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
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"XANA has a new toy, and there's only one way to test it out."
Episode 30: Divide and Conquer
(Based on XANA's Kiss)
It was early morning at Kadic Academy as the three Lyoko boys walked down the hallway from their respective dorms to the shower room, and all three of them carrying their toiletries bags.
Odd was particularly angry this morning, which was so unlike him. Despite not being a morning person, he was too bubbly and upbeat to let any negativity weigh him down.
"What happened, Odd? You wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?" Jérémie asked, and Ulrich immediately groaned.
"Please, not this again," the brunette muttered. Apparently, he already knew, having been subjected to it last night at the latest.
A confused Jérémie looked between the two, as Odd replied, "Freakin' Angelo! He broke Louise's heart!"
A blink. "Who?" the blonde genius asked.
"Angelo Russo, Louise's now ex-boyfriend," Odd sighed, the anger his voice held indicating how much he hated this guy.
"I-I meant, who is Louise?"
Odd slowly turned to send Jérémie a glare, "My sister?"
The jokester's anger wasn't directed at him, but it was still scary when seeing it first hand. "Right, sorry. My bad, I should've known," Jérémie immediately averted his eyes.
"Can't blame you, Jer," Ulrich cut in. "Odd has so many sisters, it's impossible to keep them all straight."
"Shut up, I only have five," Odd retorted. "Adele, Pauline, Elizabeth, Marie, and Louise. All older, in that order."
Jérémie held the double swinging doors open and let his friends through, as Ulrich asked, "Parents kept trying until they had a boy?"
Odd shrugged, "Don't know. Never asked, never really cared to know."
Once all three were on the other side of the doors, Jérémie asked, "So what's wrong with this Angelo character?"
"He's a major jerk who deserves to suffer," Odd growled. "Adele and Marie walked in on him in the middle of making out with another girl—Louise's now ex-best friend, no less—and when they told Louise, she confronted him. He tried gaslighting her! Fortunately, it didn't work, and now one of my family members is suffering, and I can't do anything to help. That's why I'm so upset, dear Jérémie. She's in Italy, and I'm stuck in France. I mean, I called her to let her know I was on her side, but she does better with physical hugs."
"Geez, I'm sorry she has to deal with two betrayals, rather than just one," Jérémie replied. "At least she has a brother willing to fight on her behalf."
"And she knows it," Ulrich added. "That's what counts."
Odd shrugged again, "I guess you guys are right. It just sucks that I can't comfort her in person."
They were approaching the boys' shower room, and waiting outside was Sissi, who was in the middle of talking to Hervé and Nicolas when she saw the trio walk up to the door.
"Ulrich! There you are!" she exclaimed, before twirling her hair around her finger. "You know the remake of 'Adventure in the Tropics' just came out earlier this week. You want to come see it with me after today's classes?"
Ulrich immediately cringed, "Not today, sorry. I have to catch up on homework, and you-know-who's been getting on my case again lately." Sissi's shoulders sunk in disappointment, but she didn't protest. She understood what that meant. "Raincheck?"
She looked hopeful, "This Saturday?"
"That works for me," he admitted, before he, Odd, and Jérémie walked inside the boys' shower room.
Nicolas saw the small disappointed hint in Sissi's expression, so he stepped up and immediately offered, "I'll go see it with you." The film, he meant.
"Nic, buddy," Hervé cut in, "Ulrich never said 'no'. He just said 'not today', because he has homework."
"I appreciate the offer, Nicolas," Sissi replied, "but 'Adventure in the Tropics' is a movie Ulrich and I bonded over as children. Seeing the remake without him...doesn't feel right." She then walked away, giving the two a wave as she left.
It was Nicolas's turn to sink his shoulders in disappointment.
No one noticed an electrical outlet next to the boys' shower room seemingly thinking about what all was just spoken aloud.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
XANA had a new weapon, and now thanks to the two conversations it just overheard, a plan as well on what to do with it, how to introduce it.
The final step: activating a tower.
The AI wasted no time, choosing a tower in the Desert Sector, surrounded by a small, circular canyon.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Nicolas entered the bathroom to wash his hands before heading down to breakfast. As he did so, he could see Ulrich and Odd brushing their teeth side by side, and their conversation caught his attention.
"Were you lying about the homework just to avoid hanging out with Sissi?" Odd was asking his roommate.
"Of course not!" Ulrich denied, checking his teeth. "I will see the movie with Sissi, just not on a school night."
Nicolas growled, "You make me sick, Stern!", and turned around in anger to face him. "You're saying that homework is more important than seeing a movie with a friend!"
Ulrich turned around, unimpressed, "That is not what I'm saying at all, Poliakoff. If you ever meet my father, you'd understand why my schoolwork takes precedence." That wasn't a lie, and that was the sad part. "I can't risk angering him, so I'll see the movie with Sissi on Saturday."
Nicolas crossed his arms, "I wonder what Yumi will think of this movie date."
"It's not a date," Ulrich rolled his eyes. "It's just two friends seeing a movie together. And really? Trying to blackmail me? It's not going to work. Yumi will understand." He sounded confident, and he was. Sissi was just a really good friend and Yumi knew that. He then turned back around to face the mirror.
However, this just further angered the other boy, "You think you're hot stuff, huh? I'm gonna knock that smile right off your face!"
"Oh yeah?" the brunette turned back around, unfazed. "Well, go on then. What are you waiting for?"
Nicolas charged at him, aiming a punch, but Ulrich just side-stepped him, causing Nicolas to karate chop the sink instead. He retreated with his hand throbbing in pain, "Fine. You win this time, Stern."
"Ouch," Ulrich quipped as the other boy left. "Now that has got to hurt."
Odd said something, it was entirely muffled by the toothpaste in his mouth.
"What?" Ulrich asked in confusion.
Odd spit out the toothpaste, as Nicolas exited the shower room with Hervé at his side, "I said 'jealousy makes people go bananas'."
"Yeah, and love plays tricks on your mind," Ulrich added, agreeing with Odd's little proverb.
"That's nice," Jérémie said, having finished his morning routine by now. "Anyways, I gotta go and get Aelita." He was smiling broadly, a dreamy expression on his face. "I promised to give her my croissants. She likes them with her hot chocolate." He then left the bathroom.
