto his shoulder, and the six began to run.
-( ( • ) ) -
As the ladder to the Factory came into view, Jeremie began to stir and let out a yelp. Alex laughed a bit and set him down. "Feeling better?"
"My head hurts, but I should be fine." Jeremie rubbed the back of his head and pulled his hand back to see some dried blood had flaked off. "We have to hurry. If this storm is Xana's doing, it will only get worse. Sissi and Ulrich could be the targets."
They began to climb the ladder one by one. They started across the bridge when a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, revealing a silhouette facing the Factory entrance.
"Ulrich?" Yumi held her hand over her eyes to shield them from the rain. "Ulrich, are you okay?!" He turned around and walked to Yumi.
"I feel better than ever." His hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat, and the others began to run forward to try to save the Japanese girl. "You, however, are about to feel very bad." He punched her in the stomach, then tossed her to the ground. "Very, very bad." he snarled with a smirk.
"It's a specter!" Odd shouted as all five remaining Warriors tackled Ulrich to the ground. "What were you thinking, Xana, you know we won't fall for that!"
"I'm no specter." Ulrich launched himself into the air from under them, and landed on his feet. Odd let out a war cry and tried to tackle him again, but Ulrich swatted him away. "William, Alex, do you want to try me?"
"But, Xana can't possess you." William slowly walked toward Ulrich. "What are you doing, Ulrich?"
"William, you know the power. I'm sure you remember the power." Ulrich sparked with energy.
"But how? Xana can't possess you." Alex pulled a knife from his pocket and switched the blade out. "I'm not afraid to hurt you to protect Aelita and the others."
"He did something far better than a possession. You were fooled, Jeremie." Ulrich looked over at Jeremie. "It wasn't Franz." Xana's Eye formed on Ulrich's forehead. "It was never Franz Hopper." Ulrich cackled evilly.
"No, this is bad. This is very, very bad." Jeremie backed away slowly. "We need to run."
"What? But, what does he mean?" Aelita wasn't sure what he meant.
"It wasn't Franz. It wasn't Franz that upgraded him." Jeremie reached out and took Aelita's arm. "The blockade of monsters kept him from coming to Lyoko ever since Alex got back, it couldn't have been Franz since then. Xana tricked us." Jeremie was about to run away with Aelita when Alex jumped at Ulrich.
"Get to Lyoko!" The blonde tackled Ulrich to the ground and pulled the knife up. Ulrich reached up and stopped the knife by grabbing the blade, inches away from his neck, and wrenched it out of Alex's hand. William and Odd helped Yumi up and ran into the Factory, and Jeremie and Aelita rushed after them.
"What a pathetic weapon." Ulrich stabbed at Alex, who quickly got off of Ulrich and backed away. He stood threateningly as a flash of lightning struck the river about thirty meters away from the bridge. Ulrich flung the switchblade into the river. "You will lose."
"I might." Alex took his jacket off and flung it to the side, then took a shuto fighting position. "But not without a fight. You aren't the only one who knows some martial arts."
"This is no sparring match." The two lunged at each other, punching and kicking viciously.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie got off the elevator at the Control Room and hurried to the control panel. "Hurry!" He watched the doors close.
"This has to be a bad dream." Yumi rubbed her stomach in the spot where she had been punched. "Ulrich can't be Xana's pawn."
"We'll stop this, Yumi." Odd promised.
"We'll save him like you saved me." William put a supportive hand on Yumi's shoulder.
"Maybe." Yumi looked at the Scanner Room floor forlornly while she walked into the middle Scanner.
"Transfer Yumi, Transfer William, Transfer Odd. Scanner Yumi, Scanner William, Scanner Odd, and virtualization." They landed on Lyoko in the Mountain Sector. "Transfer Aelita, Scanner Aelita, virtualization." The vehicles appeared at the same time as Aelita. "Head west, and as fast as you can! I don't know how long Alex will last against Ulrich and who knows what he did to Sissi!"
