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~~~!
"Odd takes up a bet that's difficult for him to keep, as the gang returns to the Forest Replika, hopefully for the final time."
Episode 53: Bragging Rights
(Based on Bragging Rights)
Two of XANA's cybernetic spiders—from the Amazon lab—scuttled after Yumi, Ulrich, and William, chasing them down the corridor as an alarm blared all around them. The trio slid to a stop in front of the exit, only to find two more cyber-spiders standing in front of it, blocking their way.
They looked behind them, seeing there the two cyber-bugs that were chasing them.
"Uh-oh..." Ulrich muttered, as the trio stood back-to-back. Seeing they were surrounded, they each unsheathed their respective weapons. "To think this was supposed to be a piece of cake..."
That was wrong. So, so wrong.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER_
Jim was with his eleventh grade class (in which were four Lyokowarriors) in the gymnasium. Behind him was a springboard, a pommel horse, and a mat set up on the floor in the middle of the room.
"I'll say it once more, for those of you who were daydreaming," the man was saying. He counted on his fingers, "One: run up. Two: jump onto the springboard. Three: push off of the horse. Four: pike vault. And five: land feet together on the mat. You got that?"
"No, I didn't get it all," Nicolas spoke up, holding up a finger. "So, would you mind giving us a demonstration, Jim?"
"What's the matter with you, Poliakoff? There's nothing to it. Only a halfwit couldn't manage it!" Jim turned to face the pommel horse, glancing at his students behind him, before clearing his throat and running towards the springboard.
As the class watched Jim demonstrate, Odd counted the steps, "One...two..." Jim jumped off the springboard. "Three..."
Jim suddenly cried out, as he fumbled the jump. The students looked on with some concern, before Jim cried out again, this time in pain.
Odd started giggling, and he put a hand over his mouth, "He got to five without doing four!"
Jim had landed on the mat, upside-down and bent so that his legs hung over his head. The students laughed, some of them doubled over.
"You think that's funny, huh? Poliakoff!" Jim barked in annoyance, as he rolled onto his side. "Let's see what you can do!" Nicolas stepped forward, almost reluctantly. "And don't forget those five golden rules!"
Nicolas started running, but he tripped over just before he reached the springboard and fell on top of it. He bounced up and over the horse, landing flat on his back on the mat. Jim looked on, displeased, as the students descended into another fit of laughs.
"Wow, that's one wild pommel horse!" Odd exclaimed between his laughing. "It ought to be in the rodeo!"
"Schaeffer, time to show us what you can do!"
Aelita was filled with nervousness as she stepped forward. She wasn't as bad at athletics as Jérémie was, but she was far from being on Ulrich's level—the perfect person to demonstrate this exercise. But she ignored that, cracking her knuckles before taking off into a sprint.
She jumped onto the springboard, front flipping into the air. She landed on the pommel horse with both hands, before backflipping onto the mat. She let out a relieved smile—she did it!
"Nice job, Miss Schaeffer! Perfect demonstration!" Jim exclaimed, before turning to the class. "You all could learn a lot from her! Follow her example!"
Aelita blushed from the praise as she returned to her spot. Her cheeks got warmer when she saw Jérémie's proud smile.
"That's my cousin, everybody!" Odd yelled, as he slung an arm around the pink-ette's shoulders. "I could've done it better, though."
To this, Aelita rolled her eyes. One second, he was singing her praises, and the next, he was singing his own. She didn't expect anything less from her cousin.
"Della Robbia!" The boy shut up at Jim's stern bark. "You seem to be running your mouth a lot today! So, front and center! It's your turn to fall flat on your face!"
"Okay," Odd shrugged, as he approached the starting position.
He cleared his throat, before running forward. Unlike Aelita, he jumped over the springboard and performed a front flip before landing in a handstand on the horse, legs apart. As the students made noises of amazement, Odd brought his feet together and held the post for a moment. He then jumped off and landed on his feet on the ground, past the mat.
While Aelita did the exercise exactly as Jim described with his five golden rules, Odd had went above and beyond by bypassing the springboard altogether.
"How was that?" Odd asked Jim. "You're right, Jim. Only a halfwit couldn't manage it!" The halfwit in question being Jim, of course.
Jim's surprised expression quickly turned into an unimpressed frown, before promptly turning into an angry glare as he growled.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
After class, the four eleventh grade Lyokowarriors were walking under the arches towards their next class, and Odd was complaining about Jim's reaction.
"Come on! I don't believe it! I do a pike vault worthy of the Olympics and bam! Four hours of detention! Is that the kind of payoff I deserve?"
"Well, yeah," the other three all replied in unison.
To his confusion and surprise, "What do you guys mean 'well, yeah'?!"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Ulrich explained. "Come on, Odd. The way you spoke to Jim was..."
"Was what?" the crazy-haired blonde demanded.
"Obnoxious," Jérémie cut in.