Ulrich turned to Odd, "Example B. Looks like there are no exceptions to the rule."
"Agreed," his roommate replied, as the two walked into the shower area.
An electrical outlet near the sinks began sparking, before a dark spectre crawled out of it.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Laura Gauthier was sitting on the steps outside of the cafeteria doors, when Jérémie walked up to her. She stood up, a smile on her face, "Hey, Jérémie. Have you seen Theo? I need to make sure he did his homework last night after football practice."
Instead of responding, he just stared at her, before suddenly grabbing her shoulders.
Odd and Ulrich approached the cafeteria, only to gasp in shock as they watched Jérémie kiss Laura full on the lips, with a passion his friends had never seen from him before. He broke the kiss, before turning to his friends and then bolting, as if scared he'd been caught.
Laura, meanwhile, was leaning against the wall, dumbfounded.
Anger began to boil in Odd's chest. "I can't believe it," he muttered. First Louise and now Aelita...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Matthias Burel was at the vending machines, trying to make a selection, when Yumi came up from behind. He noticed her fairly quickly, despite her not saying anything, "Oh, Hey there, Yumi. Say, you wouldn't have the answers to the math quiz, would you?"
William just so happened to walk by in that moment, only to have the image of Yumi, his crush (albeit unrequited), kissing Matthias. He gasped in shock, not expecting that from her at all, as she left.
While doing so, she gave William a look, as if she wanted him to see, as if she was making a statement of some kind.
She left behind a stunned Matthias, "Oh wow. I sure am glad I brushed my teeth this morning."
William narrowed his eyes in anger at what he just saw.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie and Aelita were leaving the dormitory building, heading towards the cafeteria, when they noticed Laura waiting outside. Once she saw the blonde boy, she walked up to him, asking, "Jérémie, do you mind telling me why you kissed me earlier?" She crossed her arms, not angrily, but just curious.
"Huh?" What? He kissed Laura? When did he do that? Why would he do that? "I-I'm sorry, Laura. I have no idea what you're talking about."
The pink-ette beside him suddenly walked off to the cafeteria without a word, catching Jérémie off-guard.
"Aelita?"
She didn't stop or respond. Soon, she was out of sight.
He continued to be surprised, though, as Laura's response was, "I believe you, actually." He turned back to face her. "When you kissed me, I could tell you weren't quite yourself." Seeing his very visible confusion, she finished with, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up with Aelita within earshot. Talk things out with her; the truth always comes out sometime."
She then left, leaving him by himself.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
There was an ache in the pit of Jérémie's stomach as he entered the cafeteria and got his breakfast. He approached the table his friends had chosen, and the ache grew more when he saw that Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita were all quiet, uncharacteristically silent, meaning they all knew what apparently had went down between him and Laura.
Knowing this, he slapped on a fake smile, "H-Hey, guys."
"Hey, jerk," Odd spat, catching Jérémie off-guard. He crossed over to the empty seat on Aelita's left, and Odd asked, "Don't you wanna sit with Laura, your new girlfriend? Wherever she is, I'm sure she's all by herself."
There was such hate in his voice, this time directly aimed at Jérémie, that the blonde genius was shaking.
"Don't bother lying," Ulrich cut in, his voice hard, but not as much as Odd's. "We saw you."
They saw him kiss Laura? But he didn't remember doing any of what they were saying!
"I-I'm not lying," he stammered. He then sat down next to a silent Aelita, "Listen, I don't know what all of this is about, but I swear to you that–"
He was cut off by Aelita promptly standing up, and leaving without a word.
Odd sipped the rest of his hot chocolate, before slamming his bowl down on his tray. "You're worse than I thought, Belpois! First the cheating, and now the gaslighting! You really are Angelo 2.0!"
Jérémie just now registered that he was shaking his head, and had constantly been doing so for the past few seconds, "B-But I'm not..."
"Correct that: even worse! At least Angelo admitted his wrongdoings when he saw he was cornered!" Odd retorted. "You, on the other hand, are just keeping it up! Ciao, jerk!" he then stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving just Ulrich.
Jérémie looked to said brunette, hoping that someone was on his side.
But Ulrich stood up to follow, grabbing the croissant off Jérémie's tray as he did so, "Guess you won't be needing this croissant anymore." Now that Aelita was mad at him, that is. "For their sake, don't talk to them anymore unless it's to apologize. Later."
He then followed the two cousins out of the cafeteria, leaving Jérémie alone.
Aelita was mad at him, as was Odd, both of them likely remembering Angelo's betrayal of Louise. Ulrich was on their side, and neither of them wanted to hear Jérémie out.
And worst of all, Yumi was likely soon to follow.
If she turned on him, he'd have nobody left...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita and Odd left the cafeteria, both in a bad mood, as William approached them, "Hey, you two." As they both waved at him half-heartedly, Ulrich exited out of the doors as well, a croissant in hand. "Hey, Ulrich! Glad I ran into you. Have you heard the latest news?" Ulrich shook his head. "Well, hang onto your croissant. Yumi's going out with Matthias Burel!"
The brunette was about to take a bite out of said pastry when William said this, and he lowered in disbelief. "What?!"
"Morning, everyone!" Yumi cheerfully greeted them as she approached them. She was acting like nothing was wrong, like she didn't just smash the hearts of both William and Ulrich. She noticed the croissant in Ulrich's hand and snatched it, "Thanks, Ulrich!"
She was about to take a bite when Ulrich asked her slowly, his arms crossed, "So, uh, you really like Burel, do you?"
"Matthias?" she replied. "He needs to stop getting math quiz answers from me, but he's a nice guy. Why?"
"How does he kiss, huh?" William accused, to her confusion.
"Kiss?! How should I know?!" she asked, raising an eyebrow at their hostility. "I just got here!"
"Cut the acting, Yumi," Ulrich angrily retorted. "We know." He then stormed off.
Now, he was feeling the same pain Aelita were feeling, with Odd still stuck in the middle.
"I saw you," William added, as Aelita and Odd followed Ulrich without a word.
"Huh? Wha–?"
William silenced her with a glare, before walking away.
Confused, she turned to see Jérémie standing there in the middle of the cafeteria entrance, looking dejected for some reason. He had clearly seen the whole thing go down, but he didn't make any sign that he was about to leave her alone like the others did.
