Yes... I uploaded a little bit early again. That's because it was my last day working at my Dad's Child Care Centre for now. On with the story!

Pretty Hate Machine

Anger makes me submit if the employer gives me what I truly desire.

Chapter 6: I'll Do Anything For You

A long day had passed since the news report. The news spread quickly around campus, as day students who watched the report told their boarding friends about Ulrich Stern's house being mysteriously destroyed. All day, Ulrich and his group of friends were hounded by the other schoolkids, asking them questions of the incident. Ulrich wanted to answer them to shut down any accusations, but his friends were quick to state that Ulrich needed to be left to recover.

However, there were those who constantly pestered the group. They were Ulrich's obsessed fangirl, Sissi Delmas with her cronies, Nicholas and Herve and the Kadic News Team, Milly and Tamiya. They were annoying in their own ways. Sissi tried to worm her way into the group to get close to Ulrich. Fortunately, the group denied her access to Ulrich, especially Yumi, who kept an eye on Sissi when she was just in the area. And believe it or not, the Kadic Paparazzi were more difficult to remove than Sissi.

Armed with a tape recorder and a camera, they would ambush the group, rushing towards their target, Ulrich Stern. Being stronger than Sissi Delmas combined and both shorter than her, they could duck, weave and squeeze through Ulrich's friends. When they did reach him, they would begin to use their weapons. Tamiya always made sure that the camera was always recording, and Milly shoved the tape recorder in Ulrich's face and began asking questions.

Ulrich's response every time was 'I'm still trying to take this in. Just leave me alone until I can come up with an answer.' But after several times, the group decided to hang out in the dorm rooms, as they were sick of getting hounded by the young news reporters and other kids. Mr. Delmas allowed this, understanding that Ulrich needed the support of his close friends only during the difficult time.

When Ulrich went to bed that night, he only remembered how he felt about the day. He hated the attention he received from everyone about this, especially since he knew the entire story of what happened behind the scenes. He was behind it, he didn't feel much remorse and he wanted to do it secretly. Then again, it wasn't his fault that his father was significant employee of France's largest bank.

However, some of the remorse began to kick in once he thought of his mother. Wondering how she'd cope living in a house that was turned upside down, Ulrich placed himself in her shoes. He could see her walking around the house, avoiding the broken glass and the mess on the floor. Then, he imagined her picking up a book and shedding a tear.

Ulrich sighed, wishing that he could avoid his mother during the conflict between him and his father. But there was no good time for Avikar to assist him other than the night, so he had to do it. After all, there were always innocent victims in conflicts.

"Ulrich! Wake up! We're going to be late for breakfast!" Odd exclaimed.

Ulrich groaned and shuffled in his bed. He opened his eyes, looking up at Odd, who was completely dressed and ready for the day. Since Odd had to wait for Ulrich due to the attention that was on him now, Ulrich could see that Odd was growing impatient.

"Is something wrong with you buddy?" Odd enquired.

Ulrich sat up and answered, "No."

"Look, maybe you should have some days off," Odd suggested.

"I can't do that. What if XANA attacks?" Ulrich questioned.

"I'm sure we can take XANA without your help for one or two XANA attacks. Don't worry about it too much," Odd stated.

Ulrich sighed, and ignored what Odd said. He still had that guilty feeling inside from thinking about his mother. The only good he did to her was to prevent her to be beaten senselessly by his father for a couple of days due to the media attention on them. At least, he hoped that cleared up his conscious slightly compared to his involvement in destroying the home's interior.

The fourteen year old brought his legs over the side of the bed with his thoughts sorted out. He couldn't go back. He couldn't go back to the life he knew before he agreed to do the operation with Avikar. Too much damage had been done, and he was just forced to go with it.

"Let's go."

After classes were over for the day, Ulrich returned to his dorm room alone. He was glad he had some time to himself considering he didn't have any for the past day. Entering his dorm room, Ulrich was met with beautiful silence. He closed the door behind him straight away, absorbing all of it in.

The teenager sat on the desk chair, looking out the window. He had a nice view of the forest, where he would spend most of his alone time there. It was made tranquil by the silence in the room and the wonderful sight it was from the room.

However, he didn't intend to spend his time by admiring the view. He opened his satchel and pulled out a yellow folder. Reading that it belonged to his father, Hector Stern, with the big bold word stating it was 'confidential', Ulrich smirked and opened it.

He was met with a full report it seems. On what, Ulrich had no clue on, but suspected it was to do with the experiments he was a part of. Ulrich grew curious about what these experiments were all about, and how his father crossed the line between ethical and unethical.

