28: The Longest Day [2:00 PM – 3:00 PM]
PREVIOUSLY ON CL:FL
"Could you tell me more about the false XANA's attack today?"
- JEREMIE BELPOIS (At the bus stop)
"I've already had a hectic couple of hours. You'd never believe what I get myself into these days."
- ODD DELLA ROBBIA (On a bus)
"What? Like saving the world?"
- CATHERINE HORVATH (With Odd)
"You're really bad at this."
- YUMI ISHIYAMA (On a train)
"It is done. I took care of them."
- KASTLE (On a train)
"I don't have to tell you to be careful, do I? Or else I'll beat you up."
- VALERIE GAUTHIER (On a different continent)
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 2:00 PM AND 3:00 PM.
2:00:04 … 2:00:05 … 2:00:06 … 2:00:07 … 2:00:08 … 2:00:09
As soon as he stepped inside the Levesque house, he heard a shout and saw the Twins sprinting towards their babysitter before they latched onto him, delighted.
"My, you guys seem to be getting stronger. Almost cracked a few of my bones," he said, impressed, ruffling their hair. The two four-year olds only reached just above Bryan's legs, but their hugs nearly knocked the wind out of him.
Victoire Levesque pulled back shyly. "Heh, sorry."
"I'm just kidding around. So, all ready for your trip?"
Eric Levesque nodded, still holding onto his babysitter. "Yep. Victoire's 'most done packing. Got books, games, toofbrush…"
Victoire gasped.
"Oh no, forgot toofbrush! Be right back!" she said, running upstairs. Bryan laughed, as he allowed Eric to lead him into the living room.
The suburban house was quite roomy and spacious. The light-coloured furniture complimented the wooden tile floor. It was also surprisingly organized and tidy, despite the presence of two young preschoolers. Then again, Melanie's twin brothers were hardly ever troublemakers, which made Bryan's babysitting duties much more easygoing.
Mrs. Levesque came up from the basement with a basket of fresh laundry. She saw Bryan with Eric and gave him a warm smile.
"Ah, Bryan, welcome back. Everything's going well at school, I'm assuming?"
"Yes, thanks for asking."
"Good. And how is Melanie doing?"
"She said if she wasn't so busy she'd love to come with you guys. Oh, and she also sends you her love and wishes you all a safe trip."
"Mommy, Daddy's wondring where his pink shirt is," Eric piped up, as if suddenly remembering.
Mrs. Levesque muttered something and checked her basket. "I've got it," she said before turning back to Bryan. "Hope you'll forgive me, I've been running around for the past half-hour minutes doing some last-minute packing."
"No worries. You'd think that he wouldn't get that worked up about a plain pink shirt though."
Mrs. Levesque laughed. "Tell me about it. He thinks it's lucky though; apparently he gives it full credit for our encounter with Bill Gates."
"Wow…wait, wasn't that was over twenty years ago."
"Yes. It's a very old shirt. Faded colours, a small hole just above the shirt sleeve. But he wears it for all trips nonetheless," Mrs. Levesque sighed.
"I feel your pain. Anyways, when are you planning on leaving?"
She looked up at the clock. "Oh, probably in about fifteen minutes. But you're welcome to stay here as long as you like."
"Thanks, I just came to drop off some stuff for the twins."
"Sounds good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some pink shirts of good fortune to hand off." said Mrs. Levesque. She went up the stairs with the laundry basket, calling her husband, just as Victoire zipped passed her, with a rather bloated Tinkerbell backpack.
~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~
"Got toofbrushes and toofpaste," Victoire grinned when she rejoined Bryan and Eric.
"Good work. Your dentist would be incredibly proud," said Bryan.
"Mmm, I don't like the dentist," Eric blurted.
"Me too," said Victoire.
"Neither do I," Bryan admitted, before adding, "oh yeah, before you go. Melanie got you guys a little something."
He saw the Twins' big round eyes light up and made an act of slowly reaching into his bag for the leather pouch. He had Eric and Victoire hold out their hands and he set the bag down in the middle. He loosened the pouch and took out a small shiny sphere.
"Marbles!" said Eric excitedly. Victoire had her head tilted to the side, examining the small specimen with great interest. Bryan gave the green-bluish marble to Eric, then took another one out and placed it on Victoire's her free hand. Hers looked like Jupiter with its orange, yellow and white swirls.
