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
Another Note: Other influences/inspirations for this chapter are "Down to Earth" (William's parents visiting), "Exploration" (a Lyokowarrior's parents being concerned about their recent behavior), and "Dog Day Afternoon" (opening scene only). I didn't list them below, only "A Lack of Goodwill" because that's the main one, but the others are still noteworthy.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"William is visited by his parents, who have some questions about his recent behavior and grades."
Episode 59: An Eye For An Eye
(Based on A Lack of Goodwill)
Today, the twelfth and eleventh graders had their respective phys. ed. classes back-to-back. Her younger guy friends were just emerging from the locker rooms and joining Aelita and Sissi when Yumi took her mark, with William, Christophe M'Bala, and Emmanuel Maillard at her sides, all stretching. Jim finished writing down the times of the previous four students on his clipboard, before resetting his stopwatch.
As the four crouched down on their marks, Ulrich whispered, "Go on, Yumi!"
She sent him a smile in gratitude for the encouragement.
"Go!" Jim announced.
The four students all took off. Yumi found herself falling behind, but she pushed harder and managed to overtake Christophe and Emmanuel. Jim carefully monitored his stopwatch as the four runners crossed the finish line.
Yumi crossed first, "Yeah!", her arms raised in victory, with William close behind her.
Jim was smiling, pleased, "Very good time, all of you!" He sighed, dreamily, "That reminds me of my youth, when I was a track sprinter."
The four runners were stopped now, all catching their breath.
"You...were a sprinter...Jim?" Christophe asked, breathless.
"I even beat a world record in my brother-in-law's garden! But it was never recorded, so I'd rather not talk about it." Of course. He turned serious again, "But speaking of times, Dunbar, you got weights tied to your feet today?"
William glanced up, confused, "Wha...?"
"Your run just now was thirty-seven seconds behind your average time," Jim explained. "It's as if you were lagging behind today."
"Sorry," William replied. "I'll be back to normal next week, I promise."
Jim didn't respond to that. Instead, Sissi stepped forward, eyeing him closely and worriedly, "You look completely lost, William. You okay?"
Rather quickly, along with a forced smile, he answered, "I'm fine. Just lost in thought."
Hervé also stepped forward, "Is that so? What could you be thinking about that would affect your running time like that? A secret, perhaps?"
Yumi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Way to make your digging obvious, Hervé.
"Uh-oh!" Odd whispered to his friends. "Trouble at twelve o'clock!"
"None of your business, Pichon!" Ulrich promptly snapped. "Why does it have to be a secret? He could just be concerned about his grades for all you know!"
Before Hervé could retort, Jim blew his whistle. "Alright, that's enough! Twelfth graders, that's it for today! Eleventh graders, get on your mark! Move it!"
With this, the two classes switched. As their friends took their spots on the bleachers—the four students who Jim had called out on their marks instead—Yumi and William joined their classmates in heading back to the locker rooms. On the way there, Yumi looked at William a little closer.
He did seem a bit distracted today. And by his own admission, it was because his thoughts were being occupied by a topic that was clearly bothering him. Not too much, though, because he was responding, with very little delay.
"You wanna talk about it?" she asked him, her voice low to avoid anyone overhearing and butting in.
"Not right now," he replied, his own voice just as soft as hers. He also sent her a small smile, obviously hoping to reassure her. "At lunchtime, I promise."
"Okay."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Later, at lunch hour, Odd and Aelita sat opposite each other at the group's chosen table, leaning in and looking cheekily competitive.
"It's a question of reflexes," Odd told the pink-ette. "You gotta trust your instincts."
"Anything you can do, I can do better," she playfully retorted, "oh dear cousin of mine."
"Wanna bet?"
She took up his challenge. "You're on."
Odd placed a fork down on the table in front of him, the prongs facing him, before placing a walnut on the opposite end of it. "Okay, watch and weep!" He then slammed his fist down on the pronged end of the fork, launching the walnut into the air. He quickly caught it before it could soar over his head. "Like I told you! My Odd-like sixth sense defies all imitation."
The others (sans William) laughed, as Aelita placed her own fork on the table.
"Okay, show-off. Now admire my Aelita-like sixth sense." She placed a mandarin on the fork and slammed her fist down on the pronged end.
