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~~~!
"Summer break is over; it's time for the new school year. But XANA's goals have changed yet again."
Episode 36: Heart to Heart
(Based on Straight to Heart)
Since the dorms closed during summer break, Jérémie had spent the past two months at Yumi's house. She was the best choice, because she was the only one of his friends whose family lived near the factory.
Not to say the Ishiyamas didn't take a few day trips—they did, and always invited Jérémie along—but Aelita was in Switzerland, Odd in Italy, and Ulrich at his parents' house in Rouen, France (though he spent a couple weeks in Germany to visit family).
Yumi, meanwhile, stayed in Boulogne-Billancourt, while the other three could only call in every night.
But today was September 3rd, the day the dorms opened back up and Jérémie could move back in, the day before the new school year began.
Yumi helped him carry his stuff (which was still not a whole lot) up to his second-floor room (which was, thankfully, the same one as last year), before sitting on his bed and playing Go, the game Yumi had introduced him to during the past two months. He also took his laptop out in preparation for showing the others his new, much-needed update to a familiar program.
All they could do now was wait for their friends.
About fifteen minutes later, the two were deep in their current game when a soft knock came to the open door frame (as per the school rules).
Jérémie turned around (his back was facing the door) while Yumi glanced up from the game. Smiles came to both faces when they saw who their visitor was.
"Hey, Ulrich," Jérémie warmly greeted.
"How was your break?" Yumi asked, as Ulrich stepped further inside the room.
"Way too long," the brunette explained, half-groaned. "My father was constantly on my grades." He sighed before taking a seat on the floor, his back leaning against the bed frame. "It's good to be back."
"We spent most of our time cleaning up the Hermitage, just for something to do," Yumi replied. "It looks much better now, and actually livable. At least, the first floor does."
Jérémie had refused to touch the upstairs, clearly not ready to face those (understandably painful) memories just yet. So the two had relented to focusing on the downstairs until he was. But Yumi didn't say any of this; it wasn't her place to.
Ulrich sighed again, "Now I really wish I had stayed here. I prefer manual labor over forced tutoring any day."
Jérémie offered him a comforting smile, "Don't worry, Ulrich. You know Aelita and I will be more than happy to help you guys study." Their top priority was XANA, after all, especially since it was now free from Lyoko. That meant that their schoolwork had to play second fiddle.
"Thanks, Jer," Ulrich replied.
A familiar female voice interrupted from the door frame, "No, Odd, 'help' does not mean that we'll do the work for you." The trio glanced over to see Aelita sending her cousin a disapproving look. "Remember, the two of us got in trouble the last time we did that."
Odd quite literally waved her off, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He then turned to their three friends, "Hey, guys. Two months is too long. Did you guys miss me like I missed you?"
"As if," Yumi teased, as the two cousins entered the room. "You three could've stayed away an extra week. XANA attacks: zero." She held up her hand while making a 'zero' with it.
"Well, a nice, quiet summer, huh?" Aelita asked, raising an eyebrow in intrigue.
"Kind of," Jérémie reported. "Ever since XANA discovered a way to leave the supercomputer, and then manage to access the worldwide web, we haven't heard anything."
"No news is good news, right?" Ulrich asked, bravely optimistic.
Jérémie scoffed, "That's what you think. I trust XANA as far as I can throw him." He swiftly corrected himself, "It, sorry."
He had told them everything he knew about XANA, including which pronouns it preferred. That's why they weren't surprised at the slip-up.
The blonde continued without missing a beat, "Anyways, that's why I reprogrammed the superscan." He motioned to his laptop. "From now on, we'll know where the big bad wolf is hiding, no matter where it chooses to." Aelita sat down on the bed next to him to study the updates he made to the superscan she created.
"That's great, Mr. Einstein, but how is that going to help us?" Odd asked, wanting to know what their next step was. Surely, now that XANA was free from Lyoko, they had to adjust their strategy accordingly.
"Well, getting you guys into the internet is not going to be easy," Aelita explained. "and before we work on finding a way into it, we first need to learn what XANA plans to do with it."
"That's true," Yumi agreed. "It won't do us much good if we go in to crack a few heads only to realize that we don't have the right equipment."
"Exactly," Aelita smiled, glad that someone understood.
"So here we go." Jérémie tapped the 'enter' key. On his laptop screen, a map of the globe appeared, spinning a bit before focusing on the continent of Europe, and the superscan began connecting with multiple networks at once. "Yeah," he cheered.
It was working.
"Sorry to interrupt this important moment," Odd cut in, "but let me remind you that we have to pick up our class schedules before lunch. So, let's move."
He then headed towards the door. Jérémie closes his laptop before placing it in his shoulder bag, which he slung over his shoulder, as he and Aelita got to their feet to join him. Meanwhile, Yumi gathered up all the pieces on top of the Go board, before placing it inside Jérémie's closet (for now, at least).
As she did so, she softly called out, "Ulrich, wait a second." He stopped and turned around to face her. "You know, I did a lot of thinking during the summer," she closed the closet door, "and I have something really important I need to tell you."
"Tell me. I'm listening." He stared at her, his mind blanking on the possibilities. What was she about to tell him?
Yumi, however, centered her gaze on the trio waiting for them in the still-open door frame.
"Hey, come on," Odd waved them over. "Jérémie has to lock his door."
"Right, sorry," Yumi replied, before turning to Ulrich, "I'll tell you later, okay?"
She then left the room, as Ulrich followed her. He didn't think anything of it until he saw Jérémie giving him a sympathetic look.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich and Odd were waiting outside in the courtyard for the other three to return with all five class schedules.
"Something important to tell you?" Odd asked. Ulrich had just finished telling him about what Yumi had held him back earlier to say. "Like what?"
"I have no idea," Ulrich shrugged. "But something tells me that Jérémie knows." Why did he have that look?
"Don't ask him to tell you," Odd swiftly advised. "Let it come from Yumi herself." Ulrich nodded, after which there was a pause. "You think she wants to ask you to marry her?"
"Yeah, right," Ulrich scoffed in amusement. "By the way, I wanted to ask you to be my witness."
It was likely something about their relationship. Their planned chat was unfortunately cut off due to summer break fast approaching and the group needing to figure out who Jérémie would stay with due to Kadic's dorms closing for two months. Now that he remembered them all deciding that Jérémie staying with Yumi was the best option, Ulrich realized that Jérémie knowing what Yumi had to say made a lot of sense. They likely talked about it, briefly at least, if not in length.
But that still left the question of what Yumi had to tell him. And why it warranted Jérémie offering sympathy.
"No class on Saturday morning," the two looked up to see Sissi approaching, "meaning that on Friday night..."
