A/N: Here is the next installment of my Jerlita Roleswap AU. Hope you all enjoy it~
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.
Note: Remember, any episodes not mentioned either as the inspiration for a chapter or just in passing are not part of the AU, mainly because the roleswap makes them useless, and those only mentioned in passing are just filler and/or would be the same no matter who has what role.
Beta read by swordsdownforreview
After reading the last chapter, DA user FP7ETDP43 brought to my attention something I should have explained in the actual chapter: the fact that the flashbacks cause a possible discrepancy with the first two chapters (where Jérémie doesn't remember his real name, so Aelita names him 'Marin'). I need to confirm here that it's not a discrepancy at all: his mind was freshly fractured when his parents turned off the supercomputer, and while he was asleep for the next decade, he simply lost the memories he had already made, like a dream so to speak.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"Yumi and Hiroki's parents just got into a massive fight. Is there no hope of getting them back together?"
Episode 39: Harmony and Discord
(Based on The Pretender & Laughing Fit)
"Forget it, Ulrich," Odd muttered, brushing his teeth in the boy's shower room. "Your sabre may have some class, but compared to my Laser Arrows, your monster count is way behind mine!"
"Katana," the brunette corrected, his toothbrush in hand. Yumi had called it that, so Ulrich would as well. "And apparently, you've already forgotten how my katana saved you from a quick game over last time."
Jérémie rolled his eyes, before interrupting them, "You know, Aelita and I are thinking about upgrading everyone's avatars, so I created a little statistics program to record everyone's performances on Lyoko for the next few weeks. If you want, I can tell you the results so far."
"Oh, yes!" Odd exclaimed, before turning to Ulrich with a smirk. "Ready to eat your hat, good buddy?"
"You're the one who's not gonna be able to digest this."
"Alright. The results say the Lyokowarrior that has outclassed all the others," Jérémie just turned to them both with a proud smile, "is me."
The genius barely held back his chuckles as the two boys just stared at him with open mouths, in shock.
"It's because the program counts activated towers as a class of XANA's monsters," he quickly explained, "one approximately five times stronger than a Megatank due to it being the source of the AI's activity in the real world. But not counting the towers, you two still aren't in first. Aelita is."
As he turned back to his toothbrush, he heard Odd respond with, "Yeah, well, statistics don't mean a thing. That's not the way to determine a real Lyoko hero. No matter how many towers you deactivate, Jer, I've got something you and Ulrich will never have. And that's style!"
"And that makes you superior?" Ulrich asked, deadpan. "Style, my friend, doesn't impress a Megatank."
Hervé and Nicolas were passing by as he said this, heading towards the showers, and they stopped to express confusion to the trio's conversation.
"Hey, what's all this about a Megatank, huh?" Nicolas asked. "You talking about a video game?"
Odd spit out his toothpaste into the sink. "Yeah, Teddy Bear Heaven. Way too complicated for you."
Understanding that was the Italian boy's way of telling them to mind their own business, Hervé retorted, "Very funny, Della Robbia," before he and Nicolas left.
Once the two were inside the showers area, Jérémie sighed before pulling on each of his friends' ears.
"Ow!" Ulrich exclaimed.
"What was that for?!" Odd demanded, rubbing his ear as Jérémie placed both hands on his hips.
"For both of you turning a real-life mission to save humanity into a game," the genius sternly told them. "This is the last time I will say this, so pay close attention. Stop. Competing. With each other. XANA is now free from the supercomputer, which means that once it destroys Lyoko, we won't be able to stop it from wiping out humankind, however it plans to do that. Understood?"
"Yeah, we got it," Ulrich was quiet. Jérémie nodded, before turning back to the sink he was using.
"You sure don't need an amplifier," Odd muttered.
"Got something you need to say?" Jérémie asked, turning back around, fully alert. The expression on his face warned the other two that he was not in the mood for any of their jokes or shenanigans right now.
Odd held up his hands in surrender, "No, no, I'm just saying we heard you."
Yes, the blonde in blue seemed to be coming across as a spoilsport, but he had a point. Any chance XANA saw to break up the group—as it had in the past—it would automatically take it. Anything to rid itself of the ones standing in its way.
The trio let things return to normal when Hiroki's friend, Johnny Cleary, approached them. They prepared themselves for questions about Yumi.
"Hey, Johnny," Jérémie greeted the boy with a smile, having met him many times during summer break (to visit Hiroki; Johnny was a day student). "What's up?"
Johnny didn't return the blonde's smile, though. In fact, he seemed to be a little...sad, almost upset. "Can I talk to you guys? In private? I think we have a problem."
The three elder boys just blinked at him in confusion.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Once the trio was fully dressed, Johnny led them to the courtyard. He refused to spill any beans, though, at least until they reached the scene he wanted them to see.
Aelita was already there, with Tamiya standing at her side.
"Hey, 'Lita," Odd greeted his cousin. "What are you doing here?"
She sent them a forced smile, "Tamiya asked me to come here. Said it was a crisis. And seeing it for myself, I can understand her concern." She turned back to what was going on in front of them, and they followed her gaze.
They were immediately faced with a worrying sight. Hiroki, clearly upset, was sitting at the base of a tree, with Milly sitting next to him, obviously trying to cheer him up—and succeeding, sort of. Meanwhile, sitting on a bench nearby was Yumi, visibly sulking. Her back was to everyone and everything, as she faced the wall, staring intently at it as if it was helping her remain in reality.
Concerned, Ulrich immediately asked, "What's wrong with them?"
Tamiya was the one who answered, "Hiroki told us that his and Yumi's parents got into a huge fight last night." Her gaze was filled with sympathy for her friend and his older sister.
"Hiroki, at least, doesn't know what they were fighting about," Johnny quietly added, "but it was bad enough for their dad to leave the house in the middle of the night."
So that's why Yumi was sulking. She was unmistakably upset by her parents fighting so badly that her father had decided it was best for him to leave, with the two adults' yelling clearly waking up their two kids and subsequently scaring them.
Aelita addressed their two youngers, "You two focus on Hiroki. He's going to need your support. Let us focus on Yumi, okay?"
Johnny and Tamiya both nodded, before reluctantly walking over to where their other two friends were.
This left the four teens to worry about their own friend.
"I remember the last time she was sulking like this," Ulrich softly admitted. "It took her two days to simmer down."
"I could try some of my jokes on her," Odd suggested. "That might do the trick."
"I'm not saying you don't have a good sense of humor, Odd," Ulrich replied, "but maybe I should go and talk to her first." He then walked away from the group and toward the bench Yumi was sitting on.
Aelita turned to her cousin, wondering, "You think Ulrich will manage to at least get her to smile?"
"Yeah," Odd quipped, "as sure as I am about Julia Roberts calling me right now and inviting me out to dinner."
The pink-ette barely managed to stifle a giggle, "Yeah, I think you're right. Yumi's really upset." She then turned to the other blonde beside her. "Jérémie, you stayed at their house for two months. Was there any sign of their marriage falling apart?"
Jérémie solemnly shook his head, "No. They seemed to get along very well. At least whenever I was within earshot."
That made sense. The last thing the Ishiyamas wanted was likely having their daughter's friend—a stranger to them—hearing them argue and having marital trouble. They probably considered it bad etiquette and/or hospitality.
So whatever they were fighting about was either building up beneath the surface, or it happened very suddenly. Sadly, there was no way to tell for sure.
Meanwhile, Ulrich carefully approached Yumi, "Hey, Yumes."
She immediately sighed, "Please, Ulrich, leave me alone. I really don't feel like talking right now." She didn't even turn around to face him.
"But I feel like talking," Ulrich admitted. "And only with you. Whatever is wrong, you can tell us, y'know."
She finally turned to face him, but in the process, she also stood up from the bench, "Sorry, but I'm not in the mood. If you like talking so much, talk to yourself, okay?"