"Wow Mel," she whispered.
"Bestest big sister," said Eric, beaming.
Bryan smiled at their adorableness.
There was a time in the past when he was in elementary school and had also indulged in the marble craze. He didn't really play actual marbles, the one where you skilfully knock them out of an imaginary circle. Instead, he vividly remembered racing them with his classmates, shooting marbles across the ledge of the chalkboard, setting up brushes, chalk and pins as obstacles.
He vividly remembered his first marble, which he nicknamed the mustard ball for the golden yellow streaks and pearly white tint. By the end of the year, he had accumulated a small precious collection. No two were the same. And there were some supposedly harder to find, and more valuable than others…
2:20:26 … 2:20:27 … 2:20:28 … 2:20:29 … 2:20:30 … 2:20:31
No matter how cool you think you look while doing it, smoking is stupid, evil and bad for your health.
However, the man leaning on the side of his white transport van with a lit cigarette was unaware of this general view and simply didn't care.
He was dressed more casually than usual, a white golf shirt, navy jeans with shoes made by Nike. His dirty blonde hair was neatly trimmed and there were hints of a goatee running down his chin. He took in another puff of toxin and flicked the small butt onto the ground, stomping it out with the heel of his sole.
He wished he could spend more time out on the field like his other associates, doing the more entertaining aspects instead of lethargic administrative duties. But he assured himself that he would at least have some fun at night.
He was scanning a couple of numbers on his mobile when he was approached by one of his men.
"Is it all in order?" he asked his associate without looking up.
"Give or take another hour, boss. Just a couple things to get in order and we'll be ready to go."
The man nodded and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He clasped the shoulder of his associate before heading back inside a small two-storey building. He took out a small photograph from his shirt pocket.
He took off his black shades for a better view of the fuzzy image. It was of a young woman.
That was her, there was doubt about that. He had seen many women before throughout his travels, but this one – vibrant hair colour notwithstanding – stood out from the rest. He didn't know her name, and had only caught brief glimpses of her, twice.
She was pretty. And she was a very important piece in their plans.
And that suited him just fine.
2:25:39 … 2:25:40 … 2:25:41 … 2:25:42 … 2:25:43 … 2:25:44
If we were only here three minutes earlier, thought Jeremie, lamenting the fact that he and Aelita had just missed the bus by roughly 180 seconds. They were marooned at the bus stop, still waiting for transport which would take them to downtown Paris.
"Jeremie," Aelita called, taking his attention away from the complicated map of bus routes.
Click!
The flash from her camera totally caught him by surprise as he looked up. He didn't even have time to smile, straighten his hair, or at least appear pleasantly content.
"Hey!" he protested half-heartedly, which made Aelita giggle. She looked down at the screen.
"You don't look that bad," she said earnestly.
"But you're still deleting that, right?" asked the very unphotogenic Jeremie Belpois.
Aelita paused and shot him a mischievous grin. "Maybe. Or I could set it up as the screensaver on the supercomputer."
It would be quite odd to see an awkward photo of himself every time he wanted to work at the abandoned factory. Furthermore, once Ulrich and Odd found out, he was sure that they'd never let him off the hook. After all, they were the ones who called his LYOKO form absolutely 'ridiculous.'
"Umm, I don't think that would be a good idea." Jeremie tried to take her camera, but Aelita held it out of his reach, smirking. He narrowed his eyes, Aelita never acted like this; angels weren't supposed to be deviant.
He tried again, this time he came up to her, trying to reach around for the rectangular machine. Up close, he could smell her fresh lemony scent. Their eyes locked together, neither moved between shallow breaths as they waited for the other to make the first move.
"Oh, look, the bus is here," Aelita said hastily, blushing as she took a step back. And while Jeremie was momentarily distracted, she snuck her camera back into her bag. The bus came to a stop and opened its doors, as the two got out their student cards.
Just as she stepped on, Aelita turned around and grinned.
"Don't worry, I deleted it."
Jeremie smiled back. "Okay. Thanks."
"To be honest, though, it was a pretty good picture."
"Aelita!"
2:31:58 … 2:31:59 … 2:32:00 … 2:32:01 … 2:32:02 … 2:32:03
Diana walked out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a white towel over her body. She looked refreshed as she sat on the bed next to Apollo.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Apollo shook his head. "Apparently there may be a chance of a major snowstorm tonight," he said as he looked up from the news website. Outside however, the sky was bright and clear, giving no indication that Old Man Winter was about to unleash his fury.