Just as he turned the page, Odd barged into the room. Ulrich quickly shut the folder and flipped it to the other side, so it wasn't revealed he was reading a document of his father's. He couldn't allow Odd to find out what he was doing or it could easily jeopardise his mission and Odd's life.

"Hey Ulrich, do you want to play foosball with me? It'll make you feel better," Odd asked.

"No, I'm fine thanks," Ulrich responded.

"Really? C'mon, you always play foosball when you're down," Odd retorted.

"And I said no," Ulrich snapped, and spun around suddenly, "What part of that do you not understand? Now just leave me alone!"

"Fine, be that way," Odd stated, and slammed the door behind him.

Ulrich sighed in relief, glad he was able to get Odd out of the room and hide that he was reading his father's confidential documents. Even if it meant turning down a game of foosball, which Ulrich was in no mood to play, he could spend more time going through the document to find the paragraph that would ruin his father.

Outside the room, Odd looked back at the room, wondering what on Earth was on Ulrich's mind to flat out reject a game of foosball. Usually, Ulrich would either accept the offer right away or think about it and state his answer. But Ulrich had no hesitation to avoid playing foosball with Odd. Odd tried to find a reason for him not playing foosball, deliberating between 'not in the mood' or 'needing some time alone'. But none seemed to make sense, especially since Ulrich didn't provide a reason behind his answer.

Ulrich's roommate was growing incredibly suspicious, but knew he wouldn't be allowed in the room for some time. With Jeremie and Aelita working on the multi-agent program in the library and Yumi just heading home, it seemed like Odd couldn't turn to anyone. However, an idea struck him. He sprinted down the stairs, hoping that his thought would work out.

Fifteen minutes later, Odd had arrived in the Factory's Supercomputer Laboratory. Odd had never been to the Factory alone, having always hung out with his friends and bringing a special girl in here once. He felt small in the large room, spotting the large holomap in the centre of the room and looking up to see how high the ceiling was as he approached the Supercomputer.

Odd took a seat in Jeremie's comfy chair and stretched his fingers. He was going to do a lot of typing, that's for sure. But to his surprise, a chatting window appeared on screen. Odd grew curious of who the initiator of the conversation was. But he quickly realised it was none other than…

Franz Hopper.

With his message, 'Hello Jeremie', on screen, Odd was confounded. Should he respond? Would he be interrupting Franz? Could he explain what's going on with Ulrich? Either way, Odd's curiosity got the best of him, and he began typing his response.

'It's Odd. You got the wrong blonde. I don't blame you though.'

Franz responded immediately, giving no time for Odd to think about his response. Odd assumed that Franz was giving his full attention to him.

'Hello Odd. Why are you here?'

'I'm worried about Ulrich. His house was recently destroyed from the inside. But he rejected a game of foosball right away. He doesn't do that, especially during a difficult time.'

'This could explain why.'

Franz then sent a file to Odd through the chat box. It was a video file, which Odd found strange, considering he's probably only seen pictures of Ulrich before, not a video recording. Odd opened the video file, and watched it carefully.

Ulrich entered the Factory and immediately leaped to the rope. He slowly went down the length, hitting the ground running. He then rushed towards the elevator and pressed the button. He entered the elevator as soon as its doors opened and stepped inside it. When the elevator doors closed, the video ended.

Odd was shocked. At first he denied the evidence he saw, believing that Ulrich did not enter the Factory except when he came back from his parents two days ago. But once he looked at the date of the video, he realised it was the day after… but it was at around midnight on that day. And he was certain that the time wouldn't be wrong, especially on a Supercomputer made by a genius.

'Odd?'

The boy noticed that Franz spoke to him again. However, he found it difficult to believe what he just saw. Why would his friend be going to the Factory again within the space of eight hours?

'Sorry. I just find it hard to believe.'

'I'm sorry Odd, but the camera doesn't lie. Neither does the date or the time.'

'But why did it cut off when he took the elevator?'

'I think somebody tampered the recording.'

'How?'

'I have no idea, but I am concerned Odd. I'm glad you came, because I don't think that would be Ulrich's last suspicious sighting at the Factory.'

'What do you mean?'

'We need to figure out why Ulrich's in the Factory. It would explain why the recordings are being tampered.'

'What do you want me to do?'

'Just come here tomorrow. I'll secretly record the audio and the visual information from where I'm staying, and I'll send the data.'

'Thanks Franz. I'll head off now. Good luck.'

'Thanks, you too.'

Odd closed the window and jumped off the computer chair. He felt a lot better knowing that Franz was taking care of things for him. However, he was also worried about what Ulrich was up to. There was no clue from the clip he saw what his intentions were.