All four of her friends watched her walk away.
Well, that didn't work.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Later that evening, Ulrich snuck out as soon as night fell. Odd knew and knew why (because it was obvious), and had agreed to cover for his roommate to Jim, along with a verbal wish for things to start looking up for their friend and her family—a sentiment Ulrich shared before leaving.
Anyways, Ulrich had grabbed a pink rose on the way, having taking it from the bushes right outside of Kadic's front gates. Feeling nervous, despite him and Yumi only being friends, he rang the doorbell. Hopefully, the family wasn't asleep yet, he thought as he sniffed the rose in his hand.
They were still awake, fortunately (he could see the lights still on), but what he was greeted with was a little sad.
"Oh, it's you, darling!" That was Akiko, Yumi's mother. "I said to myself we couldn't stay angry with each other for–" She opened the door, only to cut herself off when she saw who was at the door. Her smile immediately faded, "Oh, hello, Ulrich."
His heart twisted in sympathy. She was obviously in pain, and Ulrich wished he could do something to help ease it. But he couldn't; there was nothing he could do.
"Good evening, ma'am," he offered her a gentle smile. "Um, is Yumi still awake?"
Akiko faked a smile before answering him, "Yes, she's in her room," and then letting him inside.
Fortunately, Yumi was much more willing to talk now. Though, it probably helped that he had come alone and they weren't around anyone else, as well as the fact that she was in a safe place. This time, when he asked, she had an answer ready.
"My parents got into a fight last night," she explained, tightly clutching that pink rose in her hands as if it was her last life line. "Apparently, my dad was so upset that he had decided that he and Mom should have a trial separation."
Oof. That was all fancy talk for 'they're having marital troubles and are in danger of divorcing'.
Ulrich remained standing, while Yumi lounged on her bed. "Where is your dad?" he asked. "Do you know?"
She sniffed the rose to calm herself down, "He's staying with a friend from work."
"And what was it that your parents argued about?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips.
"I-I'm not sure, but whatever it was about, it had to have been explosive for Oto-san to just up and leave the way he did. Oka-san tried to tell me, but she was in such hysterics that I didn't quite understand," she softly confessed. "To be honest, I'm not sure she did either..."
"Yeah, those arguments are the worst," he muttered in agreement. Those fights where one side is just being yelled at and not really understanding why, nor really being given the chance to explain their side—Ulrich hated those fights.
A tiny voice interrupted the two, "So you know what it's like?" The teens both turned to the doorway of Yumi's room and saw Hiroki standing there, looking lost. It was disconcerting seeing the boy like this; he was usually like Odd, joking and messing with Yumi just because, but never vulnerable like this.
Understanding this, Yumi stretched out an arm, inviting her brother inside her room. Hiroki, like the little kid he was, immediately ran over to her and buried himself into his elder sister's side for comfort.
"Yeah," Ulrich answered, meaning every word. "I do. Granted, it's not my parents fighting with each other. It's more of my parents fighting with me."
Hiroki cringed, "Oh, that's worse." Yeah, it was, Ulrich mentally admitted. "But do your parents fight with each other?"
"I don't know," the brunette shrugged. "I'm a boarder. I live at the school, so I don't really know. But whenever I am home, my father's the one in charge, and my mother just...takes it."
Yumi quietly cut in, "That's something you've never told us before."
He shrugged again, "Well, it's not something I like talking about. You know that. All of our friends know that. One of the things we agreed early on, remember, was that if you didn't want to talk about your home life, you didn't have to."
Yumi nodded, remembering that agreement perfectly well.
Ulrich's father was always berating him, and his mother had bystander syndrome. Yumi's parents were always arguing about something (and this time, they had actually separated). Odd's parents were neglectful due to their jobs, but tried to make up for it by never punishing their kids. Aelita had the best home life of them all; her parents actually cared, but didn't have enough hours between shifts to always pay attention to or take care of her. And meanwhile, Jérémie's parents had created Lyoko and XANA—and subsequently caused the current war they were all fighting—just to cure their son's cancer and give him a friend.
All of them had pains from their home life that had followed them to Kadic. To be honest, they had raised each other more than their own parents did (Jérémie especially).
Ulrich sighed, turning back to Hiroki, "No family is perfect, basically. Everyone is going to have their ups and downs. What matters most is communication. Through that, you can create a place that safe enough for everyone."
Yumi smiled, "Thanks, Ulrich. You always know how to cheer someone up. I'm really glad you came."
"Yeah," Hiroki agreed. "Now, we just have to figure out a way to bring Mom and Dad back together."
Yeah, that was going to be the hard part.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
When classes let out the next day, Ulrich was quick to leave the room as soon as the bell rang, practically running out of the door.
"Slow down there!" Odd called out to him. "Not all of us can keep up with your Super Sprint!"
The brunette halted in his tracks and turned back to his friends with a sheepish smile. "Sorry," he replied, as soon as the other three caught up to him, "but I promised Yumi to help her and Hiroki get their parents get back together. So, sorry, but I can't stay today." He then resumed running towards the front gates. "I'll be back around dinner!"
"Okay," Aelita replied. "Good luck!"
"Have fun with your date!" Odd added.
"Hey!" Ulrich snapped back. "Yumi and I are just good friends and that's all!"
Jérémie and Aelita failed to hide their amused smiles, as Odd continued to giggle long after Ulrich left.
"Literally dropping everything," Odd said through his chuckles, "including homework despite your grades-obsessed father? Yeah, I wouldn't call that 'just friends' behavior, would you? I mean, Jérémie, if Aelita's parents were separated due to fighting and she asked you to help her get them back together, would you?"
Jérémie's answer was immediate, "Of course. I'd try, anyway, as much as I could without overstepping my boundaries."
"But that's unlikely to happen," Aelita cut in as the trio reached the vending machines. "My parents get along great, Odd, you know that. Besides, what's going on with Yumi's parents is a big deal and will affect the rest of us just as much. If they divorce, then Yumi will very likely have to move back to Japan, no matter who gets custody of her."
Which would leave them down one fighter, and that was the last thing they needed with XANA free from the supercomputer.
"Right," Jérémie agreed. "So Yumi doesn't really have a choice but to ask us for help, and she clearly thought Ulrich was the best option. Unfortunately, there's not really much that we can do except be there to offer support whenever she needs it."
Odd retrieved his soda from the vending machine. "True, but I still think their 'we're just friends' claim is bogus." He sighed, "Anyways, I gotta go too. I'm the background music for Sissi and William's play tomorrow, so my presence at today's rehearsal is mandatory." He waved at them as he walked away towards the administrative building, where the hall was. "Later!"
This left the two Einsteins alone, together. Jérémie took a seat on the nearby planter, and Aelita quickly settled in beside him.
Jérémie was quiet for a moment before quietly confessing, "You know, it's scary how quickly things can escalate. I've only ever heard my parents fight once, over the neuronal headset, and to me, it came out of nowhere."
Right, because it was the last iteration of the day his parents had re-lived for almost seven years. And knowing this, it was no wonder he'd had such a strong reaction to seeing that headset a decade later. Because, even with amnesia, deep down, he remembered his parents fighting over it.
"Yeah, your parents' arguments were few and far between," Aelita gently told him. "At least, according to their diary. The ones they did have were mainly disagreements about programming Lyoko or XANA, and never lasted more than a day. When a conclusion was reached, they each took to the camera separately to explain their side. But even when they were in disagreement with each other, you never heard them argue, because they both agreed that it was the last thing you needed." Because he was sick, and didn't need to hear his parents fighting as the cherry on top. "The argument over the headset was the only fight where only one of them explained what had happened." Likely because Sophie was still recovering from its side-effects, physical and mental.
Jérémie's voice came in at barely above a whisper, "And it was so explosive because..." He trailed off.
