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~~~!
"Hiroki steals Yumi's diary for her secrets to try to make up with Milly after a fight, only to risk his relationship with his sister instead."
Episode 55: Lost at Sea
(Based on The Lake & Lost at Sea)
It was a normal, pleasant afternoon in Sector Five's Celestial Dome until the Scyphozoa flew up outside of the shell and entered the north opening—one of the two entrances to the Skid Hangar.
It descended through the opening in the ceiling and floated above the ship, before wrapping its tentacles around the vehicle's shield and began absorbing its energy.
In the lab, a window popped up on the monitor, alerting an empty room of the Skid's shield energy draining...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Fortunately, the lab monitor wasn't the only way to see the alert. The same alert came through to Aelita's laptop during Study Hall. Across from her, Ulrich and Jérémie tensed up, expecting an activated tower, while next to her, Odd leaned over her shoulder and watched as Aelita took out her laptop from her bag and opened it in her lap, below the table.
"What's going on?" Odd asked, his voice low so as to not capture any unwanted attention.
"The Skid is in the process of losing its energy!" she whispered, her eyes wide in alarm.
"Does it have many lifepoints left?" Jérémie asked, his voice just as low.
The pink-ette typed in a couple of commands on her laptop, "Well, seeing how quickly it's losing them, soon our beautiful ship is gonna be a shipwreck!" Translation: With the rate things were going, it would be over in no time. "I guess now's the time to see if our new program works."
She then passed her still-open laptop to Jérémie, before grabbing her bag and approaching the front desk, where Jim was lounging, reading a magazine. Whatever excuse she gave to him (she whispered it, so they couldn't hear her), Jim accepted it and let her go.
"What program?" Ulrich asked once she had left the library.
Jérémie began typing in commands on her laptop as he explained to the other two, "Aelita and I created a program to sure up the protection shields on the Skid. We haven't tested it yet, though. By activating a tower in each sector, the shields will be regenerated for a few seconds."
"You guys can activate more than one tower now?" Odd asked, in awe. "XANA can only activate one still."
"Aelita and I both have updated admin controls, remember?" Jérémie reminded his friends. "XANA doesn't. Anyway, the downsides is that, one: it requires too much energy for us to use it all the time, and two: the commands are too complex for a laptop, which is why Aelita's heading to the factory. Now if she can just get there in time..."
If she didn't, it was 'goodbye, Skid'.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The elevator descended at the normal speed it usually did, but for Aelita (in a hurry), it took too long. When the doors finally opened to reveal the lab, she immediately ran over to the computer. The Skid's shields were still being drained—down to just under thirty percent—by the Scyphozoa, as shown on the holomap.
As she sat down in the chair, she read the message Jérémie left her from her laptop, "'Is the Skid beyond hope?' No, not yet."
She began typing in the necessary commands for activating a tower...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As the Scyphozoa continued draining the Skid's energy, Aelita finished and launched the program.
Four towers—one in each surface sector—had their halos turn from the neutral white to a bright green.
The Skid's shield began to flicker a brighter green before dimming again. The Scyphozoa struggled, looking as if it was trying to pull away. When the shield glowed a bright green again, the monster was thrown off of it by an explosion.
It landed on the platform leading to the transporter pad. The red flow of energy from its tentacles drained away before it flickered, and the monster vanished, defeated.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Back in the lab, Aelita leaned back in the chair, hands behind her head, as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mission accomplished! We should feel proud of ourselves!" she exclaimed, before leaning forward and typing a response to Jérémie, "'Crisis averted. The program is operational'."
The Skid was safe again. For now.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The next morning, Odd, Ulrich, and William emerged from the dormitory building together. Aelita was waiting for them, lounging against a nearby column.
"Hey there, 'Lita!" Odd greeted her. "Prince Charming isn't with you?" He didn't join them in the showers this morning, so the trio thought that he had gotten up earlier to hang out with Aelita.
But the pink-ette shook her head, "I haven't seen him yet today," knocking that theory flat.
"Don't worry." Ulrich was glancing behind them. The dorm building door had just opened. "He's here."
Jérémie himself jogged up to them before leaning against the nearby column to catch his breath, a keyboard imprint on his forehead. "Hello, everybody," he greeted with a smile. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah, and unlike you," Odd rubbed his chin, "we didn't fall asleep on our laptops."
A blink. "Um, how'd you know?"
Odd pointed to the genius's forehead, "The imprint of your keyboard's on your forehead."
The other four laughed as Jérémie felt for the imprint, before he playfully rolled his eyes, "Make fun all you want. I was up late making sure the Skid was okay." After yesterday's attack, he meant.
"Anything out of the ordinary?" William asked. He and Yumi had heard about the incident after yesterday's classes, and needless to say, both were concerned.
"Nope," Jérémie shook his head. "So far, everything is operating within normal parameters. It's been cleared for the next mission. But knowing the Scyphozoa as well as I do," he involuntarily shuddered here, "it's strange that nothing's out of place."
Aelita placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure everything's fine. XANA probably just wanted to drain the shields."
He shrugged in response, "If you say so."
The five were approached by a familiar Japanese boy. "Hey, Ulrich?" Hiroki asked. The teens turned to face him when he began to speak. "Could I talk to you for a sec?"
Ulrich glanced at his friends before turning back to Hiroki, "Um, sure." He turned back to the others. "Go ahead. I'll meet you in the cafeteria."
"Sure thing," Odd replied, as he, Jérémie, and Aelita began walking in that direction.
William remained behind, "Hey, Hiroki, did Yumi walk with you today? She and I have a history project to work on."
"Yeah, she's by the vending machines."
"Thanks!" William replied, before running towards that area of the courtyard.
This left Ulrich and Hiroki by themselves, exactly what the young boy wanted. "So what's up?" the elder brunette asked, his hands in his jeans pocket.
"Well, uh...everybody says that girls really like you a lot," Hiroki bashfully replied.
"Really?" Ulrich blinked, before rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll take your word for it. I don't really notice..."
That was a lie, actually. He knew about the fan club he had when he first arrived at Kadic. It was started by Sissi, back when she still had a massive crush on him, but over time, as everyone began pairing off (including Sissi), it had died down.
Hiroki just lowered his expression into a knowing glance, "Because you only have eyes for my sister, genius."
A frown immediately appeared on the brunette's face, and he lowered his arm before making a buzzer sound. "Eh! Beep! Wrong! Try again." He pointed accusingly at the boy. "Yumi and I are just good friends, and that's all."
Hiroki just pushed Ulrich's pointing finger away, "Yeah, well, maybe that's just what she told you." The German boy frowned. What did that mean? "But anyway, I-I didn't want to talk about my sister. I need advice about, um, Milly."
