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
Sorry for the brief hiatus. My beta reader and I both took a break over the holiday season, but we are back now.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"Aelita's finally found a way to virtualize directly into Sector Five, but Ulrich's having a really bad day."
Episode 43: Overworked
(Based on Nobody in Particular & Double Trouble)
One fateful Friday morning began with Ms. Hertz handing back the latest science test to her eleventh grade class.
"Across the board, the results of the tests performed last Friday were far from brilliant. Most grades were between 6's and 11's," their teacher wasn't really pleased. "Of course, there are always exceptions. Pichon," she stopped at the table Hervé and Nicolas were occupying, "I gave you a 19, the highest grade in the class. Excellent work."
Hervé raised both of his eyebrows in surprise, as he took his graded test from Ms. Hertz. "The highest? Thank you, ma'am." He wasn't expecting her to say that.
But he understood why when Ms. Hertz crossed over to the desk that Jérémie and Ulrich were occupying, "Belpois, I gave you an 18. Well done, but there's room for improvement."
Jérémie frowned as he took his test back. It was the second highest grade in the class, but Hervé had beaten him for the first time since he had arrived at Kadic.
"Did I just beat you, Belpois?" Hervé whispered to him, and Jérémie turned to him with a glare. Hervé had a proud smile on his face.
The blonde's own smile was tight as he replied, "This time, yes."
Sissi leaned forward and whispered, "Cut it out, Hervé. No need to gloat. Besides, you only beat him by one point."
But the next results were utterly depressing. "Stern, you are clearly pushing the limits of your 'I don't care' attitude."
Nicolas and Hervé began chuckling nearby.
Ms. Hertz paid them no attention, focused on Ulrich, "A nucleus is not made up of protons. 5. If memory serves and mine is more reliable than yours, you promised you'd put in an honest effort, didn't you? Whereas it seems clear to me that you didn't even glance at your notes. This is not going to help you at the academic review tomorrow morning." She moved on, "Poliakoff!"
Nicolas immediately stopped in surprise.
"Zero! A kilogram of mercury does not weigh a tonne! So, if I were you, I'd stop snickering like an idiot!"
Jérémie glanced at Ulrich, concerned. The brunette was sulking, holding his head in his hands, his mind echoing with Ms. Hertz's disappointing words.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Meanwhile, a knock came to the headmaster's door. "Come in." Yumi entered the room, and before she could speak, Mr. Delmas continued, "Ah, Miss Ishiyama." He leaned back in his seat as she stood before him. "Well, I must say I'm flattered that you answered my request to come and see me. Given your constant lateness and repeated absences over these past few weeks, I'm just flabbergasted that you actually decided to show up! To what do I owe this great honor?"
That was sarcasm—Yumi knew. She looked away, embarrassed and regretful, "I'm sorry, sir. I really am." It wasn't her fault. She had no say in when XANA chose to attack, but she had chosen to continue fighting.
"Perhaps, but not as much as I am." She glanced back at him. "If I hear that you're absent or late just one more time, school rules state that you must be expelled."
Her stomach sank. XANA had made her skip class enough times to place her in danger of being expelled from Kadic.
"I warned your parents," Mr. Delmas sighed, "and they managed to convince me. Since it is your final year here, instead of being expelled, you will be placed on academic probation. It's better for your academic record, but not by much."
Joy, Yumi thought. But she'd take it. She had no choice.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Academic probation?!" Odd asked in disbelief, once the five were reunited after that day's classes at the factory's lab. Yumi had just told them what their principal told her earlier. "You're kidding!"
"Nope," she solemnly replied. "Delmas was dead serious this time."
"You think you've got problems," Ulrich muttered. "Hertz is gonna do everything she can to have me transferred to 11th grade remedial in tomorrow's academic review. And with my rotten grades, it's very possible. My parents are gonna kill me and finding time to fight XANA is gonna be a real nightmare."
"Take it easy, Ulrich," Aelita attempted comfort, sitting in the computer chair. "Nothing's been decided yet. As class representative, Laura needs to go, and as her deputy, Odd needs to be there too."
"And I'm ready for it," Odd replied, hoping his smile cheered up his roommate. "Don't worry, good buddy. You know I'll defend you."
"Thanks." But Ulrich didn't attempt a smile.
"I think Ulrich has every right to be concerned," Jérémie cut in, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "This can't go on much longer. It's getting harder and harder to keep up with our school work and fight against XANA at the same time."
"He's right," Aelita agreed. "I know it's not much consolation, but mine and Jérémie's grades aren't that great either. Remember, Hervé got a higher grade than Jérémie this time. There have been too many alerts on Lyoko lately. We don't have time to study anymore!"
"If you ask me, I think XANA's trying to wear us down," Odd said. "And knowing that, it might be time to officially recruit our sixth Lyokowarrior. And don't bother trying to protest, because you guys know we need more breathing room as much as I do."
"And who do you have in mind?" Aelita asked. "Remember, we have two candidates: William and Sissi. And the sacredness of our secret only allows us to recruit one."
"William," Odd shrugged. "He's already shown us what he can do, and we've already voted him in once."
Jérémie cut in, "We don't have to decide right now. Let's sleep on it, and decide at lunch tomorrow."
"Agreed," Aelita said, as the other three all nodded as well. "Now, I've got some good news. I finally found a way of virtualizing us directly into Sector Five!"
The other four turned to her in surprise. "You mean," Odd asked, "without using the Transporter?"
"That's right," the pink-ette was smiling. "By interpolating the source codes in Planck's quantum space, we can get around the Heisenberg uncertainty theory. The only risk is coming up with a mathematical singularity."
"And in English?" Yumi raised an eyebrow at her.
"It can work, but it's dangerous," she softly replied. "Before I can really be sure, I'm going to need a, um..." She trailed off, not sure how to word this gently.
"A guinea pig?" Odd asked, already knowing that he was right.
"Yeah. Any volunteers?" She quickly added, "Not you, Jérémie. You're too valuable." Ignoring his pout, she glanced around at Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd, but received nothing but silence in response. Deadpan, she snarked, "Don't all of you answer at once."