Fortunately, Aelita finished for him, "Because it was the only fight of theirs that was purely emotional. Remember, the headset was giving Sophie the same type of headaches that your tumor was giving you: quote, unquote, 'the ones that never go away'. So, your father was probably very scared that he was going to lose her too."
And remembering how the only ones to use that headset were Sophie and herself, Aelita couldn't blame XANA for telling her that she reminded it of Jérémie's mother, its creator. They even decided to experiment with it for the exact same reason.
That reason—Jérémie—was very quiet as he digested all of that. Then, he quietly said, "You said that your parents get along great."
She smiled, "Mm-hmm." Her parents were honestly the ones (out of the group) most likely to follow in Michel and Sophie's footsteps and sacrifice themselves for their child's happiness and well-being. And she didn't know if that fact should make her proud or sad.
"Then how come Yumi's parents don't?" he asked.
"Well, it all goes back to what I told you long ago about communication," she replied. "It's important to know how, so when problems do arise, then you're more likely to resolve them by talking it out, rather than resort to violence. Yes, sometimes, emotions will run high—that's only natural—but it's how you talk about them that matters most."
A pause. "You were right." He was softly smiling. "You and I do have it better than others." Her smile became a little less forced and a little more real at his words. "And I'm glad. With all I've been through so far," he confessed, "I don't think I'd have the energy or sanity to deal with anything else."
She let loose a little giggle, "Yeah, we got lucky with that little moment in limbo, didn't we?"
Jérémie just hummed in content agreement.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Mr. Chardin had decided to do Romeo and Juliet as the first play of the school year, and had given complete creative control over to the students. All he would take care of was the scheduling and the budgeting of the tickets.
William was Romeo and Sissi was Juliet, while Odd himself was the background music. He arrived at rehearsal, after retrieving his acoustic guitar from the room he shared with Ulrich, to a disagreement.
It started with William reading off one of Romeo's lines to Sissi, who was perched up on the balcony set. "I don't know if she'll appear tonight, but, uh," he took a quick glance at his script, "in any case, I'm moved by her."
"Cut!" Nicolas cut in, before storming up to the stage.
"What?" William asked. "Too flat?"
"No, it's the line!" Nicolas explained. "I didn't write that!" He grabbed William's script and studied it briefly, yet intently, before turning to Hervé, who was standing next to the steps leading up to the stage. "Pichon, what did I say about revising my script?!"
"Your script?" Hervé asked, annoyed. "We both wrote it together! And I changed it because the two just met! 'I know she loves me' coming from Romeo is unrealistic! My line sounds better!"
"It's romantic!" Nicolas retorted. "Romeo and Juliet is a love story, after all!"
"Hey, hey, both of you, relax!" Sissi cut in before things could escalate further. "Why don't we let Romeo decide what to say there? William, what say you?"
William shrugged, "I'll choose Hervé's line. It's a more accurate translation of Shakespeare's text."
Hervé sent Nicolas a proud smile, as Sissi said, "That works for me, and don't worry, you're fine with your delivery. Now, Hervé, Nicolas, both of you off-stage. There's no reason to be up here with us. And Odd, you're late."
The four all turned to the entrance of the hall, where Odd stood there with his guitar case in hand. "Only by five minutes. Sorry, I thought I knew exactly where this thing was." He gestured to his guitar case.
"It's okay," Sissi replied, as Odd walked up to the front row and sat down in one of the chairs. "Just remember not to play too fast."
As he took his guitar out of the case, he quipped, "Sure, but if I play too slow, it'll give me more than enough time to take a little nap."
Sissi rolled her eyes, "Keep all your bad jokes to yourself, if you don't mind."
"Hey, Odd," William softly cut in, "do you know what's wrong with Yumi? Yesterday and today, she was in a bad mood, but she wouldn't tell me why."
Odd immediately tensed up. "Yes, I know what's wrong." But he promised not to tell. "I can't tell you, though. She will when she feels that you need to know."
William deflated in disappointment and concern, and seeing this, Sissi took charge. "C'mon, guys, we can worry about that later." The dark-haired boy nodded. "Now, let's take it from the top. Any time you're ready, Odd."
After tuning his acoustic guitar, the Italian boy began playing, starting the scene.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The sun was going down as Yumi rang the doorbell of her father's friend's house. As she heard rustling from the other side of the door, she glanced back briefly across the street. Ulrich was waiting there, behind a tree, and he gave her an encouraging thumbs up—right, she had to do this. She nodded before turning back to the door right as it opened.
Her father's friend had answered. "Oh, hello, Yumi. How can I help you this evening?"
"Hello, Mr. Monet," she bowed in respect. "Is my father here?"
"Yes, he is," the man replied. "I'll go and get him for you." He turned away, only to halt in his tracks. "Um, would you know why your parents aren't talking to each other?" Yumi solemnly shook her head. He sighed, "I was afraid of that." He then walked away, leaving the door propped open.
So her dad's friend was worried too. That told her a lot, actually. It said that her dad didn't come here to blab on and complain; he was here because he really did need his space.
She turned back to Ulrich, her concern clear on her face. He gave her a small nod to encourage her, but he too was just as worried as she was. She returned his nod with one of her own before turning back to the door just as her father emerged from the hallway.
"Yumi," Takeho softly greeted her. "What are you doing here?"
She just went for it, "Please, come home."
He gripped the doorframe as he reached it, "W-What?"
"Come home," she repeated, before elaborating. "It doesn't feel like it without you..." Home, for her, was all four of them living under one roof and getting along.
Takeho sighed, "Yumi, listen to me." He placed both of his hands on her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eye. "It's more complicated than that. What your mother and I are in a disagreement over has nothing to do with you or your brother, I promise, but I'm afraid it can't be resolved by simply returning home."
"It'd be a start!" she replied, impulsively. "Nothing can be resolved without talking to each other!"
"We're working on it," was all he told her.
"How?! Oka-san waited by the phone all day today, hoping you'd call, but you didn't!" It pained her to see her mother so lost and confused.
Takeho just snapped, "Well, she hasn't called me either!"
Yumi went quiet, as tears began to sting her eyes. "You're the one who left. I don't know what your fight was about, and I don't need to know. Just talk. Both of you. Whether you fix things or not, just get a conversation going."
She then turned around and walked away, towards the tree Ulrich was hiding behind. Said brunette saw, behind her, Takeho reluctantly and solemnly close the door—he didn't want to, but his daughter had made it clear that their talk was over.
Yumi was quiet as she let Ulrich escort her home. He was too; this was his idea, and it had failed.
"I'm sorry..." he softly told her.
"Don't apologize," she told him, just as quiet. "He needed to hear that. I just wasn't expecting it to take so much out of me." She wiped the unshed tears away with her sleeve.
"At least you had the courage," he replied. To stand up to her father, he meant. Because he sure didn't.
But she was right. Takeho and Akiko needed to talk, but they either weren't sure what to say, they still needed to gather the courage, or the divorce was already set in stone. Whatever the case, their kids were suffering, and would continue to suffer if a proper conclusion wasn't reached.
Something Aelita said last year suddenly resurfaced in that moment: "Ulrich, listen. You and Yumi really need to talk, before your jealousy consumes you both. And us, if you're not careful!"
An alarming thought came to mind. Was Yumi afraid of them becoming her parents? Is that why she friendzoned him? Why she said they could only be friends?
He didn't want them to turn into her parents either, and he certainly did not want them to turn into his.
Whether it was true or not, it was a valid fear. And realizing this frightening possibility...
All of a sudden, he wasn't so sour at her decision anymore.
Her voice cut through his thoughts, "Why are you so emotional?" He was? He hadn't realized. "It's not your parents' marriage on the line here."
He quickly wiped his own tears away with the back of his hand before they could fall. "Don't worry about it." Bringing up their relationship right now was the last thing she needed. "Anyways, I think I have an idea, but I want to run it by you first."