"Milly Solovieff?"
The two glanced over at said red-haired girl, who was deep in conversation with Tamiya right outside the cafeteria.
"How many Millys do you know?" Hiroki flatly asked. "Yes, Milly Solovieff."
"Ha ha," Ulrich sarcastically replied, before turning serious. "What about her?"
Hiroki immediately hid within himself, as if ashamed, which made sense given by what he said next, "She and I got into a fight yesterday. She...feels like I don't support any of her interests." Oof. One of the classic couple arguments. "I promised her that I would prove to her that I did, but...I can't think of anything. You and Yumi share very similar interests, so I was hoping you could give me some ideas."
"I see," Ulrich placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "Well, since Milly's primary passion is journalism, find a way to support her while she works. If you want to go the extra mile, you could also learn about journalism. I didn't know much about Japanese culture until after I met Yumi, y'know. Now, I have a passion for learning about other cultures too, one I didn't know I had before then."
Hiroki's face lit up with an excited smile, "Hey, that's great idea! Wouldn't it be great if I found her a scoop? I'm really good at that. Tamiya even said so."
"Um, I was actually thinking of just getting her a hot chocolate or some snacks while she works," Ulrich admitted, "but yeah, a scoop for the paper will work too. But, uh, what kind of scoop?"
"Oh, you can leave that to me, Ulrich," Hiroki smiled, clearly scheming.
And it made brunette a little concerned. Hopefully, the scoop didn't result in anyone getting hurt...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
A few minutes later, Ulrich joined Aelita, Jérémie, and Odd at their chosen table with his own breakfast portion.
Beside him, Jérémie lowered his hot chocolate from his mouth, "So, what did Hiroki want to talk to you about?"
"Oh, he wanted my advice," Ulrich replied, stirring his own hot chocolate. "He and Milly got into a fight."
Odd slurped from his own bowl of hot chocolate, spilling it down his chin and getting it all around his mouth, "Really? What about?" Taking another large sip, he spilled the liquid onto his tray.
"Differing interests," Ulrich explained without giving away too many details. "She feels he could be more supportive and he wanted ideas on how to prove to her that he did care. To be honest, Jérémie and Aelita would have offered better advice than I did."
Before either Einstein could respond to that, Odd interrupted, "Isn't Hiroki a little young for Milly?"
"No, he's not," Aelita corrected him. "He's just a little small compared to his classmates, because he skipped a grade in primary school."
Odd perked up, "Oh, like Jérémie here?"
"Yeah," the blue-clad genius replied. "So I know how he feels." In fact, it was something the two had bonded over during summer break.
"Interesting," Odd continued, wiping his mouth. "But he acts even younger than his age."
Ulrich immediately defended Hiroki, "Hey, leave him alone. He's just a kid. Give him time to mature."
"Sorry, Odd, but I'm on Ulrich's side here," Jérémie quickly interjected. "When I still went to school," before he got sick, that is, "most of my teachers expected me to act a lot more mature than my classmates." Except for Miss Moreau. "Maybe that's why I had trouble making friends back then..."
"Don't worry, Jérémie," Aelita reassured him. "You don't have that pressure anymore." The blonde sent her a grateful smile, as she continued, "Now, I have some good news. If you guys want to hear about it."
"Sure," Ulrich chose to indulge her. "Go ahead and tell us."
"Last night, I upgraded the superscan to locate Replikas," she explained. "It's not a perfect patch, though, because we have no idea how many XANA has at the moment."
"Noted," Ulrich replied. "Go on."
"Well, this morning, as I was getting dressed," the pink-ette was smiling, "it picked up a new Replika on the network. And since the six of us don't have classes this afternoon, I was going to suggest that we pay it a visit."
"Of course!" Odd exclaimed, holding up a piece of bread. "I'm always down to bust up a Replika!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi sat on the planter near the vending machines, reading from William's notes as he explained them to her in more details, both of their bags beside them. Yumi then got up, still reading, and William joined her as she walked up to the vending machines and inserted a coin.
While their backs were turned, Hiroki peeked around the corner and dashed over to Yumi's bag, as she ordered a hot chocolate. He rummaged around in her bag and grinned when he found what he was looking for. He pulled it out just as the two teens turned around, Yumi's drink in her hand and the two still discussing the notes.
William noticed the boy first, "Hiroki, what do you think you're doing?"
Yumi glanced up and, once she saw what Hiroki was holding, she gasped in anger, "Hey! Give that back to me right now!"
Instead of obeying her, Hiroki slipped the book under his shirt and ran off in the opposite direction.
Yumi promptly dropped both her hot chocolate and the notes, before running after him, "Get back here, you brat! I swear, if I get my hands on you...!"
"Yumi?" William asked, confused, before running after them, wondering if he could help.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich had been quiet since the quartet's conversation in the cafeteria. Odd was concerned, because knowing his roommate, it could be anything that he was thinking about.
"You sure look far away, good buddy," the crazy-haired blonde said. "Something wrong?"
"I-It's nothing," Ulrich quickly replied. "Just thinking about something Hiroki said."
"Oh?" Odd's interest was piqued. "What did he say?"
"Don't worry about it."
Odd mentally sighed. Knowing his roommate, he wouldn't spill and would keep it secret until the end of time. It was best, in this case, to just give up.
Hiroki suddenly appeared from around the corner and slid to a stop in front of them before charging straight at them.
Odd cried out as the boy barrelled into him. Ulrich flinched as Odd and Hiroki both collapsed to the ground, with Odd stunned by what just happened.
"Sorry!" Hiroki exclaimed before taking off again, heading towards the park.
"What's wrong?" Odd asked, still on the ground, his hair messed up, "Did he just make things worse with Milly and now she's out to get him?"
Ulrich just smiled in amusement and shrugged.
Yumi suddenly emerged from the same corner and ran between them, clearing chasing after Hiroki.
"Wha–?!" Ulrich was caught off-guard. "Yumi, hold on!"
But she just kept running.
Odd stood up and shared a concerned glance with Ulrich, just as William ran up to them. "Hey, did you guys see Hiroki and Yumi just now?"
"Yep," Odd explained, as Ulrich saw a book lying on the ground. "Hiroki ran into me, and Yumi didn't even acknowledge us."
"Not surprising," William shrugged. "I think Hiroki stole something from her."
While they were talking, Ulrich knelt down and picked the book up. It was a purple-ish grey color with pink cherry blossoms on it.
"Is this yours, Odd?" the brunette asked, holding the object up.
Odd was in the middle of fixing his hair, currently pulling it down in front of his face. He let go and it bounced back behind him in a far messier version of his usual style. "You kidding me? A notebook with such a dark cover is not 'Odd style'."
