Additional Note: Edited as of 10/12/18. Check chapter one's notes for what has changed.
6. Into the Uncertain
"Ah!" Odd placed his hands against his chest, skipping towards the bench. Ulrich sipped on his soda calmly, though raised an eyebrow at the sudden merriment of the blonde. Nearby, Jeremie and Aelita whispered among themselves while William and Yumi chatted at the other side of the bench about their next class and how William didn't study the night before for a quiz, "Such a wonderful day! The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and everything looks so right in the world!"
It had been just a week since they lost Lyoko to XANA and everything had been changing drastically because of it. Usually they didn't have a break from the virus for such a long time, so each of them became a tad bit jittery in their own ways, sans William who would sometimes look so upset that Odd would distract him. Ulrich wouldn't know how bad the raven felt for slipping up and being a reason why they lost Lyoko but sooner or later he'd have to forgive himself for such a thing.
William rolled his eyes, his voice snapping Ulrich out of his musings, "Are you really that excited for the dance we aided with making? It isn't that much of a big deal."
"It is to me!" Odd grinned, clapping his hands together, "It's the main talk around the school, and since tomorrow is the night to party everyone's talking about who will go with who, and what special attractions we have planned for it!"
Ulrich raised his eyebrow, "What theme is this dance, exactly?" He only had a little bit of a memo, even with his best friend being one of the people helping to make it a big success.
"It's one of those regular dances," William answered instead, laying his arms along the top of the bench as he fell into a relaxed position, "There isn't much of a theme. It's plain and simple. You can either show up in a suit or dress or you could show up in your regular clothes. But from what I've been seeing, most people are going to dress in what they call "fancy" clothes. I swear, Odd over hyped the dance a bit too much for how it's going to be."
Said cat-boy stuck out his tongue, "Couldn't help it, I didn't want to fail one assignment because nobody showed up to the party!"
Yumi chuckled, "So, how long did you manage to get the dance to last?"
Odd rubbed his hands together, a cheeky grin on his face, "Since tomorrow is Saturday and the day after is Sunday, the party's allowed to last until midnight! Can you believe that?! Midnight! I'm glad Delmas was lenient about the time."
"Probably because you-know-who is his daughter and she'll be looking for a way to rule the dance," Ulrich responded, sipping on his soda. If Sissi pulled her damsel-in-distress attitude with her father it wouldn't be that hard to think that she'd be in charge of it somehow.
William raised his hand, "Well your honor, parties don't work that way," He then grinned sharply, "Plus, even if she sought to be in charge of it I would think the crowd would demand a boy to rule with her and as you know, she doesn't like most males at this school ever since you hooked up with Yumi. If the people of the dance want someone to "rule" over it per se, then we have many lovely couples like you two," He then snapped his fingers and pointed at both Ulrich and Jeremie, "To choose from!"
A blush ran to Jeremie's cheeks, "Wait a second!" He protested, "What are we talking about?"
Odd leaned against the bench, grinning impishly, "The fact that you and Aelita have to be dating by now and the fact that you two have a chance to be "King and Queen" of tomorrow's dance!"
Aelita looked thrown for a loop as much as Jeremie did before, "We're talking about the dance?" She asked, "I thought we were talking to you guys about how far we've come with Lyoko."
"No, Aelita, I think we were whispering to each other," Jeremie responded.
Aelita then clapped her hands together, "Alright, now we'll address all of you with what we've done so far. Using the data we got from my father before he disappeared into the network, Jeremie and I have just about recreated Lyoko."
"Just like Líf and Lífþrasir after the events of Ragnarök!" Odd chirped.
Jeremie shrugged, "I guess you could compare it like that."
Aelita smiled, "But, we may be ready to recreate it tonight!"
Nodding with a pleased look, Jeremie continued on, "That's right, Aelita and I have worked on it every night for the last week!"
"Is that why you guys looked so tired?" Odd beamed, "I thought you two were at other parties having the time of your lives! Man, I was getting jealous." He suddenly sniffed the air and perked up, "Oh! Lunch is ready!" The blonde took off, leaving his friends at the bench.
Yumi sighed, "Let's go after him before he convinces Rosa that one of us didn't want to eat today and takes our helpings..." Knowing that his girlfriend was right, Ulrich hopped off of the bench and followed his friends to the cafeteria.
The gang grabbed their lunches (even after Odd complimented Rosa and took a bit more than one serving) and met at a table, "Hi Milly! Hi Tamiya!" Yumi greeted at the two girls sitting at a table by themselves, "You wouldn't mind if we sat here with you would ya?"
Both gazed at them before their eyes settled on Jeremie. After that, they gathered their plates and took off with a huff, "Are they still sulking?" Ulrich muttered. After hearing what Jeremie pulled on them, he wouldn't think they would hold a grudge against the genius. It surprised him that the journalists could even hold a grudge for that long in the first place.
"What do you think?"
Odd set his plate down, raising his finger as he sat, "Well you did sneak out the bathroom window in the middle of an interview. And for ace reporters like them that's pretty insulting!"
Jeremie opened his soda, "Being mad at me isn't as bad as them being really mad at each other."
William raised an eyebrow, "And how did you manage that?"
"It wasn't exactly me, per se," The blonde genius sipped at his drink, "They had a massive argument over the newspaper while they were interviewing me."
Yumi suddenly looked delighted, "You mean the Kadic News is folded for good? That's the best news I've heard in-"
Odd shook his head, "It's not! I need to know who's going out with who today before I try to cut my losses!"
"You mean you don't have a date?" Ulrich snorted, nearly dropping his glass with slightly wide eyes, "The Odd Della Robbia, the well known player of Kadic Junior High School, doesn't have a date?"
Shuffling nervously in his seat, the cat-boy looked away, "W-Well... it's hard to focus on finding the right girl for tomorrow when you're focusing on the dance itself!"
Ulrich waggled his finger, deciding to call out his best friend for his excuse, "Excuses excuses, what's really made you stop?"
". . .Sam," Odd admitted, placing his face into the palm of his hands. He ignored his food completely as he put his hands on his cheeks and sighed dreamily, "I wish she was here. I would totally ask her to the dance, but since she's back at the coast I can't. Since I can't get her out of my head, I can't go up to another girl and ask them out to the dance. That's why I need the Kadic News to know who's going out with who before I ask out a girl that's already been asked out and earn myself detention over a fight with an overprotective guy over his lady love." He sighed, placing a hand over his heart, "Some men these days, what a shame."
Aelita laughed, "That's like saying you wouldn't if you were dating Sam and someone asked her out."