"Pretentious," Aelita added. "Need we go on? I mean, I performed the exercise perfectly as well, and you don't see me bragging about it."
"Pretentious?!" Odd stopped them in their tracks. "No one's more humble than I am!"
"Who are you trying to kid?" William's voice sounded from behind him. The four turned to see William and Yumi both standing there. "Your middle name ought to be 'Braggart', Odd."
"That's for sure," Yumi agreed. "I can't remember even one day that you didn't sing your own praises. I think the word 'braggart' was invented just for you."
"Hey, that is so wrong!" Odd protested. "And I can prove it to you, too!"
"Okay," an amused William replied. "I'll bet you a week's worth of desserts that you can't go twenty-four hours without bragging."
"And if you lose, I get to smack you for us being right," Ulrich added, with a smile just as wide as William's. "If you win, you get to smack me."
"You're on!" Odd agreed, holding out both of his hands to Ulrich and William (both located on either side of him). "I know someone who just won himself a yummy strawberry tart!"
Ulrich and William both high-fived him to seal the deal, as the eldest boy smirked, "Yeah. Me."
"Uh-uh, me!"
"No, me."
Jérémie interrupted by clearing his throat, "Hey, are you guys through? Maybe I ought to remind you that we're supposed to be blowing up XANA's supercomputer after today's classes."
They were so close yesterday. He was hoping they'd succeed today.
"In the jungle?" Ulrich asked in surprise, his and the others' interest piqued. "We're going back already?"
"It's barely been twenty-four hours," Yumi added.
"That's right," Aelita confirmed. "And we don't think it'll be a problem." 'We' meaning her and Jérémie. "Odd knocked out the force field protecting it last time."
"And once again," Odd boasted, "where mere mortals would have failed, Odd demonstrates his great, uh..." he quickly caught himself, "um, modesty and humility." He averted his gaze away from the knowing smirks of Ulrich and William.
"So, basically, we just need to finish the job," Jérémie said.
"And thanks to our non-bragging hero," Aelita finished, "it's gonna be a piece of cake."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita watched from the lab's monitor as Jérémie piloted the Skid—represented by a blue arrow—inside the Forest Replika. Said blue arrow moved above the platforms before being steered towards a neutral tower.
"Tower in sight, Aelita," Jérémie announced. "Docking!"
A window appeared on her screen, showing the Skid had been moored to the tower.
"Gotcha," she replied, typing in a sequence on the keyboard. "I'm activating the tower for us." Two seconds later, the superscan showed her an alert for a green-colored tower. "Are you ready?"
"Ready," Yumi reported.
Aelita typed in another sequence, before pressing 'enter' for each person, "Translate Ulrich. Translate Yumi. Translate Jérémie."
Another window opened up, showing the trio's respective IDs changing to their 2D representations, a timer for fifteen minutes, and a map for the jungle facility. Three white dots appeared in a large room inside the lab.
"You're the greatest, Aelita!" Ulrich exclaimed. "It worked!"
"The translation is pretty accurate!" Yumi agreed. "We're in the middle of the lab."
"Cut the flattery, guys," the pink-ette replied with an amused grin, "before it goes to my head. I don't want to be like Odd."
"Hey!" her cousin interrupted, having heard their conversation from his spot in the Skid. "I do not have a swelled head! That being said, considering my extraordinary exploits last time, I don't see why I wasn't translated over."
"Gotta give everyone a chance to have fun, Odd," Aelita told him. "Besides, I downloaded the blueprints for the facility last night, and combined with my personal experience, I can lead them just fine."
William calmly cut in here, "And if the only dessert you want to eat for a week is humble pie instead of those chocolate éclairs, Odd, then just keep it up."
Odd just made a soft noise of disappointment in response.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Okay, Aelita, where do we go?" Ulrich asked, as he, Yumi, and Jérémie stood in the middle of the lab.
"Head east," the pink-ette replied. "You'll go through a door. Then go straight, and a little further on at your left, you should see the door to the supercomputer room."
The trio took off in the direction that she said. After following her instructions, they stopped outside a door and looked through the small window.
"Bingo!" Ulrich exclaimed.
On the other side of the door was the supercomputer, exactly what they were looking for.
"Great!" Aelita replied, sounding pleased. "All you've gotta do now is open the door and trash the supercomputer. I told you this would be no problem."
Yumi walked up the door control panel and tapped it, only for it to turn red and beep, denying access like it had previously done to Odd, William, and Aelita. "Um, Aelita, we've got a problem," the geisha said. "I can't get the door open."
"Oh, that's right! I used my Digital Code to open it last time," the pink-ette recalled. "Jérémie–"
But Ulrich had a different idea, "Let me handle this," as he reached for one of his katanas on his back.
"Wait!" Aelita warned. "Let Jérémie–"
At the same time, Jérémie also attempted, "Ulrich, hold on–"
The samurai smashed the screen with the hilt of his katana. The image fizzled before turning black. "Uh, too late."