Yumi ducked out of the way as the mandarin flew past her face. Odd watched with a wide smile, and Aelita a worried look, as the fruit soared over to the next table and landed in a plate of mashed potatoes on Hervé's tray, splattering it everywhere, but especially on the aforementioned green-sweatered geek.
Mashed potatoes now all over his arms, chest, and face, Hervé stood up, "Who did that?!" Nicolas and Naomi were both laughing at him. "Hey, shut up!" They didn't.
At the Lyokowarriors' table, everyone but Aelita and William laughed.
"Oops..." Aelita muttered.
"You win, hands down!" Odd exclaimed, laughing. "Even with my instincts, and at the top of my form, I could never match that! I've taught you well, young grasshopper." He then began munching his walnut.
Yumi turned to William. "So what's up?" He glanced up at her, snapping out of some kind of daze. "You said you'd tell me at lunchtime," she reminded him.
"Unless you don't want to talk about it," Ulrich quickly stepped in. "It's fine if you don't. We're just worried because it's obvious that it's distracting you."
William sighed, "I guess I should tell you guys, in case the distracting bit interferes with Lyoko missions." He paused. The others, here, noticed the sorrow in his eyes. "My parents called me yesterday, after classes, like they do every week. This time, though...I had forgotten it was my mother's birthday. I guess the fight with XANA and catching up on homework because of it have taken up so much of my time lately."
"Well, given how we're constantly fighting for our lives," Aelita softly cut in, "it's only natural that other things slip to the back of our minds. Especially since the fight is picking up now that we've destroyed two of XANA's Replikas at this point."
"I-I know," William replied, "but I still feel guilty about it. Not to mention, my parents have been really worried about me lately, and I don't really know what to do to convince them that nothing's wrong." He sighed again, "It's just a big mess. I don't like lying to them."
Jérémie finally spoke up here, "I think...I think you should sit out the next few Lyoko missions."
William immediately turned to the blonde, surprised at the notion, "What?! Why?"
"Because you have to win back your parents' trust in you," Yumi cut in, making it clear that she agreed with Jérémie. "I've been in your position before, Will. At one point, my parents became worried about me because I always came home late and lied about my whereabouts. I managed to give them a explanation that didn't mention Lyoko at all, but that came with a brand new set of rules that I have to follow. Trust me, being benched may not be what you want to do, but it is what needs to be done."
He couldn't deny that. "But what about tonight's mission? You guys sure you can handle this new Replika without me?" The superscan had picked up a new Replika last night.
"We'll try our best," Ulrich replied. "And it's not forever. Just until your parents' worry subsides."
"And we'll keep you updated," Odd added, with a smile. "We promise."
William finally managed a smile of his own, albeit a small one.
"Listen, William," Jérémie softly cut in, "the last thing I want is for any of you to sacrifice your personal or family lives because of this." 'Because of me' is what he meant to say, though, and they all knew that. "Just consider it, okay?"
Not to mention—something that was being left out on purpose—was that the others actually had parents, however bad or good they may be. But Jérémie didn't. He may not have been an actual orphan, but his false identity as 'Belpois' was and his real identity as 'Périn' felt like he was. And he didn't want that for his friends.
"Okay."
The conversation ended at a perfect time, as Jim approached them here. "Dunbar, come with me. The headmaster wants to see you."
William shared a confused glance with his friends, but promptly obeyed.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," Jim reassured him, as the two entered Mrs. Weber's office. The woman just acknowledged them with a nod, before resuming her typing on her computer. "You just have visitors."
"Visitors?" William repeated. "But I'm not expecting anyone..."
"We figured," Jim shrugged. "They told us it was a surprise visit." He then knocked on the door to Mr. Delmas's office, and subsequently opened it after hearing the principal's response.
William immediately froze up in surprise at the sight of his visitors. A man with black hair and a woman with dark green hair, both wearing crimson shirts and familiar to him, where standing in front of Mr. Delmas' desk.
James and Lisa Dunbar—his parents.
"Papa? Maman?" he asked, stunned. "W-What are you guys doing here?"
Lisa stepped forward, "To visit you." Her smile faltered, "Are you not happy to see us?"
"Of course, I am," William quickly replied. "I just wasn't expecting you." He forced a smile, "But seeing that you're here in person, I can give you your gift." He had gone out yesterday, after their call, in order to get one. He had planned on mailing it, though.
