Hello all! Sorry for the long delay but my life basically consists of school, rehearsals, sleep, and school. Not a lot of free time, but I hope to never have this long of a wait between updating ever again!
So, before I start the chapter, I want to give a MAJOR shout out to my bestie who edited this chapter and is now a god in my book! I love ya and thanks sooo much!
Also, I do not have a song for this chapter, so instead I want to hear what your favoritesong is!
Okay, thanks so much for reading this story! I have big plans for it! R&R!
Two
The soft pattering of rain hitting the roof of the nearly deserted Recreation Room filled the ears of Ulrich Stern, Aelita Stones, and Odd Della Robbia. But out of everything they could do there on their last glorious Sunday night of freedom before school started for another week, Odd had challenged Ulrich to a foosball battle. At first Ulrich found it extremely amusing. Now, after twenty long minutes of the plastic ball slamming against the pegs making Ulrich's teeth rattle, he just wanted to go back to his dorm and relax. Odd didn't even notice. He was working up a sweat spinning the handles, passing the ball from peg to peg, and trying desperately to finally beat Ulrich. He was so close! Just one more point and he would have him. When Ulrich started to yawn, Odd saw his chance. He adjusted the little plastic ball so that it was directly in front of one of his pegs, and he spun the metal handle so hard the ball made a distinct SMACK against the wood of Ulrich's goal. Ulrich stared at Odd in disbelief.
"Ten to nine!" Odd hollered in triumph, arms raised over his head like he had just won the World Cup. Odd leaned in a little closer and whispered, "In case you didn't know, I'm the ten."
"That's not fair, Odd!" Ulrich complained, slightly annoyed, "I was yawning! I didn't even know it was possible to take cheap-shots in foosball."
Odd shrugged, "It's not my fault you can't keep your eyes open." A nasty look from Ulrich made him reluctantly sigh, "Fine, fine. Next point wins." And with that Ulrich got the ball effortlessly and lined it up so that it was in the center of one of his golden pegs. He gave Odd a mischievous glance and got the exact response he wanted. Odd's eyes were pleading him not to do it but that didn't stop Ulrich. He spun his metal handle with so much strength, the ball actually split in two when it crashed against the wooden inside of Odd's goal. Odd literally deflated where he stood— shoulders slumped and head hanging—while Ulrich was smiling to himself over his victory.
"You know, Odd, you're almost as good at foosball as you are at studying," Ulrich teased.
"Thank you!" Odd huffed. Odd stared at Ulrich from across the foosball table. Ulrich saw what Odd was doing and took up the challenge. The two boys stared at each other over the long foosball table with straight faces, daring the other to look away first. But Odd couldn't keep a serious face for long. Soon, the blond had his big, goofy grin plastered on his face. Ulrich laughed with his friend.
As Ulrich turned away from the foosball table, he saw Aelita gazing out the window watching the rain. She stared intently at the falling water. Ulrich saw the worry that was painted all over her face. He looked at her confused, and started walking towards her. Noticing Aelita's dejected appearance too, Odd followed, forgetting all about both the foosball game and the staring contest.
"Are you ok?" Ulrich asked as he saw concern flicker in her eyes. Aelita heaved an uneasy sigh before answering the question.
"XANA has been really quiet lately," she said softly without looking at Ulrich.
Odd was confused. "Isn't that a good thing?"
"Yes and no," Aelita replied, "Yes, we are getting a nice break from fighting him but… what if he's been planning something over these past few weeks? What if it's something big?" Her voice broke as she looked up at her two friends.
"Don't worry Princess. We'll always be here to protect you," Odd said putting his arm around Aelita.
"It's not just me I'm worried about," she said tensely, clearly on the brink of frustrated.
"Let loose, Aelita! You need to stop having the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time," Odd said playfully. Aelita immediately shrugged his arm off her shoulders.