Immediately, Odd waved his hands frantically, "No no no, Aelita! You got it all wrong, I don't like Sam like that! I like her as a friend!"
William leaned over to Jeremie and uttered in a semi-quiet voice, "Einstein, good sir, do you have an explanation for this madness our friend is spewing?"
Jeremie fixed his glasses and set his drink down. He folded his hands together and pointed to the purple clad blonde, "This, my friends," Jeremie spoke in a thick German accent, "Is what we call denial."
The table erupted with laughter and Odd, the only one who wasn't laughing, pouted instead, "All of you are jerks." He huffed, his cheeks a tomato red as he went back to devouring his food.
Odd grinned, "You two have to be participating in the dance. Ulrich and Yumi, the couple that most thought would always be at each others throats rather than l-" The cat-boy spluttered as Ulrich elbowed him in the stomach. The brunette felt his cheeks were suddenly warm and from the corner of his eye, he caught Yumi's pale cheeks shining a cheery red. William exploded with laughter from his place seated on the floor next to the holo-sphere and with a quick kick he nearly silenced the male raven. William let out one last choked laugh before he flopped on the ground and watched them lazily.
"We will, it's just. . ." He rubbed the back of his head, "I really don't have a good outfit that I could say is better than I usually wear." Ulrich sighed, running his fingers through his hair, "Though, I'm glad you're helping me find one rather than leave me with fashion police over here, Yumi." Pointing his thumb at his best friend, he smiled lightly at his girlfriend.
"I'll have you know that some of the girls in our class have recommended me as a wonderful man who knows his fashion," Odd held a hand to his chest before motioning to William, "Ask him! I got him to wear something other than grey and red!"
Immediately the silver-eyed boy scowled, pulling himself back into a sitting position, "Just for a few days and that was because you dyed the rest of my clothes! You're lucky my parents gave me money to shop for my own clothing for the next few weeks or else you would have found yourself in more trouble than you could deal with!"
Aelita started to laugh as the amber eyed blonde looked away, "Fine, I'll admit it. I can be the fashion police but that's only for people I care about. I felt that other colors could make the ladies go for you."
William rolled his eyes, "I'll welcome the help when I need it, Odd."
"I'm all set," Jeremie commented, breaking up the small chatter between the group. The five immediately shared their attention to the blonde genius, giving nods as their confirmation. He pressed the enter key and a program appeared on the screen, "Here we go."
The group of six waited until Aelita looked down with a frown, "The data my father transmitted wasn't enough!"
Jeremie sighed, taking of his glasses, "I guess we must have been really crazy to think that we could recreate Lyoko-"
"Hey wait!" The geisha protested, stepping close to the screen. She pointed at a new window that had opened up, showing a red sphere that slowly gained blue circles to surround it after a few seconds. Something must have happened inside of the supercomputer, for the holo-sphere began to hum with new life and a digital map of a sector formed on the supercomputer.
"That's incredible!"
William moved away from the holo-sphere, a grin on his face, "It worked!"
Odd clapped his hands together, "Aelita, Jeremie, you two are gods!"
Jeremie immediately raised a finger, "Well, almost but not quite." The blonde genius clicked the enter key on the computer, allowing the holo-sphere to finally show off a map once again. It looked to be an empty shell of what was once Lyoko back before XANA started to delete the sectors... it reminded Ulrich of how it looked last week before XANA destroyed Sector Five, "For the time being all we've been able to recreate is Sector Five on Lyoko. We still have our work cut out for us to recreate the other sectors. But," He placed his glasses back on, "We should be able to do that soon."
Yumi moved the chair, a frown on her face, "Well you two shouldn't stay at it all night like you have for the past week. You two can wait a night," She then winked, "Or two. The dance should be a well deserved relaxation from all of this. Tonight get a good night's sleep, tomorrow you can come with us to the dance and see how it turns out!"
Odd grinned, swinging an arm over Aelita's shoulder, "What do you think of that, Princess? We'd be glad to see both Mr. and Mrs. Einstein at the dance, you know."
The pinkette smiled lightly, "Odd and Yumi are right Jeremie, we'll be needing a break before we finish recreating Lyoko. We might need clear minds to try to figure out and see what XANA's been up to since he attempted to stop us from fighting with it for good. We can get started on Sunday, there'll be no school then and we won't have to be worried about appearing for classes."
Jeremie opened his mouth to protest but one look at Aelita made him cave, "Ah, yeah... Well alright. A break wouldn't hurt."
"Come on you two, I bet you don't even have any good clothing for the dance," Odd grinned, "Let the fashionista guide you to the perfect outfits for a couple like yourselves!"
Yumi shook her head, "Odd, no. Ulrich and I will go with them to pick out outfits if they need it. You already have your outfit picked for the occasion, so go back to school." Odd pouted, "You wouldn't want to lose time to find someone to bring to the dance, right?"
Odd paused, "Well. . . I-I guess so. . ."
Ulrich snorted, "Then you get going, we'll spend what's left of our Friday finding an outfit for tomorrow."
Sneaking out of Yumi's house was a pain the next morning. Hiroki would somehow always sense when he was in the house and it took forever for Yumi to get him to go away. Since the duo didn't really tell her parents the honest truth about him staying with her some nights, they didn't want to be caught red-handed until the geisha found a way to explain it. Ulrich grunted to himself, waiting a block or two away from his girlfriend's house.
"Nice to see you got away," Yumi joked, halting her jog once she was next to him, "Did you get seen by anyone?"
"Nope," Ulrich chuckled, "Did you get the clothing from your room without Hiroki noticing?"
His girlfriend smiled, flashing the plastic bag at her side, "Of course." They took off to the school, being careful of crossing the streets and running into people, "So, what do you think of the new album the Subdigitals released?"
Yumi brought up a usual topic to talk about when Ulrich stayed at her home, today's wasn't any different than the rest. The only times where they skipped their general random topic talks on their walk to school was if a XANA attack happened the day before and they wanted to discuss their sides of the story or if they felt like something at school had become a bit concerning. Ulrich scrambled to remember when the album was released and quickly replied, "W-Well, I think I like all of the songs they released with that album."
She pursed her lips, "I think I like the seventh song."
Once again raking his mind to come up with a lie, Ulrich tried to throw out a casual number, "Uh, I like number two."
"Pfft," Yumi covered her mouth, quieting her sudden laughter, "Ulrich, you don't have to lie if you haven't heard the album yet." Heat swam to his cheek as he focused on the last street to Kadic. His girlfriend continued to laugh. After traveling through the gates at the front of the school, she commented, "The song you said you liked is Jeremie's favorite of the album. I would think you'd like number eleven. Y'know, the one you and Odd always loop the demo as your alarm back in your dorm?"