William leaned in to get a closer look, "It's not mine either, but I think this was the thing Hiroki stole..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Hiroki was panting and sweating as he hid behind a tree. He looked around it, and pumped his fist, "Yeah!" when he saw that nobody was behind him.
But in front of him, Yumi suddenly grabbed him by the shirt, causing him to cry out. Lifting him up off the ground, she angrily pointed an accusing finger at him, "Give it back right this second, you brat!"
"Aw, come on, Nee-chan," he smiled nervously, trying to calm her down. "I was just kidding. It–Look, here it is!" He dug underneath his shirt, but he found himself frowning immediately.
The book was gone.
"Um...well, it was here..."
"What?!" Yumi exclaimed, before releasing him.
He dropped to the ground before rubbing his neck and catching his breath, "W-Well, you're gonna laugh, but, uh..." He was quiet for a moment. "I-I dropped it, I think..."
She was glaring at him, "You better be kidding!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Still crouching on the ground, Ulrich flipped through the pages of the book. He paused on one page when he saw that it had a photo of him tapped to it.
He remembered this photo. It was taken about two years ago. He and Yumi were having some snacks by a pond one Saturday afternoon after sparring. He was staring off into the distance—as he was in this photo—when he thought he heard Yumi snap a picture of him. She playfully denied doing such a thing, but he let her keep it as long as she didn't show it to anyone else.
Ulrich felt a blush creep onto his face. That meant that this book could only be one thing...
Odd was leaning over his shoulder, "Hey, that's a pretty good shot of you. Who's your secret admirer? Let me see?" He reached over to snatch the book from him.
But Ulrich quickly closed the book and stood up, as he held it away from the other two.
"It is Yumi's, isn't it?" William asked. It was phrased as a statement rather than a question, but it still demanded an answer.
"It's her diary," Ulrich finally replied. "You're right, William. That's why she was chasing after Hiroki. He must've stolen it from her to give Milly that scoop..." Oh boy. Exactly what he was afraid of.
"If you ask me," Odd winked at him, "this is a great chance to see what she thinks of you!"
The brunette immediately shut that idea down, "Oh, no. What's written in here is none of my business. Besides, Yumi and I are just good friends and that's all."
Ulrich began walking away, and he heard William say, "Good for you, Ulrich," before the raven-ette turned to glare at a smiling Odd, clearly scheming.
"Are you sure about that, good buddy?" the Italian boy asked, a small knowing smile on his face.
Ulrich stopped and turned around, "Well...actually, I'm not sure at all..." What Hiroki told him kept running through his mind.
"Don't," William warned him, obviously being the angel to Odd's devil here. "It's her personal diary, her inner thoughts. It's wrong. She's a private person and will definitely be mad if anyone but her read the contents of her diary."
"But he could find out if she really likes him," Odd protested. "'Just friends' don't look at each other the way Ulrich and Yumi do."
William places both hands on his hips, unamused. "Oh, I see. So invading privacy is perfectly acceptable if it means Ulrich will get something out of it."
"Stop," Ulrich finally cut in, interrupting their argument. "I'm not going to read it." He then promptly placed Yumi's diary into his bag without opening it a second time. "If she says we're 'just friends', then who am I to protest?"
He still didn't like it, but if that's what Yumi said, he'd give her the benefit of a doubt.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Later that day, the bell rang, releasing everyone from their classes. Odd and Ulrich found Yumi and William together, leaning against a column as they waited for the others. The Japanese girl was clearly stressed out, judging by how she was chewing her fingernails as she surveyed the courtyard.
"Hi, Yumes. Hi, Will," Odd greeted them, as he and Ulrich approached the elder two.
Only William acknowledged them, doing so with a nod and a smile.
"Hey, Yumi," Ulrich tried to act casual. "What's wrong? You look upset."
"It's my stupid brother," she replied. "He stole..." she turned away from the three boys, "...something important to me, and he lost it."
William met Ulrich's eyes, sending the younger a knowing glance. She was obviously worried about her diary.
The brunette reached into his bag for the diary, "Look, Yumi, I, uh..." He intended on returning it.
However, he was interrupted by the two Einsteins. "I got it," the pink-ette announced with a smile. "Everything's all set for this afternoon."
William raised an eyebrow in confusion as Yumi asked, "All set for what?"
"Oh, that's right. You two don't know yet." Aelita explained what she told the others earlier, "I upgraded the superscan to pick up Replikas on the network too. This morning, it found one. We're going to pay it a visit after lunch."
"Great!" William smiled.
Yumi's reaction was more subdued, "Oh, cool. Maybe slicing some of XANA's monsters will put me in a better mood."
"Everything okay?" Jérémie asked, concerned.
At the same time, Ulrich had the diary in his hand now, "Uh, Yumi–"
He was cut off for a second time, this time by Hiroki, as he approached the group, "Yumi?"
Said girl folded her arms across her chest, as her brother walked up to her, his hand on the back of his neck, as though he was sheepish or embarrassed, definitely feeling guilty about his actions that morning.
"I-I've been looking for you," he quietly said. "I...I wanted to apologize for this morning. I had no right to take your diary..."
She didn't even spare him a glance, "Did you find it?"
"No, but I-I looked everywhere, I swear!" he insisted.
She turned away from him, "Well, until you find it, you can consider yourself an only child." She then promptly walked away without another word.
Ulrich watched her leave, as Hiroki stepped forward, intent on going after her.
"Don't," Jérémie softly told the boy. "Give her some time to cool off."
Hiroki sadly frowned, before hanging his head as he left in the opposite direction, sulking as he walked away from Yumi's five friends. It was clear that he didn't like Jérémie's advice, but he knew the blonde was right.
Aelita turned to the others, "What was that about?"
"Oh, nothing," Odd told her. "Some dire-y straits. We'll tell you about it later." He turned as if to walk away, and put either hand on Ulrich and William's shoulders, "Ulrich, William, can we talk for a minute?"
The trio then walked away, leaving behind the two Einsteins to stew in confusion.
"Well, what do we do now?" Aelita asked, raising an eyebrow in intrigue. Something about a diary, probably Yumi's. Apparently, Hiroki stole it and then lost it. She could relate, her own diary having once been stolen by Hervé.
"We go to lunch," Jérémie shrugged. It was the only thing they could do.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd led the other two to a less populated section under the arches.
"What's the deal, Ulrich?" he asked once they were alone. "I thought you were gonna return the diary."
"Well, I was, but the problem is Hiroki," the brunette explained, tapping his foot. "You saw how crushed he was! If I'm the one who returns the diary, Yumi will still be angry with him."