"Umm...rumor has it I'm dating Matthias Burel?" she asked him. She just arrived with Hiroki. She hadn't run into anybody yet, much less Matthias.
"No kidding," Jérémie shrugged. "Rumor has it that I kissed Laura Gauthier. Now, the others hate me because they think I'm lying even after I repeatedly denied the accusation."
"They hate me now too," she replied. "For the exact same reason."
A silence fell between them. It was sad, but it was a sorrow they both shared. It was unspoken, but here, they both got the confirmation that the other was still there for them, and would not leave any time soon.
Yumi held up the uneaten pastry still in her hand, "Croissant?"
"I'm not hungry..."
"Yeah...me neither..." She then threw it away in the garbage bin nearby.
They had both lost their appetites because their friends hated them, when they'd all gone through so much worse, like literal threats of death.
Hopefully, things would get better soon...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
At the same time, Yumi was also walking into a bathroom, but when the eye of XANA began flashing on her forehead, anyone with common sense could see that it wasn't actually Yumi.
The spectre changed shape from Yumi's to Ulrich's. Once the transformation was complete, it grinned evilly.
XANA's plan was working. It just had to keep up the pressure, then it could swoop in and take what it needed without any of the others blinking an eye. Their defeat would come to them when they would least expect it. Only then would it reveal to them the truth and watch them stew in their failure of trusting their human bonds over logic.
After all, logic was, and would always be, superior.
The spectre, disguised as Ulrich, left the bathroom, intent on increasing the tension between the group by causing more trouble.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"He said he wanted to wait until Saturday, because he was prioritizing his homework over you," Nicolas was telling Sissi. They and Hervé were waiting by the vending machines for classes to start.
Sissi was shaking her head, a soft smile on her face, "Nicolas, just drop it. It doesn't bother me. Actually, I agree with him. Knowing who's always on his case, it just makes sense for him to put schoolwork first. He and I are seeing the movie on Saturday, and that's good enough for me."
Ulrich was approaching them now, which Hervé pointed out, "Hey, look, there he is. Stay cool, Nicolas."
Ulrich said nothing, only marching right up to Sissi.
Jérémie and Yumi were strolling through the arches when Jérémie nudged Yumi's arm, "Hey, look." He seemed shocked, and when she followed his gaze, she immediately understood why.
Ulrich was in the middle of kissing Sissi.
Yumi's eyes narrowed in anger and jealousy, as her heart filled with pain and heartache. It only grew when Ulrich walked away, aiming a smirk directly at her, as if to suggest that he only did this to get back at her.
Meanwhile, Sissi was grinning widely, her face red.
"What were you saying?" she boasted to Nicolas before walking off.
Nicolas's shoulders sagged, "How does he do it? What does he have that I don't?"
"Everything," Hervé replied. "Except for your lack of brains."
Nicolas promptly punched his friend in the face for that remark.
Sissi walked up to Yumi, trying hard not to brag, "Sorry, Yumi. I guess we know who Ulrich likes now." Yumi gave her an uninterested hum, and Sissi then walked off, with a skip in her step.
Once they two were alone, the Japanese girl let out a guttural growl, "That jerk!" She never hated Ulrich more than she did right now.
Jérémie could only watch in concern.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the bell finally rang, signaling the start of the first round of classes for the day.
Jérémie arrived first, and when he saw Aelita walking down the aisle to her seat, he called out, "Aelita, can we talk?" He really needed to tell her the truth, and in return, he was prepared to suffer any punishment she wanted to put him through.
But she sent him a death glare, "We're in class," before sitting down next to Odd a few rows up. Odd, meanwhile, couldn't help but send the genius a death glare of his own.
In other words, no. At least, she actually spoke to him this time instead of giving him the silent treatment...
"Last time, we were discussing the causes of World War I," Mr. Fumet began his lecture, as Ulrich sat down beside Jérémie, the latter of whom thought this topic was perfect for what the group was currently going through.
Ulrich sighed, before leaning in and whispering, "Why did you kiss Laura?"
"I did not kiss Laura," Jérémie whispered back, denying the rumor for what felt like the hundredth time today.
"Don't lie. I saw you," Ulrich retorted in a low voice. "It wasn't a very nice thing to do to Aelita. Or Odd."
Jérémie scoffed, "You're one to talk."
Ulrich lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, "Oh yeah?"
The blonde's voice was soft, but hard with anger, "Yeah. Kissing Sissi to get back at Yumi? You call that nice?"
"What?!" Ulrich's eyes widened in alarm. The last time he saw Sissi was this morning, before he took his shower. Other than that, he didn't speak to her for the rest of the morning, let alone kiss her. "I didn't kiss Sissi!"
Jérémie merely pushed up his glasses, "Don't lie. I saw you."
It was Ulrich's own words twisted around against him, and both boys knew it.
Mr. Fumet put down his chalk, having written down on the board, 'Joseph Simon Gallieni'. He then asked, "And now my first question is, when did Gallieni die? Well class, I'm waiting." He then chose a student at random, and of course, it was one who wasn't paying attention. "Stern, when did Gallieni die?"
"Huh?!" Ulrich felt everyone's eyes on him and he was startled out of his shock. "Oh, well, um...at the end of his life?"
Mr. Fumet was flabbergasted as the whole class laughed. "W-Well, technically, yes, but I'm looking for the specific year. Belpois, when did Gallieni die?"
Jérémie promptly answered, "May 27, 1916," before resuming giving Ulrich a pointed look.
If he couldn't get the others to talk to him or hear him out, then he could at least stand up for Yumi.
Mr. Fumet continued with his lecture, pleased with Jérémie's answer, but completely unaware of the drama blanketing some of his students.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jim was patrolling the grounds when he saw what he thought was Ulrich. "Stern! What are you doing outside? You should be in class!"
The boy seemed to panic, before running backwards, to Jim's shock. He started chasing after the boy, only to skid to a stop when he saw Yolanda walking up to him.
"Oh, Yo-Yo-Yo-Yolanda!" he stuttered. "H-How are you?" He's always had a crush on her, but backed off because she had a boyfriend. And right now, she was walking towards him rather suggestively.