"So? That sounds about right for this time of year."
"Our flight leaves at 11:00 PM. If it's as bad as they are making it, we could be grounded here for an extra day."
"Well, it's not like we're in a rush or anything," she paused as she scanned her partner's face.
"But I suppose the sooner we leave here the better," Diana added.
"Exactly."
"Look on the bright side. We've got some extra time in Paris, the most romantic city in the world. How long has it been since we were last here?"
"At least fifteen years. Nothing's changed much."
"Mhmm. Speaking of which, as I recall you owe me a fancy dinner after that incident in Munich."
Diana tried to cover up her look of amusement, but Apollo could see straight through her guise. "Do I really now?"
She leaned in and gave him a deep kiss. Their tongues wrestled. Apollo resisted the urge to just rip off the towel covering her smooth pearly white skin.
It was still early in the afternoon; they could afford to take things slowly.
Diana pulled back slightly, eyeing him hungrily. "Take things slowly, eh?" She remained straddled on top of him as she began to slowly unbutton his white shirt. Apollo could feel his manhood getting hard.
2:38:42 … 2:38:43 … 2:38:44 … 2:38:45 … 2:38:46 … 2:38:47
Valerie bit her lip worriedly, her wet hair clinging on to her skin as she turned on her laptop.
Murphy's Law stated that if something can go wrong, it will. And today, there were over a dozen things that could go catastrophically wrong.
Sure, today's mission was all part of their grandiose plan – the purpose of Bryan's stint in France. Through the supercomputer, he had found another piece of the puzzle. Now they had to find out how it connected to the bigger picture.
Analysis and logistics support? That was her job, and it was by no means dangerous. She was miles away from danger, and Valerie always made sure that her actions were left untraceable.
Field reconnaissance? That was another story.
Bryan was going to do it all alone, with no backup; obviously they couldn't trust anyone. It was a sixteen-year old teenager out in the field, and another sixteen-year old guiding him. She was ultimately responsible for her beloved's well-being.
The first time Bryan and That Little Bitch had done field work, they had been compromised almost immediately. They were grossly inexperienced and reckless, what else would you expect from several high-school students taking on the professionals of the business?
And Bryan nearly died. Sure, they made it in one piece in the end, but nothing significant was accomplished. That experienced changed everything, and Bryan was never really the same after, thanks to That Little Bitch.
She quietly apologized to Bryan for calling their ex-partner by that name.
They hadn't done any more field missions following that incident. There were no further credible links to follow; which was probably for the better.
Now however, she understood that Bryan had to act. This was the opening they had been hoping for. There was no doubt in her mind that they were better prepared. It was akin to the Allies having learned from their experience at Dieppe and later emerged victorious on D-Day in 1944.
Bryan had also told her that he was doing some weird martial arts – pencak silat – with his friends. But even months of preparation was meaningless at zero-hour. Plans were merely an invitation for let-downs.
Bryan, she murmured to herself, absentmindedly twirling her long curls. How she missed him, having him in her arms…
She reminded herself that she needn't be too worried; Bryan was only going to visit and interrogate their person of interest, a person who should be on their side. She checked his background, or whatever there was of it; he wasn't the type to be hostile. In a perfect world, everything should go smoothly.
Unless of course, their enemy got to him first.
~ - ~ - ~ - CL:FL - ~ - ~ - ~
One late night, a couple of days after he had started his internship with Dr. Franz Hopper, Bryan's father stumbled upon the "greatest Vietnamese restaurant in the world", which was being run by a young up-and-coming chef named Charles.
It was also at that restaurant where he met Joel Levesque, a computer engineer who ended up being one of his closest confidantes. Although both had tremendously busy and conflicting schedules – one was working on a classified project for NATO and the other doing his master's degree – they still managed to find some time to hang out. Each was following their own path to change the world.
From what little Bryan knew about his father, he had talked highly of Mr. Levesque, who was also the best man at his wedding.
That notion was reinforced when Bryan himself had come to study in France. For the first couple of days after touching down, he had stayed at the Levesque's house. Despite having only seen him just after he was born, they had welcomed him with open arms as if he was a long-lost part of their family. Eric and Victoire seemed to have taken a liking to him as well…
Bryan lifted his head out of the bathtub and looked at the mirror.