Hervé and Nicolas were both at her side. "That you and Theo can finally have weekly date nights?" Nicolas asked. He was surprisingly okay with how serious Theo and Sissi were getting. Obviously, he didn't like it at first, but once he had chosen to respect her choice, things were alright within their group.
"Of course!" Sissi exclaimed.
While Sissi and Nicolas kept walking, Hervé, however, stopped in front of Odd, "Hey, Della Robbia. Tell your cousin that she and I share a class again this year. Cool, huh?"
Ulrich just rolled his eyes. So Hervé was still pursuing Aelita, despite her only having eyes for Jérémie. He should just give up; it'd save him a lot of pain.
"If 'cool' means 'our worst nightmare', then you're right. Being in the same class as you is really cool," Odd joked, before turning serious. "Tell her yourself."
Instead of firing back with an insult, Hervé just smirked. "You know what, Odd? Laugh as much as you want. Because in a few seconds, believe me, you're gonna be crying!" He then walked away, waving, "See you soon, wise guy!"
Odd turned to Ulrich in confusion. "What was that about?" His roommate just shrugged.
It was perfect timing, as Yumi, Jérémie, and Aelita approached them. In their hands were the five schedules, all typed out on pieces of paper, but the expressions on their faces implied that they had just received bad news. They looked disappointed and were all silent.
"Hey, why so sad?" Odd asked.
Jérémie and Aelita glanced at each other, both seemingly debating on what to say and who should say it.
Yumi, fortunately, cut to the chase, "Sorry, Odd. You don't share a class with the others this year."
"What?! I don't?!" he exclaimed in shock. Aelita wordlessly held out a piece of paper with Odd's name on it; he quickly took it and read it over. "You're right! I don't! But why?!"
Jérémie shrugged, "We don't know. It could be class size." Meanwhile, he handed Ulrich his own class schedule.
Aelita sighed, "What'll we do if XANA launches an attack?"
"It's already complicated with Yumi being in a different grade," Jérémie replied. "Now, it's going to be borderline impossible to get organized."
"I'm not going to be able to copy off of you two either!" Odd added, to which the two Einsteins just playfully rolled their eyes. "My grades are really gonna go down the tubes." He crossed his arms in thought. "Well, there's only one thing I can do!" He then walked off, heading towards the administrative building.
"Yeah, what's that?" Aelita asked, curiously.
Odd didn't stop as he replied, "Go for broke!"
The other four stared after him until the bell rang.
"Okay," Jérémie shrugged. "While he's going for broke, we'll go for lunch." He and Aelita began walking off to the cafeteria.
Yumi was about to follow them, but Ulrich quickly held her back by grabbing her arm.
"Hang on! What was it you wanted to tell me?"
She glanced away from him, apparently not feeling brave enough to look him in the eye. "U-Um, well, I wanted to–"
She was interrupted by a familiar male voice, "Hey, Yumi!"
The two looked over at the source of the sound and found William there, waving at her.
Yumi waved back, "Hey, William."
William slowly approached her, "It's really great to see you again. Did you have a good vacation?"
Yumi whispered to Ulrich, "I'll tell you later, okay?" She then walked off with the elder boy.
Ulrich glared after the duo as he watched them leave. They're just friends, they're just friends, they're just friends...he repeated in his head. It makes sense they'd want to catch up, because they hadn't really talked to each other during the past two months.
Geez, the universe really didn't want him to know what Yumi had to tell him, did it?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd looked up at the headmaster's secretary, Nicole Weber, clasping his hands together as he pled, "Please, ma'am, I'm begging you! I have to see him!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Della Robbia," she crossed her arms, looking away. "Mr. Delmas is not seeing any students this morning." Understandably, he had a lot of paperwork to sort through.
"I'm not here as a student," an idea came to mind, "I'm...here as a friend!"
"A friend?" Mrs. Weber slowly asked, raising an eyebrow in interest.
"Yes, ma'am," Odd explained. "A friend of Sissi's. There's something really serious going on, and I have to speak to the principal about it."
She stared into his eyes, and he tried his best to ensure that they were filled with earnesty, so she'd know he was telling the truth (he wasn't, but he had to see Mr. Delmas). But Mr. Delmas always had a watchful eye on his daughter. If Mrs. Weber sent Odd away, knowing a serious problem with Sissi was at risk, she'd be doing the man a disservice.
After a short yet tense silence, the woman finally relented, sighing, "I'll see what I can do." She then picked up the phone and pressed a button on the speed dial. "Sorry, sir. Odd Della Robbia insists on seeing you. Apparently, he thinks there may be a problem with Elizabeth."
Odd breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, mentally promising to make this up to Sissi later. She was their friend, after all, and since she was aware of the truth (somewhat), he wouldn't sugarcoat anything.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Inside the cafeteria, Yumi was approaching the table her friends had claimed, her lunch tray in hand. She arrived just in time to hear Ulrich tell the other two, "Apparently, Jim wants to start up a basketball team this year. Seems he played pro ball."
She chimed in with Jérémie and Aelita, "But he would rather not talk about it."
The four all burst out laughing, as Yumi sat down. Once she was situated, Ulrich leaned in.
"Well," he was whispering, "what did you want to tell me?"
She was about to answer in a voice just as low when she was cut off for a third time.
"Hello!" Hiroki sang. Next to him was his friend Johnny Cleary, who was smiling widely yet nervously.
Yumi put on a tight smile to hide her annoyance, "Hello, Hiroki. You need help finding a room or something?" He was in a new grade, which mean new classes, and likely finding rooms he wasn't used to going to.
"No, I know where all of my classes are," the boy replied. "I just wanted to properly introduce Johnny to you."
Yumi raised an eyebrow, as did Ulrich, Jérémie, and Aelita. Johnny and Yumi already knew each other, the boy having gone over to the Ishiyamas frequently to visit Hiroki, even during the past two months.
Jérémie cleared his throat, "Hiroki, is it at all possible that Johnny just wants an excuse to get closer to Yumi because he has a massive crush on her?"
"You picked up on that, too, huh?" Hiroki raised an eyebrow. The blonde could only nod. In that case, everything made a lot of sense.
Yumi's smile loosened up a bit, "Hello, Johnny. It's nice to meet you. Now, if you two will excuse us, my friends and I have things to talk about. So please get lost."
"Don't worry, we were leaving anyways," Hiroki replied. "But you better be nicer to me or I'll rat on you when you come home late next time."
The two boys then walked away, ignoring how Yumi scoffed in response to Hiroki's warning. As they did so, the four teens heard Johnny exclaiming, "She said 'hello' to me! Man, your sister's really pretty!"