It was clear that none of them wanted to, but it had to be done. Knowing this, Odd reached into his bag and took out a piece of paper. While his back was turned to them, he then ripped it into four pieces and wrote something down on one of them before folding them, before giving the pieces to Jérémie. "Now, we'll close our eyes, and you pass these out to us randomly."
Jérémie nodded, taking the papers. While the eyes of the other four were closed, he handed one to each of them. "Okay," he said when he was done.
Four pairs of eyes opened, and Odd said, "Now, we open our papers. You'll know if it's you."
Jérémie watched as his four friends all opened their papers, and Ulrich immediately sighed, frowning, "I guess today is not my day."
On his paper were the words, 'Tag, you're it!'
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The holomap projector beside Aelita turned from the four sectors to the Sector Five shell, as the Transporter dropped Yumi, Odd, and Jérémie off into the Arena. The time was counting down, but Aelita paid it no mind. That wasn't the point of this visit.
"We're here, Aelita," Yumi said. "We're standing by to welcome Ulrich."
"Roger that, Yumi," the pink-ette replied, before directing her attention to the scanner room. "You ready, Ulrich?"
"As I'll ever be," same the brunette's flat response.
"You should arrive directly into Sector Five's Arena," she told him, "and land right between Odd and Yumi."
"Aelita, you sure you know what you're doing here?"
She didn't blame him for being skeptical. "Yes. When entering the coordinates of a sector, you have to enter the code of the sector first. Each sector has a different code. I just need to find out if I have the right code for Sector Five."
"How sure are you about this code?"
"About ninety-eight percent," she replied. "But that's why it's important for us to do this."
"Right," he sighed. "I'm inside the scanner now. Do your stuff."
"Okay." She addressed the other three. "Here we go, guys. Ulrich's about to join you. Transfer Ulrich." She selected his ID, and his avatar began to load, "Scanner Ulrich." Once it was fully loaded, she pressed 'enter', "Virtualization!"
A pause. And a rather tense one.
"Well, where is he?" Odd asked. "Did he miss his connection or take the local instead of the express?"
"The virtualization took place," Aelita told them. "My screens are telling me that he survived the breakdown phase. He should be appearing next to you."
"Maybe he was transferred to the wrong place," Jérémie suggested. "Is he, at least, still on Lyoko somewhere?"
"I'll check, but I don't see where things went wrong," Aelita replied, before typing in commands to do a search using Ulrich's ID—which was still loaded in. A red exclamation mark immediately came back. "No, that's impossible!"
"What? What's the matter?" Yumi asked, concerned.
"He...he's not even showing up the screens anymore!" Aelita cried. "I don't understand! His avatar's loaded in, but the holomap can't find him anywhere!"
"You want us to sweep Sector Five to see if we can spot him?" Jérémie asked.
"And have XANA take advantage of the situation and pull a dirty one on us?" Aelita protested. "No thanks. I'll run a search from here." She paused, and made her choice. "You better come back in. I'll materialize you now."
She selected their avatars (but leaving Ulrich's alone) before sending them back to Earth. Once her screens showed that they were back in the scanner room, she got back to work.
It didn't take them long to reach the lab (via the elevator). "Well?" Odd asked.
And she didn't have good news at all. "Nothing in the Mountain Sector, nothing in the Arena, nothing in the Celestial Dome, nothing in the Core Chamber, and not a trace in Sector Five either!"
Yumi narrowed her eyes, and aggressively asked, "What are you saying?"
"Ulrich has...disappeared..." Aelita whispered. "And I don't know what to do now..."
It was her fault, it was her fault, it was her fault. Because of her, Ulrich may be gone forever.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The moon was shining bright amidst the early October cold. The remaining four Lyokowarriors trudged onto the bridge, all of them burdened even more by the possible loss of one of her own.
"I don't get it either," Jérémie was reassuring Aelita. "His ID is all loaded in. He should be on Lyoko, but according to the holomap, he's not."
"He's gotta be somewhere," Aelita quietly, solemnly replied. "I'll keep looking using my dorm computer. I promise I won't rest until I find him."
Yumi snapped, her fists clenched as she whirled around to face the pink-haired girl, "Go on! You can keep trying, but you can't fix every mistake you make! The truth is that you messed up big time here and because of you, we'll never see Ulrich ever again!"
She then turned around and ran away, off into the night with only her tears as company.
Aelita just stood there frozen in horror, upset. Yumi was right, though.
Ulrich might be dead because of her.
Behind her, Odd and Jérémie were trying not to break down into despair.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The rest of the night went by agonizingly slow, as the four were forced to mourn their loss privately. Unable to tell anybody why. Unable to confide in anyone but each other...
Odd opened the door to the room he (once) shared with Ulrich. Seeing Kiwi lounging on said roommate's bed caused the boy to uncharacteristically snap, "You get off of there!" His outburst shocked Kiwi, causing the dog to whimper as he scrambled off the bed and underneath his master's desk. On the verge of tears, Odd quickly knelt beside him, "Oh, Kiwi, buddy, I'm so sorry..."
Jérémie was searching for Ulrich on his laptop. The error message he got was the last straw, as he finally broke down his tears, curling up in his chair into a ball. He hid his head in his knees as the tears began flowing.
Yumi sniffed back her tears, glancing out the window and focusing on the stars that dotted the night sky. As she cuddled her Totoro plushie ever so closer to her, guilt began to seep into her emotions. She promptly reached her phone and dialed a number, "Aelita?"
"I'm sorry, Yumi. I really am."
"I'm the one who's sorry," the elder of the two wiped off her wet cheeks. "I didn't mean to blow up at you like that."
"You had every right to." Yumi could hear rapid-fire typing on a keyboard on Aelita's end—she was keeping her promise to work through the night.
"I'm still sorry. You'll keep me posted, right?"
"Of course I will. Now try to get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"You too," Yumi replied, before hanging up.
Tears still littered her eyes. Hopefully, Aelita could find Ulrich. Until then, the rest of them couldn't do anything to drive the group apart any further. They just had to hang in there.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As the night dragged on, one of the scanners opened up to reveal none other than the person the group was missing and working so hard to look for.
