New Recruit
Odd: Hello, is this Ulrich's number?
Jeremie: Odd, is that you? It's Jeremie!
Odd: Jeremie! So you're still with Ulrich. Where the heck are you guys?
Jeremie: I cannot tell you, sorry.
Odd: Okay, but you've gotta get out of whoever you are. The campus' forest is on fire right now and we're evacuating.
Jeremie: What? How did that happen?
Odd: Do you mind if we talk about it here? I don't like the idea of talking to an overcooked version of you.
Jeremie: (sighs) Look, Odd, I'll make you a confession: we're not inside the school right now. Don't worry about us, the fire won't get to us.
Odd: What? How?
Jeremie: It's a secret. But tell us what happened at Kadic.
Odd: Well: for some reason some cellphones started exploding and catching fire. There's three up until now, Sissi and the two big guys… Hey, now that I think about it…!
Jeremie: You said "cellphones", didn't you?
Odd: That's what I said.
Jeremie: (frustrated) Oh, it can't be, how foolish of us!
Odd: What's going on? Do you know anything about the cause of this? Hey, I can understand if you tried to prank those guys, but I think it went a bit out of control.
Jeremie: No, it's not that. Wait, I'll call you from my phone.
Jeremie hangs up, takes his own phone and calls back.
Odd: Jeremie?
Jeremie: The one and only. Listen, I need you to wander among the people while this call is on.
Odd: What do you intend to do?
Jeremie: It's nothing, everything will be automatic; but I need to make sure it won't happen again.
Odd: Everything you're saying is pretty mysterious, Jeremie. I thought your group secret was just a little social group for geeks or something.
Jeremie: Just trust me, Odd. You'll be making a big favor to Kadic if you do.
Odd: (dubious, but giving in) Okay, Einstein, I'll trust you.
Jeremie: Thank you, Odd!
Odd: By the way, you owe me two: One for defending you against Sissi, which had its consequences afterwards; and another one for preventing your room from getting burnt to the ground.
Jeremie: What!? What on earth happened, Odd?
Odd: (smirking) Well, it's a secret between me and Kiwi, sorry.
Jeremie: (laughing) Oh, come on, Odd, we both know you're dying to tell me!
Odd: Damn, you're too smart. Look, I'll tell you when you come back from your super-secret hideout; right now's not the best time to share anecdotes.
Jeremie: I guess you're right. Besides, I think the call's length will be enough for results.
Odd: Alright. Also, the firefighters are here, and their sirens won't help us in attempting to chat further. I'll leave you to it.
Jeremie: Talk to you later, then. Be safe!
Odd: Same to you! Bye. (hangs up)
Jeremie: How are you doing, guys?
Ulrich is visible on screen, at a relatively safe distance from the visible kankrelats.
Ulrich: The plan worked: Aelita distracted most of the monsters, and Yumi managed to get in.
Yumi: Jeremie! I'm inside the cave. The bugs hardly noticed me, so I'm still in one piece.
Jeremie: Fantastic! Did you find the interface?
Yumi: I'm looking f… There it is!
Jeremie: I'll try to focus the camera to where you are. Let me know when you enter the key.
Yumi approaches the screen, which glows with a neon-blue color. Yumi puts her hand over it.
Screen: Lyoko key code accepted. Rebooting…
Yumi: It's done, Jeremie!
Jeremie: Well done, Yumi! Nice work, team!
Ulrich: Yumi made it? Excellent!
Yumi: Uh, Jeremie, I think some bugs are looking at me.
Jeremie: Oh! They must have realized who rebooted the cave's tasks. I'm bringing you back immediately!
CONSOLE
In: mat yumi 0
The scanner on the left closes its doors and starts emitting noise.
Jeremie: Aelita! Go somewhere safe. I'll materialize Ulrich now.
Aelita: On it! The main square should be a safe place for me; I'll head there.
The left scanner opens its doors. Yumi's inside.