"You're out of your mind," Hiroki rolled his eyes. "I already told you, good buddy, that you have no chance against Ulrich."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Mr. Delmas folded his hands in preparation to listening to what Odd had to say. "So, it seems my Elizabeth has a problem."
"Yes, sir," Odd explained. "When she found out that weren't in the same class this year," he rubbed his neck to help sell the story, "well, she, um...she kinda flipped."
"Hmm, I see," Mr. Delmas replied. "I suppose I'll have to try reasoning with her. There's not much else I can do about it."
Odd thought of a response to that quickly, "I hate to contradict you, sir, but the solution is simple. You see, all you have to do is put us in the same class and presto! Problem solved!"
The man closed his eyes and shaking his head. "Impossible. It's far too complicated to change the composition of classes on a whim. There's a process and quite a bit of paperwork involved. And in addition, Mr. Morales was quite clear when he requested that you, Stern, Belpois, and Schaeffer be separated this year."
Wait, what?! "Jim requested the change?" Odd asked. "But why?!"
"I have no idea. He didn't make his reasoning clear," Mr. Delmas replied. "If you wish to find out, I'd ask him."
Oh, he planned to.
Was Jim still suspicious of them, of the secret they were hiding? Odd honestly thought they had solved that already!
Whatever the case, in order to reclaim his spot in the class with his friends, he'd have to take down Jim first.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As Aelita scraped the bottom of her yogurt cup for every last bit, Jérémie tapped his finger against the table as he watched the updated superscan continue to run. Europe was clean, as was Africa. It was currently scanning North America.
Aelita glanced over when a familiar alarm began sounding and Jérémie cheered. The screen showed XANA having been localized in New Mexico, in the United States.
"Incredible!" she sent the blonde a smile. "The superscan has actually located XANA!"
"It sure has!" Jérémie said, before looking over at Ulrich and Yumi, both of whom were quiet. He sent them a sympathetic glance, before continuing, addressing Aelita, "I'm heading to the factory to check it out. Come with me?" He closed his laptop and placed it back into his bag.
Ulrich and Yumi clearly wanted to be alone. There was tension between them, in addition to Yumi wanting to tell Ulrich something. And Jérémie knew that. In fact, he seemed to know something the pink-ette didn't.
That's why Aelita replied with, "Sure." She then got to her feet. On their way out, she whispered to Ulrich and Yumi, "Good luck."
Now that they were finally alone, the brunette-haired boy gave a small sigh of relief before opening his eyes, thankful that Jérémie and Aelita, at least, understood his and Yumi's desire for privacy.
"Okay," Yumi quietly said, "what I wanted to say that, well, during all last year, I–"
"Ulrich, hi!" Sissi's voice cut in. Behind them, she was holding her tray as she approached their table. "How was your vacation?" On her face was a big bubbly smile.
But he groaned and grabbed Yumi's hand before standing up.
Sissi noticed, but didn't seem to understand why, "I just got here and you're leaving? How come?"
"GUESS!" he exclaimed as he walked out of the cafeteria with Yumi in tow.
Sissi could only cringe at his bad mood. She should've known.
The two were alone, after all.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd knocked on Jim's door, but he got no response. "Jim?" he called. "Can I come in?" He knocked again, before opening the door.
It was just a dorm room, laid out similar to Jérémie's, just with Jim's personal belongings littering it. But it was completely empty.
The gym teacher was nowhere to be found.
Odd sighed, "As usual, he's never there when you need him!"
His gaze wandered around the room, before centering on something on the man's bedside table. It was underneath a stack of sports magazines, mostly concealed by them. Odd picked it up to study it closer.
It was a polaroid of a younger Jim in a white disco outfit. A pen-marked date on the bottom said the date here was 1977, and the one in the photo was 'Paco, the King of Disco'.
Well...they say you learn something new every day. Odd just didn't expect it to be this.
He smirked, "Hmm...pretty funky there, Jim..."
He just got an idea.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich had dragged Yumi to the park. He stopped by a bench, and sighed, letting go of her hand.
"Okay, nobody'll bother us here," he said. After four interruptions, one right after the other, the need for privacy had grown bit by bit, and now it was overwhelming. "Go on, I'm listening."
Yumi gave a small sigh, as if to say 'This is it'. "Right." She lifted her head up, but her back was to him. "You know we've both been running around in circles."
He didn't say anything, only nodding. It's what they had agreed on prior to summer break. They needed a solution. That's why they needed to talk so badly.
Since she wasn't looking at him, she didn't notice. Instead, she continued, "One day, we're together. The next day, we're not. One day, you're jealous. The next day, I am. We're never on the same page, so we both need to clear up our relationship."
"Right," he softly agreed. "So all during summer, you were thinking about a solution."
It wasn't a question, but it still demanded an answer. And she understood that.
"Yeah," she confirmed, before finally turning around to face him. Her expression was as stoic as she could make it, "We can be friends, but that's all."
Her words immediately made his heart sink. His world felt like it was falling down around him.
Friends, but that's all.
Friends, but that's all.
Friends, but that's all.
"W-What...?" was all he could ask.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As they were taking the elevator down to the lab, Jérémie had made a rather surprising confession to Aelita.
"You know what Yumi wants to tell Ulrich?" she asked.
He nodded. "She told me, because she needed someone to talk to about whether or not she should go through with it, and I was the only one of us there." Right. For two months. "I feel guilty for telling her to go through with it, because it's definitely not something Ulrich will take kindly to. But she feels it's the only way to save their relationship, preserve what they already have, so I told her to trust her instincts."
"You gave her good advice," she reassured him, telling him what he needed to hear the most. "And yes, you did so the right way, because you relented to it being her choice." She paused, carefully studying his expression. "There's something you want to tell me, isn't there?"
He immediately tensed up and pursed his lips. Jérémie would always be amazed at how well Aelita could read him. She was right, but it wasn't something he wanted to tell her without some preparation.
"I won't get mad," she softly reassured him. "I promise."
Thanks to that, he got the courage to speak. "I think...I want to wait until XANA's defeated before we focus on how official our relationship is."
There was a short pause, but her answer surprised him. "Agreed."
He turned to face her, "Really?"
"Really." She was softly smiling. "XANA is, and should be, our top priority. Especially since we can't just shut the supercomputer down to stop it anymore."
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief; a weight felt like it had been released from his shoulders. Thank goodness. She understood his position.
But she would've gotten it anyways. As the one who turned the supercomputer on and chose to keep it on for Jérémie's sake, Aelita was the one responsible for allowing XANA to roam free in the first place. Therefore, the responsibility of stopping XANA rested on both of them.
Their eyes relayed an unspoken, yet very important detail—they would wait and save themselves for each other until then. Their respective feelings had not changed, not one bit, but the two had a roadblock keeping them from happiness, and that was XANA and the ghosts of the Périn family's past.