Ulrich looked around at the dark room. "Aelita?" he asked as he stepped out of the scanner.
No response.
He sighed, "Nice, thank you for such a warm welcome, guys."
Why was it so dark? And quiet? Did everyone else leave? Why? Why did they leave him all alone? And if the factory was empty, who materialized him?
He walked over to the elevator, but when he pressed the button to open the doors, his hand began to phase through it.
He immediately withdrew his hand in shock, "W-What?! I think something's wrong here..."
What was going on? Was he...a ghost?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Morning fell on Kadic rather quickly. Ulrich entered Aelita's room by passing through the door—his new superpower. He didn't understand how he got it, though. Hopefully, Aelita had the answers.
Speaking of whom, she was typing away on her computer. What she was working on, so intently at that, he didn't know.
"Aelita?" he asked, "what's happening to me?"
The pink-ette gave him no response. There wasn't even a break in her typing. She seemed to not know that Ulrich was there. A knock was heard at her closed door, and she finally spoke, "Come in."
"I'm already in here!" Ulrich protested. Did he somehow draw her ire or something? If so, what did he do?
But she turned out to not be talking to him. The door opened to reveal Jérémie and Odd, with Kiwi in the latter's arms.
"Odd, you can hear me, right?" Ulrich asked.
But no one heard him speak. Instead, Jérémie asked Aelita, "Have you had better luck than me?"
"No," the pink-ette solemnly replied. "Still no sign of Ulrich."
Oh. The experiment last night had done something to him. And now they were acting like he had disappeared. Looking at the two Einsteins' faces, both of them seemed weary and all kinds of exhausted—a clear sign that both of them had searched for him all night, only to come up short.
"But he has to be somewhere!" Odd protested. "People don't just vanish into thin air!" Ulrich noticed just now how tightly he was hugging Kiwi, maybe out of guilt or as an emotional crutch. Or both.
He had to find a way to communicate with them. Somehow.
"I must've made a mistake somewhere," Aelita groaned, her head in her hands, defeated. "But for now, I don't know where I could've messed up."
Ulrich waved a hand in front of Odd's face, "Yoohoo, Odd! I'm right here!" His roommate gave no reaction.
The dog in his arms, however, was a different story. Kiwi began barking while looking right at him. Kiwi—the same dog that liked to chew his shoes and pee in his bed, but always cuddled up to him after a phone call with his father.
And Ulrich's heart soared. He smiled at Kiwi, "Ah, finally, someone who can see me!"
"Kiwi, will you cut that out?" Odd asked, slightly annoyed.
But the dog didn't listen, continuing to bark as Ulrich said, "Yeah, you're a good boy. You got any ideas how to make them realize I'm here?"
Kiwi suddenly jumped out of Odd's arms, leaping towards Ulrich.
Jérémie offered, still talking to Aelita, "Maybe an emergency property appeared to the algorithms and altered the normal functioning of the virtualization. It's possible." He paused. "There's also the possibility that he's in Limbo."
"I don't think he is," Aelita replied. "His ID is still fully loaded in, and that hasn't changed at all."
"Looks more like a big system bug to me," Ulrich's voice suddenly interrupted them.
All three were startled, before looking around the room to try and find where the voice had come from.
"I'm down here," Ulrich continued. Apparently, he could see them from his vantage point. "Lower." The trio looked down at the ground to see none other that Kiwi, who opened his mouth and sang, "Surprise~!", in Ulrich's voice.
"That's fantastic!" Odd exclaimed with joy. "All my training methods have finally paid off! Kiwi's talking!"
"No, no, it's me talking!" Ulrich replied. "Ulrich, from inside Kiwi's body!"
"So you are alive! That's great news!" Odd knelt down to meet his (Kiwi's) eyes. "But what are you doing inside my dog? That's crazy!"
"I entered Kiwi's body by accident," Ulrich explained. "It's thanks to him that I can talk to you guys. Otherwise, I'm like some kind of completely disembodied ghost."
Odd began petting his dog's head, "What an adorable little diggity dog!"
"Knock that off or I'll bite you."
The boy retreated his hand with a frown, "You mangy mutt!", as Jérémie chuckled behind him.
Aelita snapped her fingers in realization, "I think I know what happened. During the virtualization, Ulrich's body and mind got separated."
"Is that why you two couldn't localize him on Lyoko?" Odd asked.
"Yes," Jérémie explained, "because it's not Ulrich who's there. It's just his inanimate body, his corporal envelope, which doesn't give the same signal. Knowing this is a huge relief."
"It is," Aelita agreed. "Since we have no classes today, Jérémie, you and I will head to the factory and track down Ulrich's body." She knelt to Ulrich (Kiwi's) level. "We'll have a way to put you back together, hopefully, by this afternoon."
"Okay," Ulrich replied. "That gives me some time to see what I can do to save my future."
"Stay in Kiwi's body for now," Odd suggested to him. "I need to get my notes from our room first, but we can head over to the review together."
"Okay." He then made Kiwi leap into Odd's arms.
The purple-loving blonde waved goodbye at the two Einsteins as he left the room, "Good luck."
"You too," Aelita replied.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi had forced herself to wake up today. She didn't want to, but Mr. Delmas had warned her that if she skipped one more class, it was academic probation for her. So she didn't really have a choice.
As she was getting dressed, her phone rang, and she picked up, rather dejectedly, "Hello?"
"Yumi," it was Aelita, "I have good news. Ulrich's alive."
The Japanese girl immediately perked up, "Alive?! That's great! Where did you find him?!"
The pink-ette giggled with mild awkwardness, "Funny story, actually. We found him when he discovered that he could possess Kiwi."
That threw her off. "Huh? Kiwi? And what do you mean by 'possess'?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Aelita explained. "During the virtualization, Ulrich's body and mind were separated. His body is still on Lyoko—Jérémie and I are heading to the factory right now to run another search—but his mind is in the form a spectre-like ghost, so he can possess living beings. At the moment, we've told him to stay in Kiwi, so it's easier to keep track of where he is."