"What an idiot!" Aelita exclaimed in anger. "I said to wait, Ulrich!"
"I was about to use my own Digital Code!" Jérémie explained, motioning to the destroyed control panel.
"Great," Yumi frowned at him in disapproval. "Now the panel's dead and the door's still locked!"
"Well, one of you should've said something sooner!" Ulrich crossed his arms, feeling guilty.
"Yeah, that was totally our fault," Jérémie rolled his eyes in annoyance. "What do we do now?"
"Hold on. Hope's not lost," Aelita gently cut in. "The door will open if you cut the power to its electromagnetic locking mechanism."
"You know where the generator is?" Ulrich asked, hopeful.
"Yeah, I'll guide you there."
"Jérémie and I will stay here," Yumi told the samurai. "As soon as it opens, we'll go in and get rid of the supercomputer."
"Got it."
"Okay," Aelita agreed. "Ulrich, turn around and go back to the first intersection. Then, take the corridor on the right."
"I'm on my way, Miss Einstein!" he replied, as he started running down the hall in that direction.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd and William, all this time, were still sitting in their respective Navskids. The cat was inspecting his claws, as William was trying to get in touch with Aelita—who had been worryingly quiet for a while.
"Aelita, can you hear us?" the knight asked. "Everything okay?"
She finally replied, "Oh, yeah, sorry. The others just hit a little snag, but no sweat. Everything's cool now."
"Are you sure?" Odd asked, mentally noting the concern in his cousin's voice. "Because I'd love to go and help them out. Modestly, of course."
"Sorry, Odd, but you've got your work cut out for you already," Aelita replied. "The superscan just spotted an activated tower on the Replika. Great, I'll need to bring Jérémie back to de-activate it, which will leave Ulrich and Yumi down a teammate."
"Why don't you send Odd or me to take his place?" William suggested. "We'd both be adding experience to the table too."
"Agreed," the pink-ette said. "I'll send you, William, as long as you obey me and don't smash any door panels when I tell you not to." Before either of them could ask, she continued, "I'll tell you later. Ready? De-translate Jérémie. Translate William."
Odd waited a few seconds. From his vantage point, inside his Navskid, he couldn't see the switch take place, "Did it work?"
"Yep, the switch was successful," Aelita confirmed. "William's on his way to Yumi's location, and Jérémie's just taking a brief nap."
"Wake up, Prince Charming!" Odd called out. "Or do you need a kiss first?"
Fortunately for the cat, the elf was awakened within the main cockpit by the joke. "Kiss? Oh, right. The activated tower. Disembarking." He typed in a sequence on the keypad.
The duo teleported from their respective cockpits and onto the green ground underneath the Skid, side-by-side.
"Princess, could you send us–"
The Overboard virtualized in front of the two before Odd could finish his sentence.
"You were saying, Odd?" Aelita asked, a smile lingering in her voice.
"Um, nothing. Thanks, cuz," he murmured.
Jérémie suddenly tensed up when he saw what his visor was telling him what was approaching them at full speed. "Uh-oh. It looks like we've got a little problem here, too."
"Confirmed," Aelita replied. "The holomap reads the Clone and three Hornets."
The special Spectre was wearing its Aelita mask as it ran along the paths towards them, three Hornets keeping pace in the air above it.
"Aelita, should Odd stay here and fight them off while I deactivate the tower?" Jérémie asked.
"No, the tower's too far away, and Odd could never handle all four enemies alone."
"Then maybe translate Ulrich, Yumi, or William back to help?" Odd suggested.
"I can't," Aelita protested. "I'd prefer three people focusing on the supercomputer. Besides, Ulrich's almost at the generator. It'd be stupid to pull him out now."
"Three Hornets and your evil twin?" Odd rolled his eyes as he gave a dismissive wave. "Please. Four Laser Arrows and it's game over."
"Odd, don't forget your bet," Jérémie warned, placing both hands on his hips.
"It's not bragging, Jer. It's the simple truth." There was no hint of a smile or a joke anywhere in his voice. "I can handle these guys just fine."
XANA-Aelita and the monsters got closer, but they were still far away. One of the Hornets fired a shot.
"Shield!" Odd called, blocking two lasers with his purple-colored shield. He then turned to Jérémie, "You see? No problem!"
The elf just sighed as he rolled his eyes.
"There's a simple solution," Aelita cut in. "You two just have to hold the Clone off long enough for Ulrich to neutralize the generator. It'll only take a few minutes, and should be easy since the Clone needs to don its Jérémie mask to input Code: XANA."
So XANA would be faced with a choice about which was more important: throwing Jérémie into the Digital Sea or devirtualizing him to cut off the Translation.
"No problem!" Odd said. "You stay here and guard the tower, Jer. I'll handle the Hornets."
He then jumped onto the Overboard and flew towards his enemies, as Jérémie took up a defensive position in front of the Skid tower.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich had stopped, having reached the room Aelita had directed him to. Now, he was standing in front of a large, very complicated-looking machine. Now what?