By this time, the elevator had stopped at the indicated floor, and doors swung open to reveal the lab. The atmosphere between the two switched. Now, it was time to focus.
As the entered the lab side by side, Aelita asked out of curiosity, "What do you think the internet looks like?"
"I don't know," Jérémie shrugged. "But something tells me the answer is tied to whatever is within the Digital Sea."
"That's true," she realized. "Even after almost two years, we still don't know what's down there. Should we create a probe to find out?"
"If we can program it to withstand the permanent deletion effects," he answered, "absolutely."
They approached the monitor, only to find that an alarm was coming from it. Aelita immediately sat down in the chair and began typing in commands.
"Uh-oh."
Jérémie leaned in to get a closer look at the window on the screen, "What's going on? It looks like we've got company..." It was a radar window that showed many of XANA's monsters converging in the fifth sector.
"We do," Aelita confined the parameters to reveal that they were in a room the teens had never seen before. "XANA's returned. And it's making a strong comeback. It's probably mad that we found it."
"Maybe," Jérémie was in thought, "but then what is it planning to do in Sector Five with all of its troops? Whenever XANA focuses on a singular target, it's never good."
"Good point." The pink-ette relented, rather quickly. "Head to the scanner room. I'll warn the others."
As Jérémie climbed the ladder down to the aforementioned room, Aelita typed in Ulrich's number first.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
It took a while for Ulrich to get past the shock. "'Friends, and that's all', huh?" he asked. "Are you sure that's what you want."
Yumi's back was still facing him. "Yes." Her answer was short and curt.
He sighed, "Okay."
Right as he said that, something within her snapped, as she suddenly went off on him, "Believe me, I'm not happy about it either, but this could be the only way to save what we already have!" She then stopped, just now hearing what Ulrich just said; she didn't wait for his response. She turned around to face him. "W-Wait, what?"
"I said 'okay'," he stoically replied. "If that's what you want, I won't argue." He had relented, to her relief.
But now, his back was to her.
(Because he didn't want her to see how hurt he really was.)
She opened her mouth to respond, only to close it immediately after. She wanted to thank him for understanding, but had chosen not to say it.
Nothing more than friends...
Fortunately, the tension was broken by Ulrich's phone ringing. He quickly picked up, "Hello? Oh, hey, Aelita." A pause. "Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?" Another pause. "Don't worry. We'll be right there." He then hung up. "XANA's sent a bunch of monsters to Sector Five. Aelita wants us to investigate."
Yumi raised an eyebrow in intrigue, "To Sector Five? Why?"
Ulrich just shrugged as he turned to face the direction of the sewer passage. "You're asking the wrong person."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Meanwhile, Odd was using Aelita's computer, because it was the only one powerful (and incognito) enough for what he was about to do. He typed a very specific phrase into the internet search bar, "Let's see. 'Jim Morales', 'king of disco'. Enter." He pressed said button on the keyboard.
His search brought a surprising amount of results, most of which were reviews that said 'the film was a flop when it was first released', quickly followed by 'recently, however, it has resurfaced with the beginnings of becoming a cult classic'.
A film, huh?
Odd added the word 'film' to the search bar and hit enter again. This time, the first result was a video file. He clicked on it and was immediately rewarded with a young Jim dancing the night away on film, looking incredibly dorky.
"Bingo!" he cheered, before hiding his laughter, trying his best to keep his voice down.
The man looked ridiculous. It made the perfect blackmail material—Odd was pleased that his gut feeling was right.
"Paco, the King of Disco," he said, as he took a blank CD from the stack Aelita had in a nearby drawer. "Now I see why you'd rather not talk about it, Mr. Morales." He inserted the CD into the nearby slot, and it went into the computer itself. "Our gym teacher really burns up the dance floor," he started the CD-burning programming, "and we're gonna burn it on a little CD!"
As the video was being put on the CD, his phone rang.
He picked up, "Yes, Aelita?" A pause. "I'll be right there."
By this time, the CD had been successfully burned. He removed it and placed it within a cover, smirking as he did so, before he left his cousin's room, carefully closing the door behind him.
But on his way to the stairwell, he ran into the very person he wanted to talk to.
"Oh, hey, Jim! Just the man I wanted to see."
"Oh, really?" Jim asked, clearly in a good mood. "What about, huh?" It was about to be torn down.
"Disco," Odd replied, casually.
The man immediately got excited, "No kidding! I love disco!" He then began performing some moves that Odd recognized from the video. "I was even pretty good at it back in the old days."
The boy barely managed to suppress his laughs. His knowing smile, not so much.
"I can see that," Odd forced himself to continue. "Groovy. In that case, I guess you'd know all about that legendary 70's film. Y'know, 'Paco, the King of Disco'."
Jim immediately stopped dancing, his eyes wide. Odd twirled the disc on his finger, liking where this was heading. He was right, and that was a win by itself.
"Uh...uh, no! Never heard of it!" Jim immediately denied it, obviously lying, given his body language.
Oh, Jim, Odd thought, you're too obvious.
"Really?" the boy replied, faking disappointment. "It's a fantastic film. I was going to submit it to the film club this year as our 'film we never thought we'd like' assignment." And he meant it; it certainly was a gem.
Jim crossed his arms, clearly trying and failing to not look suspicious. "I-I'm not sure that dud is worth showing at a film club."
"Oh, so then you have seen it, Jim." Odd acted as if he had caught Jim in a lie—because he had.
"Uh, yeah, no! I mean, I-I'd rather not talk about it!"
Bingo. It was show time.
"Sure, no problem." Odd stopped dancing around and cut right to the chase. "You know, I got a lot more invested in the film club this year because I'm pretty lonesome now that all of my friends are in a different class!" Enough pretending; he was serious, this time. And he was angry. He couldn't be separated from his friends. "If you get what I'm driving at."
He then winked at Jim, before shaking the CD case (in which was the disc) in a way to shine the incoming light into the man's eyes, to taunt him.
It worked.
Jim immediately lunged at it, "Hey, gimme that right now!"
But Odd avoided him by stepping back into the stairwell area, through the double swinging doors. Said doors further protected him by smacking a pursuing Jim in the face immediately after.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Tension was high between Ulrich and Yumi as they rode the elevator down to the lab. Both were sulking, about the same thing no less. Yumi's wish to remain friends and Ulrich agreeing to respect that wish had placed a strain on their now-strictly platonic relationship.
Aelita turned to face the elevator when the doors opened, and she was somewhat surprised to see that the two were standing on opposite sides of the lift, both wearing sour expressions. At least until she remembered what Jérémie told her.
Knowing that, her surprise swiftly turned into concern.