Yumi was honest, "A bit weird, but we should be used to it by now. Can you put him back together?"
"Yeah. We need to find his body first, though, before we can figure out how. How many classes do you have today?"
"Just one—photography," Yumi replied. "Why?"
"Well, because if an emergency pops up," Aelita said, "Odd won't be able to get out of the academic review easily, I'll need to stay at the controls, and Ulrich is a no-go for obvious reasons. You'll be the only one available to help Jérémie, but I know that one more truancy from you will give you academic probation."
"Don't worry about it," Yumi said. "If you need me, I'll show up."
"Okay. Thank you."
"Good luck," the elder said, before hanging up.
Her heart was soaring, despite knowing the possibility of an emergency today. There was still hope. That alone made academic probation worth it.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich (still in Kiwi's body) watched as Odd gathered up his notes for the review and placed them in order of the page numbers he had written at the top of the pages, before placing them in a folder and then putting that folder within his drawstring bag. The two were in their shared room, and had been for the past thirty minutes.
"Alright, good buddy," Odd said, "it's showtime. You ready?"
Ulrich leapt off his bed, "Yeah. Let's do it. I trust you to defend me."
"Yeah, no pressure," the blonde rolled his eyes as he knelt down to Ulrich's level. "I'll do my best, but there's another roadblock that we need to see is willing to be our ally. Laura—our beloved class representative. She'll be focused on how our classmates are doing academically, while I'll be focused on how they're doing mentally. Those are our roles, so she may be against you this time."
"Noted," Ulrich sighed, dejectedly. "But isn't that why she chose you as her deputy?"
"Yeah," Odd confessed, "and that's why I'm not really worried about her. Out of everyone who will be at the review, she's the one most likely to take what I plan to say about you seriously. So again, I'll try my best, but I can't make any promises about the outcome."
"That's fine. I'm ready." And he was. He trusted Odd with his life, and had done so multiple times.
Odd opened his bag, and Ulrich (as Kiwi) leapt inside. The brunette (in spirit) felt his roommate sling the bag over his shoulder after closing the top. The blonde then walked, walking downstairs, before he opened the door to the dormitory building. Then he heard a girl's voice.
"Hey, Odd." It was Laura. "Are you ready?"
"Yep, all set. My notes are in my bag," Odd replied. Ulrich could tell, though, judging by Odd's miniscule trembling, that he was actually nervous. He was just really good at hiding it.
Odd kept walking, but Laura's voice did not fade, indicating that they were walking together.
"Um, Laura, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"What do you plan on saying about Ulrich?" Said brunette tensed up, almost fearing the answer.
But Laura continued to surprise the group. "The truth—that his grades may be low but he is genuinely trying his best." A brief pause. "You, him, Jérémie, and Aelita have a important project you guys are working on, don't you?"
"U-Um," Odd stuttered, "m-maybe."
"Don't worry," she reassured him (and Ulrich), "I won't tell anyone. I mean, there's a reason you guys are keeping it a secret. I don't know how else to describe it without more details, but that's the gist of it, isn't it?"
"Y-Yeah," Odd replied, keeping calm, to his credit. "And it will be much harder to complete it if any of us are placed in remedial classes. I asked about Ulrich specifically because of, y'know, yesterday."
"I know, and I will try my best to keep his spot in his current classes, but I can't make any promises. After all, we are just two children in a sea of adults."
There was nothing in her voice that indicated a future plan to betray them, and the group in general knew that she could keep a secret. So Ulrich relaxed. One roadblock down.
"Thank you, Laura," Odd replied. "From him and me both. Now," he opened a door, "it's showtime."
Translation: We've arrived at the administrative building and it's time for the review.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
In the basement of the science building, Jim stood outside with the twelfth grade class, "Now, may I remind each of you not to spend too much time in the darkrooms printing your photos, since the darkrooms are for everyone to share. Nobody owns the darkrooms! I remember when I was a top reporter. We had to develop our prints fast, while bombs were falling!"
"Bombs?" Christophe M'Bala asked. "Were you a war photographer, Jim?"
Jim nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Yes, but...I'd, uh, rather not talk about it." He cleared his throat. "Alright, now, assignments."
There were four darkrooms in total, with sixteen twelfth grade students. That meant that eight students were to stay outside while the other eight used the darkrooms. Yumi was one of the eight students that were assigned to use the darkrooms first, and she was paired up with William.
Not the end of the world...
William closed the door as she moved the tray over. He then walked past her to cover up the windows with their black-colored curtains, saying, "You know, I had another weird dream last night."
Instead of dodging his questions, she had instead chosen to be the friend he considered her to be, telling him that she did know but that she couldn't tell him the truth until the time was right. He had accepted this, as long as he knew she was willing to hear him out. And she was.
"What was this one about?" she asked.
"Well, it's kinda fuzzy," he seemed unsure, debating on what to say and when, "but there was this giant computer in this huge room, like a factory, you know?" So, he was dreaming of the lab. "And then both you and I were on this bridge, fighting against some guy who was doing these wild acrobatics."
Her eyes widened at the description. That was the time the factory was in danger of being blown up. "Can you remember anything else?" How could he remember that? A Return in time was launched!
Was it because he had consented to having his mind wiped?
"No," he admitted, "and again, everything is a bit fuzzy. But it was just a dream, right? It certainly felt like it. A weird dream, but a dream nonetheless."
They couldn't hide this from him forever. In that moment, Yumi planned, later at lunch, to remind the group about William. "Y-Yeah," she replied, before changing the subject. "Anyways, let's get started on our photos."
William nodded right as her phone rang.
She picked up, "Yes, Aelita? What's going on?"
"Yumi, I've got good news and bad news," the pink-ette said. "Good news: Jérémie and I have found Ulrich's body in Sector Five. The virtualization was technically successful."
She smiled, "That's great, on both fronts! So what's the bad news?"
"Ulrich's body seems to be...moving on its own."
"Isn't that normal?" she asked. That was what human bodies did after all. Move.