Immediately, Ulrich recalled the song, "Oh! They finally released the full version? I thought I asked Odd to let me know when that came out!"
"Well, it did come out only three days ago." She added, finger on her chin as they strolled through the courtyard. People chatted animatedly with one another, ignorant of the couple returning to campus from the outside, "He probably doesn't know about it either." As she said that, a certain purple clad blonde stormed out into the courtyard. Clutching papers in his hands, the boy stormed towards them with an upset look on his face.
"Can you guys believe it?!" Odd, for the first time in what felt like forever, sounded angry. He shoved the papers into Ulrich's hands and nearby, he felt the geisha peer over to see what he was talking about. Clear as day in the Kadic News headlines, it displayed Odd's iconic cheesy smile with the bold words of- "Player of Kadic without date to dance! Ways to avoid getting stuck with him for the upcoming dance tonight! They've destroyed my reputation with this news!"
Yumi frowned, "I thought that Milly and Tamiya weren't angry with you, Odd."
Odd glowered, snatching the paper out of his best friends hands, "I thought so too." He turned on his heel and stormed close to one of the many buildings on campus. Milly and Tamiya sat on the bench there and obviously from the looks of it, the cat-boy was seeking answers. Ulrich shared a look with his girlfriend before the duo followed their friend, "Hey! I thought we were cool! How did you even hear of this in the first place?!"
"Well, Odd," The one and only daughter of the principal interjected from nearby, her face hidden in the newspaper. Ulrich frowned as she removed it from hiding her face, showing off a big smile, "My readers are dying to know what your comment to this news'll be, so won't you grace us with it?"
"Sissi!" Jeremie interjected from afar, a frown on his face as William and Aelita lagged behind him, "Since when have you been involved with the Kadic News?"
She strolled to the genius, snapping her fingers in front of him, "Ever since I made myself editor-in-chief," She placed a finger on her chin, grin apparent, "Oh! And since all of you are together as usual, I'd like to ask Yumi a few questions for the next issue!" Milly and Tamiya frowned as the stood from the bench, moving to stand behind the "editor-in-chief". She frowned, glaring at them, "What are you two waiting for?! We're rolling!" Milly pulled out a camera as Tamiya pulled out a pencil and paper, "Well Yumi, our readers would really like to know how you and Ulrich are still together for so long! How do you two manage your relationship?"
Ulrich stepped out, frown on his face, "That's private, Sissi. Yumi doesn't need to answer that."
She turned to him, "So, does that mean you'll answer us instead?"
William raised his hand, "I think that's enough." Right on cue, the first bell of the day rang. Milly and Tamiya took the bell with stride, fleeing from their posts near the principal's daughter. Sissi glowered, crossing her arms. With one last look at the group, she fled to grab her things and head to class.
Before the rest of the group would split up, Aelita stared at the cat-boy, "You gonna be okay with what happened, Odd?"
"Well, obviously I know Sissi was the one who put that information on the newspaper about me," He shrugged, "I'll see what I can do about it later tonight. But for now, if she's pulling that card on me I'll get her back one way or another." A sharp grin found its way on the svelte teen's face, "After all, if that's the game she wants to play I have many ways of continuing it. I'll see you guys later!" Odd fled, heading off into the nearest building.
Yumi shook her head, "How much detention do you guys think he'll get for whatever he's planning?"
As much confidence he had in the blonde for the whole situation at hand, knew that there'd be some consequences in the end, "A lot, depending on what he's going to do."
Suddenly groaning, William ran a hand through his hair, "I totally forgot about the quiz we're having, Yumi!" He shared a look with the geisha and took off, "I'll be accepting my fate with open arms, see all of you later." Yumi nodded to the brunette and quickly followed the other raven off to class.
Jeremie adjusted his glasses, "As much as I'd like to finish chatting about this new development, Odd had the right idea to head to class. I think we'll be late if we don't hurry off now."
"No no no, good buddy!" Ulrich grunted, staring at the sight of his best friend stealing his tie. Odd shook his head, waving a finger in the air, "Do you not know how tie a bow tie?"
Glowering, the brunette snapped, "Of course I wouldn't. My dad always had me tie an actual tie." He resisted to run his fingers through his hair. It took awhile to get his hair to stop sticking up after Odd had sneak attacked him and smeared gel in it, "It was always for the many parties he hosted. I was always surprised whenever he hosted it. It was always a monthly thing with him to know the people he worked with."
"Well, I would know how to tie one." Odd dressed in a purple dress shirt with a black waist coat on top of it. He also wore black dress pants and dark red shoes that stood out from the outfit itself. An yellow bow tie was around his neck as a small smile made its way onto his face. He straightened the tie around his best friends neck as he began to tie it, "My step-dad and mom always like to have big parties when their plays went well, obviously when the show made it big in Florence. My mom insisted I got to learn how to tie a bow tie because I would be the only one needing to know how since I'm the only boy she had." Suddenly he wore a whimsical smile, "The only reason I have this outfit at school is because Adele was trying to take my room before I left for school and she stuffed it in my bag."
Ulrich, on the other hand, had bought himself an outfit that consisted of a dark green shirt, some baggy black jeans and some black sneakers to match along with it. Once Odd finished with his bow tie, he backed away and touched the black cloth gingerly, "Thanks."
"No problem good buddy," Odd flashed a cheeky smile, practically radiating with energy, "So, the girls are in Aelita's dorm getting ready for the big fling. I left William to tend to the Einstein to make sure he was prepared for the dance and not trying to figure out an excuse to miss it. I'll be heading off now, I'll see you guys there." Winking, he opened the door and took off down the hall.
Sighing, Ulrich left his dorm. He locked it behind him after placing the key in his pocket and walked down the hall. After completing this action, he stopped at a familiar door and knocked on it, "Hey, you two done?"
The door opened, showing off his two friends. William dressed in a black jacket with a red shirt underneath, dark blue jeans and grey boots. Jeremie on the other hand wore the outfit Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi had picked for him, which was a sky blue dress shirt, white jeans and light blue dress shoes. His glasses gleamed in the light from the dorm as he replied, "Can we please not stay until midnight for this dance?" The genius begged.
"I guess if you convince Aelita then you could," Ulrich shrugged, "It isn't really my decision."
William groaned, "But you won't have the full experience of the dance if you don't stay until then!"
"Eight to midnight sounds like a long time," Jeremie shot back, "Four hours of actual dancing? No way."
