Note: Once again. I thank you for reading this story. I also thank you for showing your support. I hope you like this chapter.
Additional Notes: Edited as of 10/12/18. Check chapter one's notes for what has been changed.
3. Franz Hopper
He had to call Yumi. It was the logical thing to do. After all, he could easily get Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita on the way to the factory. Staring at his screen, Jeremie grimaced at the sight, fingers running over his keyboard. Pulling out his phone, he dialed the geisha's number and once she picked up he spoke, "Yumi, it's Jeremie. We need you to come to the factory right now. The super scan has just picked up an attack from XANA. And this one looks like big trouble!"
"Why?" She grumbled tiredly.
"Because believe it or not, there are five activated towers!"
As the elevator's doors opened, Jeremie could tell everyone was tired. Even him, but not as much. He was used to staying up most nights working hard on freeing Aelita from XANA's virus, so it wasn't too much of a hassle to wake up once he realized that there was an attack, "I got a bad feeling about this one." He commented.
Odd stared at him, dark circles underneath his eyes, "Relax Einstein," He murmured, voice soft with the casual nickname for the genius, "Everything will be okay like it always is. Don't worry so much that your hair turn grey like the actual Einstein." With a snort at his own joke, he crossed his arms in a relaxed pose.
A zip sound echoed from above and Yumi quickly appeared as she slid down the rope, "I came here as quick as I could." Ulrich smiled at his girlfriend and quickly walked in stride with her to the elevator.
It wasn't much of a surprise they would get together, but the surprise came when they announced it right as they came back from the school field trip. Sissi was visibly upset about it that day, but as of recent she looked to be getting over the fact that they held hands, that they talked more than they did before, and that Ulrich would sometimes disappear off campus and appear with Yumi back at school the next day. Nobody called Ulrich out on his disappearances at night, sans Odd who joked about being careful with sneaking around her family.
All five entered the elevator, Aelita pressing the button to allow them to go down. After a few seconds they made their first stop to the supercomputer room. As soon as the doors slid open, Jeremie let out a surprised sound at the sight of someone at the computer typing away. He glanced to Odd, who was frowning at the man in the seat.
"Ah, there you are," Turning the chair, the man stared at them with through his big glasses, "I've been expecting you," Exchanging looks, each one of his friends donned a confused expression except Odd, who continued to frown at the intruder, "That XANA, locks the door but leaves the window open." Turning back around, the man began to type away at the supercomputer once more.
Jeremie rushed over, eyes wide as he watched the man continue to type away. Pictures of the activated towers disappeared at a moments notice, "W-What are you doing here?" He stuttered, surprised at the way he worked at the computer like he knew how to control it.
"I'm deactivating the towers," The man simply stated.
Jeremie stared skeptically at the man, "Without going to Lyoko?"
He chuckled, "Of course."
"But," Aelita walked over, followed by the rest of the gang, "Who are you?"
"What?" Now it was the man's turn to be confused, "Haven't you understood yet? I'm Franz Hopper." Both Jeremie and Aelita gasped, "I'm the one who created Lyoko. . . and XANA too. But I lost control of it. In the very beginning, it was a program that I designed to counter a military project based on a multi-agent system."
"Well," Aelita stared at him, "What about me?"
"I created you to be the guardian of Lyoko. But, I never thought I'd see you one day in flesh and blood," The pinkette looked down, a small smile on her face.
Ulrich raised an eyebrow, "But where have you been for these last few years?"
"Well, let's say I was kind of a prisoner who finally managed to escape."
Yumi frowned, "What now then?"
"We have to destroy XANA, once and for all." Jeremie continued to stare at the man. So. . . this was the man who did it all? The man who created Lyoko, created XANA and built the supercomputer?
"We'd love to," Jeremie replied, "But XANA's given Aelita a bug. If we switch the supercomputer off then Aelita switches off too!"
Franz gazed at the elf for a moment, before answering, "We'll find the anti-virus. You'll see."
"Sure. . ." Jeremie was skeptical once again. How could this guy be so sure of it so quick? "But how?"
"Well," Hopper sighed, resting his hand on Jeremie's shoulder. The touch felt nice, warm, "That, young man, is why I came here to help."
Odd looked at him, body sagging like he was about to fall asleep at any moment, "Hmph," He grunted, "You remind me of a crazed scientist, who's ready to strike the innocent townsfolk with his monster."