"Ulrich, do you read me?" Fortunately, one of the two experts spoke up at just the right time. "Where are you?"
"In front of the generator," he reported.
Aelita was relieved, "Thank goodness!" Odd and Jérémie must've been faced with enemies on the Replika. "Tell me how it looks."
"Well..." Ulrich stared at it with great uncertainty, "i-it's this huge machine with a bunch of flashing thingamajigs all over it..."
"Okay," the pink-ette let out a soft giggle, amused. "Now, just neutralize the commutator that powers the lab doors."
"The commu-what?"
"Sorry, I forgot you don't speak Einstein," she apologized. "Do you see the little red button?"
"There are millions of buttons in general, not just red!" he exclaimed. "This thing's lit up like a pinball machine!"
"Just proceed by elimination."
"No," he had decided. "I'm gonna do this my way." It was much faster, after all. They couldn't keep this supercomputer functioning for much longer, and the Spectre was likely attacking the Skid right now.
"Your way?" Aelita asked, unamused. "You mean, smashing up the generator and short-circuiting the entire facility, which would include the supercomputer?"
"You guessed it." She always caught on quick.
"I don't think so, Mr. Wreck-It." She was still on the control panel? He wished she'd let it go. "Give me a minute to think it over."
Ulrich just shrugged and began waiting for her final decision.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd flew towards the trio of Hornets, before flying up and over them. "This way, kiddies!"
The three Hornets turned around and followed him, while XANA-Aelita just kept running in the direction of the Skid, where Jérémie was.
With the three Hornets in chase, Odd suddenly braked, allowing the monsters to pass. He took aim and fired twice, destroying one of them.
The remaining two turned around and opened fire. Odd dodged the lasers and flew towards them. When he got close, he jumped off the Overboard, high in the air, and backflipped. In mid-air, he shot another arrow, destroying a second Hornet.
He landed on the Overboard, and paused. "If I tell the others about this, they'll say I'm bragging again," he muttered, before flying away, the last Hornet following him.
Back at the Skid tower, the Clone slid to a stop in front of Jérémie. It smirked, "Alone at last."
Jérémie gulped—XANA saying that with Aelita's face was disturbing and frightening—before ducking the Clone's following Energy Field. It didn't give him room to breathe, as it quickly charged at him, making him stumble back to keep distance between them.
It paused in its attack as it charged up a giant Energy Field, before throwing it at him. He quickly threw up a small shield (similar to Odd's), and was successful in blocking the attack (by some miracle). However, the shockwave forced him backwards, as he stumbled off the edge of the platform.
He cried out as he fell, as XANA-Aelita smirked as it watched him fall towards the Digital Sea below. The smirk fell and his cry stopped, however, when his wings activated on their own—his transwatch having sensed him falling. Thanks to this, he managed to catch himself and began to fly back up to the platform above.
The Clone, on the other hand, was displeased. It jumped off the platform towards him. Jérémie tried to move out of the way, only for the Clone to grab onto both of his legs, dragging him down. His wings were flapping hard, trying to lift him up, but XANA-Aelita refused to let him go.
He managed to free one of his legs and began kicking the Clone in the face repeatedly. It wouldn't go, however, forcing him to form a handful of energy daggers, "Alright, enough fooling around!" He threw the daggers at the Clone's face, forcing it to let go.
Once the weight was gone, he went flying upwards. XANA-Aelita fell towards the Digital Sea, and Jérémie promptly flew back up towards the platform. He briefly turned back to the Sea, only to spot the Clone donning Aelita's wings (devil shaped) before taking flight and chasing him.
Jérémie increased his speed, fortunately making it back to the base of the Skid tower before the Clone could catch up to him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi was leaning against the wall next to the door, opening and closing a fan repeatedly as she waited for William to arrive or Ulrich to open the door, preferably both.
She suddenly heard the sound of glass smashing and the shards falling to the floor, causing her to snap her fan shut. The noises continued, to her suspicion.
She walked out into the middle of the room, opening both of her fans in anticipation, before walking towards the source of the noise.
After peering around a corner, and finding the hallway empty, she walked out, fans still at the ready, and walking along the corridor. When she passed a closed, she stopped when she heard the sound of glass falling. She walked up to the door and leaned an ear against it, listening.
Inside, more glass fell, this time followed by some insect-like clicking.
Yumi entered, finding the vivarium Odd, Aelita, and William were talking about yesterday. In the middle, the glass case had all four sides smashed. That worried her.
"Um, Aelita?" the geisha asked. "Remind me again what was in the vivarium?"
"Cybernetic spiders. Why?"
"I ask because I think I found XANA's purpose for that activated tower," Yumi began, unaware of the cyber-spider on the ceiling above her.
At least until it dropped down behind her, causing her to turn around and gasp in surprise. It began to move forwards, and she backed away. Another spider approached her from behind.