Walking out of the dorm, the raven huffed, "It isn't exactly like that. A dance is held usually as a social event, not just for dancing. Each of us has a choice to either go out to the dance floor and have fun or go talk among our peers." The trio made their way out of the boy's dorms, heading outside. The cold air of the night greeted them and with that, they began to walk to the gym where the dance would take place.
"I heard rumors of a real DJ showing up, is that true?" Ulrich asked.
William nodded, "When you have two hot-headed friends working together on a project, some things may seem over the top. Odd knew some musicians around here because of his family so he would figure out where a DJ would be and how to get him to work cheaply and I know a general store owner, he was happy to oblige me with a discount for some of the things inside the gym right now."
Jeremie weakly smiled, "So we'll be meeting Aelita and Yumi inside, right?"
"Of course, that's where said they would be earlier," Ulrich opened the doors, surprise making its way on his face. The whole gym was lit up with colors, it reminded the brunette of a rainbow. Many people gathered around, more than what happened with the other dance during the whole "Milly's bear being possessed by XANA" incident. Looks like Odd and William had talent when it came to parties, judging by how people we either dancing on the dance floor, gathered around the tables that held snacks and punch or plain out chatting at small tables.
Strolling in with what felt like confidence surrounding him, William managed to disappear into the crowds. Jeremie stood close by the samurai, obviously a bit out of his comfort zone with the whole situation. "Hey, Ulrich!" Yumi's voice managed to reach him, even through the loud music echoing around the room. She wore a grey jacket over a black sleeveless shirt, a dark red and black skirt with matching leggings and her usual black combat boots. She smiled at him, "Nice to see you finally made it."
"Wasn't that far away," Ulrich shrugged, matching smile on his face, "Glad to see you too." They shared a quick kiss as Aelita, who wore a black top with pink trimmings, a dark pink skirt with black leggings and matching heels.
The pinkette practically radiated in the environment around her as she grabbed Jeremie's arm, "Would you like to dance with me, Jeremie?"
As if a switch was flipped, the genius flashed a weak smile, "Of course, Aelita." Dragged into the swarm of students, the two disappeared.
Ulrich blinked at the scene, "Well, I'm surprised Aelita got him to do that so fast."
"Aelita always has that sort of charm to Jeremie, you know that," Yumi reminded him, "Now why don't we do the same?"
A smile found its way to Ulrich's face, "Alright, that sounds nice."
Time flew by as the dance continued on. Ulrich didn't even make notice of the time, enjoying the moment as he stayed by Yumi's side and chatted with her about random things. Sometimes they would take a break on the topics they brought up and would go out on the dance floor, but mainly they talked. Jeremie and Aelita found them later on and the four began to chat about something other than XANA and Lyoko. Ulrich enjoyed this small break they had.
"Hey, you guys!" William walked over to the group. He flashed a small smile at them, "Having a good time?" Ulrich stood near Yumi, drinking at a cup of punch. The pinkette was clinging to the blonde genius who looked far too happy than what he complained about earlier while he nibbled away at a cookie. Yumi was sitting in one of the many chairs spread around small tables inside the gym.
"The best!" Aelita chirped, "I'm glad we had this tonight."
Yumi stretched, "Yeah, me too. It's nice to have a break like this. From school and well. . . you-know-who too."
"I'm glad you guys are enjoying it, but I have a question for you all." With a concerned look, the raven voiced his question, "Have you guys seen Odd?"
Halting mid-bite of his snack, Jeremie raised an eyebrow, "No... why?"
The silver-eyed teen frowned, "I went looking for him and he's not around. He isn't answering his phone either. I'm kinda worried about him, with what happened earlier. Do you think he might have not went to the dance at all?"
"No, I seen him earlier," Ulrich rubbed his chin, "He didn't mention anything about missing the dance either. He was dressed up for it too-"
"YOU!" A furious shriek managed to be heard by the five over the loud beat of the music. Storming over to the group, Sissi stared at Yumi with something Ulrich couldn't place his finger on. Her clothing, what seemingly used to be a dark red dress with matching heels and orange leggings was torn to shreds with sticks and leaves in her hair, "You witch!" She screamed at Yumi and immediately, William stepped in to block the lunge from the principal's daughter, "Why do you have the nerve to be here after what you did?!"
Looking off-put, the geisha managed to reply, "What? I've been at the dance this entire time. Have you lost it, Sissi?"
Sissi glowered, backing away from William's grasp, "No. Have you lost it, Yumi? You scared Milly and Tamiya with your crazy tricks! I don't even know what you did to Odd either since you threw me into a tree you freak!"
"I can confirm that Yumi was here the entire time with us but. . . what did happen to you, Sissi?" Jeremie asked, his hands raised in a placating manner.
"Well, Odd managed to stop Milly, Tamiya, and I from heading into the girls dorms." She began to recall, her body beginning to relax from her tense posture, "He tried to make me apologize for what happened and I said no. He then managed to get Milly and Tamiya to quit working with me, those traitors. By then, you," She pointed at Yumi, "Waltzed over there without the outfit you're wearing now on. You tried to make Odd go with you into the forest for some reason by grabbing his arm. I stepped in and told you to stop when Odd protested and told you no, but by then Milly and Tamiya tried to stop you first. You shot purple electricity at them and threw me into a tree. But by then, Odd managed to take off somewhere else and I'm here to try to tell my dad on you, you freak!"
The gang exchanged looks, trying to figure out what had really happen. It was quite clear, but the motive of their old "friend" was completely unknown, "Well Sissi," Ulrich commented, "I think I saw your father heading to his office earlier."
Obviously it was a lie, but the raven haired girl fell for the bait, "Oh thank you Ulrich," She smiled at him, "I'm glad you see that Yumi isn't all that!" She took off, fleeing from the building as Ulrich grimaced. Waiting a few seconds, the gang took off and headed into the forest.
"XANA's back!" Jeremie immediately cried once they were away from the loud music of the dance, running to the boiler room where the other entrance to the sewers laid, "Of all times, with a specter of Yumi no less!"
Yumi frowned, the first to arrive to the door as she pushed it in and allowed them all in, "My question is why it would take the form of me? Usually a specter would possess someone like Jim or heck, even Milly and Tamiya themselves! But why look like me?" She yanked the sewer door open, fleeing down the steps. The rest followed suit and soon they were running down one of the sides of the sewers.
"Better question is why XANA would go after Odd in the first place?" Aelita reminded, "When he sends a specter into the real world, it's usually after me to bring me to Lyoko. It must be changing its game plan for some reason."