"Odd!" Jeremie turned to his friend, wagging his finger in a scolding manner, "Don't say that about him!"
The cat-boy raised his hands innocently, eyes wide and alert, "Okay okay, sorry." He muttered, looking at the ground.
"It's fine," The man accepted the sloppy apology, a frown clearly etched on his face, "Why don't you children get going? It's quite late, and all of you look like you would like some sleep."
"Right," Jeremie agreed, "Let's go guys. Looks like it was a false alarm after all."
"He's very fatherly," Aelita voiced, small smile on her face as she sat on Jeremie's bed, "Actually, in a way he is my father. He's the one who created me."
Nodding, Jeremie agreed, "That's true. I adore my own dad but he's sure no genius. But this Franz Hopper is a real live genius."
Standing up, Aelita beamed, "Yeah, that's it for me. I'm going to go to bed."
"Okay, good night."
"Good night Jeremie." Shutting the door behind her, Aelita left. Turning around in his chair, Jeremie faced his computer once again and went back to work. Even if they had Franz, it didn't guarantee that they'd get Aelita's anti-virus any sooner. As soon as they had the anti-virus, the sooner XANA would be out of their lives forever.
Ring! Ring!
Jeremie groaned, quickly picking up his phone. He adjusted to his surroundings, spotting that he fell asleep in front of his computer. Again. Answering the phone, he placed it near his ear, "Jeremie? It's me."
Half-awake, he replied, "Franz?"
"No, Michel! Your father! You know why I'm calling? Happy birthday big guy!"
The door clicked behind him. Turning in his chair, Jeremie stared at his friends who wore big smiles at him, "Happy birthday Einstein!" They laughed, clearly pleased with the day.
Shuffling away a bit from the crowd, he managed to hear his father say, "By the way, your mother is worried about you. You should call us more often! Now have you thought about that school for gifted children?" His friends pushed lightly at him, hit him lightly on the shoulder, even Aelita kissed his temple lightly with a smile on her face. He couldn't find a way to reply to his father, "Jeremie?"
"Uh, yeah," Yumi pushed at his head a bit, "Okay dad, sure! Listen I have to go, uh, my friends just came in. Talk to you soon!" Pressing end as he moved it away from his ear, he finally granted his friends attention.
Odd had something behind his back, a small smile on his face. The dark circles on his eyes were more visible. Pushing away concern to the back of his mind—Odd could handle himself and if not, Ulrich could get on him about sleep. They were roommates after all—Odd strolled over and laid the large, slim gift in his hands, "Here! A present from yours truly." He waved a hand to himself, a cheeky smile on his face.
"What are you waiting for?" Ulrich asked, "Go on, open it!"
Odd giggled as Jeremie ripped away the wrapping paper, picking up a picture frame that was carefully colored a light blue with green lines staggering in different directions. Inside resided a carefully drawn picture of the gang standing with each other. Odd held Kiwi who was drawn panting at Ulrich, the samurai rested his hand on Jeremie's shoulder, Aelita was smiling brightly at the scene and Yumi rested her own arm over Aelita's shoulder, smiling at the rest of them, "Wow! It's great!"
"Yeah!" Odd agreed, beaming, "I had to pick out the right colors to paint the frame. Just black wouldn't cut it. And I drew that scene from memory too!"
"So you can imagine how much effort it took!" Ulrich joked, followed by laughter from both Aelita and Yumi.
Odd pouted, sticking out his tongue at Ulrich, "Like how much effort it takes for you to pick the right outfit to go out with your girlfriend~?" Red immediately blossomed on Ulrich's cheeks. With a cackle at the embarrassed look on his best friends face, the blonde fled from Ulrich's side to stand near Jeremie.
"Thanks everyone," Jeremie smiled. "Hey! How about going over to the factory now? I can't wait to see Franz again!" All his friends nodded, agreeing. Jeremie couldn't ask for anything more than his friends on this special day of his.
"You use the scanners to virtualize human beings?" Franz sounded off-put by those words.
"Well, yes," Jeremie explained, "It's the only way we can find to deactivate towers on Lyoko."
"The virtualization process was not ready for that yet. It's a very dangerous procedure with serious side effects."
Yumi tilted her head, "Such as?"
"Cell degeneration."
A grim air began to fester in the room as Jeremie shared a look with both Aelita and Yumi, "Get going to the scanners." Jeremie uttered, fear pooling in his gut. Did he just hurt his friends with the dangers of the supercomputer?