Yumi: (grabbing her left hand with her right) Ouch! Looks like one of the bugs managed to land a strike. (heads towards Jeremie)
CONSOLE
In: mat ulrich 1
The scanner on the center imitates the one on the left: its doors close and starts emitting sound.
Jeremie: Yumi! Are you alright?
Yumi: Yeah, just a scratch on my left hand.
Ulrich appears behind the doors of the second scanner.
Ulrich: (stretching) Back to the real world!
Jeremie: (to Yumi) Let me see that.
Ulrich: Something wrong?
Yumi: (turning her head) One of the creatures struck me and managed to do a bit of harm.
Yumi shows her hand to Jeremie: she has a superficial cut across the palm of her hand. Ulrich gets to the other two running.
Ulrich: (looking at the cut) Does it hurt?
Yumi: A bit. The creature jumped to me and I covered my face with my hands, but I didn't feel it when it struck. Although, I think the senses are a bit muffled in the virtual world.
Ulrich: Yeah, I noticed that too. Gimme a second. (he takes out a box of band-aids from his bag) Show me the cut.
Yumi extends her hand, with the palm facing up. Ulrich takes her hand and puts a band-aid on it. For a split second, they look at each other. Ulrich lets go of her hand.
Yumi: (looking at her hand) Thank you, Ulrich.
Ulrich: It's nothing. You alright?
Yumi: Yeah, it's just a scratch. The pain will fade soon.
Jeremie: I'm glad you're okay, Yumi. Aelita! You doing okay?
Aelita: All good, Jeremie, the square's in sight. I'll get there in a couple of minutes.
Jeremie: Fantastic. Good job once again, guys.
Yumi: Yeah, it went fine.
Ulrich: It was okay… I'd rather be less exposed to risk next time.
Jeremie: It's something I'll take into consideration for next time; I'm not interested in putting anyone in mortal danger.
Aelita: I believe there are tools to prevent the avatars from taking direct damage. We'd have to investigate, Jeremie.
Jeremie: Yeah, I agree. There's something more urgent right now, though: people will start looking for us at school. Odd noticed our abscence and called me a while ago. I think we should go back so that we don't draw more attention to ourselves.
Yumi: I think you're right, we could get in trouble for leaving the campus. We have to go back!
Aelita: I understand. I hope you're able to come back tomorrow.
Jeremie: I'm really sorry, Aelita. I promise we'll come back as soon as we're able.
Aelita: Thank you. I can't be productive while the computer's off, though.
Jeremie: Don't worry, Aelita, I'll take notes of the ideas I come up with and then we'll review them together, is that okay?
Aelita: Sounds good. Anyway, don't waste more time. Good luck!
Yumi: Bye, Aelita! It was nice to meet you in person.
Ulrich: It sure was.
Aelita: Goodbye!
Jeremie: Bye, Aelita.
…
While they head back to the campus through the sewers, Jeremie tells Yumi and Ulrich about his call with Odd.
Yumi: Interesting. Odd seems like a good guy, calling us to know if we're okay.
Jeremie: Well, we're the first people he met in Kadic, aren't we? And I think we treated him well.
Ulrich: Yeah, he seems like a nice guy. But remember, he's my roommate, and it's likely that he'll make me a fair amount of questions; if not tonight, for sure in the upcoming days.
Jeremie: Hmm, it's true. However, I think we could be friends with him, so that we don't have to hide the secret from him. But I think we might have to get to know him better.
Yumi: Wow, I guess I was lucky to be invited this fast to be part of the group!
Jeremie: (chuckles) It might be true. But sure, back then we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.
Yumi: True.
…
The kids get out of the sewers on Kadic, being careful of not being noticed. They circle the forest and make themselves visible when they are well away from the affected zones. Jim is the first to notice them.
Jim: Ah, here's the trio of madmen! We've been looking for you for a while now! Haven't you seen all that's been happening?
Ulrich: We're sorry, sir, we were a bit absorbed in our stuff.