His touched his dripping hair, which was no longer sky blue. Instead it had been dyed dark brown. At the very least, he could say that he was Ulrich Stern 2.0.
He frowned. Perhaps he should have told Aelita to dye her hair as well, all those times she set out from Kadic. Of course, he didn't know how he would justify that to her.
The Levesque family had long left for the airport when he got out of the washroom. Bryan headed downstairs to the kitchen and opened his bag.
Roller skates? Check. First-aid-kit? Check. Binoculars? Check. Weapons…? Bryan started to grow nervous. While he hoped he would never have to resort to violence – he was Canadian, after all – he knew that he had to account for the possibility of things going awry. Valerie had mentioned that to him; Martin's Law or something of the sort.
He carried a switchblade in his pockets, but even that, combined with his hand-to-hand combat skills were useless against firearms. And there was no way he could acquire one without suspicion.
Bryan scanned the room for other supplies. He definitely needed something for diversions, something that could provide him with a quick escape. And perhaps, something that could induce heavy amnesia…
2:53:15 … 2:53:16 … 2:53:17 … 2:53:18 … 2:53:19 … 2:53:20
"And that's how I obtained my Master's Degree in Being Awesome," finished Odd, flashing the 'V for Victory' sign.
Catherine chuckled at the crazy nonsense she was listening to on the way to the convention centre.
"Wow, if I had known that schools in France offered university degrees to high-school students for pulling a couple of pranks on their gym teachers, I would've signed up to come here years ago."
CATHERINE HORVATH
Bio: Kadic student, USA
Has: never dyed her hair pink (yet)
"So, is that the end of your legendary tale?"
"The happy ending part of it, yes. I had my degree confiscated shortly after."
"Really? By who?"
"Ulrich." Odd muttered incoherently along the lines of 'what a dick!'
"Somebody should give him a medal. Or a Bachelor's Degree in Conflict Resolution," said Catherine thoughtfully.
"I thought you were supposed to be on my side."
"I am. Having that lame award confiscated is for your own good. Now you won't head down the dark desolate path of pursuing a doctorate in pranking people and skulduggery."
"Gee, thanks for your support," said Odd sarcastically, which made Catherine laugh even more.
"You know, Bryan wasn't wrong on this one. You are a pretty adequate storyteller."
"I know, right? Wait, he's told you stuff about me?"
"Yeah. He's my fellow Kadic noob buddy," said Catherine nonchalantly.
"Umm…your what?"
"Hmm, for a pretty adequate storyteller, you should really read this story sometime. Bryan's been my Kadic noob buddy since Chapter 5. Though I guess we're technically just Kadic buddies now, minus the noob."
"By the way, how did you meet our beloved Captain B?"
"Oh, so it's my turn to tell a story now?"
Odd nodded.
"Well…still a ways to go. Sure, why not." Catherine sighed as the bus yet grinded to another stop to drop off several passengers. The traffic light in front of them turned red.
"We both arrived at Kadic on the same day. I first saw him when he was walking out of the principal's office. The first thing that came to my mind was his sky-blue hair. At first, I thought he just dyed it, like me."
"Come to think of it, you seem to dye your hair like what, once a week?"
"Yeah, something like that. But I was really shocked when he told me it was all-natural – even more than him being a Toronto Maple Leaf's fan. I thought he was just cosplaying or something. I mean, I've never seen anyone who was born with blue hair before."
"And of course, that was only the tip of the iceberg. I soon met a girl in a grade lower than me. She had natural pink hair."
2:59:57 … 2:59:58 … 2:59:59 … 3:00:00
Fragmented Legacy Fact 028:
Code: LYOKO to LIFE was at one point the working title for this story. In the end, Fragmented Legacies was chosen as I felt it would have more meaning to the events that would take place. It also sounds cooler.
A|N's:
I don't know about you, but I consider fall/autumn to be the best season of the year. All my favourite novel series come out (Lorien Legacies, Skulduggery Pleasant, Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus), all my favourite TV shows return (How I Met Your Mother, The Simpsons, The Big Bang Theory)…lots to read and watch!
Feel free to leave a comment, and as always, thanks for reading Code LYOKO: Fragmented Legacies =)