Odd, Ulrich and Yumi filtered into the elevator and in a few moments, Franz had the scanners shut with all three fighters inside. Aelita and Jeremie stood by Franz's side as he typed away on the computer, "Odd looks okay. Ulrich too. But Yumi..." The computer let out a blaring alarm as it flashed in the head area.
"No!" Jeremie's eyes widen, his fears becoming a reality. This couldn't be. He couldn't have hurt them. He was so careful. Silently, he begged for this to be a mistake. To let this be an error of some sort. But the facts were there, and it was real, "It can't be!"
"I can't believe it," Yumi sounded breathless, fingers hovering near her head. She looked absolutely frightened, "What a nightmare." Ulrich hovered close, worry on his face. When Jeremie wanted to say something, to do something, all Ulrich regarded to him was an icy glare.
"Nice going Einstein."
"I-I couldn't have known," He replied weakly. He couldn't have, "I'm sorry."
The icy look became downright hostile as Ulrich crossed his arms, "You're sorry? Well that's not going to help cure Yumi, now is it?!"
"Ulrich," Odd chimed in for the first time since they left the factory, "Calm down. He couldn't have known, like he said. None of us could." Odd left the seat of the bench next to the geisha in favor of standing near the other blonde.
Stumbling over his words, the genius started once again as he began to walk close to her, "Y-Yumi, I-"
"Leave me alone, Jeremie," Jeremie took a step back as she stood. Something ugly sparked in her eyes as she looked at him, like some sort of monster, "I need to be by myself." Turning, she looked at Ulrich, "You coming, Ulrich?" Following along, the brunette left with his lover without another word shared.
Both him and Aelita watched as the two went. Odd stood there for a moment, before turning to Jeremie, "I don't like Franz Hopper." He declared bluntly.
"As much as you dislike him Odd," Aelita interjected, "What he told us has to be true. He created the supercomputer, he would know the consequences of the actions we've chosen."
The cat-boy looked to her for a moment, "Then why wouldn't he have left a note or something? To let us know the dangers of the scanners?"
Jeremie swallowed, wondering if that would dispel the harsh guilt of hurting Yumi. It didn't work, "Odd, he couldn't have done that. He was taken prisoner by XANA, remember?"
"How'd he get there then?" Odd insisted, "To Lyoko to get captured by XANA, I mean. Why would he endanger himself with cell degeneration?"
The genius sighed, "He must have had to confront XANA face to face to try to stop him. It must have not worked out and resulted in his capture."
The svelte blonde went quiet for a moment before mumbling, "Okay, whatever you say Einstein."
The day slowly flew by, each second left Jeremie trying to think of something to help Yumi. Nothing he thought of would work, but he still needed to believe that he could, "I'm sure there's a way to cure Yumi."
Ulrich regarded him once again with an icy stare before looking off. Odd stared out the window to gaze at the night sky, mindlessly picking at his food, "We don't even know what's wrong with her." Ulrich hissed.
"I'll work it out," Jeremie avowed, "I promise I will."
"I think you've done enough damage as it is."
"What do you mean by that?" Jeremie glared, "That everything's been my fault right from the start?!"
"You're the brains of the operation," Ulrich snarled, "Einstein."
Odd finally looked away from the window, dropping his fork to rub at his eyes. "Ulrich, knock it off. We all chose to fight XANA, we chose the risks that it came with it for good and bad."
The brunette whipped his head to his best friend, clenching his teeth, "And why are you siding with him!? He could have done this to us too! Or do you just not care for Yumi? I bet you had it out for her from the start, now didn't ya?!" Odd removed his hands from his eyes, staring directly at the samurai, "Maybe you probably just put up with all of us for the thrill ride Lyoko gives you. You don't even care about any of us, do you?" After Odd said nothing, Ulrich chuckled bitterly, "Am I right?"
"I'm not hungry anymore," Odd finally answered, grabbing his bag from another seat. Sliding it over his shoulder, he grabbed his tray and walked away.
Jeremie picked up his own tray, unable to stand the samurai's attitude for another second. Ulrich spared him one last scathing glare before the genius could take it no longer as he walked away to another table. Aelita quickly said something to the brunette before following him to the nearest student-less table. As he ate away at his food in silence, he could feel Aelita stare at him before she too, took to eating her food.
The elevator's air was cold as the gang quietly walked in it the next morning. Jeremie watched as Yumi looked away from him and Odd kept his distance from Ulrich. The brunette still wore his cold emotionless face and Aelita shuffled around nervously. None of them could break the tension away from one another, not while their at each others necks.