Ulrich frowned, "Maybe we'll figure this out once we save Odd from XANA." No one else threw in another comment, leaving them to travel to the factory in silence.
"There's no one here," William muttered as the elevator doors opened to the supercomputer room.
Jeremie ran to the super computer, a frown etching itself onto his face, "I can see that. Odd and something else are in Sector Five but I can't tell whatever that thing is. And I don't like that at all." He then glanced at the four warriors, "You four head to the scanner room, be careful. I don't know where that Yumi specter could be."
Ulrich pressed the elevator button, allowing the machine to move them down one more floor. As soon as the doors opened, Ulrich took to the right scanner. Yumi went to his left and William flocked to the middle. It looked like Aelita was going to wait until the scanners cleared up again. The scanner doors closed in front of him, blocking sight of the room. Cold, frigid winds picked up as Jeremie's voice managed to filter through, "Transfer: Ulrich. Transfer: William. Transfer: Yumi." He then felt himself being picked up, just only for a moment, "Scanner: Ulrich. Scanner: William. Scanner: Yumi." The sensation of nothingness consumed him as the final words sent him away, "Virtualization."
His vision gave away from the scanner, allowing him to see the familiar blue and white of Sector Five. Landing was like second nature to him and Ulrich watched as Yumi and William landed close by him. After waiting a moment longer, Aelita landed in front of the trio, "You four have to take the corridor right in front of you."
"Is there still a key we have to trip?"
Aelita shook her head, "No, we got rid of that procedure once we recreated Sector Five."
William, instead of continuing along with the conversation, was simply staring at the giant sword he carried. He looked hesitant about something until he finally spoke, "Uh, Jeremie? Could you see if I can disperse my sword in any way so I don't have to carry it as I run?"
"Well, I haven't looked into what powers you have. I can do that, but for right now you guys have to make it to the Core Zone. Once you reach it, I can guide you to Odd and whatever that thing with him is."
"Roger that, Einstein," Following his friends, Ulrich took off down the only path presented to them. It was silent as they all took in the familiar blue blocks around them. William, even when carrying his big sword, managed to lead ahead of them, followed by the samurai himself then the two girls who kept close to one another. The brunette still couldn't shake off his worry about the sector, it always managed to make him feel uneasy.
"You guys better step on it, it looks like Odd and whatever that thing is are getting farther away!" As soon as Jeremie's words reached them, William stopped his run once they reached another room. Chocolate brown eyes caught sight of the "thing" and he froze in place. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yumi and Aelita stare with wide eyes at the thing. Purple fled from the room, but another thing stayed in the room.
The monster spun on its heel, facing the four. It wore a long, white kimono with red splotches all over, a thick black bow tied at its middle, with dark grey leggings and slim, red sandals. Everything about it, it looked a lot like-
"J-Jeremie!" Aelita managed to recover before all of them, "That thing you're seeing on the map, i-it's a clone of Yumi!"
"A what!?"
Bowing at them only for a moment, the copy of the geisha flashed a grin at them. What stood out in the stark, white and black paint covering the clone's face was its eyes that were colored a ruby red with the black eye of XANA replacing the irises. Without another warning, it snapped its fingers and suddenly, groans echoed around the room.
"Creepers are closing in with. . . something else! Guys, be careful with what's coming!"
The clone of Yumi had fled down the same hall that Odd must have ran into before, as the Creepers presented themselves just a moment after. They groaned, followed by a streak of dark orange flying down from one of the monsters perches. The monster was a familiar sight to Ulrich, as the boy yanked his katana out immediately, "Back for more, copy?" He snapped, staring at the sight of himself dressed in a orange and black samurai outfit that matched his own. It frowned, persimmon orange staring at chocolate brown.
The copy of him yanked out its own katana, a grin suddenly making its way onto its pale face. "We have to split up!" Aelita immediately shouted, her hands alight with her weapons, "We can't leave that Yumi copy alone to chase down Odd!"
"Right, you and Yumi go after it Aelita. William, Ulrich, you two have to clean up over here and take care of that copy. I'll see how XANA's suddenly springing copies without the use of an activated tower to create them."
Ulrich charged at his clone, katanas clashing against one another. Out of the corner of his right eye, he saw his girlfriend and the pink elf run off into the same tunnel Yumi's copy fled down before. William raised his sword nearby, staring at the Creepers that refused to come closer to him. Instead, the brown monsters took to shooting at the sword wielder and using the big sword to his advantage, the silver-eyed boy took to absorbing the lasers.
"William! I got it! There's one ability that you have, but it'll help you a lot! Just say the words, "Supersmoke" and you'll see what happens!"
Sounding surprised from afar, Ulrich barely managed to hear the raven say the words before black smoke ran past him, up a wall and next to a Creeper. Distracted only for a second, the brunette watched with wide eyes as the boy manifested next to the Creeper from the black smoke and stabbed it, destroying the monster, "Hey, this ability is pretty cool!"
Ulrich let out a shout, flying back from a sudden kick. The black and orange clad samurai stormed forward, his red katana nearly striking him. He rolled over just in time, lifting his own katana to stab at the clone's chest until- "Phase." The voice was just like his own, except it sounded. . . different. Ulrich couldn't put his finger on it, instead watching with wide eyes as his sword went through the clone like he didn't even exist.
The clone dawned a wicked grin, lifting his left hand and socked him right in the face. Ulrich flew back into the nearest wall, his katana sliding to the other side of the room. "Jeremie!" He shouted to the sky, bringing himself to stand once more, "What did that clone just do!?"
"I'm scanning both it and the Yumi clone right now and-" Abruptly, the genius went quiet.
"Jeremie?!"
"Ulrich from what the supercomputer is saying, that clone in front of you... is you."
"M-Me?" Ulrich pointed at himself, staring down the lookalike of himself. As if it heard Jeremie's words, the clone's wicked grin turned downright feral as it raised its weapon. . . with another katana somehow in its other hand.
Jeremie sounded thrown off as much as the brunette did, "Just finish it off and save Odd. . . then I'll tell all of you what that means."
William appeared next to him in the same black cloud of smoke that swam around the room, holding Ulrich's sword. Handing it to him, the raven stared at the monster, "Here, let's do this." The clone charged at them as Ulrich took his katana back. Swinging it, red and blue met each other in a usual clash, followed by the clone shrieking as William dug his sword into the clone's side. It exploded in dark orange pixels but at the last second, it swung its other katana straight into William's head. Erupting in blue pixels, the Doppelsöldner was devirtualized.
Ulrich activated his super sprint, taking off down the nearest corridor. "Has anything happened to them, Jeremie?"