His mother's smile widened, as James stepped up, "Well, that's good, because we're here to celebrate your mother's birthday. The three of us are going out to dinner. We know it's a day late, but we didn't want to leave you out of the festivities."
William's mind was going back to the earlier conversation with his friends. He needed to win back his parents' trust in him, and to do that, he needed to focus less on Lyoko and XANA, and focus more on his parents. This was the perfect chance, so he took it.
"Thanks for thinking of me. I can't wait."
Besides, he hadn't seen his parents for a while (because they lived in Scotland), since summer break at least (about three months), so what harm would it do him to catch up with them?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"That's good!" Odd exclaimed, he and the others trying to cheer William up. "We were just saying how you need to focus more on your parents, so this is the perfect chance!"
It was later that afternoon, after classes. The six were in William's room, watching him wrap his mother's gift. He had just explained to them who his visitors were and the reason for their visit, being the first time he was able to do so (he had to return to class when Mr. Delmas let him go).
"That's what I thought, too," William replied to Odd, as he tied a red ribbon around the small gift-wrapped box. "I just don't know why I'm so nervous."
"Are you perhaps afraid of things going wrong?" Yumi asked, trying to help.
"Or XANA attacking?" Ulrich added.
"Not really," the eldest boy shrugged, before checking his watch. He had a few more minutes. "It's more along the lines of how my parents are acting. They save the birthday celebrations for when I'm home. They rarely ever bring the party to me. Whenever they do, it's because they have news for me or have an important question to ask me."
"In that case, prepare yourself for them asking about your behavior lately," Aelita gently advised. "Remember, you were telling us at lunch at how worried about you they've gotten."
William turned to Yumi, "What excuse did you use to satisfy your parents?"
Yumi's face went red, before quickly glancing over at Ulrich. William's confusion went away, though, when she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I told them I was in love with Ulrich." Oh. No wonder.
Classic. Ulrich and Yumi being afraid to admit their respective feelings for each other out loud. It would never get old.
William did her a courtesy by not repeating any specifics, "And that still works for you?"
"Yeah," Yumi replied. "Probably because it's still true. I didn't give any names, but I didn't have to."
Jérémie had been quiet up until this point, seemingly deep in thought, "Aelita, I'll handle the controls this time." This seemed to bring mild surprise to the others.
"For tonight's mission?" She asked. He nodded in confirmation. "But what if XANA activates a tower on the Replika?"
The first Translation from the Forest Replika was their trial-and-error phase. Jérémie remained at the controls, while Aelita piloted the Skid. But since the Skid wasn't a relay for virtualization (yet), only devirtualization, Jérémie didn't have any way to transfer himself over to take care of XANA's tower on the Replika. From that point on, the group agreed to have Jérémie in the Skid's pilot seat on Replika missions, just in case, despite Aelita being the more experienced fighter.
So for Jérémie to make an exception here spoke volumes.
"It's more dangerous for XANA to activate a tower on the real Lyoko," Jérémie swiftly explained, "when William will be isolated. If XANA does attack him tonight, I'll be close by to take care of the tower before he gets hurt. If I'm stuck on the Replika, I may be too late."
He had two good points there. With the Replika towers, they knew that XANA had planned a counter-attack to their Translation. With the real Lyoko towers, they never knew for sure what its goal was.
Plus, William would have no back-up tonight. With Jérémie at the controls, he would be the closest to a partner that William would have.
Both of those was why Aelita relented so easily, "Okay. Just be careful. With you alone in the lab, we won't be fast enough back-up if XANA attacks to knock you out and bring you to Lyoko."
"I know," the blonde replied, as he reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out his closed laptop. He then handed the device to William, "Keep this on you at all times. If XANA does attack you, you'll have some forewarning."
"Okay," William nodded, taking the laptop. He then placed it and his mother's gift into his own shoulder bag, "Good luck, guys. Hope XANA doesn't give you too much trouble."
"Oh, you know us!" Odd exclaimed.
William chose not to dignify that with a response, just gently rolling his eyes in amusement.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
In the courtyard a few minutes later, the other five waited under the arches as they watched William reunite with his parents, his bag slung over his shoulder and a permission slip from Mr. Delmas in his jacket pocket. After exchanging a couple of greetings, the trio left via the front gates.
Meanwhile, in the sky, the sun was just beginning to go down. Which meant, it was mission time.
"Shall we go now?" Odd asked the others.