The doors filed open and Franz spoke up, "I now know how to program the anti-virus which will free Aelita. All I need now is the data from Sector Five." Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi filed out to the main floor. Jeremie didn't acknowledge that Odd stayed behind, remembering the blonde said he disliked the older genius.
"Great! We'll go and get it then!" Aelita piped in. Ulrich and Yumi smiled at one another, but Odd continued to wear a frown.
"I thought the scanners were too dangerous to use," Jeremie recalled, stepping out of the elevator.
Franz continued to work at the computer, "If we want to get to Sector Five then we have no choice."
"Okay," Jeremie noted, "Then what am I supposed to do?"
"If I were you, I'd stay out of the way."
"It's not fair!" The Einstein finally snapped, "Everyone blames me for everything! After all, we all chose to do this together!"
"Perhaps," Hopper turned in his chair, "But you were the one who played the sorcerer's apprentice. You're the one who put your friends lives at risk. And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!"
"Fine!" Jeremie growled, "I get it!" Storming back to the elevator, Odd looked at him with the same frown he's been expressing at Hopper since the man had appeared in the supercomputer room. He grunted to the cat-boy, who pressed the up button on the elevator without one word spoken.
"Jeremie!" Aelita shouted, running over to the elevator. Before she could make it, the doors closed on her.
"Y'know," Odd finally spoke up as they made their way back up, "I don't blame you, Einstein. I blame Hopper for this whole mess."
Groaning, Jeremie buried his hands into his face, "But if Hopper never showed up, we would continue on like there's no problem with us. I hurt Yumi, Odd."
"No." The cat-boy denied, "The scanners hurt Yumi. Hopper's creation hurt her."
"Like he said, I acted like I knew how to use the supercomputer and she got hurt."
Odd faced him, a scowl on his face, "Listen Jeremie, you know how much we don't like each other. We bicker and fight about the silliest things, but there's one thing I can tell that Ulrich and Yumi right now can't see, it's not your fault. I don't blame you for this at all. We all chose this. If Ulrich wants to throw a fit over the whole situation when we knew that some consequences would come to haunt us, then that's fine. I care about my friends Jeremie, I really do." The elevator doors slid open and Odd took a deep breath, "Last night I packed up my stuff and left Ulrich's dorm."
"You what?!"
The svelte blonde sighed, "I didn't take all my stuff out of there. But what he said hurt me and I didn't want to be around him right after he said that. So I packed up my stuff and left. I let him keep Kiwi since my little diggity dog loves to curl up near his back. I also left him behind to make Ulrich think I was just going to be late returning to the dorms that night. I don't know if he noticed I never came back."
Jeremie stared at his friend, concern finally taking hold over the fear and anger that consumed him the night before, "Where'd you sleep?"
"With William," Odd rubbed his shoulder, a yawn escaping his lips, "He welcomed me with open arms after I told him Ulrich and I fought. I think I might crash with him for a week or so, just until I can find a way to forgive Ulrich. As long as I don't tell Delmas about me switching rooms, keep away from Jim's prying eyes when he sometimes checks the halls at night and tender to Kiwi during the day instead of night, then I'll be fine."
"Won't you be nervous about Ulrich figuring it out?"
Odd's gaze softened, "Of course I am. But he needs to learn that it's not okay to accuse others of something that isn't true. It may be true that I love Lyoko because of its thrill ride, but I would never abandon you guys. I don't hate you guys, you're my friends. I paid attention to your favorite colors, Jer. I made sure to paint the picture frame those colors because I wanted it to be perfect for my friend." Rubbing his arms, Odd looked at Jeremie one more time, "I think I'm going to use a Saturday afternoon well and take a nap in William's dorm. He's out with his friends in town today."
"Right," Jeremie nodded, "I guess I'll see you later?"
Odd smiled, "Yeah, later Einstein."
Back in his room, Jeremie picked up the crafted frame and picture Odd gave him for his birthday. Staring at it, he tried to quell the misery that grew in his chest. As much as Odd told him it wasn't his fault, Jeremie couldn't believe him. It was his fault Yumi was hurt and that's that. He swallowed, remembering something that would tear him away from the guilt, from the disaster he caused.
He placed the frame back on the table, swiveling his chair to his computer. He picked up his phone and quickly dialed a familiar number, "Hello?"