"Yeah, so?" Odd asked.
"So," William interjected, "you want to make it so Hiroki finds and returns the diary, don't you?"
Ulrich was happy that someone foresaw his plan before he said it aloud, "Yeah. If we fix it up that way, it's two birds with one stone. Yumi gets her diary back, and Hiroki gets his sister back. Pretty good idea, right?"
"Yeah, pretty genius," Odd agreed.
"I'm personally an advocate for just giving Yumi back her diary upfront," William confessed, crossing his arms over his chest, "but you're right. After seeing Hiroki's guilt, I have to agree. So how do you plan to make it happen?"
Ulrich inconspicuously took the diary out of his bag and handed it to his roommate, "Odd, hide the diary under a pile of leaves in the park, near the garden shed." Said blonde took the book and slipped it into his own bag. "William, you keep Yumi occupied until after Hiroki finds the diary."
William nodded, "Okay."
"And speaking of whom, I'll take care of him," Ulrich finished.
"Sounds like a plan," Odd replied, making his way over to the door to the dormitory building. "But give me a few minutes. I've gotta go get Kiwi first. I forgot to walk him this morning."
"Deal," Ulrich accepted.
The trio then went their separate ways—Odd to the dorms, William to find Yumi, and Ulrich to the courtyard.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
A couple minutes later, after receiving a text from Odd that he was in the park now, and another from William that he had found Yumi, Ulrich approached Hiroki. The boy was obviously upset, as he sat on a bench, anxiously kicking his legs. The brunette didn't take a seat, choosing to instead stand next to the bench, but Hiroki knew the elder was there.
He sighed, "I really messed up, Ulrich. I should've gone for the little gestures instead."
"Relax, Hiroki. Yumi will calm down and forgive you if she gets her diary back," Ulrich replied.
"I know," the boy looked away, "but I've looked everywhere for it! I even retraced my steps back to here—nothing! I don't know what to do! It's as if the diary just disappeared into thin air..." He held his head in his hands, now sulking.
"Well, this morning," Ulrich tried his best to act casual, "I thought I saw Mr. Roulier raking up some dead leaves on the park grounds."
Hiroki was unimpressed. "So what? He's the groundskeeper. That's his job."
"What if he raked up the diary at the same time?" the brunette asked, trying to nudge the boy's brain in the right direction.
But it was taking a while, "Well, that's dumb. Why would he do that?"
Ulrich shrugged, "Maybe he didn't see it, and he raked it up by accident." Apparently, he had to spell it out. "Every day is the same routine for him, after all."
Hiroki frown finally turned into a grin as it hit him. He stood up, excited, "You're right! The diary could be under a bunch of leaves! Let's go check!"
The boy ran off, and the brunette smiled. His plan was working.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Thanks for your company, William," Yumi was saying as the two approached the cafeteria, ready for lunch. "I don't think I'm hungry, though."
William shrugged, "That's understandable, but in any case, you should try to eat something." He was also hoping that comforting words from Jérémie and Aelita would cheer Yumi up.
The moment she stepped foot on the cafeteria steps, however, Hiroki ran past them, "Come on! Hurry up!"
"Wait up, Hiroki!" Ulrich called out as he ran after the boy.
The elder two glanced over at the sight, lured by the sound of Ulrich's voice. Hiroki was running towards the park, and Ulrich was running after him. In no time at all, the two had disappeared into the tree line.
"What's going on there?" Yumi nodded her head in the direction her brother and just-a-friend went.
William knew exactly what was happening here, but he was told by Ulrich himself to keep Yumi company until after Hiroki found the diary. However, Yumi was his friend, and he felt bad keeping all this a secret from her, preferring to just give her the diary upfront.
So he gave up, sort of, suggesting, "Maybe Ulrich's trying to help your brother find your diary..."
Yumi simply raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich watched as Hiroki dug through a pile of leaves by a tree. "Well? Find anything?" he asked.
Hiroki stopped, sadly frowning, "No, nothing."
The brunette nodded his head at the other pile of leaves in the area, piles that Hiroki hadn't dug through yet. "Well, keep looking. Hope's not lost yet."
Odd should have hidden the diary by now. It should be here. If it wasn't, Odd was going to have a meeting with Ulrich's fists...
"Right!" Hiroki replied, running over to a pile of leaves by a neighboring tree before starting to dig through it.
Odd walked up to his roommate from behind, and Ulrich whispered to him, "Which one did you put it in?"
"He'll find it soon. Trust me," Odd whispered back. "It's around here somewhere, I promise." Nearby, Kiwi scratched his side before barking up at his owner. Odd knelt down at opened his bag. "Kiwi, there you are! Where were you, my little diggity dog? Get in!"
Ulrich raised an eyebrow as the dog jumped inside Odd's bag. Odd pulled the drawstring shut just as Hiroki gasped in happiness.
"I found it!" The boy was waving Yumi's diary in the air, before running over to Ulrich, who ignored Odd's cheeky smile. Hiroki opened the diary, and his smile immediately faded.
The pages were gone. It was just the cover.
Ulrich couldn't ignore the crestfallen look on Hiroki's face. Fantastic. Where was the rest of Yumi's diary?!
Before any of them could react further or move in any direction, things went from bad to worse when Yumi suddenly approached them, "You mind telling me what you dorks are doing?", William at her heels.
The younger three boys turned to her in surprise, and could only watch as Yumi gasped in shock when she saw the empty diary cover.
Glaring at a nervous and upset Hiroki, she declared, hurt, "I'll never forgive you for this, Hiroki," before walking away.
In response, Hiroki's eyes filled with tears, and the boy ran off in the opposite direction to get his emotions under control. He was still tightly clutching onto the diary cover as he ran.
There was a moment as the three Lyokowarriors quietly and quickly mourned the failure of Ulrich's 'genius' plan.
"Sorry," William softly broke the silence, fearing it was his fault for not adhering to the plan. "I couldn't stop her from wondering what you guys were up to."
"It's not your fault," Ulrich quickly reassured him, before turning to Odd. "What happened? I told you to hide it, and I meant the whole thing."
"I had nothing to do with it, I swear!" Odd protested the accusation. "It was all there when I hid it!"
And the earnesty in Odd's expression was genuine.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Later that afternoon, the six Lyokowarriors had descended down to the lab via the lift. Aelita got out and walked over to the chair, "You guys know the drill. Head to the scanner room."
In response, Odd wordlessly elbowed the button, and the doors closed. The descent to the level below (the scanner room) was short, but it was tense, as Jérémie was concerned over Yumi's heated silence. He had a pretty good idea on the reason for it, but was unable to do anything except let her sulk until she felt like talking about it.