"Anything you have right now is better than what I've got. Which is nothing." She sounded defeated, and he hated it.
"Well, in order to start a conversation," he reminded her, "they need to be able to. Phones are too volatile; there's no guarantee that they won't just hang up on each other."
"Which leaves them being in the same place physically as our only option," Yumi finished. Ulrich nodded. "What are you thinking of?"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The next morning, Ulrich and Yumi put their plan into action: getting Yumi a part in the play. The two were currently backstage with the actors, script writers, and Odd the background music. As Yumi was getting into the only costume they had left, Ulrich was hammering out the details with the others.
"Thank you for understanding, guys," Ulrich told Sissi and William. "This means a lot."
"It's no problem," Sissi's smile was warm and reassuring. "We're always happy to help."
"Yeah, anything for a friend," William added.
Nicolas approached and grumbled, "I can't believe you guys are altering my script even more. First the narrator role, then the balcony line, and now this..."
"Our script," Hervé corrected and Nicolas rolled his eyes in response.
"Stop complaining, Poliakoff," Sissi sternly replied. "It's just one scene, and besides...I know what it's like to have divorced parents. Since I live here with my dad, my mom rarely visits, and whenever she does, she feels more like a friend than a mother. Her having another family doesn't help."
Everyone else went quiet as they digested what Elizabeth Delmas just confessed; she was rarely ever vulnerable like that. It didn't last, though, as Yumi spoke up from the dressing rooms.
"Please, tell me I don't look too dumb."
She then emerged from the curtain that separated them from her, revealing the role that the others had found for her. It was the bright red guard outfit, with puffy sleeves, black boots, and silly-looking helmet with a feather attached. It was an embarrassing look, but it was actually accurate to the time period the play was written in.
"You look fine, Yumes," Odd quickly jumped in before anybody else could. "Don't sweat it, okay? You're only in one scene."
"With no lines," William added. "All you have to do is come on stage when I say 'oh no, a guard!', look around for a couple of seconds, and then leave."
"Right," Yumi softly replied. It was simple enough, but she wanted to be in a position where she could keep an eye on her parents. She sighed, "I hope we're not doing this for nothing..."
No one knew how to respond to that.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
That evening, a light post in the park surrounding Kadic began to blink. A black crow took no notice as it flew towards the post and landed on it.
A dark spectre suddenly emerged from the light, going straight into the crow's eyes. It flapped around, trying to fight off the sudden intrusion, only to lose in the end. It flickered like a computer program glitching out, before turning to the other crows nearby.
At an insane speed, it flew towards them and began jabbing them all with its beak. The painful electric jolt they felt allowed XANA to possess them as well.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Lyokowarriors were heading towards the hall, to get ready for the play starting in about an hour, when the superscan began sounding from the laptop tucked safely within Aelita's bag.
They all froze when they heard it, and the other four carefully watched as the pink-ette knelt on the ground and pulled her laptop out of her bag and opened it. "Activated tower in the Desert Sector."
Yumi was shaking her head, "No, no, no, no, no, not now. Now is a terrible time!" She was freaking out, and it didn't require a rocket scientist to figure out why.
"Relax," Ulrich reassured her. "You and Odd just stay here. The rest of us will take care of the tower. If a Return needs to be launched, we'll warn you beforehand."
"Right," Jérémie agreed. "You two just focus on the play." And Yumi's parents.
Yumi breathed out a sigh of relief to steady her nerves, and it seemed to work. Kind of. "Thanks, guys."
With that, the five all split up to their respective tasks.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
On the way to the manhole cover, Ulrich, Jérémie, and Aelita all saw a concerning amount of crows hidden partially within the treeline, mostly covered in shadow, and they were all seemingly glaring at the trio.
They had a feeling as to what XANA's attack was this time, but it was only solidified by one of the birds taking off from its perch and flying right towards them. It pecked at Jérémie's head, who gave out a small cry as a small jolt of electricity surged throughout his body from that point of impact. The trio then watched the bird fly back into the treeline where its friends were.
"I saw the sign in its eyes," Jérémie confirmed to the other two. "To the sewers! Now!"
The trio took off running (having briefly stopped to watch the birds), and as soon as they did, the entire flock began flying after them. Ulrich ducked to avoid one that flew at him, before stopping in his tracks.
"You two go on! I'll try to hold them off!" Jérémie and Aelita continued to run, leaving their friend behind.
The birds began surrounding Ulrich as the other two reached the manhole cover. Aelita opened it, letting Jérémie go in first. Only when she was safely within the passage did the pink-ette call out to the brunette.
"Ulrich, come on! We're here!"
They were all over him, pecking at him without mercy. "Give me a second to finish my acupuncture session!" He managed to grab a stick and waving it around, fending off the birds. He then took off towards the open sewer passage, as Aelita climbed all the way down to give her friend some room. Ulrich reached the passage just in time, covering it back up with the cover just before the flock would peck at him again.
On the other side, Ulrich could hear the flapping of numerous wings, trying to peck at the cover, as if that would somehow make it open. He chuckled to himself as he climbed down to join the other two.
As the brunette grabbed his skateboard, he heard Jérémie ask him, "You okay?"
"Yeah, no harm, no fowl," he quipped in response.
"I hope Yumi and Odd are okay," Aelita softly admitted. "They don't know what the attack is yet."
"They'll be fine," Jérémie replied, "as long as we focus on deactivating the tower."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi and Odd were both in costume now (Yumi in the ridiculous guard outfit, and Odd as a musician of the era), and since neither had any lines to rehearse, they were able to discreetly watch the audience members arrive from behind the curtain.
"Good evening," Mr. Delmas was greeting people as they came to the doors to the auditorium, where the play had been set up. "We're glad you could make it tonight." The woman he was greeting nodded her head before heading inside the hall.
Akiko Ishiyama approached in a black dress that stopped just below her knees, black flats, and a dark violet purse slung over her shoulder. Hiroki was at her side, in the best formal clothing he had. The boy was obviously uncomfortable in his suit, but he wore an expression of pure determination (yes, he knew of tonight's plan).
"There's Oka-san," Yumi sighed. She and Odd closely watched the woman's interaction with their headmaster.
"Good evening, Mrs. Ishiyama," Mr. Delmas shook her hand. "I suppose your husband is running a little late tonight? Extra hours perhaps?"
Akiko's smile immediately wavered, "Um, no, actually. I don't think my husband will be coming tonight. He's, uh...not feeling well."
Odd and Yumi immediately winced, but still watched as the woman made her way inside with her son in tow and took a seat. It was obvious Akiko didn't want anyone to know that she and Takeho were separated, which was fair, but Yumi and Hiroki were both right there.
Hiroki, in fact, briefly glanced at the curtain where his sister was hiding and gave her a concerned expression as he sat down. 'This isn't going to work,' his eyes were saying.
'Yes, it will,' was her nonverbal response.
The boy nodded and resumed his focus, putting his faith in his sister.
Back at the entrance, Mr. Delmas turned his attention to the next person in line, dressed in their best suit. "Oh, Mr. Ishiyama! I'm delighted to see that you're feeling better already!"
"Feeling better?" Takeho asked in confusion as the principal shook his hand, clearly prepared to have used that to excuse his wife's absence.
As if sensing what had just occurred, Mr. Delmas motioned to a couple of chairs inside, "Your wife has just arrived with your son."
"My wife...is here?" Takeho took a closer look, and sure enough, he saw the familiar head of Akiko.
Yumi and Odd carefully watched as the man entered the room and walked up to his wife and son. He cleared his throat, and Akiko turned to him in surprise, not expecting him to be here.
Hiroki's reaction however was award-worthy. A smile immediately broke out on his face, "Oto-san! You made it! Yumi will be so glad!" He grabbed his father's arm and pulled him down into the empty chair beside him. "Sit down! The show's about to start!"