"Hey, you guys," she asked. "Is there a problem?"
"Nope," Ulrich replied, borderline stoic. "No problem at all. We're the best of friends."
Yumi just huffed, not speaking.
Aelita smiled, choosing to ignore the sarcasm in Ulrich's voice in favor of the mission. "Great, that's a relief. Head down to the scanners. Jérémie's already there."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd reached the manhole cover and just barely managed to climb inside and re-cover it just in time. Literally, one second later, Jim reached the park, only to growl in frustration when he saw that his blackmailer had gotten away.
The Italian boy was out of breath by the time he reached the elevator. He hadn't expected Jim to recover so quickly or run so fast. The elevator stopped at the lab in no time.
"It's about time." His cousin chose not to comment in his whereabouts, as he slowly slid down the wall, catching his breath. Aelita turned back to the monitor. "I'll tell the others to wait for you."
He hit the down button again, and he was taken to the scanner room.
Once he stepped inside one, he relayed the news to Aelita, "I'm ready."
"Okay. Transfer Odd." The scanner doors closed, sealing him inside the cabin. "Scanner Odd." The white circular bar moved upward in a swirl, scanning him as the wind blew his hair and clothes upward. "Virtualization!"
A large gust of wind hit Odd as he felt his body depixelize, before feeling it reform in mid-air.
He dropped down from the sky, landing on the ground of the Ice Sector. Like his cousin said, Ulrich, Yumi, and Jérémie were indeed waiting for him, the former two piloting on their respective vehicles. The three were watching him as the Overboard appeared behind him and he back-flipped onto his ride.
"Alright, here we go!" Yumi said, before taking off with Jérémie.
Ulrich and Odd quickly followed her, letting her lead the way to the edge of the sector.
As they were traveling to their destination, Ulrich turned to his roommate, "What took you so long?"
Odd immediately let a smile slip onto his face, "I think I found a way to get back into your class?"
Yumi briefly looked back in surprise, before turning her attention back to the road in front of her. Jérémie, meanwhile, copied her movement, but his gaze remained on Odd.
"You did?" the elf asked, moderately surprised. "How?"
Odd explained, "Jim was the one who requested that I get moved, so the solution was simple. I decided to blackmail Jim."
A unseen switch had just been flipped.
"Blackmail Jim?" Aelita asked, sounding as if she was judging her cousin heavily. "With what?"
"Let's just say I know a secret that he'd rather not talk about," Odd tapped his chin. "And that he doesn't want anyone else to talk about either!"
"Blackmail's not worth it, Odd," Ulrich sternly warned. "Don't sink that low."
"Whoa!" Odd exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips as he began to slow down. "Since when did you guys get so high and mighty? The end justifies the means, doesn't it?"
"No!" Jérémie, Ulrich, and Yumi all replied in unison.
Back in the lab, unseen by everybody else, Aelita was shaking her head at her cousin in disapproval.
"Remember Hervé?" Jérémie softly asked.
Odd seemed to snap, "Don't ever compare me to that loser! I am nothing like him!" He then flew ahead of the others and crossed his arms, pouting, "Fine, thanks for your support! I bet you'd be happy in class without me!"
He then sped up, flying far ahead of his friends, who were left behind to gawk at him in surprise at his reaction.
In Odd's mind, though, a debate was beginning. He needed to get back into the same class as the others, but he didn't want to be a blackmailer. He knew it was morally wrong, but he didn't have any other options. Did he?
The following silence didn't last long. The edge of the sector was fast approaching.
Odd jumped off his Overboard and slid to the cliff's edge. Behind him, Ulrich came to a stop on the Overbike.
"We're here, Aelita," the cat told his cousin.
"Great," she replied, as Jérémie and Yumi joined them. "I'm typing in the code now."
A couple seconds later, the Transporter descended from the sky and enveloped them all.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Transporter set them down in the Arena. As they waited for the wall to open, Ulrich slightly unsheathed his katana, asking, "So, where are all these monsters?"
Wherever they were, whatever they were doing, the upcoming fight with them would help take his mind off of what had happened with Yumi.
"Well, what do you know? They're all in a room just below your feet," Aelita replied, just reading what the holomap said. "I don't think we've been there before. I don't have any information on it."
"But what is XANA doing in there?" Jérémie wondered, taking note of the faint pulsations he was feeling at the moment. He didn't know where they were leading him, but he did know that these weren't XANA's footprints.
They were...something else...
"How am I supposed to know?" Aelita asked. "You're the ones on site. So listen, instead of chatting, head for that room. It's the best way to gain more intel."
The wall then opened, as Ulrich asked, "Can we get in through here?"
"No. Access is only through the Celestial Dome." She then added, "Better hurry; the timer's counting down."
Right. In human world terms, XANA was free to travel throughout the network but it likely still used Sector Five (or 'Carthage', as the Périns' diary had named it) as a vacation home. XANA still resided here, as the Périns had initially programmed. All that had changed on Lyoko was that XANA had been released from its prison.
"Let's go!" Jérémie said, before leading the other three through the passage that had appeared.
They stopped again at the next wall, waiting for the passage to open further. It did rather quickly, revealing a simple, curving hallway.
They were led into a room located in the Core Zone. Said room was filled with pillars of various heights, but all of the same width.
Odd looked across the room at the wall on the other side, and spotted the key mechanism quickly. "Key in sight." They just had to hop across the pillars to get to it.
Knowing this, Odd stepped back a few meters before getting a running start, and jumping right at the edge. He narrowly missed the edge of the pillar he was aiming for, barely managing to catch himself by digging his claws into the side. He then climbed to the top, landing at the top on all fours.
"Huh," he said to himself. "I thought I had my A-game going."
Apparently not. Meanwhile, Yumi and Ulrich both landed in front of him perfectly. Jérémie landed beside Odd, before winking at him, "How about I go get it?"
Before anyone could protest, Jérémie began hopping across the pillars with ease. Interestingly enough, bright cyan energy formed underneath the foot he was using the jump with, before bursting right as he jumped to give him an extra boost. This occurred with each step.
Ulrich and Odd stared after him in awe, but Yumi just smiled. He was certainly improving with that new power of his...
"Five!" Aelita warned, as the blue elf jumped towards the pillar stationed right underneath the key. "Four!" He landed on it. "Three!" He leapt towards the mechanism. "Two!" He pressed his hand against it. "One!" All three levels sunk into each other, before lines against the wall briefly lit up.
"Zero!" Jérémie announced, as he landed safely back on the pillar below. He had pressed it just in time.
"Nice job, Jérémie!" Aelita told him, her smile unseen by the others.