Little did he know that Franz was going to uncover something that would turn the world as they knew it upside down.

Late at night, Ulrich arrived in the Supercomputer Lab. He remained emotionless as he possibly could, knowing he was going to commit another crime for the sake of putting his father behind bars. It was amazing how he could keep a straight face around his friends, while inside his emotions were chaotic and thrashing about. He wondered how long he could keep this up before it all suddenly gushed out.

He spoke to Avikar briefly before once again, commanding Pascal and Blaise to break into his father's workplace and find more documents pertaining to his father's unethical work during the experiments. Ulrich executed his orders without any hesitation, despite having second thoughts. He was stunned just how he could ignore his morals and use Blaise and Pascal as his pawns that would do anything he says.

But this was all for a good cause, Ulrich kept on telling himself. He could use his hate against his father indirectly to save his mother. He just had to keep on picturing the end result instead of thinking of the means of how he got to that happy ending.

The mission was successful, and the two spectres gave Ulrich the documents they retrieved from his father's office. Once the delivery was made, Pascal and Blaise returned to Lyoko to join their resistance group once again.

Ulrich placed the box of documents next to the chair, waiting for Avikar to say something. It was painful having to wait after doing that sort of work, but he remained patient, hoping it would pay off in the end. When five minutes passed by however, Ulrich grew annoyed. Tapping his fingers frantically on the arms of the chair didn't kill enough time. He had to speak to get Avikar's attention, even if it could potientially cost him a chance at saving his mother.

"Avikar… It's me, Ulrich here. Can you hear me?" Ulrich enquired.

Almost immediately, Avikar responded, "Loud and clear, my friend."

"I'm just wondering why you didn't speak to me straight after we completed the mission," Ulrich stated.

"I just found out something about your father. When Blaise hacked your father's computer she found the address of a building of some significant which could be connected to the experiment. Which could lead to finding out what illegal activities have been done to the participants," Avikar explained.

"Did she find out who the participants were?" Ulrich asked.

"It's not 'who', it's 'how' they were treated," Avikar argued.

"Why is it what they did to them more important than who they were?" Ulrich demanded.

"If we want to prove your father guilty, it's how that they were treated during the experiment that would matter most," Avikar answered.

"It's not just that. It's how the experiment affected their lives that's significant. After all these people would be living with this… burden that they wished they could get off their shoulders!" Ulrich retorted angrily.

"Ulrich… You're one selfish asshole. You only care for yourself!"

"Since when did caring for others become a selfish act?"

"Because we are working together to bring down your father, boy! You can't let yourself go off the rails; otherwise you'll never be free from your father's grasp! Do you want that?"

"No, but I believe that we're heading in the wrong direc-"

"We can't go back now. Especially after you destroyed the interior of your home. Isn't that right, Ulrich?"

Ulrich felt hot under the collar. That was true. Without any second thoughts, he did order that action out of hate of his father. And he was beginning to regret it because of the harm that was caused to his mother. But he couldn't deny it.

"Yes."

"And you don't regret making that decision, mainly because you know that in the end, you're going to put your father behind bars?"

Ulrich gulped. Another difficult question to answer. He did regret his action, but saying no as an answer could cost him support from Avikar and his allies, the only physical help he had to destroy his father's standing.

"Y-Yes," Ulrich answered in a stammer.

"And I assume your friends don't even know this thing that you're doing. That what you're doing is against the law as well, but you know it's all for the good of those people, because you are protecting them from your father, don't you?" Avikar questioned.

The samurai was shot into silence. Avikar was completely right. Protecting his friends was one of two things on the top of his priorities. He assumed that Avikar knew that he was also fighting for a good cause; after all, they were both fighting against XANA.

"Yeah. I have to protect my friends, no matter what happens to me, they can't get involved in this. Otherwise their lives will be endangered," Ulrich responded.

"The decision you made with me three days ago had forged you a new path from which you cannot stray. You've become the very thing you want to be… Powerful, and only caring to the actions that have affected these poor people. Isn't that right?" Avikar enquired.

"Yes Avikar. You have made me powerful to help me get revenge on my father. And I… I don't know what other path I can rely on to finally ruin him. Please… Command me as one of your own. Your direction can set me a path for which I can follow, and so I can get what I truly desire," Ulrich pleaded.

"So you want all of this power, but in order to get it, you're submitting yourself to me?" Avikar asked.

"Yes, I'll do whatever it takes to ruin my father. I just don't want my mother or my friends to get hurt," Ulrich replied.