"That's kind of hard when I'm the only one that can stop him! It's a big deal; I can't just forget about it!" Aelita snapped. "Ugh! I'm stressed out!" she shouted as she marched over to the couch. Ulrich and Odd watched as she sat down fuming. Odd was still watching her, confused, when Ulrich turned to face him.
"What did I do?" Odd asked him innocently.
"She's sensitive, Odd. She cares about everything. It's not something you can just tell her to stop doing," Ulrich explained.
"But she really does need to relax."
"Of course she does, but you don't go up to a girl and tell her to 'relax'!"
"I've done it to a bunch of girls!"
"Yeah, and look where all those relationships led," Ulrich pointed out to the very single Odd. He turned and started to walk towards Aelita, leaving a pondering Odd.
"Aelita," Ulrich tried to grab her attention but she refused to give it to him. "Aelita," he tried again. She folded her arms and didn't budge. Ulrich sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Aelita, you know how Odd can be."
"Oh, yeah? How can he be?" she barked.
"Things don't always come out the way he wants them to. What he meant by it was that you aren't all alone. We're concerned about it, too, Yumi, Odd, and I. And you know Jeremie is working his butt off just for you." Aelita blushed slightly at the thought of Jeremie working hard for her. "We all care about you, and we will find a way to stop XANA. I promise," Ulrich finished. Aelita looked up and stared at Ulrich with her large green eyes.
"Thanks," she said with a weak voice. She could feel the tears behind her eyes. Before they spilled over, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Ulrich hugged her back and said quietly:
"We are all in this together."
Aelita tightened her grip. This was the best she had felt in two weeks. She had always known it but she was glad that Odd and Ulrich said that they were there for her always. Just the thought of it made her smile even more.
Aelita and Ulrich were still in their embrace when the Recreation Room's door opened and slammed shut. She could hear the sound of running feet coming towards where she and Ulrich sat. The footsteps stopped, and Aelita could see two brown shoes. She looked up and saw Jeremie Belpois standing right in front of them. Her face turned bright red. Hurriedly, she quickly untangled her arms from Ulrich's neck and pushed him off. Ulrich wasn't offended; he knew Aelita didn't want Jeremie to get the wrong idea. But apparently it was too late. Jeremie obviously seemed hurt. Aelita and Jeremie were staring at each other, having a silent conversation that only they could understand. Finally, Odd came to the rescue and broke up the awkward tension.
"So!" he clapped his hands together loudly. Aelita's and Jeremie's heads snapped forward to look at him. "Einstein, why were you in such a rush to see us?" Odd's questioned brought Jeremie out of his own world and back to reality. Alarm filled his eyes and he grabbed for the TV remote. He was flipping through the channels while he explained everything.
"So I was sitting in my room working on my laptop when I heard this on the radio. It's the biggest news in France right now!" Jeremie stopped talking when he found the channel he was looking for.
On the flat screen TV, there was a woman in a crisp black suit standing in front of a train at the station. In between her and the train were about ten people, all of which were receiving urgent medical attention. Several ambulances were parked around the scene, and some were pulling away with their sirens blaring.
"Wait, isn't that the train station here in town?" Ulrich asked a little worried.
"Yes, now hush," Jeremie replied.
"Hello, this is Janet Jones and right now I am standing here in front of train number one hundred and forty-five, the crime scene where fifteen innocent civilians were brutally attacked. The train was docked at the station when the aftermath of the horrible scene was discovered by the conductor. He has informed us that he became suspicious when he realized no one was exiting one of the train cars, so he went to determine the source of the delay. When he opened the door, he found fifteen unconscious bodies on the floor. The attacker was nowhere in the train car. The local authorities have yet to disclose any details on the whereabouts of the attacker but as of yet, it looks as though he has fled and left no clues behind. Since the discovery of the fifteen unconscious bodies, they have all been taken away from the sight of the attack and are now receiving medical attention from local medics. Upon the awakening of several of the victims, they found they could not recollect the horrible events that took place in the train car. Doctors have diagnosed most of the passengers with severe shock, causing lapses of memory. All fifteen passengers are injured, ranging from simple bruises to severe head trauma. Full recovery is not expected for some—"
"Turn it off! Please!" Aelita begged cutting off the news reporter. Jeremie quickly switched off the TV surprised by her pleading tone. Aelita turned to Ulrich. Her eyes were red and overflowing with tears. Her lip trembled as she whispered, "Now do you see why I'm so worried?" She quickly stood up and started pacing behind the couch. She was biting her nails.