"Aelita's already been devirtualized by Yumi's copy and the real Yumi's in a telekinesis fight over Odd!"
Staring at the sky for a moment, the brunette let out a quiet, "Oh," Before continuing on with his extra burst of speed. He only halted his run once he saw his girlfriend pressing her fingers to her head with a white glow around her and across the room her copy had a dark red glow surrounding her. Odd was suspended in the middle, staring at Yumi with something akin to fear in his eyes.
"Yumi! Come on, I believe you can beat her! Go Yumi, go!" He cheered, then paused after his amber eyes settled on Ulrich's form, "Nice to see you there, good buddy. It's been a weird night!"
Unable to continue on with Odd's chit chat, the samurai allowed his super sprint to consume him and charged at the geisha lookalike. She, unlike Yumi, had her eyes open and stared at the brunette before calling out in a sultry tone, "Come on Ulrich, you wouldn't want to do that now would you?" Just like his own copy, it had her voice. By the looks of it, as she bit her lip with a frown on her face as she cocked her head to the side, "Why do you want to hurt me, Ulrich dear?"
He found himself stopping in his tracks, staring down at his hands. Why was he going to attack her, again? In fact, why were they even on Lyoko again? They-they were at a dance before weren't they-? "ULRICH!" Yumi's scream snapped him back to reality and as he spun in place, but by the time he looked at where she used to be his girlfriend was gone in the blue pixels of devirtualization.
"Ugh!" The samurai clutched at his head, "What was that?!"
"Ulrich, if you have the time I suggest you try to stop this crazy chick!" Odd's voice echoed and as quick as it reached his ears, Ulrich's mindset snapped back into place. He was here to save Odd, he wasn't supposed to be daydreaming nor recall what he was doing before being virtualized onto Lyoko.
"Ulrich, the Yumi clone is taking Odd straight to the Dome Area!"
"On my way there, Einstein!" Ulrich saluted the sky, trying following where the monster had ran away with his best friend. A laser slammed into his arm, stopping him before he could go down the exit. Creepers groaned around him and the boy clicked his tongue, clutching his katana with both hands as he prepared to fight them.
"ULRICH!" Jeremie's voice stopped him from running at one of the brown monsters, "You have to get to Odd immediately! I-I don't know what XANA's up to with Yumi's cone but. . . something's being decrypted onto the supercomputer and it can't be good!"
Glaring one last time at the Creepers, Ulrich used his super sprint and ran away from them. Staring at the back of XANA's clone, the samurai raised his katana to meet her back. What stopped him was a heavy pressure that nearly slammed him into the ground as the geisha spun around, a twisted smile on her face. She side stepped, showing what was happening to the blonde.
He was sitting in a kneeling position, his back to the two as white glowed into the wide, blue room of Sector Five's Outer Sphere. "What do you think you're doing, love?" It chided, waving a finger in the air. The sultry voice of hers was back and Ulrich tried to ignore the sweetness that radiated from it, "I'm just trying to cure Odd of his little problem, y'see?"
"Whatever you're doing to him isn't good," Ulrich growled.
"How would you know, deary?" She strolled to him, kneeling down with a sick smile on her face, "You don't even know what it is. Neither do we, but it's always a lovely surprise to see what it is. Buried deep inside his coding, he possesses something unique that if we figure out what it is. . . maybe it'll even help us with our end goal."
He couldn't fall for that voice of hers. It called to him like a lovely sirens voice, trying to soothe the rage that he tried to keep as a shield. Whatever the virus did to this clone made it hard to fight her, either from the telekinesis or her voice ability, "Sorry," He apologized, channeling what was left of his energy to his right hand. He raised it, stabbing her straight in her chest. The clone's form disappeared in red pixels, "But what XANA wants isn't what we want."
"Ulrich! Try to stop Odd!"
Only having a moment to recover, Ulrich stumbled along the blue ground of the sector. He ran to his friend, finally able to see his face. Odd looked so pained, like whatever he was doing was torturing him. Swallowing, the brunette could only think of one thing to do. With a swipe of his sword, the katana claimed its next victim as the cat-boy vanished off of Lyoko.
"Jeremie!" Ulrich called, "D-Did Odd appear in the scanners?"
Silence consumed the empty blue space, allowing fear to bubble up in his stomach, "Yes Ulrich, he's unconscious but fine. The process reached five percent and it looks like it isn't going down either. I'll bring you in."
The supercomputer room was in complete silence, sans the humming of the machine itself and Jeremie's vigorous typing. Odd was propped up against the wall closest to the elevator, still unconscious as Jeremie continued to look at the program that had appeared when the XANA-Yumi had placed the cat-boy in the state Ulrich found him in, "What I can already conclude from this incident is that whatever program is inside Odd, XANA wants it." The blonde began.
"Do we know what the program exactly does?" Aelita piped in.
"No... we're as clueless as XANA, if what Yumi's clone was saying is true."
William frowned, siting against the holo-sphere, "What about what you said earlier. Y'know, with the whole Ulrich and Yumi clone situation?"
The genius sighed, spinning his chair so he could face them all, "The supercomputer scanned the two as you all fought them, it claimed that they were real Ulrich and Yumi just. . . different. It's like XANA copied every single bit about you two and crafted them to suit its use. I'm scared that if we leave them to linger with XANA and not investigate this further, it may be a repeat with what happened when XANA stole Aelita's memories."
"You mean. . ." Yumi began, her eyes wide.
"I mean that if we don't get the data back from the copies XANA created of you two, that you'll die if we do something heinous and destroy whatever houses them. We're playing with fire because of it, and I'm lost because I don't know how it could have gained that information-"
"Me." William pointed to himself, his eyes shut and shoulders hunched, "My sword glowed green when it sliced into Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi when it possessed me before it destroyed Lyoko. It didn't slice into Odd or myself, but it touched all three of them."
Aelita swallowed, bringing her hands to hug herself, "That means XANA has a copy of me too, if your prediction is correct."
Jeremie sighed, "This is such a mess," He muttered, "XANA has a new way of toying with us with the copies of you two and possibly Aelita as well and by judging their new abilities you claimed they have Ulrich-"
"My copy allowed my katana to phase right through him, and Yumi's almost had me hypnotized just by talking to me."
"-that means XANA's upgrading them as well." The blonde continued, "I wouldn't know how he created all of these abilities just in a week as well, maybe we've been underestimating our foe all along."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Huh!?" Jeremie spun back to the computer, a frown immediately on his face.
"What's that, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.
