Ha ha ha.

I didn't have as much trouble with this chapter. It actually gets very exciting near the end- though I'm not too sure if it's in character or not. I've tried hard as I could, though. (smiley)

Again and again, THANKYOUSOMUCH for all the reviews. (gives you all William plushies- or Ulrich plushies, if you don't like William. I like William. He's pretty.)

Disclaimer: I'd gladly trade my little sister for ownership of Code Lyoko.

Chapter 7
Day Three: Fly on the Wall

Jeremie knew where he was, even before his senses kicked into gear.

They say the third time's the charm. Surely enough, it was- he was by the exact fence, in the exact patch of grass (poor patch) in the exact same year. The year that wasn't right. He sighed. Another day, another revision.

He looked up at the Kadic fence, sadly. He could go back, of course. It wasn't, like he had concluded the previous revision, like he had anywhere else to be, or anything else to do. But he was growing tired of it. The idea of repeating the same day at Kadic again and again sounded displeasing enough to hear, but even more revolting to actually carry out.

He stood up, slowly, awkwardly, and shuffled to the gate, for the third time, leaning on the fence for support. He had only just realized how tired he was- an achievement for an all-nighter like him. Fatigue traveled along with memories through the timestream, and other than his nap the previous revision, he hadn't slept since he had narcolepsed through school back in his own time. In short, he wanted a bed. Badly.

The old tree he sat under most of the time would do for now. He staggered over to it, crashed down, and used the last of his strength to hack into the school mainframe again and insert the informational CD. Then, he slumped over, using his laptop as a pillow.

An instant later, he felt a hard hand against the side of his face. "Oy, glasses! Bell's ringin!"

He snapped up, aforementioned glasses falling off his face into his lap. Now he had an imprint of the Dell logo on his face, and a nice bruise to go with it. Looking around, he couldn't see his attacker, but could see a lot of kids running for the classrooms. Without thinking, he grabbed his bookbag, stuffed away his laptop, and ran for the English building.

He forgot to ask either Chris or Aelita for directions.

English was, surprisingly for 1994 Kadic, a rather quiet affair. Jeremie sat in the back, unconsciously determined not to be noticed. He did, however, feel a twinge in his stomach when Chris and Aelita sat right in front of them, chatting animatedly. Rather, Chris was rambling on and on about the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, and Aelita sat and listened to him patiently.

Even in the back, he was noticed again by Mrs. Principal's Wife, Medea Delmas. Their exchange happened much the same as it had in Chapter 6; if you want you can go back and read it. The only difference here was that once he remembered that he was supposed to go to the office and introduce himself, he did some thinking. The introduction had no real impact on the rest of the day, and besides, on the first revision, Jean-Pierre had found out about him eventually. Besides, he didn't feel like getting up.

Classes seemed to drag on worse than in any other revision, seeing as he slept through most of them, or at least tried to. The time between third and fourth period (art and history, if you must know) shouldn't have been too remarkable. But as Jeremie walked across the campus, almost zombielike, the full impact of what had happened to him hit all at once.

Sure, he'd known he was trapped in the past, but it had only been floating in his mind until now. Now it sank in in the form of fear- he'd never get home, never. He'd never be able to stop XANA in his own time. He'd never see his friends again...his friends.

Yumi. Ulrich. Odd, buffoon that he was. Aelita...the real Aelita, the Aelita he knew, the Aelita he had saved from Lyoko, Aelita, Aelita...he forced himself to keep thinking about her name, to keep all the other thoughts out. But they seeped through.

Maybe it could work like he'd thought yesterday, where he could get in to the supercomputer and reroute the return to the past, make it go to the future instead. If that was even possible. Besides, Franz was working on the supercomputer each and every afternoon, and he had no clue how many RTTPs were left. He had no way to get to it.

There was a slight pressure on his skin. He slapped at the tear, trying to hide it from the others. Crying never solves anything...big boys don't cry...stop it, Jeremie, stop it...

"Hey...are you okay?"

He looked up, hand still over the tear. Aelita was above him, looking much taller than he was. Her face looked like it was trying as hard as it could to display concern, but merely looked uninterested. Chris was standing nearby, confused.

"Yes..yes..." He nodded his head furiously.

"Mm. Good." She shrugged and walked away. Jeremie didn't dare look back after her, but scrambled to his next class. He couldn't afford to screw something up.

Lunch was packed as usual- or at least as usual as it was on that day. Maybe it was less crowded other days, he didn't know. Once again, the only slightly empty table was Chris and Aelita's. So Jeremie had no choice but to sit downriver from them again. This time, though, they did not notice him.