Meanwhile, Odd, William, and Ulrich couldn't ignore her bad mood either as they climbed into the scanners first.
"You guys ready?" Aelita asked. To be honest, she could feel the tension too, but wasn't saying anything for the sake of the mission. "I'm starting up the procedure now. Transfer William." His scanner doors closed. "Transfer Odd." As did his, over his nervous expression. "Transfer Ulrich!" And his. The scanners warmed up, loading up their respective avatars. "Scanner William, scanner Odd, scanner Ulrich! Virtualization!" A burst of wind depixelized their bodies.
Their avatars formed in the sky of Sector Five's Arena, and the trio landed in the center side-to-side, with Ulrich in the middle.
"Yumi's in a foul mood," Odd commented, as they stood up from their kneeling positions.
"Ulrich, I think you should tell her the truth about her diary," William confessed. "This has gone on long enough."
"And how do you think she'll react when she finds out that you two were in on it?" Ulrich asked, pointing accusing fingers at them.
Odd immediately protested, pointing back, "Hey, don't place the blame on us, Romeo. This was your idea." To emphasize the cat's point, the knight placed both hands on his hips in agreement.
"Virtualization!" Aelita announced, and the trio glanced up in time to see Yumi and Jérémie's avatars forming.
The two landed in between the boys and the now-open wall. "Let's go," Yumi said, as she and the elf ran towards the passage. The three had no choice but to follow in silence.
The trip to the Skid Hangar was short, and they knew the way, but again, it was tense because no one was talking and they all knew that one of them (Yumi) was in a bad mood.
When the elevator stopped at the platform, they all ran to their teleporter spots, with Jérémie claiming the middle spot.
"You guys ready?" Aelita asked. "Here we go. Energize."
One by one, the five were all teleported to their respective seats inside the Skid, and this seemed to get their heads on straight. That's right. It was time to focus on the mission. They had a Replika to blow up, after all.
"Everybody ready? Stand by for lift-off," Aelita announced. "Releasing supports, now." On cue, the support arms moved away from the Skid, releasing it.
Jérémie pressed the button underneath the left joystick before grabbing said joystick again, "Vertical propulsion, operational." The boosters fired downwards. "Lift-off!"
With that, the Skid took off, exiting through the opening in the ceiling. Leaving Sector Five, they emerged out into the Forest Sector. The ship paused before plunging towards the water, diving right in.
"Holoweb system connected," Aelita announced, as the Skid exited the virtual world through its floodgate.
"We've left Lyoko, Aelita," Jérémie relayed, "Rotation," before pulling a level, switching the ship to horizontal mode. "Turbo propeller, engaged." Said propeller started up, pushing the vehicle through the water.
"I'm entering the coordinates for the new Replika," the pink-ette said.
The information promptly showed up on one of the elf's screens. "Coordinates received," Jérémie replied, before steering the ship in that direction. "We're on our way."
Before long, the five could see a hub appear on the horizon. Seeing that was their destination, given how it was only getting larger as they approached it, they began to mentally prepare themselves for the defenses XANA put up last time.
"Okay," Odd cracked his knuckles together. "Step one: destroy new Replika. Step two: diving into my pillow and burying myself under the covers, and getting a good night's sleep."
The water suddenly turned red.
"Sorry, but you're going to have to postpone your nap, Odd," Aelita interjected. "Three Kongres are heading straight for the Skid."
Jérémie had named the monsters modeled after conger eels, and it was stuck now, because Odd didn't see a need to change the name (though he made sure the others knew it was spelled with a 'k').
Jérémie pulled down all four small levers, "Navskids, away!" The Navskids disconnected from the Skid and zipped away.
It didn't take long for Yumi to find one, spotting it heading straight for her. She pressed the button on her joystick, "Take this, fish-face!" Two torpedoes fired from her Navskid and destroyed the monster on contact.
Odd saw it. "Right in the teeth! Yumi's pretty effective when she's mad!" His Navskid was suddenly hit from behind, causing him to jerk forwards. "I've got one on my tail!"
William and Ulrich both changed course to intercept Odd as he weaved to dodge from lasers from the Kongre chasing him.
"It's sticking to me like glue!"
William fired once he was in range, but the monster ducked to avoid his shots. However, it moved right into the path of Ulrich's torpedoes, destroying it.
"Yeah! Bullseye!" the samurai celebrated.
"Nice one, good buddy!" Odd complimented, the three flying side-by-side.
"Wanna team up for the last one?" William asked.
"Yeah, let's go it!" Odd agreed, before spinning his Navskid around.
All three set their sights on the last Kongre before firing at the same time, "Fire!" But all six torpedoes missed their targets, the Kongre easily maneuvering around them, before swimming behind them and opening fire.
As the trio dodged the monster's lasers, trying to come up with a plan, Jérémie locked onto it with the Skid's targeting system, before pressing the trigger. The Skid fired two torpedoes of its own, which flew farther than the Navskids' torpedoes could, before they hit the Kongre dead on, destroying it.
Odd pumped his fist, "Nice shot, Jer! Just like in practice!"
"Thanks for the assist, Jérémie," Ulrich said. "He overstayed his welcome a long time ago."
"My pleasure," the elf replied, proud of himself, and grateful that he and Aelita had thought to put weapons on the Skid itself as well.
"Nice job, guys," Aelita cut in. "Good to see your fighting skills have improved, but we have to abort the mission."
"What?!" Jérémie protested, not understanding. "But we didn't even get close to the Replika!"
"That's my point," the pink-ette explained. "The fight just now took up a lot of energy, and you guys have too far to go. It's too dangerous to continue."
Unable to disprove her point, or disagree with it, Jérémie sighed, "Roger that. Navskids in."
Odd returned and reattached first, quickly followed by William, and then Ulrich—which made sense given how the three were together against that final Kongre. But the fourth Navskid was taking too long to return. Jérémie could see that the signal reached her, but the screen in front of him was showing a flashing red silhouette where the fourth one should've been.
"Hey, where's Yumi?" the elf asked.
They couldn't see Aelita, what was on her screens, or her expression, but they knew she was looking. "I don't get it...I-I don't have any trace of her..." That was bad news. "I've lost her!"
"What?!" William exclaimed, alarmed.
"She must have gotten hit by a Kongre," Jérémie deduced, looking at his own screens for answers.
Ulrich was stunned. "But...that's impossible!" He protested in disbelief.
"Hey, Princess...?" Odd slowly asked, "you think she might've been permanently deleted...?"
"No, I...I don't think so," was the angel's answer. "The data recording from the fight doesn't show any sign of her having been eliminated." That was good news, right? She wasn't defeated.