"I set out to comb through the decryption of whatever program is inside of Odd, and it looks like out of the five percent that was accessed. . . there's a video." The blonde motioned with his hand and the four quickly surrounded the supercomputer. Once they were there, he clicked on the icon and it began to play.
"Okay, your turn Milly!" The girl was suspended up above, trying to cling to the tilted, broken wood that once used to be a floor. She stared down at the camera with raw fear in her eyes.
"No, Odd! I'll never make it!" She cried.
The cat-boy's voice attempted to assure her, "Sure you will! Come on!" The ground began to rumble as the red-head screamed from above. She let go, sliding down the wooden floor. Odd's hand appeared in front of himself, snagging the child's wrist to pull her close once she made it onto the next floor.
"Are we. . . watching something from Odd's perspective?" Yumi voiced her concerns.
Grimacing, Ulrich nodded, "It looks like it. The scene they're in. . . whatever's happening is familiar." He muttered to himself as it continued to play. What was this? And why was this scene a little piece of the program inside Odd?
"Good going girls! Now let's get out of here!" Milly and Tamiya ran with Odd, their pants easy to hear. Ahead of them gravel crumbled left and right and sometimes the two girls would press together close to the purple clad teen to avoid the rubble.
A shrill ring echoed from the video and a familiar phone entered their sights. Odd answered it and the voice was filled with worry but yet calm at the same time, "Odd! Did you make it out yet?"
"No sir, Einstein. You have to hurry with fixing Aelita's bug or else we'll die!"
"This. . . This is from that time where XANA attacked by causing earthquakes," Jeremie concluded, his voice weak, "But I don't remember this conversation at all."
"Pfft," Jeremie's voice radiated with cockiness, "With your little program, I'm sure that I'll fix it and get you all out of there in a jiff. Don't worry about it."
"Jeremie, just because I know things you don't doesn't mean I know everything." Odd scolded, "Don't think that I know how this ends because I don't. Like time and time before, I've lived different versions of this but I never knew how you guys did it."
"But you do know that everyone gets out of it safe and sound, right?"
"Jeremie. . ."
"Don't worry about it, just give me a little more time and everything will be okay. I don't need your silly warnings right now." The familiar buzz of an ended phone call filtered through the speakers of the supercomputer room.
"I... what?" Jeremie ran out of words to say, "I don't remember things happening like that. From what I recall, Odd disconnected from me way earlier than that." The vision of the video showed rocks in front of an exit.
The ground shook once again and Milly's scream echoed nearby. Swiftly, Odd stared at Milly. . . who was petrified as concrete began to fall on top of her.
"MILLY!" The purple clad blonde charged and quickly grabbed her arm to throw her near Tamiya and Kiwi. She fell next to her friend and Kiwi began to howl loudly, his barking going insane.
"ODD!" Both girls screamed as the cat-boy looked up, staring at the descending gravel. His vision was swallowed in darkness once the gravel slammed onto him.
Abruptly, the video ended in pitch black. There seemed to be nothing more to play as the five stared at the screen with mixed emotions. "What just happened?" William managed to ask, bringing his hands to his face in an attempt to process what he just saw.
Ulrich pinched himself, biting back his yelp so he wouldn't startle his friends. It looks like what he saw on that screen wasn't a dream. But if that wasn't a dream, then. . . did Odd really die there? And yet, how was he alive with them now?
"That was something you didn't need to see." Odd's voice cut in from afar. All five snapped their gazes to the cat-boy, who leaned against the wall for support. His amber eyes were dark and for the first time, Ulrich felt like he didn't know who his best friend was.
Aelita stepped forward, although hesitantly, "Odd, what did you mean by what you said in the video? With what you claimed to know things that we didn't?"
The cat-boy began to answer, his voice soft, "I would rather go insane than relive a situation like that all over again, I don't want to say anything about it. Jeremie kinda shattered my trust with telling you guys about what I know so, sorry about that."
Jeremie was quick to respond, "Odd! That was a different me, a different time as well. I wouldn't risk a life to pull whatever I did again! That situation will never happen again. Just please, we want to help you Odd."
Odd's cold expression immediately soured into one of sorrow, "That's the thing. Time and time before that incident, I would tell you guys what's happening to me. But every time I did, someone would die because of our carelessness. I don't want to say a thing because I don't want anyone to die because of me." He sighed, "Look, some things you guys know about me are because of what has been happening to me. My weird night habits," He waved to Ulrich, "All because of this. My journal is what I write in to try to vent away my emotions about this problem."
"What is the problem?" Ulrich stormed to his friend, placing his hands on his shoulders. The blonde flinched but didn't back away, "With that video and all, something has to be going on here. Odd, we just watched you die in a XANA attack and yet you're here."
"I can't tell you!" The svelte teen still protested, clenching his eyes shut, "I can't! Cause if I did you'd die! Someone would die and it'd be all my fault! We'd become too reckless and cost a life!"
"What about yours?" Yumi followed suit, standing close to the brunette and the amber eyed boy, "Don't you care about your own life? Whatever is happening to you is controlling you Odd. Have you died many times before what we just saw?"
"Just tell us Odd." William murmured, strolling on by to become close to the trio, "We want to help you."
Odd's body shuttered and it looked like he was holding back a torrent of tears behind his eyes. He continued to speak somehow through the lump in his throat, "I already gave you an answer," He attempted to choke back his sorrows, "I just can't."
"We want to help you," Aelita piped in and soon both her and Jeremie stood close to the cat-boy as well, "You have answered our questions, yes but. . . I want to vow for all of us that we won't become reckless with what you say. Whatever has happened in the past for you won't happen again. All you have to do is tell us Odd. Please."
"I-It's a program inside me," Odd spat once a tear left his eye. After that one, the rest flowed down his cheeks like an unbroken stream, "F-From all the t-trips I had." He sniveled, bringing his arm to wipe at the growing snot from his nose. He looked miserable as he continued on, "Hopper m-made it for himself. He just t-took the wrong scanner and I-I got it instead-" Sobbing, he couldn't continue on.
"Take a deep breath," Ulrich gently coached him, "Try to relax, okay? Nothing bad will happen, I promise you." Slumping forward, Ulrich hugged his best friend as the blonde cried into his chest. He took in the broken sobs of his friend, the way he suddenly broke after that single promise. He didn't want to lose everything again, it looked like.