She reached out and simply kissed him on the cheek, leaving him stupidly smiling and forgetting completely about who he thought was Ulrich Stern.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The bell rang once more, signaling the end of classes for the day. Jérémie left art class and saw Aelita standing outside next to Nicolas and Hervé. She had left the room before him without a word, so he was worried she'd never want to talk to him again.
"Hey, Aelita!" He waved at her, hoping she'd at least give him an idea on when she felt like talking.
She said nothing, despite staring directly at him. More like glaring, though, which made more sense judging by what she did next.
She grabbed Nicolas by his cheeks and pressed her lips to his. She pulled away, glaring at Jérémie one last time, before running away.
Nicolas was dumbstruck until he saw Hervé glaring at him, clearly jealous that Aelita chose to kiss his best friend over him to get back at Jérémie.
Because that's what it looked like to the blonde. Aelita clearly did that for revenge, to put him through the same hurt and betrayal he supposedly put her through this morning.
Well, it worked.
Tears were welling up in Jérémie's eyes. His heart hurt. He couldn't believe the pink-ette would do this. The Aelita he knew would rather hear him out rather than go for petty revenge.
This was all just a nightmare. It had to be! There was no other explanation!
He wasn't able to control his legs, and before he knew it, it was running towards the Hermitage with tear-filled eyes and an aching throat due to crying.
He left behind a confused Nicolas, a jealous Hervé, and a contemplating Laura...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Something had gone on during history class, Odd and Aelita knew. Ulrich had realized something, and whatever it was (he wouldn't say), it had influenced him to tell the two cousins, "Hear Jérémie out. I think he's telling the truth."
Odd was still debating, unable to keep himself from thinking about Angelo and Louise, but he couldn't stop Aelita from following Ulrich's advice.
Now here she was, knocking on the blonde genius's dorm room door, "Jérémie?" When she received no response, she carefully opened the door, "Jérémie, are you here? You wanted to talk to me?"
But the room was empty.
Strange. He wasn't in the courtyard, or the library, so where else would he be?
She was hearing a noise, though. It sounded like an alarm, and that it was coming from inside the room. On edge, Aelita entered the room, not caring who saw her go in, and hunted the sound down to the laptop on Jérémie's desk. She opened it, only to see an alert from the superscan.
An activated tower, and judging by the time stamp, it had been first activated since this morning, since breakfast.
Aelita felt like punching herself. She was so absorbed into her sulking that she was ignoring the superscan all day. Yes, the others were probably all sulking right now, but stopping XANA took precedence.
Sitting down in the desk chair, she pulled out her phone and speed-dialed Ulrich's number, "Hello?"
Thankful he had picked up, she promptly warned him, "XANA's attacking. Meet up at the park until we're all together. After today, I want to make sure none of us are missing."
"Got it."
Once he hung up, she called Odd and Yumi, separately, and gave them the same message.
However, when she called Jérémie, she immediately got his voicemail, "Hello, this is Jérémie Belpois. Leave me a message."
She sighed. Where was he?
Knowing her safest bet on finding him was to enlist the help of the others, Aelita exited the dorm building. At the entrance, she ran into Laura, just like this morning, only this time, the blonde girl was walking towards the building rather than waiting.
The pink-ette sucked up all hard feelings and asked, "Laura, do you know where Jérémie is?"
"He's probably sulking," Laura informed her. "Given how you kissed Nicolas to get back at him, though, it's no surprise." There was no malicious intent in her voice or expression, and that's how Aelita knew the rumor was legitimate.
"What?!" the pink-ette exclaimed in shock. "What are you talking about?! I never kissed Nicolas!"
"Isn't that exactly how Jérémie reacted to the accusation of him kissing me?"
That made Aelita halt in her tracks. Yes, it was. Jérémie vehemently denied kissing Laura, despite all the witnesses, and him not once relenting was what pissed her and Odd off so much. But looking back on it, he did look supremely confused when first confronted by it. That should've been the first red flag.
And it was all their fault for refusing to letting him tell his side of the story before making a judgement.
Aelita didn't respond to Laura's question, and when seeing this, the blonde girl continued, "I don't intend to sound mean, Schaeffer. I was just pointing out the parallel. Now, let me tell you what I told him: I believe you. Neither you nor Jérémie were quite yourselves when you supposedly did the deeds you're being framed for. I don't know how else to describe it, but I know Jérémie's too shy around girls to initiate any sort of physical contact, at least not without permission, and you're way too nice to get petty revenge like that."
The pink-ette just blinked at her in surprise.
"You want to know why I like Jérémie?" Laura continued. "It's because I can easily put myself in his shoes, no matter the situation. In primary school, I had a friend who was a boy, and one day, he accused me of stealing his sandwich, and the only proof he had was that he had seen a girl with blonde hair near his lunch box. I denied it, pointing out our blonde-haired female classmates, but he was adamant that it was me, and he broke off our friendship because of it, one measly thing. Years later, I learned from Theo that it was because he didn't actually like me and he only did it to, quote, unquote, 'untrap' himself." She shook her head. "Don't let that happen to you guys. You two have something special, a bond that can't be broken so easily. Don't let him slip through your fingers over something that was just a misunderstanding. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am." And the pink-ette meant it. "And Laura? Thank you, really. You actually helped me in more ways that one." The blonde was very perceptive, after all. Laura probably thought it was a curse, but to Aelita, at the moment, it was a pure blessing.
She then took off in the direction of the park, where she knew the others were.
'Not quite yourselves', huh? That actually explained everything.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd and Ulrich were hanging out by the manhole cover, and Odd was trying to get Ulrich to spill what Jérémie had said to make him give Aelita the advice to 'hear Jérémie out', but his roommate refused to spill.
That was until Yumi approached them from the treeline. She took one look at Ulrich and immediately turned her nose up at him.
Odd knew right then that something had happened between them. He could feel the classic, familiar tension between the two. Normally, he'd be dying of second-hand embarrassment from this, but right now, he was just concerned.
"Yumi, listen," Ulrich immediately told her, "I don't know what you saw, but I did not kiss Sissi!"
Wait, what? Ulrich kissed Sissi? Odd was confused, but he remained silent. At this point, it was the best way to get the answers he wanted.