"No. Without Ulrich's mind, it shouldn't be doing anything," Aelita explained. "Jérémie suspects that it's XANA's doing. He's about to head to Lyoko to investigate. Odd still has the review, and Ulrich is still, y'know, disembodied, so that leaves you, Yumi. Better get over here as soon as you can."
Yumi protested, "But if I skip class one more time, I'll be placed on academic probation!"
William opened a window curtain and stepped away from it, "I don't know what's going on, but it sounds like an emergency. Get out through here." He motioned to the window.
Yumi blinked in surprise, "And Jim?"
"Leave him to me," he winked at her. "With this being a darkroom and the door locked for precaution, a little gaslighting and he won't notice a thing. Just don't be gone for too long, okay?"
"Why are you going through all this trouble for me?" she asked. She herself was constantly dodging his questions about his dreams, with the group having gaslit William many times in the past.
William shrugged, "You're my friend. That's all I need to know. Now, are you going or not?"
Yumi placed her phone back up to her ear, "Aelita, I'm on my way." She then hung up and climbed out through the window.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Laura and Odd felt awkward sitting at the table with most of their teachers. The only teacher not present was Jim, and that was because he was heading a photography class for the twelfth graders.
Mr. Delmas sat at the head of the table, "Welcome, everyone, to the eleventh grade academic review. Miss Gauthier, Mr. Della Robbia, we are counting on you two to give us the students' perspective." Odd nodded in affirmation, and beside him, Laura did the same. "Very well, if everyone is ready, let us begin. Let us address the student case files in ascending alphabetical order, for simplicity's sake. Starting with Abulabbas, Sorya."
While Odd was paying careful attention, putting his all into making sure the teachers knew which students to keep their eyes on, he noticeably perked up when he heard the second name on the list.
"No changes to Miss Abulabbas," Mr. Delmas said. "Let us move on to Belpois, Jérémie."
"All is well," Mr. Fumet said, with the other teachers nodding in agreement. "His focus has increased since I sent him to Hans's office. I am no longer concerned, at least not as much as I was before."
Mr. Hans Klotz, the school psychologist, understandably took the floor here, "I concur. He has visited me every Saturday afternoon since then. They are appointments, yes, but he seems to enjoy our sessions. I think it's because they give him an unbiased outlet."
Mr. Delmas nodded, before turning to the two students in the room with him, "Gauthier, Della Robbia? Anything to add?"
Laura shook her head, "No, sir. Everything in my notes has already been said."
It was Odd's turn, "He's getting better. We always make sure he's aware that we're there for him, and that he takes a break so he doesn't burn out. He's far from healed, but we're keeping an eye on him." It hurt him to say all of this, because it was the truth.
Mr. Delmas, "Very well. No changes to Mr. Belpois, then." He wrote something down on Jérémie's file. "And since the appointments appear to be working, we shall keep them up for the for the time being." Mr. Klotz nodded in agreement. "Let us move on to De Vasseur, Magali."
Magali was struggling in Chemistry, so she was being given a tutor in that subject. No other changes.
The next name on the list was, "Next up, Della Robbia, Odd."
Odd motioned zipping his lips shut, "I won't say anything, to keep out my own biases." He and Laura had the same agreement with her as well. When it got to her turn, she wouldn't say anything and he would have the floor.
The headmaster seemed amused as he continued, "Very well. Does everyone agree that Della Robbia has remarkable potential, and that he is lazy as the day is long?"
The teachers nodded as Laura spoke up, "He's excels in art-related subjects," Chardin and Mirti both nodded here, "and I have noticed that he has made a lot of progress in physical education. The other students are no longer afraid when it's his turn at the javelin, and he's stopped dropping the shot-put on his toes."
Odd shot her a playful glare, which she returned with a teasing smile, as Mr. Delmas replied, "Alright, I'll make a note of that in his file..."
Meanwhile, still hidden inside of Odd's bag, Ulrich (in Kiwi's body) struggled to stifle his chuckles.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Virtualization!"
Jérémie and Yumi landed side-by-side in the Mountain Sector, before standing up and taking off towards the edge of the sector. They were reaching a wide and flat plateau when Aelita called out to them.
"Watch out! Three Megatanks are appearing in front of you!"
The two stopped in their tracks in time to see those three mentioned monsters virtualize in the middle of the plateau they were approaching.
"Why does XANA want to stop us from searching Sector Five?" Yumi asked, as she instinctively stepped in front of Jérémie.
"Take a guess," Aelita replied. "Ulrich's body is now inside the Core Chamber. One moment, he was walking through the vast corridors, and the next, he's phased through a wall somehow. Jérémie, is that possible?"
"Yes," he replied, keeping his eyes on the trio of Megatanks in front of him. "It takes a lot of energy, but it's possible, by using the Keys to temporarily rearrange the wall's coding to that of the tower walls. Now, what's his body doing in the Core Chamber?"
The middle Megatank opened up and fired its wide laser at the duo, but both leapt to opposite sides to successfully dodge it.
"Well, there's only one reason," Aelita answered, "and your intuition was right, Jérémie. The first shield layer has just taken a thirty-point energy hit!"
Translation: Ulrich's body had indeed been taken over by XANA, and now it was using him to destroy the Core.
Yumi unsheathed her twin fans. "We have to hurry past these pests! We can't leave the Core unprotected!"
But Aelita's next warning made them freeze, "I think XANA has other ideas! Jérémie, behind you!"
Said elf slowly turned around, already feeling that all-too familiar magnetic field. Sure enough, the Scyphozoa was descending from the sky.
Yumi, seeing he was in trouble, attempted to run towards him in order to slice the monster's tentacles off before it could grab him, but another Megatank laser cut off her path.
Jérémie was forced to back up, jumping over a tentacle when it shot out at him, only to stop when his heel eventually stumbled upon the edge of the plateau. He glanced back to watch a pebble that he had inadvertently kicked fall into the Digital Sea below, before turning back to his greatest fear.
He formed a bow and fired a couple of Energy Arrows, both of which the Scyphozoa dodged easily before smacking his hand before he could completely form a dagger.