Chris was still rambling on, much the same as he had in English, about nothing at all. Aelita was still listening, nodding when she thought she needed to nod. Jeremie managed to catch a snippet of their conversation.

"...and why do we need to do homework for art, anyway? If what he says is right and art is whatever comes to your head, why are there all these rules and stuff? Yanno what I mean?" Chris seemed desperate to keep conversation going. A bead of sweat formed on his temple. He seemed more nervous in this revision than any other.

"My dad says that's why art shouldn't be taught. It's a natural process." She laughed a little, and looked in his eyes- rather deliberately. A blush spread across Chris's cheeks. He tried to hide it behind words.

"Yeah, sure. Heh, your dad's a pretty smart cookie. But he doesn't really know how to...well, be with people, yanno? Remember at that last dance-"

Aelita smiled and giggled some more. "Of course I remember! Poor Ms. Hertz...I wonder if she ever got those punch stains out."

Chris's expression lightened considerably- he had found a subject she liked. "Yeah, I wonder! And Medea gave him hell for it, didn't she?"

"Kind of. She sort of mock yelled at him for about three minutes, then started laughing and went to get Ms. Hertz out of the punch bowl. I can't really tell if she was mad or not."

They both laughed. Jeremie smiled. He was happy that Aelita was happy in this past life. Mostly, anyway. He tried to go back to eating his glop- then heard another voice cut in.

"How positively nerdish." It came from behind him. Jeremie turned around just enough to see four girls, sitting in a group halfway between him and Chris and Aelita. They were all talking and laughing very loudly. Jeremie had been to enough school to know what they were- a clique. The one that had just spoken was a tall, blonde early-bloomer with a shrill voice. She looked suspiciously like the leader.

"He doesn't realize that he's just living out some movie?" She groaned dramatically. "And especially on her- honestly, I don't see anything remarkable about her."

"Duh." The girl looked over at Aelita. "She's just pretending to be something. Y'know that hair? It's just to get attention. Without it, she's just some mousy little whore. He doesn't need to talk with her like this, she's the easiest chick in the whole school."

"Yeah, and she has the whole pity act going too. She's practically an orphan, yanno, with her mom dead and that thing for a dad."

"I think that's where she got all stuck-up and superior acting. Bad parenting."

"You'd think Chris would have noticed that. He probably doesn't give a rat's crap about her, just so long as he can stare at her boobs."

"Oh, really? What boobs?" They exploded into laughter. Aelita didn't hear it- but Chris did. He whirled round towards them, veins pulsing in his forehead. He couldn't have been this angry if Jeremie had suddenly sat next to Aelita.

"SHUT UP." The words were so powerful, they were almost a hiss. The four girls stared at him for several tense seconds- and then, miraculously, shut up. He turned back to Aelita. She looked positively confused. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing, Aelita. Nothing." He blushed deep crimson, and stared at the table, muttering unintelligible curses.

Jeremie was positively confused. First off, seeing as he was usually bullied by the male end of the spectrum (which usually consisted of a beating and stealing of glasses), so he was shocked at just how mean females could be. Next to them, Sissi seemed positively tame. (Not to mention pretty.)

Second, how could anyone talk about Aelita like that? He supposed that being who she was, she couldn't have done anything to them...and Chris was at no fault either, at least until maybe a minute ago. Maybe they were more different now than Jeremie had thought.

The bell rang, and his lunch was only half-eaten. He didn't care. Not that he liked the stuff anyway.

Science class was no spectacle, as it had been the past revisions. Once again, it was different from the other classes, from Franz's entry, to the subject matter, which was the elements again. But again, Franz noticed him. Called him 'interesting'. Every revision, when things were different, that was the same. Loony old man.

The other afternoon classes were no more interesting than usual. Jeremie slept through them, mostly. The final bell came no faster than usual- but if anything, it could have come just a bit slower. Just a bit.

He walked slowly towards the gate, another day over and done, his feet directed towards the streets. Perhaps he'd look around a store today. Or play around with a vending machine. At least, that was his plan, before footsteps fell into his line of hearing- and then voices.

Chris and Aelita were walking very close by. Quite like the last revision, he was talking about the weather, his hands covered in sweat. Aelita seemed blissfully unaware of the fact. They walked by without noticing the small bespectacled boy by a tree. But that boy noticed quite a bit- like the way Chris walked slightly closer to Aelita with every step, or the way his left hand fell near her right.

Then, suddenly, he stopped, and looked around. Finding nothing to continue his conversation, he sighed. "Uh...Aelita."

"Yeah, Chris?"