For what felt like an eternity Odd continued to bawl against him until finally, the boy backed away from him. His eyes were swollen and puffy, as his nose kept sniffling to try to even out his breathing. He looked like a train wreck but Ulrich refused to make a joke on it. The moment was serious and even if he wanted to cheer up his best friend, right now couldn't be the time to do it, "I don't know what he called it. But all I know is that this is the second time I've made it so far and changed so much," Odd mumbled through his scratchy throat, the words almost unintelligible from how softly he spoke, "I lost track of how many times I died on our adventures to save Aelita and destroy XANA. But some time loops stand out from the rest and I guess whatever that program was showed one of them to you."
Unable to say anything, Ulrich watched over his best friend as the blonde hugged himself. With what he just admitted, the brunette felt horrible for his best friend. He died more than once and. . . "That means, you've been living our adventures time and time again?" Jeremie noted, his voice soft and unsure.
Blood shot amber eyes stared at crystal blue, "Yeah. I only made it this far one time before and that was my run through. That time, we defeated XANA but at the cost of Hopper. I didn't even know I had the program in me until another foe kinda killed me and I wound up back in the middle scanner after the first time we were on Lyoko. The man's name is Professor Tyron and he'll become a menace to us sometime soon. I can't exactly recall when because well..." He tapped his head, "Living so many times makes you forget some of the little things."
"I'm sorry to ask but. . . did you face a copy of Ulrich and Yumi in your original timeline?" Everyone shot glares at the Einstein, who winced but didn't back down.
Odd shook his head, "No. . . not at all. We actually faced a friend of ours instead of copies." He then stared directly at William, "Which was you."
"M-Me?" Suddenly, the raven looked thrown for a loop.
"In my first time, XANA took William and turned him against us during his first trip on Lyoko. Then he used him to attack us and try to get Aelita thrown into the digital sea to lure Hopper out of it and try to finish him off." Odd clapped his hands together, "But I think I do know why XANA got this power in only a week." Motioning between William and himself, he continued on, "We created a video game, well we did before the computer was destroyed. I thought it was some kid, but if XANA did steal the data from it and destroy my laptop then he'd have extra abilities to give away. Like intangibility, siren's voice, data drain and many more, I made those."
"Data drain to collect data from all three of us from William when he possessed him," Yumi murmured weakly, "Intangibility for the Ulrich clone and a siren's voice for my own..."
"That means XANA did steal the data and destroyed my laptop." Frowning, Odd crossed his arms, "There are still a few weaknesses to those abilities but I bet he doesn't know about them. But I do, I created the abilities so I would put weaknesses on them so they wouldn't seem overpowered."
"So the program, once you die will send you back in time to the first day you get devirtualized from the scanners?" Aelita asked.
Odd nodded, "Pretty much, Aelita. It's kinda scary reliving so many days all over again. I thought I was going insane a few times, like I was in hell or something." He then smiled, although it looked pretty weak, "But. . . I trust you guys. If you keep that promise, then I think everything will be okay. We just have a bit of a situation on our hands that's different than my original timeline, right?"
"Right Odd, we have to get Ulrich, Yumi, and possibly Aelita back their stolen codes," Jeremie counted off his fingers, "We have to save you from your time looping problem, and destroy XANA. It isn't an impossible list."
"Wait, you're going to look into my problem?" The blonde with a purple splotch sounded mystified, like it wasn't supposed to be on the agenda.
Ulrich shook his head, sometimes the cat-boy was just an idiot even if he's been reliving this part of his life so many times, "Of course we would, you dummy. You're our friend, even if you've been through the same problems over and over again. When XANA is defeated and whenever we deal with this Tyron guy and defeat him, we'll all be free of this together. No matter what."
"We promise this to you, Odd." Yumi added. The svelte teen looked at the floor, a sad smile on his face.
"T-Thanks you guys." Tears overflowed in his eyes and a laugh left his best friend through the misery of what happened that night, "You're the best friends I could ever have."
"Now I think a return to the past is in order," Voicing his concerns, the Einstein walked back to the supercomputer.
Snorting, the cat-boy chuckled, "Yeah, I guess because of the whole Sissi, Milly, and Tamiya seeing the Yumi specter situation."
"Not just that. You didn't have time to enjoy the dance because of this mess as well. I heard you worked hard on it so I think it'd be a waste if one of the "grand schemers" didn't have fun as well." Jeremie joked, his fingers gliding over the keys. Looking back at his friends, he then proclaimed the familiar phrase, "Return to the past, now!"
The room exploded in the white light Ulrich was used to seeing. The cold feeling gnawed at him until it swallowed him whole. By then, he saw the familiar walls of his dorm. Odd beamed at him, dressed up for the dance that was technically hours ago, "Why don't we head on down and have some fun?" The brunette grinned.
"I'd like that!" Odd flashed an impish grin, "Then after that can we prank Sissi? She still deserves it after what she pulled earlier."
Tapping his chin, Ulrich made it look like he was thinking it over. Of course he wasn't though as he responded, "As long as she's rainbow colored before one-in-the-morning."
"Deal!" Laughing with one another, both boys walked out the dorm. Watching over his best friend as he practically radiated with energy for the dance, Ulrich silently remembered what he told them. Then, he promised to himself he would make sure he didn't become reckless with knowing the blonde knew more information than they did. Ulrich didn't want to ruin him, as he believes that previous hims may have done before. Ulrich wanted to be there for his friend, through good and bad. And in the end he wanted to make sure that Odd didn't feel like he was alone. Because the cat-boy deserved to know his friends are there to help him, no matter what.
As he walked with William, Jeremie and his best friend, Ulrich stared up into the star laden sky. With a smile, he watched them twinkle with their bright lights and somehow knew that in the end, everything would be okay.
Author's Note: I'd like to thank you all for reading this story and supporting it. Without it, I think I wouldn't have finished this. I tried to make sure I didn't leave any loopholes because I wasn't so sure that I would ever make a sequel to this story. As of right now, this story has 535 views. I want to thank story maker, Anonymous, Musical Ninja and TheFullmetalRaven for their reviews because they made my day and gave me the right motive to finish this story. I also want to thank Anime-Niakz, Code-Kya, Ezilo, Musical Ninja, Neos the Final Builder and toomanyFandoms18 for placing this story in their favorites list. Also, I want to thank those who followed this story which are Allen Ux Ultor, Anime-Niakz, Code-Kya, Dzeshik Si, Ezilo, FMA lover912, J flood, Musical Ninja, StarGazer Gale, The Arcticourt Spellwright, TheFullmetalRaven, WolfMoonSky, crazysnowdragon, rubikhandy0707, and toomanyFandoms18. All of you are lovely readers and without you, I probably wouldn't have decided to continue this story along. I hope you enjoyed reading this little series and have a wonderful day.
Thanks to all from the Feeling of Love and Hate.