"Boy, you guys are ugly!" she yelped, as one of them jumped at her. She could see her frightened face reflected in all six of its eyes, right before she was knocked back against a desk.
"Hang in there, Yumi!" Aelita cried out, as the spider got right up in the geisha's face and started rubbing its two metal front legs together. "William's on his way!"
Yumi kicked it away, before flipping over the other spider and taking out her fan. She threw it when she landed, only for the enemy she was aiming at to block her weapon with its front leg. She caught her fan when it returned.
"Great," she muttered. "You're gonna make life difficult for me, I see."
Before she could even blink, William suddenly jumped in, soaring over her, and stabbed one in the back, directly in its eye of XANA. "I've had enough of your cyber-spider web," he growled, before turning back to Yumi. "Let's get out of here."
"Thanks, William," she gratefully replied. "And I agree."
The two promptly ran out of the room, heading back to the supercomputer room, with the second cyber-spider crawling after them.
"Aelita, those cyber-spiders are being controlled by XANA," Yumi alerted the pink-ette. "And they're just behind us!"
"Not for long! The supercomputer should be offline in just a couple of seconds!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita promptly addressed Ulrich, who was waiting by the generator, "Ulrich, your idea isn't big on finesse, but it should work. Do it."
"Okay," Ulrich replied, before raising his dual katanas in the air and stabbing the generator.
The machine sparked, causing him to flinch backwards and remove his weapons. It then started smoking. The samurai took a few steps backwards as the lights dimmed and brightenedly continuously.
Purple electricity crackled around the cables on the supercomputer. The force field and lights flickered, looking like they were about to die.
Elsewhere, Yumi and William were being cornered by three cyber-spiders.
"Hey, Aelita!" William called out, his Zweihänder poised in front of him to protect himself and Yumi. "Whenever you want for that short-circuit!"
The spiders got closer, causing Yumi to immediately open up both of her fans in anticipation.
"Right...now!"
As if on cue, one by one, the spiders fell down. The two both breathed sighs of relief.
"You know, until today," Yumi commented to William, "I didn't really mind spiders."
"Know you know how I feel," he softly replied.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd followed the path to a round platform with many pathways connected to it. He flew down another path, the third Hornet not far behind. The monster suddenly flickered red and vanished completely—which was not lost on Odd.
"Huh? Where'd it go?" He stopped, hands on hips. "Wow! I just look at them and they get blown away! Aelita, what's happening?"
"We did it!"
"Already?" he asked in surprise, before flying over to where he left Jérémie.
Said elf was still defending the Skid tower, as he threw handfuls of daggers at the Clone. XANA-Aelita was dodging his attacks with ease, but not able to get any closer.
He threw up a shield to block the two Energy Fields it threw at him, just as the real Aelita told him, "Jérémie, the Replika is disappearing! Better get airborne!"
When it heard the word 'disappearing', the Clone's smile turned into a flash of concern. Jérémie immediately summoned his wings and began hovering just above the ground. XANA-Aelita glared and balled its fists in anger before the ground disappeared from underneath it.
It fell towards the Digital Sea, as Odd flew over on the Overboard and stopped next to Jérémie, "That's what you call a real swan song dive!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"I told you this would be a piece of cake!" Aelita exclaimed proudly, as Ulrich stood in the now-blackened room. "You can head back for the Skid now, guys. The mission's over. Are you ready, Ulrich? I'm translating you back."
Before he could respond, a light flashed and the power came back on. "Hold on. I think something's up."
"Wha–"
"The power's back on," he announced.
An alarm began sounding throughout the facility, as the lights turned back on and the supercomputer regained power...
The Replika's platforms stopped disappearing and began reappearing instead. Jérémie landed, his wings disappearing as he did so, as Odd flipped off the Overboard, both landing on the ground.
"Um, Aelita? Is the Replika supposed to be regenerating?" the cat asked.
"Of course not," she replied, before addressing the other side. "Ulrich, there's gotta be a backup generator somewhere."
"No kidding!" Ulrich replied, sarcastically. "Even I could've figured that out! Where is it?"
"How should I know?! I'm looking for it right now!"
Ulrich exited the generator room and ran down the hall, "Better hurry up! I'm going back to Yumi and William!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi and William walked down the hallway, their weapons put away now that there was no need for them. "Aelita, how come you haven't translated us back yet?" Yumi asked.
"And what's that alarm?" William added.
"Oh, some little hang-up. As usual."
William sighed, "...There's a backup generator, isn't there?"
"Yep."
"Of course there is..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
The two quickly froze up when they heard a familiar noise behind them. They gasped and turned around to, sure enough, see two spiders crawling along the walls behind them, plus one on the ceiling.
The one on the ceiling swiped at William as it dropped to the floor, knocking him backwards and causing him to scream.
"Not so fast!" Ulrich cried out, as he stabbed the spider right between the eyes. With a puff of smoke and a crackle of electricity, it died. The brunette sheathed his katana, "Come on!"