"Dad, it's me."
"Jeremie?" Michel sounded surprised.
"You know that school for gifted children that you were talking about?"
"Yes."
"I want to go, can you come get me?"
"When?"
"As soon as possible."
"Right," Michel answered, "I'll be there tomorrow."
"Oh, right," Nodding to himself, Jeremie continued on, "Alright then." He stared at his phone, pressing the end button. As soon as he hit the button, emotions swallowed him like a wave. He almost was tempted to press the call button and dial his father again and simply change his mind. But he couldn't. He needed to do this or else he'd be stuck in grief and regret forever. He couldn't stay at this school and live like this.
Then suddenly, it hit him. 'And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!'
"Franz Hopper's diary..." Jeremie muttered, disbelief growing on his face, "But how could he have known that it was destroyed?" Walking away from his computer, he strolled over to his closet door and opened it. Picking up the familiar suitcase, he set it on the ground.
'Maybe we'll find out more about the mysterious owner of the Hermitage.'
'Everything's encrypted, I have to decode it.'
Opening the suitcase, the familiar words echoed once again, 'And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!' He picked out the two first disks, staring at the damage the possessed him had caused weeks ago.
"How could Franz Hopper know that?" He asked himself quietly.
'XANA took control of you.'
'He destroyed all of Franz Hopper's disks. Apparently he had a problem with his notes.'
Jeremie looked the disks, gasping to himself. 'And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!'
"XANA!"
He fled to the factory. He had no other choice. He couldn't wander around the halls to locate William's dorm to find Odd and bring him with. Hopefully the blonde would get his text about Hopper being XANA, but the cat-boy told him he was going to take a nap so his backup might not even be there. But Odd was right about not liking Franz Hopper one bit.
XANA probably made up the cell degeneration thing too. Probably to tear his friends away from him and get rid of him and his friends himself. And it worked too, it tore them into two sides and separated them all. The virus could be luring Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi into a trap right at that very moment.
Jeremie traveled as fast as he could and when he finally made it to the elevator, he heard Odd shout, "WAIT!" The blonde slid down the rope and ran into the elevator. Pressing the button, the Einstein stared at the panting blonde.
"I got your text, but I got held up a little with something." Smiling impishly for the first time in what felt like days, Odd stood up straight, "Now let's defeat XANA-Hopper!"
"Shush!" Jeremie put a finger to his mouth, "Sneak attack time."
Odd nodded, "Got it, Jer." The elevator doors slid open to the scanner room, right where Aelita was going to enter a scanner. Jeremie ran up to her, shushing her as well once her eyes widened with surprise.
"Take my laptop and place a fake you into Lyoko instead, the Hopper above is actually XANA." He whispered.
She nodded, "Right."
"Odd," He pointed at the ladder, "If anything goes wrong when I confront Franz, I want you to be there ready to do whatever you can."
Odd ran out of the scanners, placing his hands on the metal ladder, "Understood, Einstein. Good luck up there."
Jeremie walked back into the elevator, pressing the up button, "Same to both of you."
The doors slid shut and in a few seconds, he stared at the supercomputer room where XANA-Hopper typed away at the keyboard and offered a fake sweet voice to the clone Aelita, "Everything's under control." He murmured. Jeremie strutted forward, catching the attention of the specter, "Jeremie, what are you doing here?"
"I came to see how you were managing. . . XANA!" The man's glasses flashed in the familiar logo the genius has come to hate in a short period of time. He scowled at the monster that tricked him and all his friends, the being that created a mess of their friendship in such a short time. He stepped forward, raising his fists in a threatening manner.
XANA-Hopper leaned out of his chair, extending a hand that quickly emitted purple electricity. Shrieking, Jeremie flew back from the blast into the wall. At that moment, Odd crept from the ladders and launched himself at the crazed clone. It growled, form distorting as Odd flew through him and crashed into the metal wall. He laid upside down, body still. "Hmph, that annoying brat didn't go with his friends. Stayed by your side like a loyal pet, Jeremie."
Amber eyes flew open, clouded with rage, "I may be a cat on Lyoko, but I'm no one's pet." He spat the last word like it was toxic, bringing himself to a stand slowly.
"What interests me is that you saw through me at the beginning." XANA-Hopper commented idly.
Jeremie's eyes flew to Odd, wide with shock, "You knew?"
Odd growled, "I knew that he'd bring nothing but trouble, but I didn't know that was XANA. It just seemed far too convenient that he'd appear while you were stumped on research. So I didn't trust him."