Takeho didn't say anything, but Yumi did see a twinge of guilt on both his and her mother's faces upon hearing Hiroki's exclamation of seeing his father again, pretending like the fight never happened.
Hiroki wasn't the best actor in the world, but he could amp up the guilt-tripping to its maximum setting with ease. And thanks to that, he had at least gotten his parents to sit together, with him in the middle, acting as glue, you could say.
Takeho and Akiko, however, glanced at each other before turning their heads away sharply. They had sat together and were continuing to do so only for their son. It didn't mean they would start talking, especially since the play was about to start.
"Yeesh," Odd whispered, "tough crowd."
"Yeah, we're not out of the woods yet," Yumi replied, in a voice just as low.
The two left the curtain and returned to the backstage area, where the other actors were all dressed and rehearsing their lines at the last minute. As they were doing so, he asked her, "It's honestly a miracle you got them both here. How'd you do it?"
"We lied," she confessed with a shrug. "Hiroki and I told them both that the other wasn't gonna come." She focused on their dad, while her brother focused on their mom. "I wish we didn't have to lie, but..."
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Hey, at least they're both physically in the same place, and they sat together. With Hiroki's help, of course, but that's still a good two steps forward."
Yumi let slip a little smile. You could always leave it to Odd to always find the silver lining in every dark scenario.
In that moment, the two heard the muffle cawing of a crow. They looked out the nearest window in time to see a large black crow fly over and land on a tree branch on which other crows were perched.
"You see them?" she asked. He nodded. "Kind of bizarre. They're all staring at us..."
"Reminds me of a film," Odd commented.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, it was a dumb flick where birds attack the heroes. It wasn't even scary..."
"Maybe not," Yumi softly replied, "but this is still a little creepy."
Odd was unable to deny this, so he didn't.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich was the first to reach the bridge of the factory. Actually, he had volunteered, wanting to protect the other two. Sure enough, his instincts were correct. He watched as a crow walked right past him, before he looked up to see the entire bridge covered with perched crows.
"Well," he commented, as he slowly got out of the passage and stood up on the bridge. "Ain't this a predicament?"
Jérémie and Aelita carefully followed his lead, grateful that they did so when they saw the flock waiting for them.
"Getting past this untouched is gonna be a miracle," Jérémie muttered.
Aelita exhaled to rid herself of her anxiety. "We've been through worse. Besides, it's not every day we have such a big audience. C'mon, let's mingle."
"I'd say you're crazy," the blonde replied, "but we don't really have much of a choice here." It didn't help that XANA no longer needed him alive, so using himself as a shield for the other two very likely would not work here.
Aelita took the lead, slowly walking through the flock of birds littering the ground. She kept her eyes on the crows, nervously watching and waiting for XANA to attack. Jérémie was behind her, with Ulrich holding up the rear. In any case, Aelita and Ulrich both knew that protecting Jérémie was still their top priority, and always would be.
This felt like a horror movie come to life.
Suddenly, the crows' eyes all shone a bright red, the eye of XANA flashing as they screeched at the three teens. They then took off and flew towards them.
"I'll delay them," Ulrich told the other two. "Head for the elevator. I'll catch up."
The two geniuses both nodded before taking off towards the ropes. Meanwhile, Ulrich took up a defensive stance, ready to defend himself against the flock.
"Hey, over here!" he taunted the birds.
Jérémie and Aelita jumped towards the ropes, and grabbed them before swinging around towards the elevator. Hearing a concerning amount of flapping, they turned back to see Ulrich sliding down a rope, though not with ease, as the birds repeatedly attacked him.
The elevator door began to close, and Aelita called out, "Ulrich, hurry up!"
The brunette landed safely on the ground, before making a run for it. He ended up sliding into the cabin right as the metal door closed. Immediately after, the outline of the crows' beaks began appearing in the said door, none of them having enough momentum to stop in time.
As the lift descended, Jérémie asked his friend yet again, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Ulrich replied. "Just worried about Yumi mostly. I hope the plan works."
"Don't panic. I'll virtualize us in the vicinity of the activated tower. If we hurry," Aelita cut in, "we can return in time to see the tail end of the play."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita landed on the sandy ground of the Desert Sector, with Ulrich and Jérémie on either side of her. In front of them was the crater the activated tower was located in; she had sent them all close enough that they didn't need the vehicles.
Jérémie slipped on his goggles to see what was waiting for him. "Seven Krabes are guarding the tower."
"Great! I was in the mood for seafood tonight!" Ulrich said, before taking off in his Super Sprint.
Aelita and Jérémie quickly followed him, stopping right at the edge of the crater. They saw Ulrich jump on top of one Krabe and stab its eye, before jumping off a moment before it exploded to signal its defeat.
They turned to each other, and shrugged, knowing that Ulrich was so passionate today because he wanted to return to Kadic and help Yumi. Aelita then waved her hand over her star bracelet, activating her wings, and took off into the air.
Jérémie leapt down, landing on a ledge above two Krabes. He jumped again, landing on the shell of one. He formed a sword that he then used to stab the monster in the eye. He leapt off right before the explosion.
Aelita circled around in the air to avoid the lasers of the two Krabes she herself was facing. Once she saw an opening, she formed an Energy Field and threw it at one, destroying it and leaving four left.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Meanwhile, the play was well underway. Odd was always on stage, sitting in a chair and partially hidden behind a prop on stage to make his presence more natural, and Yumi's only scene was coming up.
William, as Romeo, gestured up to the empty balcony, "Does she love me? In any case, I'm moved by her! Oh, good heavens, a guard!"
He then hid behind a nearby wooden cutout of a bush, just as Yumi entered, dressed as the guard. She glanced around, but mostly at her parents.
"Look, it's Yumi," Takeho whispered, a gentle smile on his face.
Akiko just gave him a glaring side-eye before focusing her attention back to the stage, resulting in him crossing his arms.
Hiroki barely covered up his wince. This was tougher than they thought. How could he get them to talk when they actively avoided each other?
Yumi made a move to leave, only to stop when a loud banging sounded from the right-side windows. Everyone else followed her alarmed gaze, including William and Sissi (from the balcony), and many people began standing up, including Odd, when they saw the massive flock of crows slamming against one of the windows. However, Odd and Yumi's gazes centered on the birds' red eyes.
"XANA!" Yumi gasped.
As if on cue, the next impact from the birds cracked the window. The one that followed finally broke it, and the flock immediately flew inside, covering up the lights on the ceiling and darkening the room.
People immediately ducked, while Odd used his guitar to smack a crow out of the air.
But Yumi sharply whistled and called out, "Hey, birds! Over here!" She was backing up as the crows all began surging around her.
"Yumi!" Odd called out to her, knowing what she was trying to do.
She was planning on sacrificing herself to protect everybody else.
"Protect my family, Odd!" she called back to him. Once she was sure every single crow was focused on her, she jumped on top of a banister, before using it as a launch pad. She crashed through a window on the left side of the hall, covering her face to protect it.
She somersaulted across the ground the moment she landed, to protect her neck. Once she was safe, she took off in the direction of Mr. Roulier's shed. It was nearby and it would be a safe haven from the massive flock still chasing her.
When she reached the shed, she quickly opened the door and closed it as soon as she was inside. No crow was able to penetrate the door—because it was made of metal—and knowing this, she slid down the wall in relieved exhaustion.
But she should've known that anyone or any creature under XANA's control would never give up so easily. She was busy catching her breath when a crow broke through the shed's only windowpane, making it explode on impact.
She jumped back to her feet, quickly grabbed the nearest object to use as a weapon. A rake likely wouldn't help, but she at least had to try.
As a swarm of crows entered the shed to attack her, she swung the rake around her to hit as many crows away from her as possible. She fought them off as hard as she could, but she quickly began to falter from exhaustion.