"Then I'll happy to take you up on your offer."

"Thank you, you'll be grateful for my assistance."

"Good, I'll text you next time I want to see you. For now, I'll see you next time we meet."

"See you later."

Avikar disappeared from the screen, leaving Ulrich basking in the silence. There was nothing going through his mind, a strange feeling, considering what he's been through. He took off the headset and placed it carefully on the keyboard. Suddenly, he could feel the sweat trailing down his face. He brushed through his hair, realising it was covered in sweat. How did he not notice this before? Either way, he began to feel horrible.

Ulrich hopped off the computer chair, and grabbed his black jacket that he hung on the back of the chair. He zipped it up over his singlet, removing the coldness he felt. Then he picked up the box of documents and walked towards the elevator, remaining emotionless as he could possibly be.

Lunchtime, the next day, the group apart from Odd were sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria. Everybody found Odd's absence from the cafeteria incredibly strange, knowing how much he loved to eat and how much he ate in particular. Plus he was the most social person of the group too, so the racket from their table was significantly cut down.

Although, Ulrich didn't mind Odd's disappearance. He saw him for almost every hour of every day, so it was nice to get away from him for some time. However, he was wondering where Odd was. But every time Yumi called him he didn't pick up.

"It would be nice if he said something," Yumi growled in frustration, after calling him for the fifth time.

"I'm sure he's out with a girlfriend to lunch. We shouldn't worry about him too much," Jeremie stated calmly.

"Yeah. Although, if he heard it was spaghetti and meatballs for lunch, then he probably would've skipped his meeting with his girlfriend," Aelita mentioned.

Ulrich chuckled at the thought as he ate the last of his lunch. That would be true if that was the case. However, he wanted to go back to the Factory after what happened last night. He needed to confront Avikar about accusing him of not caring for a person. His head wasn't all there during the discussion, and he'd wished he could take those words back, especially that pledge.

"I'll go out and look for him," Ulrich lied, getting out of his seat.

"Good idea. Call us if you find him," Yumi responded.

Ulrich smiled and walked past the table. He was going to 'look' in the forest first, where he would be able to access the Factory without his friends' knowledge. He exited the cafeteria, looking like he was in a hurry to find Odd.

Just as Ulrich left the cafeteria, Yumi's phone rang. She answered it almost immediately, hoping it was Odd on the other end of the call.

"Hey Yumi," Odd said.

"I've been trying to contact you for ten minutes now. What have you been doing?" Yumi demanded.

"I was at the Factory," Odd answered.

"Why are you there?" Yumi questioned.

"Franz Hopper gave me a file and recommended me to view it with you guys right now," Odd responded.

"Alright, I'll call Ulrich up-" Yumi began to speak.

"No. Ulrich isn't invited to this meeting. In fact, the files on this disk is about him," Odd interrupted.

"What do you mean by that?" Yumi asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. I'm in the forest right now. Try to distract Ulrich with something else to do if he's interested," Odd suggested.

"Actually, he went out looking for you, so you better think on your toes," Yumi retorted.

"Alright. I'll see you soon."

Odd hung up and sprinted. He was in the forest and he needed to reach Jeremie's room before being spotted by Ulrich. He didn't mind getting seen by Ulrich, but he would get there quicker if he didn't have to come up with an excuse. He went down the fastest route to the school which he knew of.

However, he was coincidently running down the same path as Ulrich, and they both saw each other. They slowed down their run and approached each other casually, yet it felt extremely awkward for Odd to run into him like this.

"Hey Ulrich, what are you up to?" Odd asked.

"I just need some time alone. I was just thinking about the inside of my house being destroyed again and I need to escape from it. I'll catch you later," Ulrich responded.

Ulrich ran deeper into the forest while Odd was watching him. Once Ulrich was out of his sight, Odd turned around and walked at a quick pace to the school. However, he suddenly realised that Ulrich just lied to him, and his friends too.

Odd remembered that Yumi said that Ulrich was searching for him, while Ulrich told him something completely different. Ulrich was getting shadier by each moment. Odd couldn't wait to hear the contents on that CD he was carrying.

Author's Notes: Jeremie (and Aelita) have communicated to Franz Hopper through an instant messaging system on the show (shown in Distant Memory in particular). I believe that's Franz's main form of communication with the group, due to avoid being found by XANA. So anything with these talking marks ('') and that are in italics mean they are speaking via instant messaging device.

Foosball is the more formal name for Table Soccer, which is a pretty fun game. Not to mention how many times Ulrich and Odd have played it throughout Season 4 in the Rec Room.

And on that cliffhanger, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!