XANA-Hopper stood from his chair, "But dear cat-boy, you act more on instinct than anything. That must be why the scanners created you that way. But what I find interesting is from the first trip to Lyoko to the second, you gained more data than the rest of your pathetic friends. It brings me to wonder. . . had Hopper created something to counter me but failed to implant it in himself? Hmm?" Odd shrieked as purple electricity attacked him, bringing him to whither on the floor in pain, "Every plan I try you always look out for them, you always stay loyal to a side that isn't chaos. . . you act as if you knew how to act before I attacked." His face turned absolutely vicious, "Could the power you had dubbed "Future Flash" mean more outside of Lyoko than within?"
"Odd! Stop it, you're killing him!" Jeremie yelled, "You should know as much as we do that the scanners don't bring powers outside of Lyoko, XANA!"
With clenched teeth, Odd glared at the clone, "Believe what you want, XANA." His gaze was cold to the monster, "But I don't even know what you're talking about. The only thing I trust is my heart, and my heart told me trust my instincts. And my instincts say that you won't get Aelita's memories today."
XANA-Franz whipped his head at the supercomputer with those words, letting out a frustrated scream as the computer flashed an error sign. Jeremie grinned as the clone's voice finally deepened as it hissed, "What's the meaning of this?!"
"A decoy." Jeremie practically sang, finally finding the strength to pull himself up and walk to the supercomputer. The lightning finally stopped shocking Odd, allowing the cat-boy to lay flat on the ground and try to regain his breath.
Whipping his head to the genius, the specter cried, "NO!"
Jeremie couldn't help it, he laughed. He was joyful because it was beginning to turn his way, even with the strange accusations XANA threw at Odd. Slowly but surely, everything would be okay like it always became. XANA-Hopper growled, his body melting away to the weird black smoke it always became. It fled from the chair into the roof slowly and once it was finally gone from the chair, Jeremie quickly took his seat and went to work undoing what XANA-Franz did as he slid the headset onto his ear where it rightfully should have been a long time ago.
"I often wondered how this would all end." Yumi's voice filtered into his ear, "And now I know. This is it." Furiously typing away, Jeremie first checked the scanners. If he knew the virus and his tricks, it would be to deactivate the scanners and allow them to disappear forever when the duo ran out of life points. He then spotted the error within the coding and without any delay, he undid it. Pressing enter, he let out a sigh of relief. One problem solved. Good thing too, for the cry of, "NO! ULRICH!" Was a clear sign of his devirtualization, "No. . . it can't be. . ."
"Come on!" He couldn't help but bubbly say into the mic, "Don't be so pessimistic Yumi!"
"Jeremie?" Relief practically dripped from her voice.
"Yes!" He chirped, "I'm back! Come on, let's start over!" Continuing to type away, he noticed what else the specter had pulled. He took away Ulrich and Yumi's weapons, which was probably why the geisha sounded so panicked. They had no way to fight back. Re-summoning her fans, Jeremie leaned back into his chair with a cheeky grin. He was glad to be back. He was glad that everything was going to be okay, no matter what.
Hearing her battle cry, he watched the screen as Creepers disappeared off the map. Once they were all cleared out, she spoke up again, "What about Ulrich?"
"All's well. I managed to reprogram the materialization just in time. He's home," Moving the mic away, he called to the pinkette below, "Ready Aelita?"
"Yes Jeremie!"
His fingers rushing over the keyboard in the patterns he's well familiar too, he informed, "All we have to do now is deactivate the tower! I'm sending you Aelita!" Finally, footsteps began to fall behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted Odd walking over on shaky legs to the chair.
"Send me too, Jer." Odd insisted, "Yumi might not have enough life points to take on whatever's left of XANA's monsters. It's probably mad that you tricked it."
Frowning, Jeremie shook his head, "No, Odd. You look like you're about to faint. Take it easy for now." Turning away, he muttered into the mic, "Virtualization!" He had sent Aelita to the Glacier Region, and if she was quick enough the tower would be gone soon. Once she neared the very end of the sector he added, "Aelita! I'm entering the code, Scipio!"
Odd suddenly jerked away from the seat with a panicked shout, "Jeremie, run!"