It then promptly grabbed ahold of him, ready to get to work.
And thanks to the trio of Megatanks, Yumi couldn't do anything to help him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Next up is Schaeffer, Aelita," Mr. Delmas announced. Ulrich felt himself get nervous. After Aelita, he was next. "This shouldn't take long."
"Same as Belpois and Miss Gauthier," Mr. Fumet said, "all is well."
"I agree," Mr. Chardin added. "She is a model student, excelling in all areas."
"Yes," Ms. Hertz said, "I think that everyone would agree with me when I say that she is an exemplary student. In short, she never makes a mistake."
In class, maybe, Ulrich thought. But concerning Lyoko, it was a lot of trial and error with her. She did make mistakes; she just didn't broadcast them to the world.
Odd cut in on behalf of his cousin, "I'd lessen your expectations there," thinking the same thing as Ulrich. "She tries hard to make sure it's her best, like everybody else."
"Noted," Mr. Delmas replied, making a note in her file. "Next student, Stern, Ulrich." Said brunette immediately tensed up, knowing what was coming. The headmaster got up from his seat, "Anyone care for some turnip-and-leek soup? Afraid that's all there is today."
"I think we have a serious problem," Mr. Fumet was deeply frowning.
"Yes, this is scandalous!" the principal took his seat, a bowl of soup on the table next to him. "They could have left some sort of variety, like tomato-and-pumpkin or vegetable, or even just coffee!"
"I was referring to Mr. Stern," the history teacher corrected.
"He has simply stopped working! He does absolutely nothing at all!" Ms. Hertz narrowed her eyes, upset. "His grades are terrible! At best, as far as I'm concerned, I recommend he be transferred down to eleventh grade remedial where he has a vague chance of catching up!"
Odd immediately cringed on behalf of his friend.
"Right," Mr. Delmas stopped sipping his soup. "So, is everyone in agreement?"
The teachers either all nodded or murmured words of agreement.
But Odd immediately stood up, "I do not agree at all!"
The boy was breathing hard as the headmaster replied, "Go on, Mr. Della Robbia. You have the floor."
All eyes were on Odd as he began to rant, "You guys can't make a decision like that based only on his grades. Yes, they're far from excellent—I'm not denying that—but to go from there to saying that-that he doesn't lift a finger is an awful lot to assume! And don't forget that you guys were–" He cut himself off.
"We were what?" Mr. Delmas gently asked, urging the boy to continue.
"That you guys were once kids just like us," Odd finished. "Remember how much your emotions affected your work at school? Who in this room can say that they have never felt lost? Never had problems with their parents? Never had girl or boy problems? Every single student suffers with issues that affect their work—that is why you guys need Laura and me here, right? To tell you what's actually going on underneath the surface?"
Jérémie missing his parents, who were currently lost within the internet. Aelita under so much stress to make sure that XANA didn't succeed in its goals. Ulrich trying to withstand the pressure his father always put him under. Yumi under stress to keep her family safe and in the dark about her secret activities, on top of her parents' recent marital troubles. And Odd himself trying with all his might to make his parents behave like actual parents to him.
He felt tears pool up his eyes as he continued, "As his roommate, I know that Ulrich lives under the most pressure than anyone else I know, and the one applying that pressure doesn't care for anybody but themself. I wish that was an exaggeration, but it's not, because I've met that person." And Ulrich would always regret that. His friends didn't deserve to be in that spotlight with him. "Ulrich is trying his best, and he's promised us to straighten out. Knowing all of this, do you guys still think that he doesn't deserve a second chance?"
Odd found himself surprised to see Chardin actually tearing up. Beside him, Laura added, "I second that, and I would like to add that Ulrich is engaged in class. He pays attention. It may be the school's testing methods that drag him down."
"Well, from that point of view," Mr. Delmas softly said, rubbing his chin, "then we might want to reconsider his case."
This was met, to Odd's growing relief, with mutters of agreement.
Then, Ms. Hertz sighed, "Very well. We will leave Mr. Stern in his current classes."
Ulrich mentally cheered. Yes! He wouldn't be forced to leave!
"But he better not waste this chance," she warned. "If he doesn't shape up, I'll ship him out."
A heavily-relieved Odd gave her a grateful smile, "Understood. Thank you. I know he'll appreciate this."
He did, Odd, Ulrich thought, don't worry.
His roommate's phone, inside his bag, then buzzed with a text, as Mr. Delmas continued, "Let us move on to Suares, Thierry."
It was a text from Aelita, reading, 'S.O.S. XANA'.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi and William were the last two people of the first group of eight. Jim stared up at the red light over the door that indicated the room was in use. "What are they doing in there? What's taking them so long?" he asked himself. He then knocked on the door, "Ishiyama, Dunbar, come on!"
Inside, William was wetting the prints. "We're almost done, Jim! Wait'll you see the prints! They're fantastic!"
"I'd love to, but you gotta hurry up, you hear?!" Jim said. "What are you doing in there anyway?! Open up!"
"We're working on the contrast," William replied. "You know how important the contrast is. I mean, you know better than we do. If we open up now, we'll lose everything!"
A pause, before Jim asked, "Hey, Ishiyama! Why are you leaving all the talking to Dunbar?" William immediately froze up. He paused briefly as he thought of what to do. "Ishiyama, answer me!"
William put on a falsetto voice, "I'm right here, Jim. I guarantee you that they'll be worth waiting for. William and I are making some incredibly beautiful photographs."
"Uh, okay, but hurry it up, will you?"
"We will, Jim!" William answered in the falsetto voice, before breathing a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness Jim bought it. But hopefully Yumi would be back soon.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi jumped up and threw a fan while in mid-air. Her weapon hit its target, destroying it. Two megatanks were left, but she was too late. The Scyphozoa quickly finished its work, dropping Jérémie to the ground.
The elf glanced back at the geisha—the eye of XANA replacing his blue pupils—before taking off towards the nearest way tower.
"Aelita!"
"I know," the pink-ette replied. "You have to go after him! We can't lose the Mountain Sector!"