The elf smiled as he turned around to look at his three friends on the other side of the room, but it faded when the pillar he was standing on began descending. Looking up, the other pillars were now moving sporadically.
"I think you guys better get over here!" he called out. "Quickly!"
The other three immediately obeyed, jumping in their own ways to the other side of the room. Yumi and Ulrich reached Jérémie easily, but Odd seemed to be having trouble. He ran on all-fours before jumping, only to land on the side once again. "Ow!"
Ulrich winced at the impact, before walking over to the edge, "You okay, Odd?" Leaning over, he saw that Odd was struggling to climb up.
The cat briefly glanced below him, only to see another pillar quickly rising, threatening to crush him into the ceiling.
"Your hand!" Ulrich cried, holding one out for his roommate to take. Meanwhile, Odd was continuing to struggle climbing to the top.
The samurai just barely managed to save the cat in time, using his upper body strength to pull the blonde to the platform the others were standing on. That was way too close, but both were still virtualized.
"I think you're right, Mister Master Blackmailer," Ulrich smirked as he quipped. "Looks like you've got your Z-game going today."
Odd looked away with a pout, "Lay off, will you?" He then glanced briefly at Yumi before whispering to his roommate, "So, did you talk to her?"
"Lay off, will you?" Ulrich responded in the same tone as Odd did just seconds before.
Odd was surprised, but he wisely chose to drop the subject for now. Apparently, things had not gone well.
The pillar they were standing on at last lowered itself to the floor, where an open doorway was waiting for them. The four went through the passage and arrived at the always-in-motion platform.
"Aelita, we're at the elevator," Yumi relayed, as the four jumped onto said platform.
"Good," she replied. "More and more monsters are appearing in that mysterious room, and none of this tells me anything worthwhile!" Evidently, she was feeling frustrated.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Jérémie muttered, still feeling those faint pulsations. He wish he knew what they were...
By this time, the elevator had swung around to the door leading outside to the Celestial Dome. The four followed the familiar path, stopping at the end of the path, where the interface was. But they were looking for any data today.
"We're here, Aelita," Ulrich relayed. "Where do we go now?"
"Head for the south pole of the dome," the pink-ette replied. "That's where the entrance to the chamber is."
"And are we supposed to get there on foot or something?" Yumi asked.
They could practically hear Aelita roll her eyes in response, "Of course not. I'm bringing up your vehicles now. Stand by."
It was strange. The four had been standing here for about thirty seconds now, and no monsters had attacked them yet.
"Hey, maybe that chamber's the place where XANA has its annual monsters' ball," Odd turned to Ulrich in genuine concern. "Because up to now, we haven't seen any."
"And what are those?" Ulrich nodded at a duo of Mantas. "The ushers?"
The Mantas quickly spotted the four and flew in, firing a few shots.
Yumi immediately stepped in front of Jérémie to block the shots aimed at him with her fans. She knew about his new power, while the others didn't, but she also knew his lack of reflexes.
Meanwhile, Odd knelt down and fired a trio of Arrows, as Ulrich stepped forward and threw his katana. Both weapons flew through the air, before one Manta was destroyed.
"How's that, huh? Bullseye!" Odd cheered, back-flipping. "There's the A-game!" He held up a finger as one would a gun, only to duck as Ulrich's katana came flying back.
The samurai caught his weapon with ease and sheathed it, "Put your bragging back in its holster, cowboy. I'm the one who got it."
"Really?!" Odd turned to his roommate in confusion.
"Can you two cut out the competition long enough to get the job done?!" Aelita swiftly cut in, before all three vehicles virtualized at the edge of the platform. "Now move out!"
Odd took off first, with Ulrich quickly following. However, the remaining Manta began firing at Jérémie as Yumi hopped on to the Overwing. It made sense; now that XANA was free, it no longer needed Jérémie alive. However, the elf managed to avoid the shots by jumping on behind Yumi. The geisha then took off.
The Manta chased after them, continuing to fire at them. Odd swerved left and right to avoid the shots.
As it continued to chase them, Jérémie's eyes locked on to the south pole of the dome—a circular entrance that opened and closed constantly, without stopping—and it was being guarded by another Manta. The pulsations he was feeling were only getting stronger the closer they got to this thing.
Tense, he blurted out, "We have to hurry. Lyoko's in danger."
He immediately closed his mouth, covering it with his hand, which Yumi managed to catch as she briefly turned around to face him, surprised at his sudden outburst. It seemed as though the mental instincts thing was still in effect.
"Are you sure?" she chose to ask.
Jérémie could only nod before he managed to find his voice. "I-I'm feeling pulsations coming from that chamber, but they don't...they don't feel like XANA's..."
"Could a tower be in there?" Aelita asked, curious.
"No. I don't how to explain it; I've never felt these pulsations before, but they're different somehow!"
"Well, remember that the Keys you have used to belong to your parents," Aelita reminded him. He went quiet, but no one pointed that out. "Yumi."
"Roger that," the geisha replied, as the Manta guarding the entrance began flying towards them. She pulled out a fan in response. "Hang on, Jérémie! We're going in!"
Yumi used her fan to block the following lasers until they past the Manta. It turned around the moment it realized what had happened, and joined the other Manta in chasing after Ulrich and Odd.
Meanwhile, Yumi and Jérémie carefully approached the now-unguarded south pole.
"You're there," Aelita told them. "Can you see the access?"
"It's pretty hard to miss," Yumi quipped. The entrance was constantly clamping shut, then opening, then shutting, then opening. It was repetitive, as if it was a pair of jaws, and it was not a small entrance either.
"Great, go on in."
They did so, safely getting past the so-called jaws of death.
Now, Aelita could focus on the other two. "Hey, what are you guys doing? Yumi and Jérémie are already in the passage!"
Ulrich blocked lasers from behind with his katana. "Yeah, we know that! If Odd didn't have his XYZ-game going, we'd be there by now!"
Odd's aim was off today, it seemed. He was rapidly firing at the Mantas behind them, only for none of his Arrows to hit a target. "If this monster would would just stay still long enough for me to get it...!" He fired again, only for no Arrow to fire. "Uh-oh!"
Aelita sighed, "Okay, okay. I'll reload you, stand by."
Great. Until then, he'd have to defend himself and Ulrich—his friend only had a short-range weapon, after all.
In that moment, he got an idea.
Odd slowed down, stopping when he came side-by-side with one of the Mantas. He then jumped on top of it before digging his claws into its back, where the eye symbol was. It immediately began screeching and began flying out of control.
But the cat was smirking. "Alright, ugly. Let's see what you're made of!"
His claws were steering the Manta, allowing him to control its direction. In an effort to get the humanoid cat off of it, the monster began firing uncontrollably, the shots going nowhere—to Ulrich's luck. Odd sunk his claws in deeper, making the Manta fly faster.