He started running, and the other two quickly followed him. The remaining two cyber-spiders followed them.
"William, do you know where the backup generator is?" Ulrich asked as the trio ran.
"No! We didn't think there'd be one!" the elder of the three exclaimed in response.
Understandable. Knowing this, Ulrich turned back to their mission control, "Aelita, that means it's up to you!"
"Hang in there!" she replied. "I'm trying to find it!"
"Better hurry!" Yumi urged. "We need to take care of those spiders before they take care of us!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd and Jérémie were still waiting on the Replika for instructions.
"Jérémie, you have to deactivate the tower." Said elf nodded. The cat grinning in anticipation, "Odd, you stay and protect the Skid."
Odd pouted, "Come on! Why do I have to stay while everyone else is having fun?"
"Odd..." Jérémie warned.
"What? I wasn't bragging!" the cat defended himself, holding up both hands in a surrendering motion.
The two paused when they heard wings flapping, before turning to the edge of the platform just as the Clone landed, still in its Aelita mask. Its devil wings disappeared as it stood up.
"Great!" Odd punched his palm with his other fist. "A guest just showed up and wants to play with me!"
Beside him, Jérémie was tense with fear, "Odd, it's me XANA wants to play with, remember?"
"Not on my watch," Odd sternly retorted, not taking his hazel-eyed glare off of the Spectre. "Go on!"
The Overboard flew towards Jérémie, who jumped on as it went past before flying away.
Odd aimed at the Clone as it ran towards him at full speed. When it got close, the cat dropped his aim and made a 'bring it on' gesture, "Feel like playing a little game of cat and mouse, XANA?"
XANA-Aelita formed and threw two Energy Fields, only for Odd to dodge them both with a simple cartwheel.
"Come on! You'll have to try better than that!" he taunted.
He knew he would only make the Clone angrier, but if it stayed away from Jérémie and from the Skid, and instead focused on Odd, then it was worth it.
Meanwhile, Jérémie flew down the pathway on the Overboard. The tower was small on the horizon, but it was getting progressively larger as he flew towards it.
"Hurry, Jérémie!" Aelita warned. "Ulrich, William, and Yumi are in a huge jam!"
"I'm doing my best," he replied. "I've still got a ways to go!"
But it was in sight. They could still win this.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Two of XANA's cybernetic spiders scuttled after Yumi, Ulrich, and William, chasing them down the corridor as an alarm blared all around them. The trio slid to a stop in front of the exit, only to find two more cyber-spiders standing in front of it, blocking their way.
They looked behind them, seeing there the two cyber-bugs that were chasing them.
"Uh-oh..." Ulrich muttered, as the trio stood back-to-back. Seeing they were surrounded, they each unsheathed their respective weapons. "To think this was supposed to be a piece of cake..."
That was wrong. So, so wrong.
The trio stood defensively, their weapons all out and at the ready, as the spiders continued to approach.
When they had defeated a few (out of many more), Aelita's voice finally sounded over the comm. "Guys, good news! I just located to auxiliary generator!"
Three more spiders were converging on them, as William muttered, "It's about time..."
"Thanks, 'Lita," Ulrich said, "but it's a little too late."
One of the spiders leapt towards them, and their collective screams were all Aelita could hear on her end...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
XANA-Aelita repeatedly threw Energy Field after Energy Field at its opponent, only for Odd to easily dodge every single one, all with a smile on his face. Spotting the wide gap between the Clone's feet, he then got down on all fours and ran between its legs.
Confused, the Spectre turned around to face him, only to receive an uppercut to its chin from the cat. XANA-Aelita went flying backwards.
"Stings, doesn't it?" Odd taunted.
The Clone was on its knees as it waved a hand over the eye-of-XANA-shaped bracelet on its right wrist, activating its devil wings. It took off into the air.
He fired at the Spectre repeatedly, and missed three times, before hitting it in the back, bringing it down. Its wings gone, it fell back towards the ground and stumbled over the edge. Now hanging on, it struggled to get back up.
Odd ran up to the edge where the Clone fell and whistled to get its attention. The moment it glanced up at him, it shot one last Arrow in its face, devirtualizing it in a cloud of black smoke and a brief flash of red.
"Odd," his cousin, the real one, asked, "did you just blow the Spectre away by yourself?!" She sounded so surprised.
"Yep."
"No boasting?"
He playfully scoffed, "What do you think I am, a braggart or something?" He turned serious, "The Clone was a threat to Jérémie." And protecting Jérémie was always their top priority.
He turned around to face the Skid, relieved to see that it was still fully in tact, and still moored to a green-halo'd tower. Three flashes within the cockpits then caught his eye, and when he looked closer, he saw Ulrich, Yumi, and William in their respective Navskids.
"Hey, Aelita, what happened to the Fantastic Three?" he asked. All three were out cold. "Oh, I get it. They all knocked each other out and just need a good rest!" But if they were back in the Skid, that meant the translation on them had been reversed, likely against their will. "Well, 'Lita, we kinda blew our mission, didn't we?"