"We're going as fast as we can." Aelita swung a leg over the Overcycle as Odd got on the new and improved Overboard. It looked similar to the original, but black with transparent accentuation, and two craters to put the rider's feet in, plus two more small sliding hatches that held two more foot slots for a passenger. When Odd stepped on, a pair of purple goggles formed over his eyes and the foot slots locked around his feet, and purple light flowed through the transparent parts. The Warriors took off for the Tower at maximum speed.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich threw a cross at Alex's face, but his opponent narrowly blocked it with a rising block and retaliated with a front-snap kick. Ulrich blocked it, but Alex twisted around and roundhouse kicked Ulrich in the side of his head. "How does it feel to be Xana's puppet?" Alex taunted.
"It feels pretty good." Ulrich lunged forward, pushing Alex down and punching him in the jaw on the way. Alex grabbed Ulrich's sides on his way down and flipped him off of him, but Ulrich landed on his feet. Alex got up quickly but Ulrich kicked him in the knee. "How does it feel to be so weak?"
"At least I'm my own man." Alex said with a wince. He tried to tackle Ulrich, but the brunette sidestepped and grabbed Alex by the neck, forcing him to face Ulrich.
"I'm a man, and you're a meaningless little boy compared to me." Ulrich snarled as he began to choke the blonde.
"I'm not a puppet like you." Alex lashed out with his foot and got Ulrich in his vulnerable spot. As he bent over in pain, Alex kneed his head. He went to do it again, but Ulrich grabbed his leg and pulled on it, flipping him onto his back. Ulrich pounced and started to punch viciously.
-( ( • ) ) -
On Lyoko, the Warriors came to the activated Tower and the guards: the Dark Angel and two Dark Insekts. "Without Ulrich, this will be really hard." Yumi pulled her fans out.
"Maybe, maybe not." Jeremie's mind was calculating the past few weeks. "With Ulrich's upgrades, one would think he would have beaten any monster easily. But he always seemed to struggle."
"So?" William summoned his Zweihander.
"Ulrich was buying time for Xana. He would wait for Xana to do whatever it was he was doing before destroying the monster. Ulrich played us. Xana played us. We were fools." Jeremie took his glasses off and shook his head. "He's been Xana's pawn all this time."
"Well, this will still be easy." Odd shook his head.
"We can handle this." Aelita created an energy orb. "Energy Field!" She threw it at an Insekt and successfully destroyed it.
-( ( • ) ) -
On the bridge, Ulrich sprung away from Alex. "I'm done with these games." He glowed intensely, and was suddenly in a black version of his Lyoko outfit, still with the yellow accentuation.
"Hey, I can't do that." Alex backed away. "Afraid of losing to me in hand-to-hand? I thought you were a Pencak Silat black belt, what are you doing losing to a Shotokan blue belt?"
"I'm a winner." Ulrich walked towards Alex menacingly. "Unless you surrender to Xana and I. If you do that, you will be like me. There's always room for one more winner."
"Is that an option?"
"Of course. Join us. Get the true power that only Xana can offer."
"Well, that is tempting." Alex approached Ulrich. When they got close, Alex held his hand out, offering a handshake. Ulrich reached for it.
"Glad your upgrades, while lacking, made you smart enough to know it is pointless to fight me."
"Without a weapon." Alex kicked Ulrich and reached for the sword at Ulrich's waist. "I'm not much of a sword fighter, but I can probably hold you off."
"You had your chance, Alexandre." Ulrich drew his remaining saber. "Now I will be forced to kill you."
"You can try." Alex mocked, prompting a swing from Ulrich.
-( ( • ) ) -
On Lyoko, Aelita was throwing energy orbs at the last Insekt as fast as she could make them while Yumi, Odd and William went after the Dark Angel. "Hiya!" Yumi threw her fans and missed.
"Die!" William swung his Zweihander and the Dark Angel ducked. It battered William away using one of its black-feathered wings.