Ulrich watched his roommate fly by on the monster and just rolled his eyes, "Tch. Nutcase."
Aelita cut in, "You've got a full supply, Odd."
"Thanks, cuz!" Odd replied, as he flew the Manta towards the entrance. "Ulrich, get ready!"
The German boy didn't have to ask what Odd was planning. He already knew.
Odd dug his claws in even deeper, making the monster fly up towards the always-closing entrance.
"Now!" the cat cried, before letting go. The Manta was immediately destroyed due to the edges of the entrance clamping down around it; though it would have been regardless due to Odd's claws.
Ulrich revved up the Overbike just in time for Odd to destroying the last Manta with an Arrow before landing on the back, now the samurai's passenger.
"Not bad," Ulrich smiled.
He then flew up to the entrance and went inside.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi and Jérémie were standing next to the key mechanism. It was clear they had to press it before continuing on, so Aelita had advised them to wait for their friends.
"Odd and Ulrich are in the tunnel," the pink-ette reported.
"Finally!" Yumi's shoulders dropped in relief. "Now we can trip the mechanism!"
The Overbike appeared on the horizon from below. Odd hopped off first, and addressed Jérémie, "Sorry for the tardiness, your highness? How are you?"
As Ulrich hopped off and reclaimed his katana from its holder on the bike, Jérémie quipped back, "A little impatient," before turning around and pressing the key.
Next to them, a flight of stairs began to appear, leading up. Jérémie jumped up first, followed by Odd. Ulrich Sprinted up the stairs, while Yumi backflipped. Soon, the four entered a large room, where there was another set of steps spiraling upward to the ceiling, printed on which was the eye of XANA.
"Aelita, I think we're here!" Yumi said, reaching the top of the first set of stairs.
"Can you see the monsters? What are they doing?" Aelita asked.
Jérémie had just stopped, his gaze centered on the blue-colored, almost white, glowing sphere floating at the top. Inside of it was a map of Lyoko's five sectors, and the entire thing was being protecting by two cube-shaped shields. XANA's monsters—Creepers and Mantas alike—were firing at the sphere, hitting the first shield layer. The damage they were doing didn't seem to be a lot, but it was clear they had been chipping away at this for the past few minutes.
"Hello?" Aelita's voice cut through their awestruck thoughts. "Answer me! What are they doing?!"
"They're firing at some sort of blue ball," Ulrich explained, pointing up at it.
"That's not a ball," Jérémie muttered, unable to take his eyes off the sphere. "The pulsations are leading from it." He then took off towards the second set of steps and began climbing them.
"If XANA wants it destroyed," Aelita said, "then it has to be important."
"Then it's down with the Creepers!" Odd exclaimed. "Aye, aye, captain!"
"It sure is," the pink-ette replied. "In the meantime, I'm going to try find out more information about that sphere."
Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd began jumping up the stairs after Jérémie, although unlike the elf (who definitely wanted to get closer to the sphere), they were aiming to get closer to the monsters.
Two Mantas came flying towards them, firing their lasers. The teens jumped to avoid them, while Yumi ran towards the edge of the platform.
"Go on!" she told the others. "I'll handle these two!" She then pulled out her twin fans, before using them to block the lasers. The two Mantas circling back around to her provided her an opening to jump off the platform and land on one of their backs. She leapt towards the second one, landing right on top of its symbol. She threw both fans at it, creating an X slice.
She jumped off as it was destroyed, landing on a platform higher than the one she was just standing on. As she caught her fans, however, she saw a Creeper charge up a shot at a still-entranced Jérémie.
She quickly jumped in front of him, throwing a fan at the Creeper at the same time. Her fan hit its mark, and Jérémie was spared, but at the expense of Yumi, who was promptly devirtualized.
"Yumi!" Ulrich called out in concern.
Odd slipped down a step towards his roommate, dodging lasers, "Forget it!" He fired up at the last Manta. "Concentrate on our monster friends!"
He then fired at a Creeper across from him, destroying it with a single Arrow.
He cheered, "This is not just an A-game! I've exceeded all expectations!" His celebration didn't last long; he yelped as he got hit and devirtualized next to Ulrich.
The samurai's gaze immediately centered on the lone Manta, realizing that it was flying back around at Jérémie. Alright, enough fooling around.
He Sprinted up to the elf, landing in front of him just in time to block the follow rapid shots with his katana. When it passed by, Ulrich sliced at it, his weapon in a back-handed grip. As it exploded in mid-air from the slash, the samurai readjusted his katana back to a normal grip in his left hand.
"I can't believe it. Jérémie, you're right!" Aelita suddenly interjected. "Ulrich, listen! Whatever you do, you have to stop the Creepers from destroying that sphere!"
"Why?" Ulrich asked.
"Because you guys are looking at the heart of Lyoko!" she explained. "The direct access to all the core programs of the virtual world are contained within that sphere! If XANA manages to destroy it, then Lyoko is destroyed as well, and anyone still virtualized along with it!"
"But why would XANA want to destroy Lyoko?" Odd asked from the lab.
"To stop us from fighting it," Jérémie muttered.
"Hurry up!" the pink-ette said. "The Core only has two protective layers! And the first one just blew!"
One of the cube-shaped spheres exploded as she said this, and the entire room lit up to emphasize that.
Ulrich Sprinted up a few more steps, reaching a Creeper and attacking it once it turned around to face him, getting rid of it. Another Creeper above him fired at him, but he deflected the following two shots with his katana, before successfully sending one back at it. A third one fired at him, but he did the same thing, deflecting the first shot this time.
There was just one left, but when this one fired at Ulrich, it hit its target, devirtualizing Ulrich.
Now, Jérémie was all alone, and he watched carefully as the last Creeper crawled towards him, landing on the same platform as him from behind. The elf turned around to face it, his back now to the Core.
What now?
Yumi's voice brought some clarity to his dilemma, "Jérémie, it's your turn."
Right. The power the two had discovered during a casual trip to Lyoko during the summer break.
"His turn for what?" he heard Odd ask in confusion. "He has no weapon."
"False," was Yumi's response. "Just watch."
The Creeper was only getting closer, and Jérémie was running out of room to back up.
"Go on, Jer," the Japanese girl urged. "You can do it."
"But, I–"
He cut himself off. He didn't really have a choice.
In his right hand, he formed a cyan-colored energy dagger. He threw it at the Creeper right as it fired a single shot at him. Both shots hit their targets. The Creeper was destroyed, while for Jérémie, for once, the pain didn't linger for long.
Of course, it could've just been him getting devirtualized for the first time.
At least the Core was safe...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Those in the lab immediately were in shock when the win went to Jérémie.