"What-?" A feeling of pure, frosty ice consumed him. First it spread around the insides of his ears, then it sank through his nose and mouth and stopped right at his throat. Falling out of the chair, he began to wheeze for air that just wouldn't come to him. Odd fell to his side, lifting his head up as if it would let him breathe better. Panicked amber met crystal blue and for the first time, Jeremie felt as if Odd was truly scared. He hadn't ever seen the fear in the cat-boy's eyes until now. Silently, as his vision began to fade away and as Ulrich landed near him with his own panicked look, Jeremie asked himself a question. 'Why had Odd never been scared about XANA's attacks before?'
Recalling the time they've dealt with XANA and his ever-growing attacks, Odd was never worried. Sure, he sounded concerned here or there. But when something came up he would simply say, 'Everything will be okay.' Like he knew. Jeremie found he was as confused as the virus, did Odd know more than their friends did about the future? "Jeremie!" Ulrich's voice cut into his thoughts, his body shaking as he stared at the teen, "I'm sorry about everything, I swear I am!"
Odd, on the other side of the samurai, stared at Jeremie and kept him leveled. The genius continued to try to swallow for the taste of fresh air, but it never came. His struggles slowly died and if anything, he swore he began to see darkness clouding his vision, "Hang in there." Odd whispered, fingers squeezing the back of the genius' sweater, "Please."
The darkness began to swallow his vision whole, allowing him only to see the endless darkness of the beams and wires from above. He took one last wheezing breath, before air suddenly flew in and he choked on it. Ulrich smacked his back as Odd threw him into a sitting position. The samurai continued to stare into the beams much like he did a moment ago, but Odd stared at him with relief in his eyes, "You okay Einstein?"
Jeremie shuttered, which was enough of a sign for Ulrich to stop pounding at his back. Instead, the brunette gave a smile, "Don't worry buddy, everything's okay now." The Einstein reached his hands up, squeezing them in the air for a few seconds. Odd pulled him up to stand, allowing the genius some room to catch his breath. Jeremie stumbled forward, plopping down in the chair as he snagged his headset and shoved it back in, "A-Alright ladies... I'm going to bring you two back in." Looking to Odd, who looked shaken by the whole situation and to Ulrich, who was running his fingers through his hair with frown. "Odd, get to the scanners."
"Hmm?" The svelte blonde tilted his head, eyes foggy, "Why?"
He sighed, "As much as I want to ignore what XANA said, I can't. Some things don't add up Odd, and if he noticed something I didn't that means he must have looked at your digital avatar and coding when he scanned you, Ulrich, and Yumi yesterday. He might have messed with yours when you made him upset and I don't want anything like that to happen to you."
The cat-boy stumbled to the elevator, clearly out of it. When Ulrich reached out to help his best friend, Odd whipped his head to stare at the brunette, "Don't." Chocolate brown eyes widened with surprise and Ulrich took a step back. Odd walked into the elevator, pressing the down button. He stared blankly at the duo, looking ready to pass out any second until the door shut, cutting his gaze to them completely off.
Jeremie typed away at the supercomputer, allowing a comfortable silence to sooth him. Yumi and Aelita were out of Sector Five and back in the real world after a few minutes. He wiped his glasses with his sleeve, he would sort through Yumi's re-materialization to see if any of XANA-Hopper's words rang true. But he would do that when he had a clearer conscious. Which would be after he got some sleep.
"I'm ready, Einstein." Odd's voice echoed from below. Jeremie allowed the scanner to slide shut around the cat-boy, who stood in the middle scanner. After a few minutes, the scanner slid open.
Running his fingers through his hair, Jeremie muttered to himself, "I'll look at this all tomorrow. I want to look at it and make sure I don't miss anything," Raising his voice, he announced, "We should head back for now, I think we all need some rest after all."
Knock! K-Knock Knock!
Jeremie grunted, startling himself out of his sleep. He stretched out, grabbing his glasses as he threw himself over his bed. Putting them on, he walked over to his door and opened it. To his surprise, Ulrich stood there looking ready to fall back asleep, "Ulrich? What are you doing here?"
"Is Odd with you?" He asked quietly.
That certainly answered the Einstein's question. Odd hadn't told Ulrich he was staying somewhere else until he forgave him for what he said. But he told Jeremie. Did Ulrich know where William stayed? "He's not in his room?" He avoided answering the question. If Odd hadn't told Ulrich, then it wasn't his place to say.
"No," Ulrich groaned, "I'm such an idiot. He's avoiding me because of what I said to him at dinner the other night, right?"
This, Jeremie felt like regarding an answer with, "Yes."