"Laser Claws!" Odd jumped on the Dark Angel's back and tore up its wings. He went to stab it in the Eye, but it reached up with its own claws and stabbed into him, devirtualizing him.
-( ( • ) ) -
Sissi burst out of the woods and looked around nervously. "I can't stay out in this weather with all these trees but I can't run across the campus..." She bit her lip nervously, then ran out, screaming all the way. Lightning crackled behind her just as she burst into the dorm building, only a few meters away from Sissi.
-( ( • ) ) -
Back on the bridge, Ulrich and Alex were swinging swords. Alex narrowly blocked a swing, and the two blades locked.
"I think we know which one of us is stronger." Alex smirked and pushed the blade, getting closer to Ulrich.
"But we also know which one of us has the power of Xana." Ulrich pushed back. Alex kicked Ulrich, pushing him back and breaking the lock. Ulrich tried to run Alex through in retaliation, but the blonde barely jumped out of the way. Ulrich's saber speared cleanly through one of the girders and landed in the concrete along the side of the bridge. Alex swung at Ulrich's back as he went by, but Ulrich moved at Super Sprint speeds and grabbed the blade. "I'll take that back." Alex backed away as Ulrich ripped the katana out of his hands.
"Ulrich, stop fighting." Alex put his hands up as Ulrich struggled to pull his other sword out of the bridge. I can't take my chances here, if I attack, he'll stab me, unless I manage to shove him over the edge...
"I'll kill you if you don't surrender before this sword comes out." Ulrich put a foot on the bridge and pulled as hard as he could, the sword beginning to come loose.
"Ulrich, I can't do that. Xana is evil. He kills people, just like you're threatening to kill me." Alex lunged to push Ulrich over the edge just as lightning struck the bridge.
"No!" Ulrich screamed as he reverted to his normal human form. The electricity conducted through the supports and girders, and into the sword where it finally conducted into Ulrich. A black mist burst out from Ulrich, sending him flying backwards into Alex, knocking them both down.
"Ow, ow, my eyes, ow, what happened?" Alex climbed off of the ground, trying to stumble away. He had no idea what had happened to Ulrich, or himself, for that matter. He just saw a flash of light, and his eyes couldn't adjust.
-( ( • ) ) -
On Lyoko, William was charging his Zweihander as Yumi distracted the Dark Angel. "Hurry, William." She dodged a swing from the Dark Angel.
"I'm trying." William concentrated on his Zweihander and it glowed with purple, white and blue energy.
"William, you just lost thirty Life Points." Jeremie warned. His warning went ignored as William continued charging.
"Energy Field!" Aelita threw an energy orb at the Insekt as she sped toward it on the Overcycle. The monster fluttered to the side and the energy orb missed, but Aelita used the Overcycle as a missile and destroyed both the monster and the vehicle. She went rolling across the ground, but wasn't devirtualized.
-( ( • ) ) -
On the bridge, Alex's eyesight slowly returned. "Whoa," He was almost at the edge of the Factory entrance. "One more step and I would have been in for a surprise." He looked back and saw Ulrich laying in the rain. "I hope he's okay." Alex swung on the rope and walked over to the elevator, which had just been called down to the Scanner Room by the recently-devirtualized Odd. Alex sighed and ran for the other passage to the Control Room.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich laid in the rain. The lightning strike had burned his skin. His heart and breathing had stopped. The black mist revealed itself and re-entered Ulrich, and tried to restart his heart. "Xana!" He sat up and grabbed at his chest as the black mist attempted to restart his heart. "Help, can't breathe!" He teared his shirt and scratched at his skin over his heart. "Xana!" The black mist attempted again, and this time it worked.
Ulrich slowly stood up and looked around, and noticed Alex's jacket at the other end of the bridge, soaked by rain. With Xana's powers and a cruel smirk, he morphed to appear like Alex did during their fight; bloody nose, torn shirt, messy hair. He walked across the bridge to get the jacket.