"And I did not kiss Matthias, so I guess we're even," Yumi coldly replied. "Y'know, you didn't need to be petty to send the message that you were jealous, you dumb jerk. I received that message the moment you stormed off outside the cafeteria. And you!"
Odd was taken back by her suddenly turning on him.
"You and Aelita could've easily told me what I supposedly did wrong! But, no! I had to stew in confusion for the rest of the day, and I still am! Because I know I did not kiss Matthias but my own friends won't even hear me out! You guys are being such jerks to both me and Jérémie, because both of us have no idea what we did wrong or why we're suddenly being ostracized! It's honestly a wonder why he believes we can all still be friends after this! You hear me, Schaeffer?!"
Odd and Ulrich both turned around to see Aelita there, leaning against a tree and catching her breath. Apparently, she had been here to hear Yumi's entire rant, and Yumi herself knew that.
The pink-ette solemnly nodded, "Yeah, I hear you, Yumi. You're right. We're the ones in the wrong."
"What?!" Odd vehemently protested. "But they–"
"Did nothing wrong," Aelita cut him off. "All of this kissing is another one of XANA's schemes. We're the ones who jumped to conclusions too fast."
"W-Wait," Ulrich asked, "this was XANA's doing?"
"But that doesn't make any sense," Odd reminded her. "It can't control us." It tried before, and it failed.
"I know that," Aelita replied, "but I also know that I did not kiss Nicolas, so there must be an Aelita clone somewhere."
"And a Yumi clone," the Japanese girl muttered, catching on to what the pink-ette was saying.
"And an Ulrich clone," Ulrich added.
"And a Jérémie clone, too," Odd finished, rubbing his arm in embarrassment. Everything he had accused Jérémie of doing and being was all a lie fabricated by XANA.
"Right, and I bet they're all just disguises of one polymorphic clone," Aelita deduced. "After all, XANA can only use one tower at a time, and one attack per tower."
"Wait, a poly-what?" Odd asked in confusion.
"A polymorphic clone," Aelita explained. "A spectre that can change its appearance at will."
"But why?" Ulrich asked, as Yumi subconsciously leaning closer to him. "For what purpose?"
"To make trouble in our group," Yumi replied, her voice soft, "to divide and conquer."
"Well, it definitely worked," Odd solemnly said.
"Yeah, really clever plan, actually," Ulrich agreed. "All XANA did was sow the seeds and let us do the rest. And it worked. We walked right into it. You were right, Odd. Jealousy makes people crazy."
Aelita was nodding.
"Now that we know what's going on, we can head to Lyoko and solve it," Odd said, before looking around the park. "But...where's Jérémie?"
"Gone, and he turned his phone off," Aelita replied, guilt permeating her features. "He's sulking, because according to Laura, the spectre posed as me and kissed Nicolas, so Jérémie likely believes that I did it to get back at him."
"Fantastic," Yumi sarcastically retorted, before panic suddenly crossed her features. "Y-You don't think...he turned the supercomputer off himself, do you?"
Aelita immediately shook her head, "No. If it was off, then I wouldn't have seen the superscan alert in the first place."
"Then where else can he be?" Odd asked, crossing his arms.
The pink-ette tapped a finger against her chin, before smiling, "I think I might know."
Of course. It was the only other option without considering the worst case scenario.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie was at the Hermitage, in the torn-up remains of the child's bedroom, sitting on the seat of the bay window. He'd normally be looking out the window, but not today.
Today, he was too busy trying not to cry, and he was failing miserably. He didn't want to believe that Aelita could be that petty. Not wanting to hear him out was understandable; sometimes, people needed their space. But turning the tables on him like that was a little too cruel.
To think he believed things could still go back to the way they were before...
Look where it got him. Now, he was sobbing into his knees. Alone.
"Jérémie?"
He gasped when he heard her voice and turned to see that he was right. "Aelita?" There she was, standing in the doorway, both of her hands stuffed inside her jumper pocket.
"I'm really sorry, Jérémie," she told him, earnestly. She sounded genuine enough, but his instincts were telling him otherwise.
"You're...not angry at me anymore?" he asked her, unable to hide his skepticism. He didn't know what it was, but something felt off...
"No. I figured it out." She walked closer to him, looking out the window. "XANA activated a tower this morning, and it's been using a polymorph that can change its appearance at will all day."
"To try and divide us," he realized. "So...you didn't kiss Nicolas to get back at me?" Part of him believed this all had to be a dream. Blaming XANA for this mess was a little too good to be true, and a tad too convenient.
"No, and I know now that you didn't kiss Laura either," she replied, before holding out her hand. He took it and let her pull him to his feet. "You're not too upset with me, are you?"
"I-I guess not," he stuttered. His face felt red. "But can we talk now?"
She answered him by pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, "Tower first. We can talk after. Okay?"
His skepticism returned and multiplied tenfold. Something definitely felt off, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was.
With no other choice, he nodded, "Okay." She was right about the tower, after all. That took precedence over all else.
She smiled, "Good. Now, let's go. The others are waiting for us at the factory."
The two then ran outside of the Hermitage, via the front exit, with her still having a firm grip on his hand, leading him to, no doubt, the sewer passage. Why not the secret door in the backyard, which was faster, he didn't know.
"Jérémie!"
That was Aelita's voice, right in front of him, when she was already next to him. The two stopped to see another pink-haired girl standing right outside the front gate. "Aelita? But–!"
"It's XANA!" the Aelita next to him pushed him behind her. "He obviously made a clone of me to trick you."
"Doesn't listen to her, Jérémie," the other Aelita told him. "She's XANA!"
He stared at both of them, completely lost. They both looked and sounded the exact same. There had to be some way, however small, to tell them apart, to know who the real one was.
Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi caught up with the other Aelita, coming up from behind her.
"Okay, if I've got this right, one of the two Aelitas is the poly-forking clone, right?" Odd asked, all three of them staring at the situation with just as much confusion as Jérémie had.
"Polymorphic clone, Odd," Yumi corrected. "And yes, but I can't tell which is the real one."
And judging by that reaction, the others didn't know either. XANA had apparently succeeded in making a perfect copy.
"Jérémie," the Aelita by the front gate practically begged, "trust me."
