Ulrich sat in the ER waiting room, his foot repeatedly tapping on the thinly carpeted floor. They had arrived at the hospital only a few minutes ago, but they wouldn't let Ulrich into the emergency room. He was asked questions on their way to the hospital, such as: "What happened?" and "What's his name."

Ulrich's mind was occupied by his friend, them having been in life-or-death situations together before, but now seemed all the more real. He laid his head back in the chair, his hair falling from his forehead.

Ulrich repositioned himself, his seat creaking slightly as he moved. Suddenly his phone began vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out, looking over the caller ID and answering.

"Jeremy, what is it?" Ulrich asked, his back hunched as he leaned forward in the chair.

"We are headed to the factory. We think X.A.N.A. is behind what happened to Odd." Jeremy said, one hand on his phone, the other on his scooter as they headed through the sewers.

"Think? Shouldn't you know if it's X.A.N.A. or not?" Ulrich replied, questioning the boys last remarks.

"That's what we are trying to figure out. X.A.N.A. activated a tower right when Odd passed out, and then it deactivated. I think X.A.N.A. is trying to attack without getting caught, so we are going to look on Lyoko for any signs of activity." Jeremy replied, falling behind the others as he was easily loosing his balance, guiding his scooter with only one hand.

Ulrich looked up at the ceiling, the tiles above colored to match the carpet. "Well, happy hunting."

"What? I thought you were going to join us?" Jeremy said, a bit confused by his friends response.

"I'm staying here, Odd needs me." Ulrich's reply made him seem like a solder staying behind to watch after the wounded.

"I don't think there's much you can do over there to help him, but if it's what you think is best for him." Jeremy replied, noticing how serious Ulrich must be in this situation.

"Thanks, Jeremy. Tell the others to beat X.A.N.A. extra hard for me." Ulrich said, the first bright though that had come to his mind during the course of this event.

With that, Ulrich hung up the phone, his mind again focusing on his friend. 'Odd, if you pull through this, I promise I'll never complain about your feet smelling again.' He thought, laughing a little inside, but this was a dual-bladed sword, also causing him to think about what would happen if Odd didn't make it.

—

"Jeremy, what's the news?" Yumi asked as she and the others watched the genius type.

"I can't tell you for sure, but I think I believe beyond a doubt that X.A.N.A. is somehow responsible. I'll have to run more scans, but I think it would be best if you guys went to Lyoko now, just incase I can find a way to give you enough time to deactivate the tower." Jeremy explained, his hands faster than light as they soared around on the keyboard.

"Okay, let's get movin'." William said, heading towards the elevator, the others following soon after.

—

"Scanner Aelita, scanner William, scanner Yumi."

"Transfer Aelita, transfer William, transfer Yumi."

"Virtualization!"

Yumi, William and Aelita all landed feet first in the radian atmosphere of the Desert Sector, their landings deserving high scores from judges as they executed them with beauty and grace.

"Okay, Jeremy, where are we going?" Aelita asked, deploying her wings.

"The last activated tower was in the Desert Sector, but I'm not sure if it will still be that tower that gets re-activated or not." Jeremy explained, his headset attached to his head as he spoke. "So for now, just wait until I can finish some analysis."

"Well, what are we gonna do while we wait?" William asked, looking at no one in particular.

"Well, we can run, we can jump, and we can jump after we run." Aelita said, giggling a little.

"Well, Jim certainly has been doing his job lately." Yumi said, causing all three of them to laugh.

Their laughter lasted for a few seconds, interrupted by Jeremy. "Guys, a tower in the Forest Sector has just been activated! Get there ASAP, I'll try and keep it held there so you can deactivate it when you arrive." Jeremy said, his hands again typing rapidly.

"Got it, Jeremy. We're on our way!" Aelita said, using her wings to fly quickly to the nearby way tower, Yumi and William also making it in a short amount of time.

—

Ulrich had now changed seats a couple of times, trying to figure out which seat was the most comfortable. It wasn't like him to do something like this, but it was all he could do to take his mind off the current situation.

As he took another seat, a nurse walked into the waiting room. She glanced around the room for a boy matching the description told to her, and then began walking towards him.

"Are you the friend of the boy who came in just a few minutes ago?" She asked, her voice neutral, never showing emotion. This was something doctors often had to be able to do as to make talks with patients families easier.

"Yes." Ulrich replied, moving forward in his seat slightly.

"Your friend has stabled out. If you would like to see him, that would be okay."

"Yes, I want to see him." Ulrich replied, hoping everything g would be okay with Odd, that he wasn't injured too bad.

"Come this way." She said, beginning to lead the boy into the ER. Ulrich took notice to how busy the halls were, having to push past doctors and stretchers many times. She finally stopped at a room with a large wooden door, able to easily allow quick access into and out of the room.

"Your friend is in here. He's not awake yet, but he should be up shortly." She said, allowing him to walk into the room, closing it behind him.

Now Ulrich stood there, just him and Odd, although Odd was still knocked out. Ulrich walked over to his friends bedside and looked at his face, any signs of happiness and cheerful spirits replaced by a blank and pale expression.

"Odd, don't worry. The others are gonna deactivate the tower soon, then you can eat all of the food you want." Ulrich said with a chuckle, his mind wondering as he stood next to his friend.

Suddenly, Odd began to shift in the bed, first softly, but progressively heavier. As soon as he began shaking the bed, one of the monitors began beeping loudly, sending a clear message to Ulrich as to what was happening.

A nurse and two doctors ran in, the nurse telling Ulrich he had to leave the room, that his friend was in serious danger. So, Ulrich did just that, he walked out, but as he exited through that wooden door, doctors speaking loudly in the background about things he could hardly understand, a single tear was shed from his right eye, tracing a path down his cheek and onto the floor.

Thanks for all the support! I put a lot of thought into this chapter, so I hope you enjoy!