"Yeah, let's go," Aelita confirmed, before leading the others to the park passage.
Their determination to give William as much time as they could lingered in the air.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
William's transporter spot being empty was really weird to see. Usually, all five spots were filled, no matter who the main pilot was. It had been almost three months since they recruited him (and almost one month since they recruited Sissi), and they had all been fighting XANA a lot longer than that (a little over two years now), but doing these missions without him now felt strange.
"Ready to go?" Jérémie asked, over the comm. When he got no responses, he continued, "Okay. Energize!"
Light engulfed all four of them, teleporting them to their respective Navskids, with Aelita in the main cockpit.
Odd pumped his fist in the air, "Replika, here we come! Watch out, XANA! Odd's on his way! The best, the greatest, the handsomest, the mean, lean XANA-wrecking machine!"
"'Lean' sounds right," Ulrich playfully retorted. "I don't know about the rest. Don't forget who saved you from the Digital Sea last time."
The support arms retracted, releasing the Skid.
"And who took out those two Megatanks with talent and style? It was Odd. Odd, the magnificent! Hey, I like that. 'Odd the Magnificent'!"
Unseen by the others, Jérémie just smiled in amusement at their bickering. Meanwhile, the Skid lifted off.
"I got devirtualized thanks to Odd the Lame-o," Ulrich's irritation was clear. "It's thanks to me that you made that kill."
"My, my, aren't we being sensitive today?" Odd teased, leaning forward to look out the side of his window at his roommate. "Listen, if you want to be a hero, I can give you lessons. But not everyone has the right stuff. The main thing is staying humble."
"Which you are not."
As the Skid left the hangar, Yumi cut in, annoyed, "Is that all you boys can talk about? Everything boils down to 'I'm the greatest', 'the most-something-or-other', 'the most insert-thing-here', 'you can never beat me at whatever'." She scoffed, "Give me a break!"
"Yeah!" Odd replied. "It's true that Ulrich is pretty insert-thing-here, and quite something-or-other! The greatest, on the other hand? Uh, no. I don't see it. That's because Ulrich isn't humble enough to admit that he can't even hold a candle to me! Even though he knows I'm better and can never beat me at whatever."
"Ha, ha, very funny," Ulrich shot back. "Okay, 'Odd the Magnificent', let's check out the results at the end of the day."
Aelita cut in, exasperated, "Hey, can you two cut the hot air and let me concentrate, please?"
"Hey, Odd's the one who started it," Ulrich defended himself, as the angel piloted the Skid through an open tunnel.
They emerged out into the Ice Sector. Aelita then ran her checks.
"Stabilizers, online and checked. Primary access, clear. Laser generators, online. Okay, we're good to go."
The Skid plunged towards the water before diving in.
"Holoweb system, online," Jérémie announced. "Aelita, I'm sending you the Replika's coordinates now."
"Coordinates received," she replied. "we're on our way."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The restaurant was a small family-owned Italian place. William had discovered it through Odd—who highly recommended it—and he loved to take Laura here (they were not dating, shut up!). He had, in turn, recommended this place to his parents, who knew he loved Italian food, and he was glad they had listened to him and decided to try it out.
After they had sat down, and the waitress had taken their drink orders, the trio was reading their menus. William didn't have to study it for long; he already knew what he was going to have. So he simply closed his menu and set it down, before waiting for his parents to decide.
"Is this place okay?" Lisa suddenly asked him.
The boy raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"My choice of restaurant," she elaborated. "Is it okay with you? I mean, you still love Italian food, right?"
James was closely watching him, as if studying his reaction.
William immediately shot his mother a reassuring smile, "Of course, I do. I mean, I told you all about this place because I love it so much. I just hope that you like it, Maman."
Strange. Why did his mother phrase her question like that? And why was his father studying him so closely? Why did it seem like they were unsure of his likes and dislikes? As his parents, they knew said preferences better than anyone. They had raised him, after all.
He had to ask, "Maman, you did choose this restaurant because you wanted to try it yourself, right? Not because of me?"
Her response was genuine, "It's a mix of both, Willy." He knew because of how calm she was.
Even if he didn't like the pet name.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Skid approached the entry portal to the Replika found by the superscan last night.
"Replika, straight ahead," Aelita announced. "My improvements on the superscan are definitely effective. I found it within a micro bit."
