Chapter Two
"I can honestly say that I enjoy being here," I tell the others during lunch. It has been fun so far, aside from Yumi, I have all the same classes as the others. Chemistry has always been one of my favorite subjects, figuring out how to combine, and separate certain substances to create something else entirely. Math is a breeze, it's total logic, so long as you remember all the rules. Physics is as easy as math, you just need to remember Newton's, and (my personal favorite) Murphy's laws to make total sense of it.
"Well, we can't all be Einstein, unlike you two," Odd points, and Jeremie, and I with his fork.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Odd, but I was referring to the food." This is the first school I have ever been to that served Swedish Meatballs.
Odd grins, "Ah, he's out for my own heart."
"Assuming he can find some way to get through your five stomachs to get it." We all laugh, even Odd, at Ulrich's joke. Suddenly Jeremie's laptop starts beeping at him. He opens it up, and his eyebrows go high.
"Sorry guys, but it looks like we can't duck out of this appointment." He puts his laptop back in his bag, and slings it over his shoulder before turning to me. "Sorry to do this to you Shay, but could you cover for us next period? Just say that Odd wen to the infirmary because he had too much to eat, or something."
I nod, "Okay, but hurry back." The others get up to leave, and I watch them go. So Sissi had been telling a little more of the truth than I thought. I'll see if Jeremie won't mind explaining where he was when he gets back.
A sound in front of me grabs my attention, and I find Sissi, and her two friends sitting on the other side of the table.
"Hate to say that I told you so Shay, but I did." Sissi has a small grin on her face, "So, did they say where they were going?"
I'm conflicted, telling her the truth could put Jeremie, and his friends in trouble. I decide to take a different approach. "Why haven't you talked to your father about this?"
Sissi rolls her eyes, "You really think I haven't tried? Without some kind of proof that something's happening, my daddy won't even lift a finger."
"Besides," her friend in the glasses says. "We don't even know what's going on. For all we know it may be nothing at all."
"But we still gotta make sure, right?" The blond one looks at Sissi, who nods her head.
"I'm sorry, but I never got a chance to ask for your names." I put my elbows on the table, and look at Sissi's friends.
"I'm Nicholas Poliakoff," the boy in the glasses says.
"And my name's Herb Pichon," The blonde one introduces himself.
"A pleasure to meet you," I say nodding.
"Yes, this is all well, and good, but did they say where they were going?" Sissi is starting to sound impatient with me.
I frown at her, "You don't need to be snippy, Sissi, please."
She pinches the bridge of her nose, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? But I thought that I explained earlier just how important this is to me, so please forgive me for being just a little bit stressed." She looks up at me, her face calm once more. "So..."
I shake my head, "No, they didn't say anything about where they were going, but I intend to ask Jeremie about it later tonight."
Sissi sighs, and looks at the table forlornly, "Oh my darling Ulrich..." tears begin to form in her eyes again as she dashes for the front door.
"Sissi!" Nicholas, and Herb run out after her. I watch her as she leaves, and sigh. She has one hand to her face, supposedly to wipe away her tears, but her other is balled into a fist at her side, knuckles white. So she'd been pretending again, and she thinks she can play me like a harp. Having no more of an appetite I dump my tray in a garbage can, and head out the door.
"This is certainly an interesting first day," I say, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Something is bothering me, it's as if this whole thing just stinks. Jeremie had mentioned an appointment, but I had seen it for a lie the second the words were out of his mouth. True he has a purpose, wherever he's going with his friends, but there had been no appointment. Sissi thinks that they're up to something, and maybe now I'm inclined to agree with her. But it could be nothing big, in fact it could be nothing at all.
"But there is something," of that much I am sure. If it was nothing then why would they ask me to lie about it? It means that they're afraid of getting caught. But caught doing what, exactly? What if it is illegal? Is it drugs, maybe, or a gang?
I stop myself in my tracks, figuratively, and literally. "I'm starting to sound like Sissi, now," I laugh at myself. I decide to just ask Jeremie when he gets back.