"Not at all!" Aelita replied. "I found the auxiliary generator, but the problem is that there's no one around to take it out!"
"Um, I don't want to seem pretentious," Odd reminded her, "but there's me."
"Okay," she accepted rather quickly. Probably because her only other option was Jérémie, the only person who could deactivate that tower. "Get back into the Skid. I'll translate you."
"Roger," Odd replied. "But once I succeed, don't say I did it just to show off!" He wasn't doing this to brag, or to hold this over the others' heads later. This was serious business.
"If you say so," was an amused Aelita's response, before she re-embarked him.
After he returned to his Navskid, he relayed, "I'm ready to go, Aelita."
"I read you. Translate Odd."
From Odd's perspective, his Navskid went away and was quickly replaced with the interior of the jungle lab. He landed in the hallway, before standing up.
"I'm here. What now?" he asked.
"Get outside, and watch out for cyber-spiders!"
"I can't see any hairy legs yet!" he quipped.
She sighed, "Well, I can. Two lovely Tarantulas are on their way to the Skid."
Great. Of course. Now that he was no longer watching the Skid, it made sense that XANA would see that as a perfect opportunity to make its move. That just meant that he had to hurry.
So he wasted no time, retracing his steps from last time to reach the exit. Once he was outside, he addressed his cousin again, "Alright, I'm out of the lab. Which way now?"
"Go left," Aelita replied. "You should run right into the auxiliary generator."
He obeyed, running left. He quickly reached the end of the wall and almost turned the corner, but after seeing what was there waiting for him, he stopped and pressed his back against the wall.
"Uh-oh! That generator's a really popular spot, isn't it?"
"Why do you say that?"
He peeked around the corner, "Because it looks like there's a full house."
There was a fenced area a few meters along the wall, in the center of which was the generator. But between it and Odd were at least five cybernetic spiders.
"Wait there for a couple of minutes," Aelita suggested. "Jérémie's almost at the tower."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The two Tarantulas arrived at the Skid, before stopping and setting themselves up to open fire.
"Ulrich, Yumi, William!" Aelita called out, worried and anxious. "You guys gotta wake up, and fast! If the Skid goes, so do you! Wake up!"
But the trio remained unconscious as the Tarantulas fired at the Skid, battering its shield...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie was approaching the tower on the Overboard. He only had a few hundred meters left to go.
"Jérémie, you have to deactivate that tower right away!" Aelita exclaimed. He could sense the urgency in her voice.
"I'm almost there!" he promised. "Just a few more seconds!"
Three Hornets suddenly flew up behind him. Great, just great.
They opened fire and he started dodging. His best wasn't good enough, however, as the Overboard quickly got hit, and Jérémie fell to the ground to avoid the resulting explosion.
He picked himself up and glanced up in time to see all three of the Hornets shoot at him. Unable to dodge them in time, he had no choice but to be devirtualized.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Um, Odd?" Aelita nervously called out to him.
He already knew what that meant. "Let me guess. Jérémie's been devirtualized, so I'm on my own, right?"
"Yeah, sorry," the pink-ette replied. "Better make this fast, or else we can say goodbye to the Skid and our Fantastic Three as well."
"Noted," Odd sighed, cocking his arm. "It's now or never, then." He grinned and charged out from behind the wall. "GERONIMOOO!"
One of the spiders started moving towards him as he ran. Odd alternated arms, firing plenty of Arrows. He shot and killed one, knocking it onto its back, before running forward and jumping, flipping into the air. He fired three Arrows straight into the head of another spider before landing in a crouch in front of a third.
He leaned in close to its face, "Hi there!"
Odd leaned away before shooting the spider at point blank range, blowing it backwards, before doing a one-handed handstand jump, and landed in a crouch before standing up.
"Aelita, I need ammunition!"
"Give me a couple seconds..." she replied. After a moment, she announced, "Okay, you're all set."
Odd turned to face the generator and smiled, cocking his arm again. Two spiders remained, several meters apart.
He ran up to the first one and used it like a springboard, jumping off it and performing a front flip. He landed in a handstand on the second spider, legs apart, before bringing his feet together. He then springed off the spider, shooting with both paws at the same time, piercing the spider's abdomen and killing it. He landed feet together on the ground, arms out wide and a big smile on his face, officially repeating his stunt from gym class earlier.
The last spider crawled up behind him and jumped at him. He stepped out of the way and the spider landed on top of a dead one's sharp, skyward-facing legs, impaling and killing itself.
"Poor thing," he quipped. "He tried to do a beautiful pike vault like ours, Aelita, and failed."
"You don't have much time left, Odd," Aelita warned him, referring to the Skid currently being attacked. He approached the backup generator. "Only enough to make one shot, so take good aim."
He aimed, closing one eye. "One shot's all I need."