Odd came out of the elevator and looked around. "Gotta help Alex." He began to climb up the rope.
Ulrich picked up Alex's jacket and slung it around his shoulders just as Odd burst outside.
"Hey, Alex!" he called. "Where's Ulrich?"
"I threw him in the river." Ulrich's voice changed just like a specter's could change to reflect the person they were mimicking. "His sword got stuck in the bridge and he was vulnerable."
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm perfect." Ulrich smirked as he walked to Odd.
"Jeremie said you'd be limping and needed help getting in. He said you got kicked in the knee and he saw it on the security camera."
"He didn't kick very hard." Ulrich stood next to Odd, whose phone rang. He pulled it out and answered.
"'Ello?"
"Odd! It's Jeremie, get away from him, fast!" Jeremie screamed into his headset.
"What? Who? Tell me what's going on." Odd looked at Ulrich suspiciously.
"That's not Alex, that's Ulrich, I watched him morph into Alex on the camera! Run for it!"
"Um, okay, I have him right here. Alex, it's for you." Odd held the phone out and grinned.
"Hello?" Ulrich answered sardonically.
"Alex, can you see the skyscrapers across from the Factory?"
"Um..." Ulrich turned to face away from the Factory, his back to Odd. "Yeah."
"Did one of them just get struck by lightning?" Jeremie asked, stalling as Odd silently backed into the entrance.
"No."
"Okay, um..."
"I'm giving the phone back to Odd now. You could have just asked him that question." Ulrich turned around to see Odd reaching for one of the ropes, trying to be silent. He growled and energy sparked around him, changing his appearance from Alex's Earth clothes to Alex's Lyoko avatar. "Lightspeed!" Ulrich shot like a bullet and tackled Odd before he could swing down the rope.
"No!" Odd cried out as he fell down the six-meter drop and landed with a sickening crack.
"It's over, scrawny." Ulrich pulled out one of Alex's blasters and aimed at Odd's chest. He pulled the trigger three times and three shots rang out. Ulrich turned and ran at Lightspeed to the passage to the Super Computer.
"Guys, hurry! Odd's not going to make it if you take much longer!" Jeremie cried. "Ulrich shot him three times!"
"What?!" Aelita looked at the sky and clenched her fists. "Where?!"
"The chest, it doesn't seem fatal right now but that won't matter if the Tower isn't deactivated, ASAP! I'm going to go put him in the Scanner and heal him, stay careful!" Jeremie warned as he sprinted to the elevator.
"On it!" Aelita noticed the Dark Angel lunge for Yumi. "Yumi, watch out!" Her warning came too late as it ran Yumi through with its claws. "Yumi can do it, you stay there." Aelita said with a sigh as she sprinted away from the Dark Angel, which turned toward her menacingly.
-( ( • ) ) -
Ulrich tackled Alex just before he reached the Control Room. He stomped on Alex's chest, shattering his ribs, and took aim.
"What were you and Franz thinking when you went for this longcoat with your upgrades?" Ulrich mocked.
"It's cool." A bead of sweat ran down the side of Alex's head.
"It looks cool, but it's hardly efficient." Ulrich pushed his foot down harder, and Alex winced.
-( ( • ) ) -
"William, you lost another thirty Life Points! What are you doing?" Jeremie cried as he typed to scan Odd.
"Azalea Blade!" William's sword glowed purple, blue and white incredibly intensely and a glow formed around it. The aura lengthened, more than doubling the length the Zweihander actually was. He swung the Zweihander and the aura cut through the Dark Angel. "Aelita, hurry, before Odd...you know." William panted as he collapsed to his knees.
-( ( • ) ) -
"So that's how I look to the others?" Alex said with a forced smile, trying to stall Ulrich.
"Yeah, so?"
"Aelita was right, I am hot." Alex grinned, and Ulrich pushed down harder, crushing the blonde's chest. Alex let out a scream and managed to find the strength to swing his leg up and get Ulrich between the legs.