Yumi was already running after Jérémie, only to be cut off by a Megatank's laser. She turned to face them, being reminded that there were two left. "I don't think XANA agrees with that."
The Mountain Sector was in danger of being deleted, while the Core was in danger of being destroyed, with Ulrich's body in danger of being virtualized forever.
Talk about between a rock and a hard place...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita was scared as the lifepoints of the first shield layer were rapidly decreasing. Hope, however, arrived in the form of the elevator doors opening, revealing Odd and Ulrich (in Kiwi's body) both hunched over and catching their breath. They seemed to have run the whole way here.
"'Lita," Odd was panting, "we're here. Sorry, they wouldn't let us leave until the review was done."
"You guys got here in the nick of time," Aelita replied, turning back to the screen. "We're in a huge jam. XANA has possessed Ulrich's body and is using it to attack the Core." An alarm sounded in this moment, and she gasped, "And the first shield layer just blew. XANA has also just possessed Jérémie, and Yumi's busy trying to stop him from destroying the Mountain Sector. So, Odd? Devirtualizing Ulrich's body falls on you. Now, I've run twenty-one dry runs since finding Ulrich's body, and they were all successful, but I'm still afraid of sending you directly to Sector Five..."
"We don't have the time," Odd interrupted her. "Send me anyways. You said you've tested it twenty-one times?"
"Yeah," she confessed, "what happened to Ulrich actually helped me perfect it. It should work this time."
"Then, let's test it out," Odd said, with Kiwi-Ulrich in his arms as he crossed over to the ladder. "Send me."
"But, Odd–!"
He cut her off, winking, "I trust you, cuz," before climbing down the ladder.
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves before saying over the comm, "Okay. Ulrich, you need to leave Kiwi's body now. Wait in one of the cabins, and the moment your body devirtualizes, I'll fuse you back together. Okay?"
"Okay," he said, before leaving Kiwi's body. The dog was left disoriented and shook his body. Since he was a ghost, he felt comfortable telling Aelita, "Just don't mess it up this time, Miss Einstein," when she could not hear him.
"Your turn, Odd. You ready?"
The blonde was standing in one of the cabins. "Ready."
"Okay, here we go," she sounded nervous, and he didn't blame her. "Transfer Odd." His scanner doors closed. "Scanner Odd." Wind burst up from the bottom, engulfing him. "Virtualization!" He felt his body pixelize. This was it...
And it reformed in mid-air. He dropped down onto a virtual ground. Specifically the Sector Five Arena.
He automatically smiled, "You did it, Aelita. I made it."
"I know!" she exclaimed in utter relief. "I can see you on the holomap! Thank goodness! Now head for the Core Chamber! We're running out of time!"
The passage in front of Odd opened right as she said that. "On it!" he replied, as he took off in that direction.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi managed to destroy the second Megatank with both fans as Aelita spoke up, "I'm back to you now, Yumi. How are you doing?"
The geisha was now running away from the third Megatank—she had an idea—as she answered, "I'm too far behind Jérémie thanks to these bowling balls."
"I'll send you the Overwing," the pink-ette said.
Once she reached the edge, Yumi then leapt over it and caught the edge before she could fall in. The third and last Megatank couldn't stop itself in time to prevent itself from following her. It fell over the edge.
But as it fell, it opened up and fired its laser one last time. It didn't hit Yumi, but it did slice off the pathway she was using to hold on.
As a result, the piece of ground began to fall towards the Sea as well, taking Yumi with it.
A burst of light shot up to signal the Megatank's deletion, but Yumi was lucky to have help, as her fall was broken by the virtualizing Overwing.
Relieved, she got to her feet, "Thanks, Aelita." She then piloted her vehicle back to the actual ground of the Mountain Sector, going down the path Jérémie was taking. "How close is he to that way tower?"
"A few hundred meters away," the pink-ette replied. "If you hurry, you can still catch up to him."
"I'll try my best," Yumi muttered, "but no promises."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd flew the Overboard directly into the Core Chamber, not even bothering to press the mechanism to summon the stairs. It was yet another way he was trying to save time here.
Sure enough, like Aelita had warned, XANA had taken over Ulrich's body, and it had reprogrammed his katana to shoot out green energy like a wizard's wand, which it was using to destroy the Core. One shield layer remained, and according to Aelita, it was only at half power right now.
Odd interrupted XANA's work by firing several Arrows at his friend's body. He continued to ascend, using the Overboard, as a Manta that had joined the attack redirected its attention at Odd. But the cat destroyed it with a single Arrow before it could fire a single laser.
He jumped off his vehicle right before it hit XANA-Ulrich, knocking him to the ground, his katana landing a few meters away. Odd landed on a nearby platform below, but he quickly reached the platform XANA was standing on, landing in front of him.
"Triplicate!" XANA muttered.
Two clones appeared, but one was quickly destroyed by the Overboard while Odd took out the other one with an Arrow. He then tried to shoot the real Ulrich, who sped around him and retrieved his katana, before sprinting back up to the cat and kicking him off the platform.
Odd didn't get back up, leading XANA to assume that he had been devirtualized. So it puppeteered Ulrich's body—enjoying the rush it was getting using one of the Lyokowarriors to destroy the Core of the world they were trying so hard to protect—to resume the energy beam. It was almost there. The second shield layer was almost done...
But the AI's hopes were dashed by an Arrow hitting Ulrich's forehead. It was forced out of his body as he was devirtualized.
Odd used his claws to climb up back onto the platform, before he winked, "We're okay, 'Lita."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi's heart sank as she finally spotted Jérémie very near the entrance of the tall circular rock wall that surrounded the way tower he was heading towards. One final burst of speed put her in front of Jérémie just in time. Now, she was hovering in front of the tower, looking down on Jérémie, the eye of XANA reminding her that this was not her friend.
"Don't do it, XANA!" she shouted.
The AI narrowed Jérémie's eyes, before it took off into a sprint, making a break for the tower. She jumped off the Overwing, throwing a fan in the process, only for him to dodge it simply by ducking.
She landed and turned back in time to see him enter the tower. "NO!" she cried out, horrified. "I'm sorry, Aelita. I was too late...don't forget to bring us in."