Suddenly, hit by a crow that dive-bombed her, she fell to her knees. She involuntarily dropped her rake and sprawled on the floor, as the crows continued to swarm her...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie made a break for the tower, but a Krabe stepped in front of it, causing him to come to a stop. It fired at him and he jumped away to avoid the shot.
"Leave it to me!" Ulrich called out, as he used his Sprint to jump up and land on its shell. He stabbed it in its eye, before bailing right before it exploded.
The elf made another break for the tower, only for a Krabe to shoot at him from behind, hitting his leg. Aelita, still in the air, dove towards the monster—which was on the bottom-most level and crawling towards her two friends. It saw her, however, and began shooting at her, rapid-fire. She dodged as many as she could, until one hit her in the chest. She fell to the ground, now wing-less.
It turned to face her, before preparing another laser. It fired and she jumped out of the way, narrowly dodging the projectile. Mid-air, she prepared an Energy Field and hit the Krabe. She destroyed it, but before she would land, a shot from another Krabe up on a nearby ledge hit her in her side, devirtualizing her.
In the real world, she appeared in the scanner room, clutching her side where she felt the throbbing.
"Stupid Krabe..." she muttered, before heading towards the elevator.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd couldn't ignore how worried he was about Yumi, especially since her family was just as concerned as he was. After the hall had been evacuated, and Jim was watching over the students, Mr. Delmas went with the four to find Yumi. They tracked her down via Odd repeatedly calling her. She never answered, which was concerning in and of itself, but the plan worked.
The sixth call brought them in the range of Mr. Roulier's shed.
Once it came into view, Takeho and Akiko immediately raced towards it and opened the door, only to gasp in shock when they saw their daughter lying on the ground, out cold and severely injured. The crows were nowhere in sight.
Her parents both knelt at her side, and began shaking her, hoping she'd wake up. "Yumi!" Akiko cried. "Yumi, please respond!" Just a moan would suffice, but she made no move or sound.
Mr. Delmas pulled out his own cell phone from his pocket. "I'm going to call an ambulance."
"Please, hurry!" Takeho urged, not taking his focus off his daughter.
As the headmaster was busy on the phone with the hospital, Odd made a call of his own. Hopefully, someone was at the controls.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita reached the monitor and slipped on the earpiece moments before she got Odd's call. Expecting him to ask for an update, she immediately answered. "Odd? Everything okay?"
"No," he solemnly replied. It surprised her; something bad must've happened. "Things are far from okay." He cut right to the chase. "Yumi's been hurt by XANA's crows." The pink-ette barely managed to hold back a gasp of horror. "The principal is in the middle of calling for an ambulance as we speak. I'm going to stay at Kadic to keep the crows occupied while Yumi and her family take refuge in the hospital, but I'd rather they not wait forever. Please tell me the tower is seconds away from being deactivated."
"It should be," Aelita reassured him. "Just a couple of pests to get rid of first." Two Krabes were left. "But don't be surprised if XANA tries to go after Jérémie with the Scyphozoa. Both of you, hang in there for a few more minutes, at least."
"We'll try our best," Odd replied. "But don't drag your feet."
"We won't," the pink-ette vowed, before her cousin hung up. She then turned her attention to her friends still on Lyoko, "Ulrich, Jérémie, hurry up! Yumi's been hurt, so we have to launch a Return to the Past as soon as possible!" And she couldn't do that until Jérémie deactivated that tower.
"Okay!" the elf replied, before taking out a Krabe.
The last Krabe shot at Ulrich, resulting in a loss of lifepoints. "Careful, Ulrich!" she told him. "You're losing too many lifepoints!"
She didn't hear the samurai's response, because it was overshadowed by the flapping of wings behind her. She turned around, finding nothing, before glancing up. XANA was waiting for her with a flock of those crows.
Their eyes glowed red before they flew towards her. The last thing she saw was numerous feathers too in her face for comfort, with the last thing she felt being pain...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich was alarmed when the pink-ette didn't answer him. "Aelita?! Can you hear me?! How many lifepoints do we have left?!"
No response.
Jérémie protected the samurai from the last Krabe by destroying it with an energy arrow. "Something must've happened to her."
Lasers were suddenly shot at them from above, causing them to look up to see five Hornets all converging on them. Understanding the current situation, Ulrich stepped in front of his friend right after the blonde destroyed one of the Hornets with an energy dagger. "Head for the tower! I'll handle them!"
The elf nodded before turning around and making one last break for the activated tower, only to halt in his tracks yet again when he saw what was waiting for him...
Ulrich used his katana to deflect a laser back to the Hornet that fired it, when Jérémie suddenly called out to him.
"Ulrich!"
The brunette blocked a couple more shots before turning around in time to see his friend being cornered by the Scyphozoa, his back literally against a wall. Its tentacles wrapped around him and picked him up.
"Jérémie, no!" he called out as the elf saw red, his memory being implanted with something.
While he was distracted, Ulrich's katana was knocked out of his hand by a Hornet's laser. The three flying rats began firing at the weapon repeatedly, carrying it farther and farther up into the air, until it burst into pixels, destroyed.
"Oh no!" he cried. Now, he had no way of freeing his friend, and Aelita couldn't help because she had probably been knocked out.
All he could do was dodge the Hornets' lasers—so he did.
Rather quickly, a Manta flew into the crater, stopping right under the Scyphozoa. The jellyfish monster dropped Jérémie, who landed on the Manta. As the Scyphozoa retreated into the nearby tunnel, as the Manta flew out of the crater, very likely heading towards the nearest way tower.
On the way out, Jérémie briefly glanced back at the samurai, and sure enough, his blue irises had been replaced with the eye of XANA.
"I don't believe it!" the brunette cried. "Super Sprint!" He used his speed to jump out of the crater.
He had to at least stop Jérémie from entering Code: XANA into that way tower, even if it meant devirtualizing him.
He ignored the three Hornets chasing after him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi came to and was, at first, confused. Where was she? She recognized her brother. He was sitting at her side, wiping her forehead with a wet cloth.
"Hiroki...?" she managed to croak out.
Her brother immediately smiled—a real one. "Nee-chan! You're awake! Thank goodness! How are you feeling?"
He didn't need to know the truth, so she responded with, "I've been better. Where's Oto-san and Oka-san?"
"They're right behind us in the family car," Hiroki explained. "You're in an ambulance. Those crows hurt you so badly that you needed to be taken to the hospital." Oh. She should've figured. The last thing she remembered was being attacked by that swarm.
"Where's Odd?" Was he with their parents?
"He stayed behind to protect the school in case those crows came back," her brother replied, before apparently deciding to change the subject. "Anyways, it seems as though Oto-san had his friend give him a ride to the play tonight." A pause. "They're both really worried about you. Any signs of a fight between them were just gone the moment they knew you were in danger. I think they may get back together soon." He sounded hopeful.
But she was shaking her head. "No, not because of this. Not because of a tragedy. Our plan was just to get them to talk...nothing else..."
Her voice faded away due to exhaustion. The last thing she heard was her brother urging her to stay awake.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd hung back, closely watching the trees, as Jim escorted all of the students back to the dorms. Mr. Delmas was now calling an exterminator, and classes would likely be canceled until the crows were gone.
"Take it easy," Jim was reassuring everyone. "The crows won't hurt any of you, not while I'm here."
As if on cue, the massive flock of crows suddenly surged from the nearby forest, flying up before dive-bombing towards the dorms.
Kids immediately cowered in fear, most behind Jim or columns and trees. However, Odd was running in the opposite direction of the dorms. He whistled, calling out to the crows, "Over here, poultry! Let's have a party! Don't want to keep me waiting!"
He was taunting XANA, and sure enough, the AI fell for it. It directed the swarm to change course to chase after him.
"Della Robbia!" Jim called out in concern.
"Don't follow me!" Odd yelled back, before he disappeared into the nearby forest, the flock quickly following.