I'm walking by the gates of the school, when I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head as I walk, and see a police officer step out of his cruiser, and head for the gates. My eyes widen the slightest bit, Maybe it's illegal after all, and they're here to bust Jeremie, and his friends.
My eyebrows furrow when I realize that the cop isn't just walking for the gates, he's walking straight for me. I stop walking, and watch him approach.
"Uh, can I help you, officer?"
He says nothing, but just keeps walking towards me. Something's off about him, this cop isn't acting like anyone should. His face is expressionless, as he stops just a few yards away. I take a step back, and the officer's right hand goes for his gun.
My eyes fly wide open as I turn tail, and run. Jim was right about one thing, all my time skating has built some excellent Track muscles. In other words I don't just run, IRUN!I look over my shoulder, and dart sideways just as the officer levels his gun at me.
BLAM!
The shot rings through the air, and the bullet barely grazes my cheek. I press a hand to it, and my hand comes away red. This guy is looking to kill, and that makes me run even faster. Before too long I've made it back to the Cafeteria. Almost all of the students are heading back to the building.
"Run! There's a shooter, there's a shooter!"
Everyone looks back at me in shock before dashing madly for the main building. Jim starts herding everyone into the Gym, and I start to follow.
"Shay?" I turn at the sound of my name, and Sissi is standing there, running over to me. She takes me by the shoulders.
"Brilliant idea," she hisses at me. "While they're distracted with this, we can follow those troublemakers. I've followed Belpois a few time, so I know where to look in general- What happened to your face?!"
"It's not a lie, Sissi," I say gripping her arms tightly. "There really is a shooter here, some crazy cop!"
Sissi looks out of the corner of her eye to my left, "You mean like that?"
I snap my head in the direction she's pointing, he's standing about ten yards away, gun leveled at us.
"Watch out!" without thinking, I throw myself between her, and the gun. When the gunshot goes off, I shout in pain as I feel the bullet bite into my shoulder, right where her head used to be. I have so much adrenaline pumping through my system that it's unreal. I turn Sissi around, and we run for the Gym. Once inside the doors are barricaded behind us with folded gymnastics mats. The school nurse is there, and she pushes a gauze-pad to my shoulder, after helping me remove my shirt. Sissi is standing off to the side, hands over her mouth, and eyes brimming with real tears.
"Is everyone else safe," I ask the nurse over my shoulder. She nods, and tells me not to talk anymore.
"I'm sorry," Sissi starts shaking her head in shame. "If I hadn't held you up out there, then this wouldn't have happened-"
"And you would have been a corpse on the ground out there, Sissi," I cut her off. "You didn't tell me to take the bullet for you, that was my choice."
"I thought I told you to stop talking," The nurse says firmly, pressing the gauze-pack harder to my shoulder, and making me wince.
The Gym is quiet, everyone is too scared to make a sound. I can understand, the adrenaline that was in my blood a few minutes ago appears to have bleed out of me.
BANG!
There are a few startled cries of alarm as the Gym doors shake.
BANG!
The Doors shake again, this time moving the mats about half an inch.
"Uh-Oh," Jim runs over, and hurriedly pushes the mats back against the door.
BANG!
The doors shake again, this time Jim slides along with the mats a full inch.
"Oh, no you don't," Jim yells in defiance as he presses the mats against the door, and leans on them. "Old Jimbo Morales won't let you hurt any of these kids!"
I decide now is not the time to point out my injury when-
BANG!
The Gym door opens two inches, and the officer jams his gun into the opening to hold it open. Jim is actually sent flying, and knocks his head against the bleachers. Several of the students start to panic as the shooter worms his fingers into the opening, and starts to force the door open. The students run to the other door to find it barricaded from the outside.
We're trapped.
Aside from a few whimpers everyone is quiet as the officer stares blankly at them. His eyes slide to the side, and find Sissi sitting next to me against the wall. We're the perfect targets.
The shooter levels his gun at us, and yet again I throw myself over Sissi.
BLAM!
The other students scream at the sound, and I grit my teeth as I hold on tight to Sissi. The first bullet had clipped my cheek, the second is still in my left shoulder, and now this bastard put the third bullet in my left bicep!