The cat fired a single arrow at the machine. Once the pink light from his Arrow faded away, the machine was left smoking, but no other obvious damage was done. Before he could question it, though, the generator crackled with pink electricity for a brief second before then exploding.
Odd screamed as he went flying backwards, landing on his backside. His hair was all messed up and his whole body smoking as he muttered, "Can't say I didn't aim well..."
Inside the lab, the cables of the supercomputer crackled with pink electricity. It spread across the whole machine, before the force field flickered as it died.
"De-translate Odd," Aelita announced.
Odd felt himself being teleported back to the Skid. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the main cockpit, to his surprise. The Skid was still under fire.
"Hey, nice place you got here, Mr. and Mrs. Einstein," he joked.
Ulrich finally awoke with a start, "Huh?! W-What's going on?"
"Nothing. Things are cool," Odd gently reassured him. "Go back to sleep."
In the jungle lab, light exploded from the supercomputer, before everything went dim.
"You can come back now, Odd," Aelita told her cousin. "It's over." Beside her, Jérémie had a relieved smile on his face.
The Forest Replika was gradually disappearing, again. The ground vanished from underneath the two Tarantulas, and they fell towards the Digital Sea, being deleted as a result.
"Okay, we're off!" Odd replied, as he steered the Skid away from the tower after disconnecting from it. He flew towards the sky as the tower disappeared. He flew along the length of a path as the platform disappeared.
The Skid exited the Replika's entry portal in horizontal mode and sped away. The gate didn't close again. Instead, light burst from the seams of the Replika's shell until the whole thing was glowing a bright white, before it then exploded, leaving only some small pieces of debris behind to float downwards.
They did it. They actually did it.
In the factory's lab, Aelita leaned back in her chair, breathing a loud sigh of relief.
"You were right, you know," Jérémie calmly told her. "You couldn't have asked for an easier mission."
She just sent him a tired smile in response.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The next morning, in the boys' shower room, Jérémie told Ulrich and William what all they missed while they and Yumi were out cold in their Navskids. The trio was washing their faces at the sink, with Jérémie in his pajamas and the other two in their boxers.
"What?!" Ulrich exclaimed in surprised. "Odd took out both the Clone and the supercomputer on his own? That's crazy!"
Jérémie straightened up from the sink he was occupying, "What's crazier is that he hasn't bragged about it even once."
"That's weird," William commented.
"Who knows?" Jérémie shrugged, picking up a towel and starting to wipe off his face. "Maybe he's had an epiphany."
"You mean he's suddenly become humble?" Ulrich asked in disbelief. "As in our bet made him realize something?"
"Miracles have happened," William commented.
"Hey, c'mon," Jérémie defended their friend, "Odd can be sensible and responsible when it counts."
"YEEEHA!" Odd suddenly slid into the room, his hair damp, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. "Who's the best?! Give me an L! Give me a Y! Give me an O! Give me a K! Give me another O! What does that spell! Lyokowarriors, baby! We're the best!"
What? That was a surprise. He wasn't singing his own praises, but rather...theirs as a group?
Jérémie slipped his glasses back on as Odd turned to his friends, a bright smile on his face, "Yes, it's true, good buddies! We are the greatest! We've destroyed a Replika, thus taking away a good chunk of XANA's power! We should be celebrating!"
"That was mostly you, though," William gently pointed out.
"And I couldn't have done it without you guys!" He continued to dance around. "L-Y-O-K-O! Yeah!"
"Um, Odd?" Ulrich pointed out. "As flattered as we are, you're still technically bragging, six hours away from the deadline. Which means you've lost the bet."
"No problem!" Odd easily relented. "You can have my desserts, William, and you can smack me, Ulrich! I don't care! Why? Because we're the best!"
Ulrich rolled his eyes before lightly smacking his roommate upside the head. "Good job, man. You're right. Destroying a Replika is something worth celebrating."
"Hopefully," Jérémie softly cut in. "We don't know if that's the only Replika, or how many there are."
Odd slung an arm around the young genius's shoulders, "Relax, Prince Charming, we've got this! And I guess I've gotta face facts. Yes, I'm a braggart, but I have to be because I'm the group's hype man!" He began studying William's biceps. "Oh, nice and muscular! Like me, svelte yet muscular too!"
The other three just rolled their eyes. Yeah, he'd never be completely humble, would he?
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 54 - Family Matters / Odd's parents come for a visit, one that Odd seems to dread, despite him being the one who invited them over.
A/N: About the changes I've made: In the original script (reference the deleted scenes .fr page), Nicolas was Jim's original victim in gym class, not Hervé. I've decided to change it back, because it makes more sense with Nicolas, especially given the role I currently have Hervé in. Speaking of gym class, I added Jérémie and Aelita into the scene, same with William and Yumi in the following scene, solely because of personal preference, nothing special.
Jérémie VS. Clone!Aelita is footage borrowed from canon's "Guided Missile", and Clone!Aelita's defeat is from canon's "Opening Act".