Jim disobeyed him anyways out of fear for the boy's safety...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Perfect, just great, Ulrich sarcastically thought, as he chased after his friend. XANA was possessing Jérémie—who was almost at that way tower—he had Hornets on his tail, and his katana was gone.
He stomped on the ground before jumping. He landed on one Hornet, and then the other two, before backflipping into the air and kicking the Manta from underneath. This sent his friend flying into the air. He landed on a nearby platform before running towards the elf and catching him before he could hit the ground.
He set Jérémie down on his feet gently before quickly dodging the following the energy claw slash from his friend—he was still possessed; the XANA symbol was still in the blonde's eyes.
Jérémie formed a pair of identical energy claws on the other hand, before rushing at Ulrich. The samurai, however, used his Sprint to dash out of the way, not once but three times.
XANA made Jérémie growl in frustration, and Ulrich chose to taunt, "I might not have my katana, XANA, but I can still run!"
Boy, did he hope that Aelita would wake up soon. He could really use her help right now.
The AI growled again using the elf's face, before turning around and making a break for the way tower nearby. However, the samurai used his speed to quickly catch up and trip his friend.
The blonde slid across the ground, but quickly recovered. The Manta immediately started firing at Ulrich, but he didn't give XANA one single second to breathe. Sprinting up to behind Jérémie, he hugged him tightly, restraining him and not letting go despite all the struggling. Meanwhile, the Manta had stopped firing, clearly not wanting to hit Jérémie by accident.
"Jérémie, wake up," he whispered in the blonde's ear. "We need you."
He meant it. They did need Jérémie, and not just to deactivate XANA's towers. The group was incomplete without him.
For a moment, the blonde seemed to take this to heart, as he stopped struggling. However, the moment Ulrich dropped his guard in relief, XANA made Jérémie elbow him in the stomach, forcing the samurai to let the elf go and stumble back a couple meters.
Apparently, XANA had gotten better at exploiting their bonds for its own gain.
It had Jérémie form an energy sword before throwing it at Ulrich. The samurai fortunately ducked in time, causing the sword to hit a rock behind him. As a result, the rock shattered into pieces—pieces that looked oddly like swords themselves.
Good enough.
As Jérémie continued his trek towards the way tower, Ulrich grabbed one of those shards, before turning his attention to the monsters (three Hornets and one Manta) resuming their assault on him.
He jumped over some shots, before Sprinting up a nearby wall. He then launched himself into the air, landing on the manta. He ducked from a Hornet's shot, "Aw, you missed!" He ducked again to avoid another laser. "Missed again! Tough break!" He swung his arm, knocking a Hornet into a nearby rock, destroying it. He then used the rock shard to stab the Manta in the eye on its back, before jumping off to avoid the explosion.
He then turned his attention back on Jérémie, who was dangerously close to the way tower. He Sprinted after the elf, before overtaking him by running in a triangle formation around him.
"Triangulate!"
Jérémie had no choice but to stop. He looked around, finding himself surrounding by three Ulrichs.
"Surprise!" All three Ulrichs teased.
The elf frowned, concentrating, before outstretching his hand and forming in it an energy bow and arrow. He fired the arrow at one of the three Ulrichs, who disappeared immediately. The triangle disappeared, but the other two Ulrichs remained, both of whom smiled.
"Missed me!" both taunted.
One of them quickly jumped on Jérémie, armed with the rocky stake he was using as a weapon. In return, XANA had Jérémie form a dagger before swinging it to the samurai attacking him from behind. Target hit.
But the third Ulrich still remained—the real one, standing between the elf and the tower. He smirked yet again. "Missed again, XANA! Bad luck! You even have those goggles to help you!" He then turned serious, "I'm not letting you through, Jérémie. Turn around and head back to the activated tower. Our friends are in danger."
Out of nowhere, he felt, he was hit by a laser in the torso, causing him to double over in (brief) pain. As he glanced back at the two Hornets that were flying towards them, he missed XANA-Jérémie smirking at him before resuming his trek towards the way tower.
The samurai got back to his feet, throwing his makeshift weapon at the last two Hornets, destroying them both in one throw. "One...and two! But–" He remembered, and turned back around. "NO!"
It was too late. Jérémie had already entered the way tower.
In the forest surrounding Kadic, Jim finally caught up with Odd, who was unconscious and injured like Yumi before him.
In the ambulance, Hiroki could only worriedly watch his sister's heart rate slow down with every passing minute. "Hang in there, Nee-chan..." he softly pleaded.
XANA gleefully used Jérémie to sign in with the boy's handprint. Another sector down.
JEREMIE_
CODE_
XANA_
Ulrich helplessly watched as the way tower in front of him began disappearing. His elf friend dropped down from the now-gone second platform. The blonde immediately caught the samurai's eye, his own blue-eyed gaze filled with guilt—he clearly knew what had just happened.
"Apologize later," Ulrich advised. "We need to get out of here!"
Jérémie, in response, wordlessly formed two daggers and handed one to Ulrich. Both daggers were thrown, and both boys were devirtualized just in time to avoid the fading ground.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As Jérémie tried—and failed—to get in touch with Odd, Ulrich slapped Aelita wake. She was in the lab, having been knocked out by the crows. Her eyes immediately fluttered open, "W-What? What happened?"
"The tower's gone," Ulrich solemnly told her. "But so is the Desert Sector."
"What?!" Alarmed, the pink-ette quickly got to her feet and rushed to the monitor. Sure enough, the holomap showed that the Desert had been deleted. "No! Too late. It's all over..."
"For the Desert Sector, yes," Jérémie placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "For Yumi and Odd, I hope not, so move it."
Without a single word, Aelita promptly typed in the coordinates and pressed the enter key, "Return to the past now."
Yumi and Odd—both dangerously close to flatlining—were both engulfed in white.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The group was taken back to this morning, minutes before Ulrich would've gone to Sissi and William, and asked them to give Yumi a part in the play. Take One had her being given the part of a guard, and the result was her parents giving each other the silent treatment but ultimately being united due to their daughter being attacked by crows—something Yumi did not want.
This time, she and Ulrich had gone to their other three friends in hopes of a better plan, one that would prompt her parents to at least start talking again. That's all she wanted: for Takeho and Akiko to talk.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Yumi sternly stated in response to Odd's suggestion to repeat Take One's plan. "I refuse to wear that stupid costume again!"
"Yeah, you did look silly in it," Odd admitted, "but you getting a part in that play is the only way to get your parents in the same place. And that's step one. Getting them to sit together is step two. And that worked out perfectly last time, thanks to Hiroki."
"True," Jérémie cut in, "but that doesn't require Yumi to be a guard. Didn't you say that Nicolas mentioned a scrapped narrator role?"
"Yeah, why?" Odd asked.
Aelita turned to Jérémie with a knowing expression on her face, "You have something in mind, don't you?"
The other three always found it amazing that the two Einsteins were on the same wavelength all the time.
Jérémie turned back to the pink-ette, smiling, "Yep, but you and I are going to have to do a bit of work."
She blinked in surprise.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
That evening, Akiko arrived in the hall with her son in tow, both dressed in the formal clothes they were wearing last time, but he refused to let her go inside.
"Why can't we go inside?" she asked Hiroki. "It's warmer."
"Because Oto-san's coming," Hiroki revealed to her, making her immediately freeze up, "and if you don't want anyone to suspect you guys are separated, it's best to wait here for him and then we all go in together."
Akiko hesitated, clearly reluctant to face her husband, not when the wound of their fight was still so fresh. But they were here for Yumi; she had gotten a part in tonight's play. So she would suck it up for a couple hours.
She let out a soft sigh to signal her choosing defeat. "Very well."
Besides, it would make Hiroki happy.
Perfect timing, apparently, because as soon as she relented to her son's suggestion, her husband's work friend pulled up in the parking lot. The passenger door opened and out stepped her husband in his best suit.