Jim: And are we able to know what the absorbed were doing?
Yumi: We were having a Pencak Silat duel, practicing a few more advanced techniques!
Jim: Oh yeah? And how did the duel end?
Yumi: Well, Ulrich won, of course! He sure learns faster than me.
Jim: Alright, alright! But now that you're here, you must abide by the instructions that we here provide to the ones that are here! You're late to the formation at the campus' entrance! Go form yourselves now!
The kids obey. As they get there, they see Mr Delmas giving instructions. At his side is Sissi, who looks at them. Afterwards, she says something in her father's ear.
The trio meets with Odd, who's forming with the other middle-schoolers in the front yard.
Jeremie: Odd!
Odd: Jeremie! Nice to see you guys in one piece!
Kiwi starts moving his tail and jumping.
Yumi: Hi, Odd! (approaches Kiwi and starts petting him)
Ulrich: What's up.
Odd: It's been quite an afternoon here. Would you like to get up to date?
Ulrich: Jeremie told us some cellphones blew up.
Odd: That's right! One at the dorms, and other two outside.
Yumi: The dorms! And what happened with it? Is everything okay now?
Odd: (boasting) Fortunately for Kadic, today came to its dependencies a boy well-versed in first aid and emergencies.
Ulrich: Wait a moment, you put out the fire in there?
Odd: Yep. Don't believe me? It's the hair, isn't it? In any case, just ask some other kid, I don't need you to believe me.
Jeremie: It's okay, Odd, we believe you. Hey, I wanted to thank you. Believe it or not, you prevented this whole situation from getting worse.
Odd: I'm glad I was able to help. Sounds like you tried to prank somebody and it escaped from your hands.
Yumi: As much as I like pranks, I wouldn't be capable of doing something that dangerous.
Odd: Well, it's pretty suspicious that the main victims are precisely the bullies from our class.
Ulrich: What happened to them?
Odd: The three phones that went off belonged to each of them.
Jeremie: (thinking) That could've been a coincidence, as far as we know. In any case, it seems weird…
Odd: Next time, maybe make your coincidences less ironic.
Ulrich: We didn't choose this, Odd.
Odd: Then who?
Silence, as the three exchange looks.
Odd: Okay, I get it, keep your secrets. At least your paranormal phenomena make Kadic more interesting. I've been more thrilled this afternoon than I'd ever been in my other school.
Jeremie: Looks that today was pretty intense. We hope it doesn't happen again.
Odd: And what about the bullies? I had to put my mind to work so that they didn't catch me.
Ulrich: You fought Sissi's gang?
Odd: Not exactly. I think they tried to retaliate for the encounter Jeremie and I had with Sissi.
Ulrich looks around. He sees Nicholas and Herve together, clearly scared of the situation.
Ulrich: Did they manage to hurt you?
Odd: Fortunately not. They aren't very smart, honestly. I managed to outsmart them and lock myself in our room.
Yumi: That's interesting! And how did you get away?
Odd: I'll tell you…
Black-and-white flashback that plays while Odd tells his story.
Odd: The big guys were guarding both entrances to the dorms. Fortunately, Kiwi was with me and helped me. What I did was approach the thinnest of them… what's his name?
Ulrich: Herve.
Odd: That's it, Herve. I approached Herve to call his attention, while I was with Kiwi. Once I was close enough, he started to walk towards me in order to catch me. I ran away at full speed, surrounding the building and heading to the muscly one.
Ulrich: Nicholas.
Odd: Well, Nicholas noticed me and tried to catch me as well, without succeeding. I managed to escape to the trees over there (points). Once they lost me, I set Kiwi free in one sector, and then I went somewhere else. Kiwi managed to call the boys' attention, making him believe I was with him. While they were following my dog, I took the opportunity and snuck in through the back entrance.
End of flashback.