He seemed taken back just by simple recognition, but continued. "Look, can I, uhm, well...can I have a word with you? Yanno...before you go home? There's something..."

"Something you need to tell me, okay, whatever." She seemed unfazed. "I'll come." She took his hand. He blushed even more violently. Trying not to look at her, he walked off towards the opposite side of the square, towards a clump of abandoned trees.

Jeremie wouldn't have followed them, if it weren't for the next people to walk into view- the four girls he had seen at lunch. Their eyes were locked on the two walking. The leader whispered to the rest, they giggled, and ran after them, hiding behind trees like they were playing spy games.

That just about made up Jeremie's mind for him. He got up and bolted after them. He had a vague idea of what was going to happen- and he didn't like either side of it.

One sprint later, he was hiding behind an old oak tree, triangular with two others- the one where the girls were hiding, and the other that Chris and Aelita currently stood under, Aelita looking as mild as ever, but Chris red as a beet, sweating, heavy breathing, the whole nine yards. Jeremie wondered why Aelita didn't comment on this- unless she didn't notice.

Finally, he plucked up some sort of courage. "Look, I, uh...how long have we been friends, exactly?" His hold on her hand tightened considerably.

Aelita looked utterly confused. "Uh, a year, year and a half, two years. I remember it well. It was my first day here. You tripped and dropped all your books on me."

"Yeah, right...erm, sorry about that."

"Oh, it's just fine. You apologized plenty of times then." She laughed. Chris just looked more nervous.

"Of course, yes. Well...back to what I was saying, of course...Two years, that's not really a very long time, is it?"

"No...?"

"Haha, of course not. Thing is...for some time now, maybe since that day...maybe later..." He cleared his throat. This was clearly the moment he had been dreading. "You've kind of been...more than a friend to me. I've been feeling...something else for you, inside me."

Now, some rogue spread to Aelita's cheeks. "Ah, oh...really?"

"Yes, well, um...yeah. Exactly. I don't know how to describe it, really...but I can try, for you." He smiled for the first time in the clearing.

Jeremie clamped his hand over his mouth as revelation came to him. Well, duh. Why didn't he see it before? He couldn't decide whether to be excited or jealous. Excited that this was happening to Aelita, jealous that it wasn't him holding her hand and stammering the words.

Certain others weren't so touched. The girls were laughing as quietly as they could, pointing at Chris. One of them laughed longer than the rest.

"Yeah, sure, something else. But not in his heart, dear Aelita, but in his pants." They burst into laugher again.

Something in Jeremie's fragile brain snapped. He stood up, leaving his bag behind, and stomped over to where the girls stood. He was lucky the two didn't notice him- but the girls definitely did. He scrapped the idea as soon as they saw him. But too late.

"Uh...I think...I think you'd better shut up!" he said, rather louder than he meant.

They stared at him a moment, apparently resisting the urge to laugh. The leader smiled at him, almost lecherously. "And why should we, exactly?"

"Because it's none of your business what they do, is it? Huh?"

"Yeah, but it's none of yours, either." She walked closer to him, stroking his turtleneck. "Are you new? You're cute."

Her cohorts giggled and surrounded him, playing with his hair, pinching his cheeks, touching him every way he could. His pleading seemed only to encourage them. "Stop! Stop!"

He could still hear Chris and Aelita, faintly. Neither of them seemed to have noticed Jeremie or the girls.

"Chris, you can tell me anything. You don't have to be afraid how I'll receive it."

"But I am afraid..." There was a pause. "Fine, just gotta get it over with..."

He took several deep breaths. "Aelita...Aelita Hopper...I really need to tell you...I...I lov- hey, what's going on?"

Jeremie gasped audibly. He struggled against the girls. "Please, leave me alone! I haven't done anything to you!"

"That's what you think, sweetie pie." The leader towered over her underlings, the afternoon sun harsh on her blonde hair. "Why were you watching them, anyway? Think you could-"

He didn't want to hear anymore. "No, no, just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Without thinking, he sprang up, kicked a girl out of the way, and lunged for the leader. He swung his fist right at her nose, feeling bones break at the impact. Yet he kept on punching, ignoring the increasing blood and screams.

All common sense, all intuition flew away from his mind as his own screams joined hers, spewing profanity he'd never heard. "AND YOU JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM, YOU GOT IT? YOU WANNA CRAP SOMEONE'S LIFE UP, CRAP ON YOURSELF! GOT IT? GOT IT?"

And that was just the tame part.

Eventually, his punches slowed. He looked down at he girl. She was alive, of course, but her face was a mask of blood and flesh. There were splatters all over her perfect hair. She was still screaming. Jeremie felt tears soak his eyes.