Takeho waved to his friend, who drove off, but the man froze when he saw his wife standing there at the entrance to the administrative building. Fortunately, he got the courage to approach her when Hiroki excitedly waved him over.
After the two adults nodded at each other out of politeness, the trio went in together. It was indeed warmer inside, but there was a line, since Mr. Delmas was greeting all of the guests as they arrived.
Out of the corner of his eye, Hiroki saw Milly and Tamiya off to the side with Jérémie and Aelita. Milly gave him a thumbs up, to signal to him that they were ready. He stiffly nodded, before seizing his acting chops and beginning his own performance.
The boy turned to his parents, and pointed at his friends, "Look, look! It's Milly and Tamiya, about to do what they do best!"
Takeho and Akiko both turned to the two girls, right as Milly began to speak.
"So, Jérémie, Aelita," she said, Tamiya behind her filming with their camera, "we're taking a survey about what interests people about the Romeo and Juliet story. Regardless of the love versus lust debate, no one can deny that it's become a staple in modern day culture. So what draws you two to the story?"
The two Einsteins shared a glance, before the pink-ette replied, "Well, the tragedy of it all. Yes, most factors were out of their control, but there were some things that could've been avoided. At the end, Juliet takes a potion that simulates in her a death-like state, but the friar's message to Romeo about this plan gets lost in transition, so he believes she is actually dead, causing him to take his own life because he can't live without her. Then, she wakes up not long after to see that he is dead, so she then takes her own life as well."
Milly seemed to understand, "So, you believe miscommunication was their downfall?"
"Well, their downfall was caused by a great number of factors, including miscommunication," Jérémie explained, "but bad choices were definitely made that could've been avoided. Regardless, we think it's more tragic that the feud between the two families only ended after their deaths. Even more so that Romeo and Juliet's deaths were indirectly caused by a feud that didn't involve either of them personally."
Hiroki turned back to his parents, "It's always amazing to watch Milly and Tamiya work."
But Jérémie and Aelita's words were resonating deep within Takeho and Akiko. Which was the plan the entire time.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Sissi (as Juliet) stabbed herself with the fake dagger before falling over William's (as Romeo) unmoving body, both pretending to be dead. In the background, Odd playing a slow, sad melody as Yumi (in costume; a time-relevant dress) reappeared on stage. She had taken up the scrapped narrator role, much to Nicolas's delight.
"Not long after," Yumi read, her lines within the hand-sewn book in front of her, "the Prince, the Montagues, the Capulets, and several others arrived, horrified to see what had become of Romeo and Juliet—the latest tragedy in the recent line of tragedies. The Friar told them the whole story, and the Prince pointed out to the two families that this tragedy stemmed from their feud. With this, the two families agreed to end their ancient grudge. As the Prince said with finality, 'This is a sad peace that the morning has brought. Indeed, even the sun won't show his face today. Let us go from here to talk more about these tragic events. Some people will be pardoned, others punished. For there was never a sadder story than this one of Juliet and Romeo'."
Odd's song stopped as Yumi finished talking. The curtains then fell, ending the play, and the audience applauded. However, Takeho and Akiko's claps were slow as they glanced at each other, guilty expressions on both of their faces.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
After the play, as people were driving home, Takeho and Akiko both lingered behind as Yumi changed out of her costume along with the other actors. Things were quiet between them until Akiko finally spoke.
"We need to talk." Her voice was soft. She clearly didn't want to, but she was forcing herself to.
"Yes, we do," he replied, in a tone just as quiet. "Yumi came by last night and asked me to start talking to you. When I told her it wasn't that simple, she started crying, but before I could comfort her, she left. I was about to go after her, but I figured I'd do more harm than good. So I didn't."
"The night before yesterday," Akiko said, "Ulrich Stern came by, and I heard Hiroki asking him about how often parents fight. I won't...I won't repeat what Ulrich said about his own, but...Hiroki asking that question aloud broke my heart." She took a deep breath. "I don't want us to be the Montagues or the Capulets."
"Neither do I," was his immediate response. "I never wanted our kids to suffer. Yumi's right; we need to at least talk things out, like rational people."
"We can start with an apology to each other," she agreed. "I'm sorry for snapping at you about the chores. I know you work long hours at the office, but it wouldn't hurt anything if you stepped up every now and then if I'm being stretched thin."
"That's not what we were fighting about," Takeho replied, in nearly a whisper.
"I'm still sorry."
"Don't be. I'm the one who needs to be apologizing." It was his turn to take a deep breath. "I'm sorry for overreacting about your lunch meeting with Haruto. I know you two just fell apart after graduating high school, but my jealousy took over upon seeing you with your ex-boyfriend."
"Both of our kids are yours, Takeho," she was stern. "I told you that before, and I will always repeat it, because it's the truth. If you want DNA tests done, I will allow them, but when you get the results, I expect to see you on your knees literally begging for my forgiveness. Otherwise, we're done. I can't be with a man who doesn't trust me."
"No. No DNA test. I trust you, mostly because I want to prove your mother wrong, that marrying a man from the city was a good choice."
Akiko finally smiled, "We need to work on our communication. For Yumi and Hiroki, if no one else."
"Agreed," he replied. "My friend knows a marriage counselor. I mean, if that's alright with you."
Her smile never wavered, "It's more than alright. As long as you agree to move back home. The kids miss their father. As do I."
He nodded, "I will. I missed you three too." He really did.
Unknown to them, their two kids and their respective friends were listening in. All they wanted was their parents to talk, and while the issue had not yet completely resolved, the Ishiyamas had agreed to work on things to make life better for their kids.
Milly, Johnny, and Tamiya all shared high-fives with Hiroki, while Yumi sent her friends a gentle, grateful smile, "Thanks, guys. For everything."
"No problem!" Odd smiled back.
"Anything to see you happy again," Aelita added, and Jérémie nodded in agreement.
Ulrich was quiet. He was sitting with the two Einsteins in the audience as they watched the play, and the message they had all collectively agreed to hammer home was sitting in his mind just as much as it was in Yumi's parents'.
Miscommunication would very likely become their downfall, if he and Yumi continued down the path they were going down—the one where jealousy always consumed them and they never got a chance to talk afterwards mostly because they didn't know how to address the issue.
Again, whether it was true or not, the fear of them becoming Yumi's parents was very valid and very likely to happen if they didn't start fixing things now.
He whispered only to her, "I'll work on our communication, too. I promise."
In response, she turned to him with an unwavering smile, "I will too."
With this, hope surged in both of their chests.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 40 - The Secret / A chance encounter with William ends up forcing the Lyokowarriors to start asking themselves a question they brushed off before.
A/N: Canon made Ulumi's maturing throughout Season 3 and 4 rather subtle, and I want to make it more obvious. 'Laughing Fit', for multiple reasons, seemed like the best way to emphasize the worst that can happen to them if they continued on the path they were going down, hence why I moved it here instead way back in of Season 1. This chapter presents Ulumi with a choice on how they will face their biggest issue, which is communication (or lack thereof), and are given a good example in their friends Jerlita and a bad example in Yumi's parents. Having seen first hand at how their bad example affected everyone around them, more specifically their kids, Ulumi chooses to follow their good example instead.
Not only did 'The Pretender' tell us that Ulrich is not happy about being friend-zoned by Yumi (which we already knew from 'Straight to Heart'), but it also marks the downward spiral of the group being mean to each other for whatever reason, even none at all (Odd's the worst, specifically in Season 4, but that's a rant for another day), and barely giving an apology if at all (here, Ulrich apologizes through Johnny, when he should have done it to Yumi's face). I'm changing that in future chapters. Yes, some instances can be explained away by the 'mental exhaustion' thing I brought up in the "Protect the Forest" chapter, but not all of them can, and I'll point those out when I get around to those episodes.
Meanwhile, part of the showdown between Ulrich and XANA-Jérémie is from a deleted scene.