"That means she's still somewhere on board her Navskid," Jérémie realized, "somewhere in the middle of the Digital Sea!"
"Yeah, she's still alive," Aelita replied. "But the Skid is in no condition to find her right now. You guys have to come back in to re-generate the Skid's energy levels."
"What?!" Ulrich immediately protested, punching the window of his Navskid. Fortunately, it didn't even crack. "No way! We can't just leave her behind! I won't!"
"And what about her brother?" William asked, agreeing with the samurai. "And her parents?"
Odd just frowned, feeling defeated. He didn't agree with his cousin's decision either, but he understood why. So he kept silent.
But first Yumi's diary, then Yumi's mood, and now Yumi herself. What was next?
Fortunately, Jérémie spoke up for him, as he hung his head, "Guys, no one is leaving anyone behind, but all of us run the risk of permanently deleted with the Skid's energy levels so low. We have to come back in." He didn't like it either, but they didn't have a choice.
Ulrich sighed, admitting defeat. "...Yeah, you're right," he softly replied, dejected. "We'd better go."
He just hoped that they wouldn't be too late to save her.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The four arrived in the lab via the lift. The moment the doors opened, Ulrich rushed over (while the other three just walked) to Aelita's side and looked over her shoulder at all the windows she had opened. He didn't understand much of all the gibberish but he knew his questions would be answered.
"How long will it take to re-generate the Skid's energy?" Ulrich asked her.
"It's hard to say," Aelita began. "Usually about an hour, maybe more depending on how much damage the Skid took. But with Yumi missing, it may take longer–"
Ulrich quickly interrupted the pink-ette, "Just tell us when we can go back!"
"At least an hour, okay?! Your avatars have to recharge too!" Aelita hotly retorted, understanding but not appreciating his urgency. "And as long as you let me concentrate! We also have to find her coordinates, you know!"
That's right. They couldn't waste energy searching for Yumi the old-fashioned way. It would help them a lot if they, at least, had a general idea of where she was.
"Don't worry, Ulrich," Jérémie placed a reassuring hand on the brunette's shoulder. "I'll be helping her. I'll call you as soon as know, okay?"
The samurai stared at the screen in silence, before nodding.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi's Navskid drifted aimlessly through the still-red water.
"Can anybody hear me...?" she asked, feeling scared. "Th-This is Yumi...!" Silence. "I don't know where I am..."
Her screen showed her Navskid's energy level draining. That's right. Aelita had said that the fight with the Kongres had taken up a good chunk of the Skid's energy.
Which meant... "I'm in trouble! Almost out of power," she muttered, before calling out, "Can you hear me?!"
Still silence.
One side of her Navskid had been damaged, the metal crumpled as if impacted there.
"Answer me!" she called out, frightened as the full reality of her situation settled in. "Somebody please answer me!"
Still no answer.
She was lost at sea...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
William, Ulrich, and Odd had retreated to the park, but they remained close to the manhole cover, waiting for Jérémie's call. The trio were sitting on a pile of leaves next to a tree, their backs to the trunk. Odd watched Kiwi sniff and run around, not really in the mood to play with the dog right now.
"What a nightmare..." William muttered, upset.
Ulrich sighed, "You were right, William. I should've just returned her diary myself. Maybe then, she'd still be here..."
"Relax, guys," Odd softly cut in. "It could've happened to any one of us. And you heard the Einsteins—she isn't gone from the network. They'll bring Yumi back, don't worry!"
Meanwhile, Kiwi was digging a hole by the roots of a nearby tree. He barked, before bringing something in his mouth over to Odd, tail wagging.
Odd took the thing from his mouth, "Hey, what do you have there, Kiwi?" He took a closer look at it. It was sheets of paper, all bound together like a book without a cover. "Wait...Ulrich! William! This is Yumi's diary!"
"What?!" They both turned to him in surprise.
He just nodded in understanding as he held up the papers.
William leaned in closer, "I can confirm. That's her handwriting, alright."
"I get it," Odd realized. "Kiwi saw me bury it, but he thought it was a game, so I guess he dug it up and buried it here. Right where we're sitting now, and all right under my nose!"
"That's great..." Ulrich took the diary pages and held them underneath his arm, as he stood on his feet. "We found her diary, but now we lost Yumi!"
William sighed, "How ironic..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Her Navskid continued to drift and her energy continued to deplete, and it was now getting to dangerously low levels. Yumi could only hope that meant the others were using up more energy finding her, instead of her energy just depleting by itself because her Navskid was damaged.
"Jérémie? Aelita? Can you hear me?" she tried for what felt like the millionth time. "This is Yumi. I'm almost out of power..."
The water was still red. XANA was still on the prowl...
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, breathing for a moment, before bringing her knees up to her chest and hanging her head, "It's cold here...and I feel all alone..." She was so scared...
Suddenly, a Kongre swam into view and headed right towards her. The moment she saw it, she grabbed her joystick.
"Okay, Yumi," she muttered to herself, "you've only got one torpedo left, so don't waste it."
She aimed and pressed the button to fire. The torpedo launcher extended from the bottom of her Navskid and started to charge, but the light flickered before dying.
"Oh no. Not enough power..." she read her screen. The Kongre swam closer. "I'm not done yet."
As she spun her Navskid to avoid the two lasers the monster shot at her, she got an idea.
"If I reduce power in my shield, I should have enough." She pressed some buttons next to her joystick, and on the screen, her energy level increased. Not by much, but it was enough. "Yes!"
The Kongre shot another laser, but she dodged it.
"Okay, you and me. Fire!" Thankfully, the torpedo fired this time.
The Kongre was destroyed on impact.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
In the lab, the holomap on the screen honed in on a particular area of the Digital Sea right after the logs recorded a new development in the fight that was apparently still taking place—and this wasn't lost on the Einsteins.
"Huh?" Jérémie asked. "Was that–...?"
Aelita looked at him knowingly, "An explosion. From a Navskid torpedo."
Which could only mean one thing...
"Yumi!" Jérémie sighed in relief, before taking out his cellphone.
She was still alive. There was still hope...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Kiwi was asleep and snuggled next to Odd's legs, who was lying down on the ground, looking like he was also sleeping but he wasn't. William was resting against a tree next to Ulrich, watching the clouds just to preoccupy himself. The silence was broken by the sound of Ulrich's phone ringing.
He answered, "Yes, Jérémie?" A pause, as he listened to the blonde explain. "Huh?" Another beat as Jérémie continued. "Okay, we're on our way." He then hung up and turned to the other two, "They found Yumi!"
But Odd, William, and Kiwi had all disappeared.
"Guys?" he asked.
"Well?" Odd asked.