I glare up at him as he walk closer to us, and puts the gun to my head. Sissi whimpers, but I don't move. I glare him in the eye, and he stares calmly back at me.
...What's that... in his eye? Instead of the usual iris, and pupil of the human eye, the shooter has some kind of strange symbol. It looks like a dot surrounded by three rings. On the outermost ring there are three lines stretching from its bottom, and one from the top. Not that this matters to me right now, right now my mind is focused on an old Bushido saying:
"Go into battle determined to die, and you will survive. Go into battle hoping to live, and surely you shall not."
I am determined to die.
The shooter blinks once, then twice, and suddenly the mark vanishes. A completely human eye stare sown at me now, and his hold on the gun weakens.
"HA!" Out of nowhere, Jim bashes a fist into the officer's face, sending him to the ground. Jim drops on top of him, and delivers a smash with his elbow.
"How do you like that, huh? I learned that while I was in the Marines!" the officer says nothing, he's unconscious.
Jim, and Principal Delmas roll the officer from the neck down in a roll-out gymnast mat, and wait. A few minutes later the police, and an ambulance arrives. The unconscious cop is cuffed, and the doctors look me over. They tell us that because of an extreme traffic accident the nearest hospital is full, so they treat me in the school infirmary.
A half-hour later everything is almost normal again. I'm in one of the infirmary's beds, my left arm in a sling, and a large bandage on my cheek.
The nurse opens the curtain around my bed, "You have a visitor, Shadus."
"It's just Shay," I say, and smile kindly as she steps aside to let Sissi into my space.
"Hey there," she says, taking a seat next to me. The nurse leaves us alone, and goes to examine some patients in the waiting room. "How are you feeling?"
I give her a crooked grin, "Morphine is pretty nice, so I'm okay."
She smiles at me, an honest smile, "You saved me, twice."
I shrug my good shoulder, "I wasn't really counting."
We share a moment of silence, and then she leans forward, kissing me on the cheek.
"Thank you."
I say nothing, but I raise my right hand, and let my fingers trail across her flushes cheek. The curtain is pulled backwards, making her jerk back in surprise. The nurse is standing there, Jeremie at her elbow.
"Sorry,"Jeremie says, scratching the back of his head. "I just wanted to see how you were feeling, Shay. Did I interrupt something?"
Sissi blushes, and glowers at Jeremie. She opens her mouth to snap at him, but I say, "A little, yeah. I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it, especially to Odd, and Ulrich."
Sissi glances at me sideways, a mad blush on her face. Jeremie makes a zipping motion across his mouth, and throws away the key. "If it's any trouble, I can come back later..."
"No," Sissi springs up from her chair. "I was actually about to leave. See you later, Shay!" She bolts around Jeremie, and gives me a small wave. I return the wave as Jeremie takes her empty seat.
"Are you feeling okay?" He puts his elbows on his knees, and looks at me with a look of concern. I think that I see something else mingled into his expression, guilt maybe?
"The doctors got the bullets out, and they said I could keep one of them as a souvenir." I pick up a small plastic container with one of the bullets inside. I rattle it around, and I see him wince the slightest bit. "They say that there's no way to avoid any scarring, but I can live with that. In a few weeks I'll be up, and ready to face the world again."
A look of relief washes over his face, "I'm glad to hear it. Sorry you had to go through this."
I glance in the direction of the door, the nurse had forgotten to close my curtain. No one but us are in the room right now.
"I want to talk to you for a few minutes alone, could you ask the nurse for me please?"
Jeremie raises his eyebrows at me, but stands to go talk to the nurse. After a minute he comes back closing the door behind him.
"So what's on your mind?"
I stare him squarely in the eye, "I like you, and your friends, Jeremie, but something about all this just doesn't sit right. Sissi mentioned earlier that you guys sometimes just disappear without a trace, and show up again before most anyone notices. Then during lunch you had to go to your appointment, and it just happened to be just before the shoot-out. I need to know, Jeremie, did you guys have anything to do with the attack on the school today?"