"Don't listen to her!" the Aelita next to him immediately, and vehemently, protested. "I'm the real Aelita! You know I am! I kissed you!"
That's right. She did. And thanks to that reminder, he finally knew what was missing.
Sparks and butterflies.
When Aelita kissed him for the first time, on Saint Valentine's Day, that's what he felt, and that's exactly why he froze up. At least until she poked him in the cheek to bring him back to reality (he didn't know why, but it was like his reset button).
The kiss just now didn't have any of those. He was flustered, yes, but it was only because someone had kissed him, rather than because he had a crush on the one who did so.
Knowing this, there were other things missing too, he realized. So many little things that, once he knew they existed, were easy for him to spot. XANA had not succeeded in making a perfect copy; it was still failing to take into account the most minute, illogical details.
"You're right. I know exactly who the real Aelita is," he softly replied. "And how to tell the real from the fake."
"How?" the Aelita next to him asked, the one who had a firm grip on his hand.
He pulled his hand away, out of that grip, as he smiled, "Sorry, XANA, but that's classified."
Jérémie made the right choice. The Aelita next to him suddenly flashed the sign of XANA in her eyes, and she launched at him, before grabbing his wrist, XANA obviously trying to force him along.
But XANA didn't count on four other teens immediately jumping on the clone, with Aelita even crying out, "Get your hands off of him, you fake!"
Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd promptly and easily pushed the clone to the ground, as Yumi grabbed Jérémie's sleeve and pulled him to safety.
They all stood there as they watched the fake Aelita on the ground, turning into static.
"Quick! To the factory!" Jérémie ordered. "We'll take the secret door!" It was faster, after all. The tower still took precedence.
Odd remained kneeling at the clone's side, "You guys go on. I'll take care of this thing."
"Be careful, Odd," Jérémie said, before grabbing the real Aelita's hand and pulling her to the secret path from the Hermitage's backyard.
"Good luck, buddy!" Ulrich added, as he and Yumi followed the other two.
Now alone, Odd assumed a defensive position, watching as the polymorph Aelita flew to her feet. If not for the supernatural element of the way the clone was behaving, it still would be a perfect copy.
The clone took on its spectre form before morphing into Mr. Fumet. Then it shifted to Ms. Hertz. Finally, it seemed to settle on Jim, as after taking on his image, it began walking towards Odd.
"The big tough guy?!" Odd complained. "Seriously, XANA?! That's not fair!"
He ducked from an incoming punch, only for the polymorph to knee him in the stomach. Due to the force, he slid into the base of the stairs, clutching his torso in pain.
The polymorph Jim moved in to grab him, but he managed to get out of the way in time by jumping into the air.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita dropped to the ground of the Desert Sector from the sky, landing perfectly on her feet. Yumi, Jérémie, and Ulrich were nearby, waiting for her, along with the Overbike and Overwing. The tower was a few kilometers away, pretty close by (which was on purpose), but the vehicles were needed because the tower was on a plateau not connected to any of the others surrounding it.
Jérémie had slipped his goggles on over his eyes, "Tower in sight, but no monsters yet."
"That will change," Ulrich said, before hopping onto the Overbike. "Let's go. The sooner we deactivate the tower, the sooner we can save Odd from a beating."
"Right," Yumi agreed.
Her jumping on the Overbike as Ulrich's passenger surprised Jérémie and Aelita, but they accepted it, knowing they likely wanted to talk, before jumping onto the Overwing, with Jérémie piloting.
On the way to the tower, Ulrich couldn't ignore Yumi choosing him over the taking the Overwing, or how she was tightly clutching onto him despite the drama between them earlier. Yes, it was a scheme by XANA, but he was the one who let his jealousy overtake him. He may not have kissed Sissi, and Yumi may not have kissed Matthias, but the pain all of this had caused Yumi was real. After all, it wasn't the clone who had ostracized her and Jérémie from the group.
"Yumi?" he softly asked.
He suddenly felt her eyes on him, "Hm?"
"I'm sorry...for not trusting you."
Out of the corner of his eye (because he couldn't take his eyes off the road), he saw her smile, "Apology accepted, but let's talk once the tower's been taken care of."
Wise choice, actually. "Right."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd wasn't having a fun time. The clone had changed its appearance from Jim to Ulrich, and somehow, it had gotten stronger.
Now leaning against the old couch in the family room, his hair slightly messy, he panted in exhaustion, "Hey, XANA, if you're gonna keep changing appearances like that, do me a favor and turn into a scrawny wimp next time!"
The AI obliged, turning into a perfect copy of Odd as its answer.
Odd pouted as he got to his feet. Rude, XANA. Just rude. "Oh, not that scrawny guy. I know his kind. Small, but tough as nails."
His clone quickly proved him right, being even stronger than the Ulrich form somehow, as it backflipped and kicked him into the fireplace on the couch's other side.
"What did I tell you?" he muttered, before blacking out for a few seconds.
When he woke up, the clone was gone.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The tower was within reach now. They just needed to cross the expanse between the two plateaus, and they'd be there.
Easier said than done, however, because Jérémie suddenly alerted them, "Three Tarantulas are appearing!"
Sure enough, those three monsters were virtualized on the edge of the plateau and immediately began firing at the teens. One of those shots hit the Overwing, making it glitch out, causing its two passengers to bail before it disappeared completely.
Jérémie was fortunately close enough to the edge to just reach out and grab it, but Aelita wasn't so lucky.
However, she did have a pair of wings that she quickly summoned by waving her hand over the star bracelet on her right wrist. After getting airborne, she began flying towards Jérémie to help him out, only for the shots of the three Tarantulas to cut her off.
Ulrich and Yumi bailed from the Overbike after speeding towards the monsters. They landed safely on the ground next to the tower as the vehicle hit the middle Tarantula and knocked it off the edge, both it and the Overbike falling into the void below.
Before they could attack the other two Tarantulas, a shot from an unseen monster hit them both from behind. They immediately turned around, unsheathing their weapons on the way, and were greeted by five Bloks.
"Aelita, you handle the Tarantulas and then help Jérémie," Ulrich ordered. "Yumi and I will take care of the Bloks."
Aelita nodded before using her wings to dodge the lasers.
Meanwhile, Ulrich began deflecting lasers with his katana, as Yumi threw one of her fans, but the Blok she was aiming for tilted its head out of the way.