Ulrich turned to the sound of his roommate's voice and saw that the three were instead standing next to the now-open manhole. Odd was tapping his foot, smiling.
So was William, "You coming or not?"
Ulrich didn't hesitate for one more moment.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The water was still red. There was still danger on the prowl...
Memories came surging back to Yumi's mind. She couldn't stop them.
"I wanna go home, Okaa-san..." she muttered, remembering when her family had first moved to France. "I don't like it here..."
"I wanna go home, Okaa-san," a thirteen-year-old Yumi was close to crying as she laid down on her stomach. Akiko was sitting next to her on her bed, a hand on her back as she attempted to comfort her daughter. "I don't like it here..."
She wanted to go back to Japan. At least she had friends there, people she could talk to, people who would understand her. Here, she didn't.
(This was about a week before she attended that Pencak Silat class and met Ulrich.)
"I told you that we had to move here for your father's job," Akiko softly reminded her daughter. "It has better pay and better benefits than his job back in Japan."
Yumi sniffed, "I don't care! I wanna go back!"
"But Nee-chan..." Hiroki's quietly voice caught her off-guard, "who am I gonna play with if you go away...?" She hadn't noticed that he was nearby.
Here, the tears finally fell from her eyes. Could she really leave her brother all alone?
Too bad she couldn't cry in a virtual world. The memory changed to another one.
"No, Hiroki," she instructed, the two sitting at the table in the living room. She was helping him with his homework. "'Foot' becomes 'feet' in the plural."
He looked up at her, "How do you know all that, Nee-chan?"
She just smiled at him, amused.
A new memory came to mind.
The four Ishiyamas were having dinner, as Hiroki tapped his fingers against the table—Morse code. Yumi smiled, wanting to laugh, before tapping her response.
Akiko turned to them, unable to hide her curiosity, "Oh, what are you two children up to this time?"
Yumi and Hiroki just exchanged a knowing glance, before they burst out laughing together.
The memory changed yet again to another one.
Yumi kept an intent eye on her digital watch as its stopwatch feature counted up to six seconds.
Hiroki emerged from the water of the pool they were visiting today, "Well? How long?"
She chose to lie, "At least ten minutes!", before giving him two thumbs up. "Way to go, champion!"
"Wow!" he exclaimed in awe.
They had some good times together. In fact, the good memories far outweighed the bad ones. Despite being annoying at times, he was still her brother, and he relied on her more than he would ever be willing to admit.
She hung her head, "Hiroki..."
She remembered his apology, "I had no right to take your diary..."
As well as her cold response, "Well, until you find it, you can consider yourself an only child."
But her response after she found him holding her empty diary cover, amidst his stunned and fear-filled expression and demeanor, was the cruelest of all.
"I'll never forgive for this, Hiroki."
She really wanted to cry, but being in a virtual world, she couldn't. And that made her current situation worse. Shedding tears was a catharsis, and without that ability, being lost at sea here felt more and more like a punishment.
That was when she felt warmth surrounding her, sharply contrasting the cold-ness of the Digital Sea. Warmth...a presence around her that felt uplifting...like a parent comforting a child...
Michel and Sophie. She could feel them. She couldn't pinpoint their exact location, but she knew they were here, telling her that she wasn't alone, and that she wouldn't be alone for long.
Despite not being able to produce any tears, Yumi still used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes. "You're right. For now, just survive."
The others would find her. Maybe she couldn't contact them, but she had released a torpedo earlier that destroyed that Kongre—she just realized—and hopefully, the holomap had picked that up...
She couldn't stew in her thoughts for long, however. Her Navskid suddenly shook, and she looked around, alarmed.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita and Jérémie's eyes were intently watching the screen, waiting for the holomap to narrow down Yumi's exact coordinates, when the elevator opened behind them.
"Come on...come on...!" Aelita muttered to herself, as Jérémie turned to see who had arrived.
He inwardly sighed in relief when he saw that it was Odd, Ulrich, and William, all joined by Kiwi, who trotted up to the terminal and sat down next to Aelita.
"Yumi sent us a message in a bottle," Jérémie told the three. Not literally, but it may as well have been.
"Great!" Odd exclaimed, as he and the other two walked over to the monitor. "Let's go fish her out!"
"I have to finish the calculations first," Aelita interjected, not taking her eyes off the screen. "I've isolated the area, but we need to wait until we get her exact coordinates."
"But if she tired a torpedo, that means she's in a jam!" Ulrich protested, frowning in worry. "We have to go now!"
"We've transposed the data from the explosion into the Holoweb to get her position via triangulation," Jérémie explained. "It's the fastest way to narrow down her location."
A very brief alarm told them that the calculations were done. On the map, it now showed Yumi's green arrow and was following her Navskid.
"There she is!" Aelita exclaimed, pointing to the screen. "She must have gotten sucked into that hub." The one they were heading towards, that is. "That's why we lost all trace of her." She paused. "But the energy levels still aren't at one hundred percent, because Yumi's Navskid isn't connected. So, going under right now is gonna be a fairly big risk."
The four guys all turned to her.
"What are the energy levels at right now?" William asked.
"Seventy-five percent."
"Oh yeah," Odd smiled, determined. "That's more than enough." He headed towards the lift, "Let's go."
"Count me in!" Ulrich agreed.
"Right behind you!" As did William.
Jérémie offered Aelita a reassuring smile, "You heard them. What are we waiting for?"
The pink-ette simply rolled her eyes, smiling, as she watched the four close the elevator doors, before turning back to the screen, Kiwi at her side.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
A few minutes later found the Skid making its way through the water, returning to the battleground from earlier that day.
"Hub dead ahead," Jérémie announced.
"I read you, Jérémie," Aelita replied. "I'm entering the coordinates from where Yumi fired her torpedo."
The Skid positioned itself above the hub, switching from horizontal mode to vertical.
"Aspiration into hyper-fluid in three seconds," the elf warned his passengers. "Hang on tight."
The ship promptly dove into the hub.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The commotion turned out to be another Kongre. Yumi was now piloting her Navskid from the pursuing monster, avoiding its lasers. The water was still red.
It swam up right next to her, appearing just outside her window. She briefly glanced at it before accelerating, weaving dangerously around the structures of the Digital Sea.
Her luck finally ran out as she crashed into one of those structures, and cried out, before ricocheting off another and going into a spin. Her Navskid was now badly damaged, and she had used up a good majority of her remaining energy with that maneuvre.
The Kongre swam around to stare at her through the glass. Boy was it ugly...
"Looks like it's over..." she muttered.
The monster just stared at her, not attacking. Why not...? It had her right where it wanted her—alone and defenseless.
"What's he waiting for?" she asked herself.