Scrubbing his eyes, the samurai looked downward to the ground, "I messed up, Jeremie. I really did with all of you. Yumi and I were tricked, but I took it too far on all of you. I apologized to Aelita earlier in the scanner room before she went into Lyoko and I didn't get to you because of Odd. I wanted to apologize to him first because he's my best friend, he deserved to know that what I said was stupid and that it's my fault for hurting him. Just like you need to know that too, I'm sorry about saying those things Jeremie."
"We all make mistakes," He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "But we deserve a second chance for our mess-ups. I forgive you Ulrich."
Finally, a smile found its way onto Ulrich's face, "Thanks Jer," Then as quickly as it appeared it was replaced with a frown, "But now I have to say sorry to Odd. . . and with his habits as of lately I don't know how he'll react."
"Habits?"
"Yeah," The samurai nodded, "He hasn't been getting much sleep lately because he's been writing a lot in his own journal. I spot him writing in it every night but in the morning, it vanishes like it was never even with him," Ulrich then started to count off on his fingers, "Then there's the nightmares he never tells me about on Tuesday, his loud snoring on Wednesday, Thursday he grinds his teeth, then the rest of the week he keeps a weird sleep schedule, then it repeats on Tuesday all over again."
Jeremie frowned, "That is pretty strange. Has he gone to Nurse Yolanda about it yet?"
"Not that I know of," Ulrich grimaced, "I'll talk with him once we're on better terms I guess. Don't bring it up to him though, I think he won't like me telling you about this."
"I promise I won't tell him." Jeremie vowed.
Nodding, Ulrich yawned loudly, "I'm going to head back to my room. I'll catch Odd at breakfast and hopefully sort this out."
"Alright, good night Ulrich."
"Good night Jeremie."
"Of course I'm not angry with you," He clarified with Yumi. The next day had arrived pretty quick and the gang was back at discussing the events of yesterday in Jeremie's dorm, "Even more I checked out your bio-schematic during your re-materialization phase. There's no sign of alteration whatsoever!" He was proud to say those words. Yumi could rest easy now that she knew too.
"Oh what a relief!" Yumi admitted, a smile on her face.
Then, he faced Odd, "And whatever that specter was accusing you of I can firmly confirm it is false. The supercomputer's data shows that there was a slight data jump the second time you made the plunge into Lyoko but the rest of the jumps you made to this day have not been changed at all. But the second time of data happened to all three of you when you made your second jumps in equal amounts. It was the supercomputer getting used to you guys becoming virtualized, or at least that's what I can conclude from the data. It even happened to Aelita too when she started going to Lyoko from our world."
"Meaning?" Ulrich tilted his head.
"Odd's okay too." Jeremie simplified, rubbing the back of his head, "Sorry about the long explanation."
Relief shined in amber eyes, "That's good. You're fine."
Yumi grumbled, "He really had me scared there, that Franz Hopper."
"That false Franz Hopper," Jeremie chimed in, "The real one is still somewhere on Lyoko."
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Jeremie rubbed the back of his head, humming in confusion. Each one of them looked at the door for a second before the door opened. . . and there his father was. Dressed in a tan coat with a dark blue jacket, red pants and brown shoes. "Dad!" He shouted, recalling the talk they had yesterday.
"Are you ready son? Let's go." Michel asked.
"Wait!" Jeremie walked over to him briskly, "Things have changed, let me explain!" He shoved him out of the door, following along. "I've thought it over, and I don't want to go anymore."
Michel raised an eyebrow, "You sure you thought it over?"
"Yes." The genius nodded, "I'm really sorry I made you come all the way out here for nothing."
His father walked over, resting his hand on his shoulder with a fond smile, "Don't you worry about it. And don't forget to give us a call from time to time!"
Jeremie smiled, "I promise." His dad hummed before taking off down the hallway. The blonde couldn't help the grin on his face, he loved his dad. He walked back into his room, spotting Odd with an eyebrow raised.
"What was that about?"
"It was nothing," Jeremie easily dismissed.
Aelita beamed at the glasses-wearing blonde, "Your father seems like a nice guy!"
"Yeah, I love him! He's great!"
Ulrich grinned, "Like father, like son."
Jeremie flashed a smile to the brunette, taking off to his desk. Picking up the frame and photo Odd made him, he turned it to let the others view it, "I think it looks better facing this way, don't you?" His friends began to laugh and he couldn't help it, he laughed too.