A look of shock comes to his eyes, and then he blinks, "No."
He checks his watch, "I'm sorry, but I have to go, Shay. I hope you get better soon." he stands, and turns to the door.
"I know a lie when I hear one, Jeremie." My words come out in a sort of growl, and he looks at me again with the same look of shock in his face, maybe a little panic.
"There was no appointment today, and just now you lied to me when you said you had nothing to do with the shooter. I trust that you are a good person, Jeremie, so I don't doubt that you had a good reason for lying. But I believe I have a right to know what exactly happened."
We stare at each other for a minute, his eyes wide, mine hard. Finally he sighs, and sits back down.
"It's not just my secret to tell, Shay, so I need to call the others first, and see if they'll agree to let me tell you."
I narrow my eyes at him, "And what else, there's something that you're not telling me."
His eyebrows go sky-high before he sighs again, and nods. "I can tell you now that if it comes to the worst, that you won't remember any of this."
I frown, he's telling the truth. I don't see how that would be possible with my scars, but I believe him.
I nod, "Call the others, please."
Jeremie pulls out his cell-phone, and calls a few of his friends. In about fifteen minutes they are all here. Yumi stays outside in the waiting room to make sure that no one eavesdrops on us, but she knows the situation.
Inside the infirmary's closed curtains they tell me everything. They tell me about a Super-Computer in an abandoned factory, and the evil computer virus XANA inside it. They tell me about the virtual world of Lyoko, and how they have used this world for nearly two years to battle XANA. They tell me about their meeting with Aelita on Lyoko, and how they even travel through the internet on the Skidbladnir to appear in laboratories all over the world to stop whatever plans XANA has for dominating humanity.
While they tell me all of this, while it sounds too fantastical to be real but...
"I can tell that none of you are lying," I say. "So either you are all crazy to the point of actually believing this, or it's the entire truth."
Jeremie, and Aelita share a glance, and then she steps up to the side of my bed. "A few of the students said that your attacker got close enough to press his gun to your head. Did you look into his eyes?"
I look at her quizzically, and then nod.
She sits down on the edge of the bed, "Where his irises, and pupils should have been there was a symbol. It looks like a dot surrounded by three rings. On the outermost ring there are three lines stretching from its bottom, and one from the top. This is the mark of XANA, Shay."
I blink in surprise, and then I close my eyes, and grin, "So you guys aren't crazy, that means it's all true."
We're all quiet for a few minutes, and then I say, "I can understand your need for secrecy, I won't tell anyone. And the only reason you haven't launched this "Return to the Past" thing is because it makes XANA stronger, and the event today can be explained away without raising suspicion about Lyoko."
Jeremie nods, and I laugh to myself, "Well I did say that I could live with these injuries. And, hey, scars are actually kinda badass."
The others laugh except for Odd, he's looking up at the ceiling in thought.
"Y'know, I just had an idea."
"It's a miracle," Ulrich quips, and we all laugh.
"Ho ho, very funny," Odd give Ulrich a hard look. "But as I was saying, What if we let Shay join us?"
Laughter dies immediately, and everyone is glancing between Odd, and I.
"What," I say. "You mean me fighting on Lyoko too?"
"I think you've earned it," Odd smiles, and puts his hands on his hips. "Look at yourself now, all that you've done in order to thwart XANA, and you didn't even know what you were doing. I already see you as an Honorary Lyoko Warrior, and you've got the scars to prove it."
No protests come up from the others. Aelita stands, "I'll call Yumi in."
When Yumi joins us, we quietly explain what's going on. She stares at me for a minute, and then she smiles, "I'm all for it, he's got the heart of a warrior, now all that's missing is the front lines."
Odd grins smugly at the rest of us, "See, what did I tell you?"
"I think it's a great idea," Ulrich says nodding. "We could use an ally like you on the field."
Jeremie, and Aelita share a look, and then a smile. "It's unanimous, if you want to be a Lyoko Warrior, Shay, you can be."
I look around at the smiling faces looking down on me, they really would accept me as one of them?
I smile, "I'm in. Besides, I owe XANA a great debt of pain."