"What was that scream?" Jeremie got up and ran to the passage.
Aelita entered the Tower and began to float to the second platform.
"Ulrich, no!" Jeremie ran as fast as he could as Ulrich recovered from the kick.
"I'll make you pay for that, you little-" Ulrich cut himself off with a gunshot, and he fired three more times before Jeremie pushed him away.
"Tower deactivated. Return to the past now!" The white dome expanded, reversing time.
-( ( • ) ) -
The warriors minus Sissi were having a meeting in the Control Room. Both Odd and Alex rubbed their chest where they had been shot, feeling phantom pain.
"But why? Why would Xana hide it for this long?" Yumi held back tears.
"Because he's been using Ulrich to keep us from deactivating Towers and other things." Jeremie answered.
"But, he, he destroyed monsters. It doesn't make sense."
"Ulrich always took his time. Time for Xana to do what ever it was that he was doing. And he stopped us from destroying the Super Computer in Australia. But something must have happened." Aelita explained.
"Xana is winning." William looked at the screen. "He wouldn't have used his trump card unless he felt there was no way of stopping him."
"Maybe. Or he used it as a last resort. We can't be sure." Aelita held Jeremie's hand. "But he's been using Ulrich against us. We can't forgive him for that."
"What do we do?" Odd asked, still rubbing his chest while sitting against the Holomap.
"We keep fighting."
"But Ulrich is missing. We'll need a clone." Odd sat up.
"There's one problem." Alex watched the screen as Jeremie activated a Tower. "Who's going to tell Sissi? She's bound to wonder why we launched a return, and we can't bring a clone up to her and tell her to date it. She'd never even pretend to date a clone. They're so incredibly dumb. She's not going to want to pretend to date someone who acts so moronic." His voice became a low whisper. "As hypocritical as that may be."
"She's already going to be upset enough that Ulrich was Xanafied when he was dating her." William added.
"Then she can break up with the clone for the sake of public appearances and she'll eventually get over it. It's a simple thing to do." Jeremie said with a shrug.
"Do you think it will be that easy?" Odd stood up. "Yumi, you'll have to date it."
"What?!" Yumi barked, standing up quickly.
"It'll keep Sissi from getting desperate and dating the clone so she can feel good about herself, she'll end up hurt if that happens. And to make sure it works, I'll go after her to keep her from being too sad." Odd smiled at Aelita. "Don't worry, Princess. You'll still be the number one lady in my life, but if my charm keeps a friend happy..."
"Things are getting complicated. If we could find my father he might be able to help us." Aelita changed the subject when Jeremie squeezed her hand protectively.
"But he's on the internet. It could take years to find him. Its worse than finding a needle in a hay stack. It's like finding a needle in a hay farm." Jeremie took his glasses off and cleaned them. "It means a lot more work."
"It means a lot more fighting." Yumi walked to the elevator. "William? Maybe we should go find Sissi and tell her what's going on. She probably doesn't have her phone with her." He followed her and they left the Factory.
"Alex, let's go leave these lovebirds to the Super Computer and play some Z-Ramid." Odd said, and he and Alex waited for the elevator to come down.
"Wait for me to finish making the clone so you can take him with you." Jeremie pulled up a window showing a blank person in a T-pose that quickly morphed into Ulrich. Static in the shape of a human flickered by the elevator and formed into the Ulrich clone.
"Come on, Ulrich, we're going to bed." Odd patted the clone's back and gently pushed him toward the elevator.
"Where is bed?" The clone looked around.
"Just follow us." Alex assured the clone, and he pressed the button when it and Odd were on the elevator.
"Jeremie." Aelita put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. If I had helped you instead of yelled at you, this wouldn't have happened." Jeremie reached up and grasped her hand in his. "I just want this nightmare to be over."
"I know Jeremie, I know." Aelita hugged Jeremie as a tear rolled down her cheek.