I'm back! Yay! Chapter 4! Cool!

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Chapter 4: It was an Accident!

Mark sighed. Dreary day, dreary room mates, dreary people. Maybe…naw… Mark pushed away the uncomfortable thought. No way.

Mark tapped his pencil on the table top, at the same time chewing the inside of his cheek. He scribbled an answer in the next question box, not caring if he answered it correctly.

The impatient boy looked at the clock, and let out a small sigh of relief. The big hand was about to move.

Ringringringringringringringring!

The continuous sound of the bell interrupted the teacher's sentence, as well as Mark's train of thought.

"Today assignment is page A27 in the book," He tried to yell over the bell. Mark, seated near the front, barely even heard him. Hugging his books to his chest, his heart aching with memories, the boy practically ran out of the room.

Using his small amount of knowledge of the campus, Mark made his way out of the building. He, however, found it hard to concentrate on finding his way as well as fighting back the tears that had come with the memory that had consumed his mind.

Flash back…

"Good one!"

"Not better than yours."
"No way…yours was better than mine. No denying it!"

Mark held the not under his desk and tried not to laugh out loud. Sometimes, his gothic best friend could be one heck of a good time.

The two boys hadn't dared use their real names while passing notes—that would have been bad if the notes were found on the floor. No, the used code names.

Mark? MadArt.

Leslie? The Lizzester.

Adam was EarthDude (for a lack of a lesser amount of a creative name).

And finally, Max was X-Man.

At the moment, X-Man and MadArt had been exchanging some particularly funny notes. The two hadn't notice the bell beginning ring, signaling the end of class.

"What are you two still doing in here?" The teacher asked. Startled, the two boys jumped, and looked up. What had followed was an awkward explanation and a warning. Mark and Max and burst into laughter the moment the door closed behind them.

After calming down, they'd had to run to their next class. Each boy had received a tardy slip. Mark recalled the small detail as he came out of the hall and into the sun.

Very near by, Ulrich cursed silently as the outdoor area filled with students. As the bell had just rung, Ulrich was no longer able to search. He would have to return to the factory.

As he turned, the boy noticed something strange.

It was Sissi, the principal's daughter. She was staring as Ulrich, which was normal. That' wasn't what had attracted the boy's glance.

It was the fact that Sissi wasn't surrounded by her usual cronies- Herve and Nicholas- and was standing very much by herself, her face pulled into her usual scowel.

"Huh?" Ulrich muttered to himself. He averted his eyes to the new movement.

Sissi and her cronies were walking out of the history building!

"But that's not possible; it must be X.A.N.A," Ulrich muttered to himself. He glanced where the first Sissi had been standing only a moment ago.

She wasn't there.

If Ulrich had been sure it was X.A.N.A.'s doing before, he doubly sure now.

Ulrich clicked his little ear piece. He was calling Jeremy. The technical boy would want to know.

Ulrich talked as he walked swiftly towards the factory, explaining to Jeremy what he'd seen.

"That's not good," Jeremy said.

"Thank you, Mister Obvious," Ulrich replied. Jeremy ignored the comment and continued.

"At least now we know what X.A.N.A. is doing. For some reason, it's creating copies of people. Maybe…Never mind. Tell you at the factory. Come quick, we need all the help we can get…well support, anyways. We can't really re-vertulize you…"

Jeremy trailed off, and then was cut off by static. He had abruptly hung up.

Ulrich wasn't paying attention to where his feet were going. He was focused on his destination, and it was a wonder that he hadn't bumped into any one sooner. But that was the precise reason he fell over some one now.

That person was Mark.

Mark had been hurrying towards the forest, so no one would see him crying. His new dorm was too risky -- Odd or Ulrich could have been in there. Bathrooms were always crowded after class. Mark decided to follow the path in the wood. Maybe he would run into the people who had been running between the trees earlier. It was your classic two birds-one stone scenario. Find the hikers—which, for some reason, was very important to Mark—and let out his tears.

That was his plan—until he was tripped, and fallen on.

"Oomph!" Mark landed, sprawled, his books now ten feet away. Ulrich, who had been on Mark's legs, stood quickly. Mark however, took a little longer to recover.

Well, actually, a lot longer.

Ulrich groaned. "I'm sorry…Mark is that you? Gee, that was stupid…you okay...?Mark….?"

Mark wasn't moving his eyes were closed, and there was a big red scrape on his chin. His hoodie had been torn on both elbows, and at the cuffs. One pant leg had ripped. The side that already had had a rip was pinkish and sore on the exposed skin. Mark had fallen hard.

"Oh man, what did I do, he's out cold, oh no, oh no…wait he's moving! He's okay!" Ulrich's thoughts whipped around his head.

Mark was indeed moving. His eye lips flickered. Ulrich crouched down beside the boy.

"Oooow," The boy, still sprawled, complained. He blinked his eyes.

"Here," Ulrich offered his hand. Mark took it and Ulrich helped to boy back to his feet. Mark was a little wobbly, and using this time, Ulrich made sure no one was staring.

No one was.

Mark looked around, drinking in the sight.

Wait.

Ulrich handed Mark his books. Mark took them from him dumbly.

"Sorry," Ulrich said for the second time.

Mark cocked his head at him.

"For what?"

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Ooooo! Cliff hanger! Hope you enjoyed!

What happened to Mark?

Why is Mark at Kadic?

Will Mark discover on Lyoko?

What wil X.A.N.A think of Mark?

All these questions and more, answered in the next chapter!

~Elena Forest