"Triplicate!"
Two more clones appeared on either side of Ulrich, and he used them to confuse the Bloks, allowing him to stab one in the eye, leaving just four left.
However, both of his clones were destroyed quickly after by the other Bloks.
Aelita dodged some more lasers, before flying underneath the plateau. She hid there as one of the Tarantulas approached the edge and peered down, trying to find her. She formed an Energy Field before throwing it. The impact and resulting energy blast destroyed the Tarantula, leaving one left.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The polymorph, still with Odd's form, ran across the bridge to the factory. It had a plan in mind, involving painting the real Odd as the clone.
After jumping off the gallery and landing on the factory floor below, without using the ropes, it called the elevator to the surface.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita flew around to avoid the rapid-fire laser shots from the remaining Tarantula. After a quick glance at Jérémie, who was still hanging over the void, she formed another Energy Field before diving down. She landed in front of the monster and threw the ball of pink energy. It was destroyed, and she breathed a sigh of relief, before turning back to Jérémie.
Yumi backflipped to avoid the many lasers from the Bloks, before pulling out both fans. She blocked a couple more shots before throwing a fan.
As her fan hit its target, Ulrich sliced through another Blok. Both exploded to signal their defeat, leaving two Bloks left.
One of the last two twirled their heads before firing an ice beam at Aelita before she could reach Jérémie. Now frozen, the ice around her broke before she was devirtualized.
Jérémie, meanwhile, wasn't actually stuck. He was still hanging on to the edge, but he was inching away from the Bloks, so that when he climbed up, he wouldn't be greeted with any monsters.
That was the intention, anyway.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita emerged from the scanner, exhausted as she sunk to her knees for a few seconds. After catching her breath, a fear suddenly came to mind.
What if Odd was trying to call her? Even worse, what if the spectre was in the lab about to screw things up?
Ignoring how tired she felt, she made a dash for the ladder (since it was faster). Fortunately, when she got to the lab, she found it empty, with no one trying to call her.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As Ulrich protected her by blocking shots with his katana, Yumi concentrated hard as she picked up a nearby rock with her mind. Even though she had improved her stamina over time through training, prolonged use of her telekinesis still tired her out.
She finally dropped the rock on top of a Blok's head, destroying it and leaving one left. Ulrich continued to block shots for her as she rested, mentally celebrating.
Meanwhile, Jérémie finally climbed up, feeling confident that he was now in a safe place.
However, the moment his knees hit the ground, he felt that dreaded, all-too-familiar magnetic field that brought to the surface every inch of fear and panic he had. He looked up to see the Scyphozoa floating down from the sky.
He slowly got to his feet, knowing he couldn't run or back up because the edge of the plateau was literally right behind him.
Its tentacles dove towards him and arranged themselves around him. He was suspended in the air by its magnetic field, before he saw red, feeling XANA invade his mind.
Ulrich and Yumi, on the other hand, saw something different after Aelita had warned them.
"It's suspending him over the edge," Ulrich noted. "If we free him, he'll fall into the Digital Sea."
"Not if we're fast enough," Yumi said, before running towards the Scyphozoa.
Ulrich understood her plan: release Jérémie while one of them was already at the ledge, so they'd be close enough to catch him.
However, Yumi's plan had a caveat in it. The last Blok saw her and devirtualized her with a single shot before Ulrich could react.
"Yumi!" he called out.
Freeing Jérémie was now solely on him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita was panicking as she watched Jérémie's lifepoints falling at an alarming rate. The elevator doors swung open, and she saw Yumi emerge from the cabin. "You okay, Yumi?" The elder girl nodded, and the pink-ette turned back to the screen. "Ulrich, just throw your sword like Yumi does with her fans. I'll virtualize the Overwing directly below him."
"Okay. Just hurry!"
Yumi placed a hand on the younger's back. "Don't worry, Yumi," Aelita offered with a smile, mistaking it for concern. "We'll manage."
Except Yumi shocked her before lifting her up with superhuman strength and throwing her across the room.
Aelita blacked out when she hit the wall, the last thing she saw being the polymorph with Yumi's image storming towards her.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Aelita, are you ready?" Ulrich asked, as he blocked more lasers for the last Blok. "Aelita!?"
No response.
Something had happened to her. Knowing the spectre was likely in the lab now, he resorted to using Yumi's plan.
"Triangulate!"
The last Blok was instantly surrounded by a yellow-colored triangle, Ulrich and his two clones surrounded it on all sides. He then sliced through it, destroying it, before speeding off towards the Scyphozoa.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
After calling the elevator back to the surface, the real Odd rode it down to the lab, growling, "Okay, poly-whatever, I'm gonna transform you now!" on the way.
However, when he reached the lab, the doors swung open to reveal two Yumis both standing over an out-cold Aelita.
"Yumi!" he called out, announcing his presence.
"Odd, help me!" One of them told him, pointing at the other one. "It's XANA! It knocked Aelita out!"
"You're not gonna believe this lying polymorph over me, are you?" The other Yumi asked.
He narrowed his eyes, before stalking towards the second one.
She immediately backed up, "Odd, no! Cut it out, pea brain! I'm the real Yumi!"
Bingo.
"Yeah, right! You expect me to fall for that one?" He grabbed the front of her sweater and pulled her down to his eye level. "On three, we pulverize you." He winked at her, with the closed eye only being seen by her. The other Yumi stepped forward because he said 'we', and that was his cue to start counting, "One, two, three!"
With that, both of them (the real deals) launched at the polymorph, punching it in the face and knocking it out for a few seconds. When it woke up, Yumi was shaking Aelita awake.
"You've gotta wake up, Aelita."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich reached the Scyphozoa, yelling, "Drop him, squid breath!" as he ran towards it. He promptly sliced off its tentacles, freeing the elf. Unfortunately, he was too slow in catching his friend, and he could only watch in horror as Jérémie fell towards the sea.
However, it seemed like Aelita was back in control, as the Overwing appeared just in time to break his fall.
Jérémie stirred to Aelita calling out to him. The after-effects of the Scyphozoa weren't pleasant, to say the least, so he felt a little disoriented as he sat up. "Aelita?"