"So you showed this to us because you think it's a XANA attack?" Ulrich asked Jeremie. Jeremie got up in front of the TV so he could see everyone.
"How could it not be a XANA attack?" Jeremie asked frantically.
"Are you sure you're not just being paranoid, Jeremie?" Odd asked.
"He's after us!" Jeremie spat. Odd and Ulrich looked up at Jeremie in amazement. Even Aelita had stopped pacing to stare at him.
"Dude, I swear I just saw your eye twitch," Odd stated. Jeremie let out a groan of frustration and hung his head.
"Jeremie," Aelita said barely audible. Jeremie raised his head and stared at Aelita. His shoulders visibly relaxed. How is it that she can just do that to me? Jeremie wondered. He sighed.
Apologetically, Jeremie whispered, "I'm sorry, you guys. It's just that he hasn't shown his ugly face in a while and I guess I'm just worried that something horrible is going to happen." Aelita walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm worried, too, but we can't just assume that something that clearly isn't a XANA attack is one," Aelita said comfortingly, but it was mainly for her own benefit. She thought there was a strong chance that it was XANA, too. She just didn't want to believe it. Jeremie looked up at her and she mustered up one of her beautiful smiles. He seemed to loosen up a little more but he still wasn't going to give up entirely.
"I know I may be a little paranoid-" Jeremie had started but was cut off by Odd's small snort of laughter. Jeremie glared at Odd with dagger eyes while Ulrich smacked him upside the head.
"Ouch! Is it just beat up on Odd day?" Odd asked distressed. Everyone ignored the question and continued giving Jeremie their full attention.
"I know I may be a little paranoid," he said still glaring at Odd, "but what if it wasn't a coincidence? What if it really was XANA?"
"Jeremie, look at the facts," Ulrich said, "Yeah, it is a little suspicious but there haven't been any activated towers in weeks. The superscan would have picked up on anything that was happening on Lyoko. Also, who was on that train that he would want? Odd, Aelita, and I have been in this room ever since lunch was over, Yumi is at home, and you've been typing away all afternoon, working on whatever it is you work on in your room. None of us were on the train. It doesn't sound like a XANA attack to me. It was probably just another wackjob."
"I guess," Jeremie mumbled under his breath. He wasn't completely convinced, but did see Ulrich's reasoning. The evidence was solid enough to doubt that it was XANA.
"Then it's settled. It's not something we are going to lose sleep over," Ulrich said as he stood up. He checked his watch, "It's late. If we're going to beat curfew then we need to hurry and get out of here." They all nodded and Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita started for the door. Once Ulrich and Odd were out of the Recreation Room, Jeremie grabbed Aelita's elbow to make her stay behind. Aelita saw his expression and was immediately worried.
"What's wrong, Jeremie?" she asked.
"There is something you should know about what happened on that train," Jeremie said in a hushed tone.
"What is it?" Aelita whispered back, truly concerned.
"You cut off the reporter before she could say something about one of the passengers—" Jeremie stared at Aelita, wondering if it was a good idea to tell her. It would just worry her more. She has to know, Jeremie told himself. He took a deep breath and then blurted, "One of the people on the train was killed." Aelita gasped and her eyes widened. Her whole body began to tremble as the news settled in. She was terrified. Aelita could barely find her voice. It quivered and trailed off as she said:
"So that means…" She already knew the answer.
"It means if this really was a XANA attack," Jeremie's voice was hoarse, his face grim, "he's not afraid to kill anymore."