Odd: Needless to say, the big guys weren't able to capture my Kiwi, he's far too clever and fast for them. (pets him; the dog sticks his tongue out)
Yumi: It definitely sounds like taken from a movie!
Odd: They aren't the first bullies I've faced through my life, although they are the biggest. I had experience creating plans to get away from complicated situations like this one.
Ulrich: Well well well…
Jeremie: Interesting adventure, Odd. It's true that your day has been shaky.
Odd: Yeah, I can't wait to throw myself in bed. After all, there's class tomorrow, isn't there?
Jeremie: If they don't decide to suspend them because of all of this, yeah.
Ulrich: It wouldn't be so bad if they do suspend them; but I certainly doubt it.
The firefighters inform that the fire was neutralized.
Jeremie: Odd, would you give us a minute?
Odd: Sure. (teasing) Come on, Kiwi, let's make up our own secrets. (he walks away some steps; the rest form a small circle)
Jeremie: Guys, I think Odd has been really nice to us. What do you say about letting him join the group?
Ulrich: Now you want to add him? I don't know, I think it's too soon yet. Besides, we don't know if what he's saying is true.
Yumi: He doesn't seem to be lying. Believe me, I've dealt with very discreet liars.
Ulrich: In any case, we don't know if he's ready for everything that being part of the group entails. This is not just a friends club anymore.
Jeremie: Well, were we ready, for that matter? Also, besides considering him a friend, I feel his capacity for plotting and his knowledge in emergencies would be very useful to us. And on top of all, we already can say that he's a good person.
Ulrich: Yumi, what do you think?
Yumi: To be honest, I just recently befriended you as well. I wouldn't be bothered at all because of the inclusion of someone else. Besides, Odd seems nice and Jeremie trusts him.
Jeremie: Also also, the guy's already having problems with bullies. (to Ulrich) Even you were worried about that.
Ulrich: (sighs) I'm not someone to enjoy the suffering of others.
Jeremie: Well, neither one to enjoy new company, I get it.
Yumi chuckles; Ulrich blushes.
Ulrich: Alright, let's let him in. I just hope you don't regret it afterwards.
Jeremie: Thanks, Ulrich! I doubt that you'll regret it.
Yumi: In any case, if we tell him what our deal is, he probably won't believe us.
Jeremie: He'll have to come to the factory with us in that case. Nothing like reality itself to make you believe in it.
Yumi: It's settled then!
Ulrich: Settled.
The circle dissolves.
Jeremie: Odd! We're done.
Odd: Good! Did you decide whether you'll make my phone blow up?
Ulrich: If you misbehave, maybe we'll do it.
Odd: Ohh, you do have a sense of humor!
Ulrich rolls his eyes.
Yumi: Guys, I have to go home now. See you tomorrow, rest well!
Ulrich: Bye, Yumi, rest well.
Jeremie: Bye.
Odd: Bye, Yumi!
The boys start returning to the dorms.
Jeremie: Hey, Odd, do you mind if I join Ulrich and you in your room for a few minutes?
Odd: Not at all! As long as you let me lie on my bed, no problem.
The boys go to Ulrich and Odd's room. Jeremie is the last one to get in, closing the door behind him. Odd lays on top of his bed.
Jeremie: Odd.
Odd: Yes?
Jeremie: ...Can you keep a secret?
Roll credits. You may imagine either S1 or S2+'s credits song here, they both work in their own way.
- END OF CHAPTER 9 -
Author's note: This chapter concludes Part II. I hope you've liked this story so far.
You may have noticed that there are a few "rites" from the original series that I decided not to include in this story, mainly Aelita being the only one allowed to deactivate XANA, and the interaction with the screens. The reason behind both of these is that I asked myself "why does that have to be that way?" for both of them, and I wasn't able to come up with a reason that I liked. I hope these details don't prevent you from enjoying this AU.
Just in case, Part III is already written and ready to be translated into English. I'll take a while before uploading the next chapters, because I have a lot of other things to do these days. Be sure I'll try not to delay this for too long.