"Already on it," was all the pink-ette said.
They had officially lost the Mountain Sector. There was nothing else she could do...
Jérémie reached the top platform, and walked towards the center, where the interface greeted. XANA had a twisted, evil smirk on Jérémie's face as it had him log in.
JEREMIE_
CODE_
XANA_
It had done it. It had succeeded in destroying the four surface sectors.
Yumi watched in horror as the tower began to disappear. Jérémie fell from the top, and she ran up to him the moment she saw him. "Jer, are you okay?!" she asked.
"I'm fine." Though he sounded like he wanted to cry. "But the sector's going to disappear..."
The geisha turned around to face the path leading away from the tower, and was sad to see it fading away already. "Aelita...?"
The ground beneath the two faded, and the two began falling towards the Digital Sea. But they never felt the impact of the dangerous water, as they had been materialized just in time.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
A reintegrated Ulrich greeted the two on the other side. Yumi and Jérémie, once they laid eyes on him and his smile, both engulfed him in a hug.
Though surprised at their passion, the brunette quickly eased himself into the embrace. "I'm okay. I promise. Man, it feels great to have my body back."
"We thought you died," Yumi muttered, crying tears of joy and relief into his shoulder.
Behind them, a second scanner opened up to reveal Odd, and immediately joined in on the hug. Aelita quickly followed, climbing down from the lab using the ladder, and in no time, the group was once again complete.
"I'm sorry, Ulrich," the pink-ette was whispering. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, 'Lita," he softly told her. "I forgive you, because my hardships helped you finish your research."
She nodded with tear-filled eyes. He had helped her, by refining her program, ironing out the bugs that she had feared would pop up.
"I'm just glad you're okay," Jérémie muttered, crying freely now that he was able to. "I'd rather let XANA destroy Lyoko a thousand times over than see any of you dead." Because they were his family now, his last remaining support system. "The Mountain Sector is gone," no thanks to him, he felt, "and now XANA can attack the Core at any time, and we'll be stuck here, with nothing we can do to stop it."
But he didn't know the good news, they realized. Aelita caught his attention by stroking his cheek, "Yes, the Mountain Sector is gone, but there's still hope. I virtualized Odd today, directly into Sector Five."
Yumi and Jérémie both turned to her, surprised. She had succeeded?
"Yep," said purple-loving blonde replied, cheerful. "And I'm still here. It works."
"So the struggle goes on," Ulrich finished.
Aelita nodded, determined, "XANA's not rid of us yet."
"There's still hope..." Jérémie muttered, with tear-filled eyes.
"There's still hope," Yumi repeated. "In that vein, we forgot about last night's proposal. I agree. After what's happened today, we don't really have a choice. All those in favor?"
The resulting vote would change the course of their journey forever...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jim was picking the lock now. "Dunbar, Ishiyama, I'm gonna open up this door right now, ya hear?! And don't think I can't do it! I used to be safecracker! I-I mean a locksmith!"
He then busted down the door using his shoulder and fell onto the floor. The photos flew off their posts on the walls.
"We told you not to come in, Jim!" William said. "Now, you've ruined my—I mean, our pictures!"
Jim noticed the significant lack of Yumi, as he got to his feet, "Ishiyama? Where is she?"
"Right here, Jim." The two males turned to the door, which Yumi revealed herself to be hiding behind. To her credit, she sounded annoyed, "That's so uncool for our prints. We worked really hard on them!"
Jim could only duck his head in embarrassment. After muttering out an apology and a promise to let them make it up at a later date, he left, leaving the two teens alone.
Yumi offered William a grateful smile, "Thanks, William. I owe you one."
"I take it everything went well."
"Well," she averted her eyes, as she remembered what just went down on Lyoko, "the emergency's been resolved, if that's what you mean. Now, I have a way of paying you back, if you want it."
He held up his hands, as if telling her to hold on, "I just want answers to the questions that you say you can't answer right now. But I'm okay with waiting for them."
"Well, wait no longer," She was smiling at him. "I have something better than answers."
He just raised an eyebrow at her in confusion.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi had taken William to the courtyard, where the other four were. There, Jérémie had explained everything to him—about Lyoko, about William's so-called dreams, about XANA. Basically, the truth he was looking for.
"So then, you're saying that my dreams...really weren't dreams?" William asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the back of the bench they were sitting on.
"That's right," Jérémie nodded, confirming.
"It really happened? Are you sure?"
"We are," Yumi replied. A pause. "We know it's a lot to take in."
"It is," he agreed, "but, correct me if I'm wrong, I rejected your initial invitation because I wanted you guys to trust me. So, knowing that you guys are coming back to me means that I have succeeded. Right?"
"Yep, that's right," Ulrich nodded. "And we really need your help."
"So, what do you say?" Aelita asked.
William paused, clearly thinking about his decision, before revealing it. "I accept."
He and Jérémie promptly shook hands as a form of agreement.
TO BE CONTINUED_
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 44 - Final Round / As William prepares for his first official mission as a Lyokowarrior, the others see issues in their personal lives boil over into their Lyoko duties.
A/N: Again, the grades are based on the French system (1-20), rather than the English system. And what all was said about Jérémie at the academic review is information to keep in mind going forward. Yes, XANA's attacks are putting pressure on his grades, but so is the situation with his parents.
Needing to use it in the heat of the moment (aka: an emergency) seemed like the best way to celebrate getting virtualized directly into Sector Five as the milestone that it is. In canon, the reveal is offered as a hope spot after the Mountain Sector is destroyed, but I feel like it's not as impactful that way. Season 3 is a rather dark season, after all, with the group fighting a losing battle, and they know that. Jérémie managing to find a way of virtualizing directly into Sector Five is one of the only two moments that turns the tide in the heroes' favor (the other: Franz Hopper finally being found, but we'll get to that in the next chapter).
And I'd like to think that using Ulrich's body and powers to destroy the Core, rather than with monsters alone, is what gives XANA the idea to possess William in 'Final Round', given how close it was to destroying the Core. Therefore, that's the case here.