"What just happened?" Odd's mouth had fallen open in surprise. "I thought he didn't have a weapon!" He had a point; up until now, Jérémie only had his power of Creation.
"He developed a new power during the vacation," Yumi explained. "We discovered it during a casual visit to Lyoko, just to check things out and make sure the superscan was still working. Now, he's capable of fighting just like us."
Odd suddenly cut her off, his eyes wide as he looked at the monitor. "Guys, look at that!"
Jérémie's ID card was depleting, his lifepoints reading a big fat zero.
Aelita immediately began to panic. She typed in some rapid-fire commands to search for him, but the results came back clear.
"I can't believe this!" she exclaimed with dread. "He's been devirtualized!"
That was bad. Devirtualization for Jérémie meant permanent deletion, after all.
"You mean, he's..." Odd asked, "Are you sure?"
"The logs have recorded it." Aelita hung her head in her hands. "I can't do anything!"
He was gone...
However, the trio's attention was drawn to the scanners window. Green bars were filling one, showing that it was in operation. And it couldn't have been Ulrich; he'd emerged from the scanners a few minutes ago, and said so the moment he re-entered the real world.
Could it be...?
"What's going on?" Aelita muttered, before taking out the earpiece and rushing to the ladder. "Come on, hurry up!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The scanner doors opened on Aelita standing in front of it, looking panicked and out of breath. But she was definitely wearing a look of relief. "Hey, you do realize that you almost gave me a heart attack, right?"
Jérémie—the one inside the scanner—sheepishly smiled, "Sorry."
Aelita promptly wrapped him in a tight hug, as Ulrich glanced at Yumi and Odd in confusion. "Someone mind telling me what happened?"
"Well, it seems that even if Jérémie loses all of his lifepoints, he won't face permanent deletion anymore," Odd explained, wearing a relieved smile of his own.
"He won't?" Ulrich asked. "How come?"
"Of course!" They turned to Aelita, who had broken the hug but was still holding both of his Jérémie's hands. "I was too dumb to realize it before." She turned back to the blonde in blue. "You have your missing fragment back, so your digital profile is now complete, meaning you're the same as the rest of us. We no longer need Code: EARTH to bring you in."
Jérémie was smiling at her, "That will certainly help now that XANA is determined to destroy Lyoko to keep us from finding it on the network."
"That's great, Jer," Ulrich gave him a thumbs up. "You're a full-fledged Lyokowarrior now!"
Jérémie was unable to prevent himself from blushing at the praise.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
It was late afternoon now, the time of day most of the boarding students unpacked their stuff in their respective rooms. Odd and Ulrich were part of this group, unpacking as they spoke.
Ulrich had finally spilled what Yumi told him earlier.
"'Just friends, and that's all'?" Odd asked, in both confusion as well as disbelief. Oh well, at least the drama would die down. Hopefully.
"Yep." Ulrich's one-word answer—short and curt—was the only indication that he was still sulking over this.
"And what did you say?" Odd asked.
"I said 'okay'."
"Just 'okay'?!" the Italian boy asked. "What's the matter with you guys? I'll never understand you two!"
Ulrich just shrugged, "She said it was the only choice she felt comfortable with, so I chose to respect her wishes."
"But you seriously can't tell me that you like said choice!"
"No, I can't," the brunette softly explained. "But Yumi and I are friends before anything else. And I certainly agree with us needing to focus on preserving that first and foremost."
Odd was silent for a moment as he took that in, before he walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Ulrich asked.
"To see Jim."
The German boy sighed, "Odd, we're only protesting against the method. You know that, right? We're your friends and we all know you're better than that, and that you don't want to be like Hervé." Odd was silent, clearly deep in thought. Ulrich relented to a simple warning, "If you decide to go through with it, just...be careful, okay? A bad deed can and will backfire on you."
The crazy-haired blonde took that in before leaving their shared room, closing the door behind him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Upon getting a couple of soft knocks, Jim opened his door. He immediately tensed up, getting defensive, when he saw Odd standing there, his hands behind his back—clearly hiding something. "Hey, I've got news for you, Della Robbia! If you came here to blackmail me, you'd better think again! Anyone who thinks they can pull the wool over my eyes is gonna be in for a surprise, you hear?!"
Odd didn't protest. He just held out the CD he burned, taking it out from behind his back. "Here."
Jim was taken aback. "W-What?"
"Blackmail isn't the right thing to do. I'm very sorry, Jim." He offered a small smile. "If it's any consolation, I really did like the film." Truth. He meant what he said about wanting to submit it to the film club under the category of 'a film you never thought you'd enjoy'.
He then walked away, back to the dorm he shared with Ulrich. If being in a different class this year was the price to pay for keeping his sanity and good-natured morals, then so be it. His friends were right; he was better than that.
"Hold on." Jim stopped him, though, to his surprise. "Did you do this just to be with your pals?"
The boy chose to be honest, "Well, y-yeah. I mean, boarding school is tough enough." He put his hands behind his back. "But without your friends..."
Jim sighed, "I'll see what I can do."
"Really?!" A smile immediately broke out on Odd's face. "Thanks so much, Jimbo! You're a real pal!"
"Don't mention it. After all, I was young once too," the man commented with a fond smile.
"No kidding. I wonder what you were like." Odd really did want to know. Knowing Jim was the legendary Paco, the King of Disco, he wanted to go back even further.
"Well, I had blonde, curly hair and a thin frame, and uh..." he stopped, realizing he was getting into the trap. He cleared his throat, "And I would rather not talk about it. Now, go on!"
Odd laughed all the way back to his dorm.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 37 - Protect the Forest / Odd and Aelita both fight for the position of class representative. However, XANA's attack will drastically change the outcome of this election.
A/N: Summer break in France is normally two months, which I confirmed by looking up the dates of France's summer break in 2007. However, English speakers don't really know that, thinking it's two weeks due to Ulrich's line "two weeks without us". Sophie Decroisette, however, confirmed in an interview that the group (in canon) alternated between watching XANA over the break, so Aelita's preceding line confirms Odd and Ulrich had merely went camping for two weeks. Decroisette also revealed that Kadic's dorms close during summer break, and at least Aelita and Jérémie had stayed at the Hermitage during that time. I planned out this chapter's opening scene according to this information, which I am very grateful for existing.
Very little people have caught that the superscan does indeed find XANA in New Mexico, which foreshadows the Desert Sector replica. However, I added another line to set up exploring the Digital Sea. It's just me connecting the seasons a little better.
Jérémie's weapon was something I debated on for the past few chapters now, until I finally settled on energy manipulation. He can generate any weapon based on the situation, which I think is perfect for someone who relies mostly on his brain.