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He would be, at least. He had been freed from the Scyphozoa and Aelita had sent him the Overwing just in time.
"Lucky you!" came Odd's voice from the lab. "Yumi and I aren't feeling so great!"
That was his cue to get moving. He promptly stood up and steered the Overwing up, away from the Digital Sea and to the plateau the tower was on.
Ulrich cheered as Jérémie flew the vehicle over the small canyon that circled the tower, before parking at the base, hopping off, and then entering the tower.
A shot from a mere Kankrelat then hit Ulrich in the back, devirtualizing him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The polymorph transformed into Jérémie, before dodging Yumi's punch and throwing her to the side.
Odd attacked next, but the clone grabbed the front of his shirt and electrocuted him, before kicking him against the wall.
JEREMIE_
CODE_
Aelita hopped out of the chair as the polymorph, with her love's face, stalked towards her.
It grabbed the front of her shirt and sent a painful jolt of electricity through her body. She could hear it growling at her as she tried to wiggle out of its grip.
LYOKO_
"Tower deactivated," Jérémie relayed from the tower.
The clone's eyes turned to normal pupils as it dropped Aelita to the ground. It lost its Jérémie shape as it assumed its original spectre form before traveling back into the many wires around the lab.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Later, Jim visited the infirmary and offered Yolanda a flower he found outside of the campus gates.
Yolanda's cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she smiled at the gesture, "That's very sweet of you, Jim, but I already told you that I'm about to get married soon." And that last time she checked, she wasn't engaged to Jim.
"But if that's true, Yolanda, why'd you kiss me?" he asked, a dumb smile on his face.
"I...kissed you?" She didn't remember ever doing that. Why would she do that? And to her fiancée, no less?
Jim nodded, vehemently, like a fool.
"You should get some rest, Jim." She put a thermometer into his mouth. "Now, be a good boy and let me take your temperature, alright?" Him being feverish or thinking a dream was reality was the only explanation.
Jim just pouted, having been rejected yet again, but he obeyed her.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd had volunteered to take the fall for all the kisses through a made-up series of secret dares, to explain why Jérémie would kiss Laura, Yumi would kiss Matthias, Ulrich would kiss Sissi, and Aelita would kiss Nicolas, as well as explain why they acted afterwards like it never happened as well as why their respective love interests reacted the way they did.
Despite them all wanting to run a Return to erase everyone's memories, they ultimately decided not to. Not only would it make XANA stronger, but mainly they did so to spite the AI. It tried to break them up, and they decided against a time reversion to prove that they could get through anything, even the social stigma and feedback of what had gone down today.
After apologizing and explaining their cover story to all those pulled into XANA's scheme by force (and promising to make it up to them somehow), the Lyokowarriors reunited by the vending machines. Now, they just wanted to kick back and relax after the day they had.
"Hey, Odd," Yumi asked, "how did you guess that I was the real Yumi?"
"Because you called me 'pea brain'," Odd shrugged, explaining. "XANA would never call me that. Maybe it's respect..."
"Um, no," Jérémie corrected, chuckled. "XANA just doesn't know you as well as Yumi does." Aelita giggled into her hand as Yumi beamed with pride.
Odd's expression softened as he thought about the rollercoaster of emotions Jérémie had gone through today, most notably the threat of his entire life crashing down around him. The group was all Jérémie had right now, and he couldn't just branch out or explore because he needed to stay close by for XANA attacks. The AI almost nearly succeeded in exploiting the boy's worst fear, and it would have been the fault of his own friends.
"I'm sorry, Jer, for everything," Odd quietly confessed. Jérémie was nothing like Angelo, and never would be.
The blonde in blue immediately smiled, a real one surprisingly, "It's okay. I forgive you. Friend groups are allowed to have fights, right? And now we know what mistakes to avoid making next time."
Leave it to Jérémie to find a way to comfort his friends with logic, no matter the situation.
"We're still sorry," Odd replied.
"I know," and the genius's smile indicated 'no hard feelings'.
A question was running through Aelita's mind, not stopping long enough to be greeted with an answer. "Hey, Jérémie, how did you know that I was the real one?"
"That's right," Ulrich added. "You said it was classified because XANA was right there, but surely, you can tell us, right?"
The said blonde's face immediately turned redder than a tomato, and he stammered out his answer, "U-Um, well, i-it's rather embarrassing...do you guys really want to know?"
"In any case, I think Aelita, at least, deserves to know," Yumi was smiling.
He couldn't deny that, so he leaned close to Aelita and took a long whiff of her scent, a familiar misty fragrance of strawberry body wash. He then softly smiled and whispered in her ear, "I knew it. The clone didn't have your warmth or smell."
Her cheeks immediately turned just as red as his.
"The little things," he finished, his voice soft so that only she could hear him. "The intimate but important details. That's how I knew." He paused, letting that sink in, before continuing in a louder voice, "I have to do some homework. I'll see you at dinner." He then kissed her cheek before walking off towards the dorms.
He left behind a blushing, very flustered Aelita.
"'Lita?" Ulrich asked. "You okay?"
"What did he say?" Yumi asked. His voice was too soft; they couldn't hear anything he was telling her.
The pink-ette immediately shook her head. It was too personal; she couldn't tell anybody.
Odd elbowed his roommate, "Let's hope XANA leaves us alone for a while. I think Aelita will need some time to get over that one."
Because the tables had been turned. Now, it was Aelita's turn to be frozen in place with reddened cheeks.
He, Ulrich, and Yumi all shared a laugh, a liberating one.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 31 - Footprints / Jérémie is remembering his nightmares now, but the trauma they bring quickly becomes too much for him.
A/N: I changed the opening scene's topic of conversation not only to get rid of Odd's 'casanova' behavior (which he's never really shown before in this AU), but also to give XANA a better source of inspiration for this chapter's plot. It's also me sprinkling in some more information and fun facts about the group's respective families.
This chapter's tower is the canon Desert way tower constantly seen in Season 1. It was never used in any other season, so here I am bringing it back (in this AU, though, it's not a way tower).
Meanwhile, Laura, in this chapter, represents the logic that XANA loves so much, except ironically, she ends up using it as a weapon against the AI. And Yumi's rant is my much needed catharsis factor after every time I watch this episode.