"...what the...what have I done?"

"Damn straight."

He looked up. Chris and Aelita were standing over him. Aelita was too busy looking at the still-screaming girl to say anything. Chris was absolutely furious. His face was red- in a different way.

"Who the hell are you? Why'd you have to go and pull a stunt like that? Huh?" All happiness was gone. Jeremie was in trouble now.

"Uh, I, uh..." He couldn't find an answer. He got up, grabbed his bookbag, and scampered.

He could still hear Chris screaming behind him. "Hey! You come back here! Come back and fix what you started! Argh...c'mon, Aelita, let's..."

The rest was drowned out by distance. Jeremie bolted out the gate, down the road, running, running, not caring where he was going. He tripped over a garbage can, got up, and started running again, the pounding of his feet resonating in his mind.

It was only when the sound of his footfalls changed when he realized he had just walked into the 7-11 like establishment he had seen in the previous revision. Junk crammed the walls. There was a Freezy fountain over in a corner. The pimply teenage clerk hadn't noticed him. Slowly, he got a cherry Freezy, paid for it, and leaned against the counter, sucking on the straw furiously.

He could not, for all honesty, believe what he had just done. He was not a violent person. Stubborn, maybe, but not violent. He couldn't even hold his own against a freaking Kankrelat. So why...? Maybe it was just a reflex. An automatic response to any threat directed towards Aelita. He'd just been protecting her, right? Yeah, right. She didn't even know his name in this revision.

But seriously, he told himself. It was just schoolyard gossip. No reason to go and bust anyone up. So why...?

A tall, thin, wild-haired man stepped up next to him and also paid for a cherry Freezy. He wore a black and white striped shirt with a manic smiling face on it, and goat-toed boots. He tried to avoid eye contact.

He hoped that the girl's injury would be healed by the afternoon's RTTP. Most of all, he hoped that there would be an RTTP. He couldn't run from this for the rest of his life. If someone like the school officials found him, he was screwed unless they told the truth.

But would they believe the truth?

He felt a tap on his shoulder. The pimply clerk was looking at him. "Sorry kid, but you gotta get out. Y've been here for four hours."

It was indeed pretty dark outside. The odd man was gone. Jeremie stood up without a word to the clerk and slouched out, throwing out his Freezy as he walked. It was only half-finished.

As he walked across the parking lot, a police car sped by. He jumped back about a foot. That snapped his situation into gear- he'd have to hide until the RTTP happened. Make sure nobody found him. He took to the streets again. He'd only walked two blocks before he felt a hand pulling on his shoulder.

Looking back for a split second, he saw a tall, gangly twentysomething with multiple piercings, his pointed nails digging into his flesh. A sneer crossed his face. "Hey, cream puff. Y'know you're in the wrong side of town, right?" He showed all his yellowing teeth. Jeremie didn't say a word.

"Oh, yeah, I see. You havin' a hard life? I got some shit here..." He began to pull a vial of something clear out of his pocket. Of course. While he was distracted, Jeremie wrenched free of him and ran as far away as he could. He could hear the man curse a block away.

Okay, no more streets for now. Jeremie tried to get out into a more open area. 7, hm. The RTTP should be happening in less than an hour. The RTTP. Of course. The factory. He didn't have to sit in a shaft. He could just sit outside, look at it...not that there was much to look at, but the boy was desperate.

It took him quite a while to find it. He had to trace a different path towards the school, then loop around to the abandoned building. All while not being seen. It was hard- but worth it, as he came out to the factory, just as the sun was going down.

He sat by the ledge overlooking the water, legs swinging freely. So this must be what it's like to be a fugitive. Always running from anyone that might recognize you... hahaha. I won't break the law anymore. At least not more than I already have getting involved in Lyoko and all.

The old building looked even older from here, and some sunlight shone though its broken windows. It was beautiful. Somewhere below it, Franz Hopper sat, improving Lyoko for human inhabitants, in a chair Jeremie would someday sit in. From the outside, it was hard to imagine that the innocent-looking building held such a deep secret.

But it had to be confirmed when, like the fires of Judgement Day, the all-too-familiar white bubble burst out of the factory. Jeremie's face lit up at the side of it. As it came closer, he stood up, madman thoughts racing in him. Inches from it, he leapt in, unable to take the suspense any more.

D'awww yesh.

If you can identify the man that came into the 7-11 type place, you get a free Yumi plushie. Season 4 Lyoko Yumi.

I hope you all liked this. Next chapter, things get interesting...very interesting indeed...

-Carth