The Kongre looked to its right before swimming away, to her confusion. Yumi glanced in that direction (her left), only to find a Navskid-like submarine vehicle quickly approaching her.
It was less streamlined than the Navskids, and had finlike attachments on the top and sides. Sitting in the pilot's seat, she saw, was the Clone, wearing its Aelita mask.
It smirked, before calling out, "Fire!"
Three torpedoes fired from XANA's submarine, and Yumi braced herself from the impact. She could barely move—her Navskid was too badly damaged—and her defensive shield was completely gone (if she hadn't, she couldn't have fired her last torpedo, though). This was it...
But the impacts never came.
Instead, she heard Jérémie's voice over the intercom, "So, Yumi," she looked back up, gasping in shock, "you thought you could wander off without telling us where you going?"
The Skid had placed itself between her and the Clone's submarine. The other three Navskids, she could see, had been detached.
She smiled in relief, "It took you guys long enough to get here!"
William's voice cut in, "Let's get you reattached, Yumi. I'll help you." She turned to her other side. Sure enough, there was William in his Navskid, hovering close by.
"Oh, you guys have no idea how glad I am to see you!" she exclaimed, grateful that her faith was not misplaced.
"We have a pretty good idea," William admitted. "Now, come on, let's get you home."
As he helped her reconnect to the main frame, not far from them, Ulrich and Odd pursued the enemies.
The ship and the Kongre met up and charged at Ulrich and Odd, who both took a torpedo hit to their Navskids, before accelerating. They dodged laser and torpedo fire, before splitting up at a crossroads. The Kongre followed Odd, while XANA-Aelita followed Ulrich.
"I wouldn't mind a little fish soup," Odd commented as he fired at the Kongre, but missed. "Guess I'd better cook it, though, first." He locked onto the monster using his targeting system, and fired again. "Watch out, you might get burned!" he exclaimed, as the Kongre exploded upon defeat.
He then did a U-turn, heading back to Ulrich. The samurai was being chased by the Clone.
"Ulrich, behind you!" Odd called out.
XANA-Aelita fired two torpedoes, but thanks to Odd's warning, Ulrich managed to dodge them. He glanced over at Odd when his roommate came up beside him.
"Can't leave you alone for a minute, can I, good buddy?" Odd teased, the two now flying side-by-side.
"I don't blame him," Aelita interjected. "Since when did XANA make a ship for the Clone? Be careful, it has the same stats as a Navskid."
Odd promptly got an idea, "'Same stats', you say?"
Ulrich seemed to be on the same wavelength. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Odd?"
"Yeah, good thinking," the cat replied, smiling. "Let's go!"
After moving together for a while, XANA-Aelita watched Odd and Ulrich suddenly zip away in opposite direction. The Clone looked both ways and growled in frustration, before heading left.
Ulrich watched the direction of everyone's icons on his sonar. "Okay, it's behind Odd." He then turned around. The Clone was chasing after Odd, but now, Ulrich was chasing the Clone. "Big mistake, XANA. Fire!"
Two torpedoes were released, and they both hit the submarine in the back, immediately creating a heavy blue cloud of damage and covering the vehicle in blue fractures. Smoke poured out of it before it exploded.
Odd and Ulrich returned to the Skid, where Yumi's Navskid had been successfully reattached, and William's was flying alongside the main frame for its protection.
"Mission accomplished, Aelita," Ulrich announced.
The light turned back from red to blue.
"Great job, everyone!" Aelita exclaimed, before gently ordering, "Now anchor yourselves to the Skid and head back in." She sighed in relief and muttered, "Thank goodness, they're all coming home."
"Not everybody," Jérémie softly replied. "But one day—Papa, Maman—we'll bring you guys back home too..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The sun had gone down. It was curfew for all six of them.
Odd had named the Clone's submarine as the 'Rorkal', and the Einsteins were certain it and the Clone would make a reappearance, realizing that it was made with the data the Scyphozoa stole from the Skid yesterday. XANA was growing wiser to their movements and missions in the Digital Sea, so they had to be extra careful from now on.
But they could deal with that tomorrow. It was time to relax for the night, and Yumi had earned it. She didn't know if she would run into Hiroki, but she was prepared to apologize to him in the morning.
She entered her bedroom to find her window open. She went over to close it—she could've sworn she had left it closed this morning—when something on her bed captured her attention.
It was her diary pages...all of them...
As she walked over and picked them up, Hiroki shuffled into the open doorway, hanging his head.
"Nee-chan?" she heard him quietly say. "I wanted you to know that I really am sorry for what I did..."
She just turned to face him, gently smiling, "Thanks for bringing it back..."
He was surprised to see the diary pages in her hands, as well as Ulrich smiling at them from the tree outside the window—but the boy didn't say anything.
Yumi knelt down next to her brother and put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry for freaking out, and I forgive you. I understand now that what we have is more important than some old diary."
Hiroki raised an eyebrow before teasing her, "Are you in love or what?"
Yumi rolled her eyes as she stood up, but she was smiling, "Get out of here. Unless you want some advice about Milly."
He immediately perked up. "You know how we can make up?"
"Yeah. Small gestures." She then listed off ideas, "Bring her hot chocolate or a snack while she works. Help her pass out the daily copies. Listen whenever she talks. Trust me, the little things can go a long way."
"Ulrich said the same thing..."
Her smile grew softer in fondness, "He's right."
Ulrich just hummed nonchalantly in victory as he walked away from the house, smiling. He didn't care if Yumi was reconsidering them claiming they were 'just friends'. He just cared if she was happy.
As long as she was, then so was he.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 56 - Kiwodd / The gang heads out to destroy the Mountain Replika, while Odd gets a great idea that quickly becomes a stupid one.
A/N: I really like this (canon) episode. It proves just how mature Ulrich has gotten.
I'm not sure if it's ever confirmed that the Rorkal was created from the data XANA stole from the Skid in 'The Lake' using the Scyphozoa, but it wouldn't surprise me. Regardless, it's why I've moved that part of 'The Lake' to this episode. As for 'Lost at Sea', the group's objective is heading towards the Mountain Replika, rather than trying to find William, because William is not XANA's right-hand man in this AU. Rather, the Rorkal is for the Clone to use.
There were no deleted scenes to consider adding back in, but there was a line change that added a lot more context in the French, the one where Yumi says "I wanna go home", and in the French, she says "I wanna go home, Mum". Given the situation, and how powerful the extra context makes the scene, I had to change it back.
And Michel and Sophie showing parental affection towards the gang is nothing new. Back in Chapter 33: The White Tower, when possessing Sissi, they were worried about Yumi and Odd when the two were protecting them from XANA-Yolanda.