"Yeah!" Odd exclaimed. "XANA better watch out! It can't hide its other Replikas from us anymore!"
Aelita stopped the Skid outside the portal and switched it to vertical mode. She then scanned her hand on the touchpad, "Digital Key, activated."
A beam of light shot from the Skid to the portal. Jérémie immediately got to work in decoding the password.
"Yeah, your localization program works like a charm, Aelita," Yumi said. "First the Mountain Replika, and now this one! At this rate, we'll be able to wipe XANA out in no time!"
The light beam disappeared with Jérémie's submission of the decoded password, and the gate opened.
Aelita shrugged as she maneuvered the Skid inside, "Oh, it was easy. All I had to do was reconfigure the course of the alternate algorithm based on the data that we recovered from the Forest Replika." The first one.
"Sounds simple to you, Miss Einstein," Odd replied. "But it's all Greek to the rest of us."
Aelita just rolled her eyes in amusement.
"Still only one sector," Jérémie cut in, as the Skid broke the surface of the water. "This time, it's the Desert. Hope you guys remembered your sunscreen."
The ship flew up from the water and rose above the platforms.
"Tower at eleven 'clock."
"I see it," Aelita replied, as she steered in that direction, flying the Skid over a canyon.
"Good," Jérémie said. "Dock the Skid while I activate the tower for the Translation."
"It's as good as done!" The angel flew the Skid over to the neutral tower and pressed her hand on the touchpad, "Docking." The ship was now moored to the tower.
A couple seconds later, the halo turned from white to green.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
William's parents questioning his preferences continued on well into the evening. And it really concerned him. Why were they asking about them so much?
"Oh, it's wonderful, Willy!" his mother exclaimed, as she wrapped the gift he got her—a scarf—around her neck. "I love it! I wasn't sure if you would..."
Shopping for Lisa Dunbar was easy once you knew how fashionable she liked to be, whether she was going out for a walk, just lounging on the couch, going to work, or going to a formal event.
But she had trailed off for a reason. And now she was looking as if she'd almost said too much.
"I'm glad you like it," William casually replied. "But you weren't sure if I would what? C'mon, you can be honest with me."
There was an immediate tense silence between his two parents. They shared a knowing glance, both with concern in their eyes, and it only made William more curious as to what they were hiding from him.
His father cut in here, "She wasn't sure if you would remember what she liked." What?! Why would he forget?! "And to be honest, I wasn't sure either."
"Why? Because I forgot her birthday?" William asked, preparing himself for the inevitable as his stomach sank into nervous butterflies. "I've just been busy lately, that's all."
Truth. He just neglected to add what he was busy with.
"Well, truth be told, son," James continued, "that's what set it off. We used you forgetting as the excuse to finally come down here and get the truth out of you."
Yep. Here it came. The questions of what he'd been up to lately. The questions about the things that were making them so concerned about him. It was too soon! He'd hadn't thought of a decent excuse yet, much less a good one!
"You were given a second chance at Kadic," Lisa explained, "after getting expelled from your last school, but lately, you've been late for a few classes here. Sometimes, you forget to call us every Sunday night. Your grades have been suffering as well. And just last night, yes, you forgot my birthday when you normally don't. So you can see why we'd be so concerned about you, and why it feels like we suddenly don't know you anymore."
Oh.
William couldn't deny any of that, so he didn't. He just kept quiet as he tried to think of an excuse that was as closest to the truth as he could make it.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd sat on the cables of the tower the Skid was moored to, casually throwing rocks at nothing in particular. Ulrich was nearby, leaning against the cables.
"Too bad the girls have been Translated already," Odd began. "They won't be able to admire the exploits of Odd the Magnificent. Just wait until the monsters show up, good buddy. You'll be weeping with jealousy over my classiness!"
Ulrich rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, I'm not the only one that has to save your neck."
"Hey, come on! Don't you start on that now! I don't need rescuing as much as Jérémie does!"
"Yes, you do, Odd," Jérémie cut in. The cat's response was a faux-betrayed expression. "Your impulsivity can get you in a concerning amount of trouble at times. But you two should save your strength for XANA. Aelita and Yumi's Translation was successful. They're currently in New Mexico."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
In the desert of New Mexico, USA was a military base. Yumi and Aelita peeked over the top of a rock and then glanced at each other. The geisha got to her feet and ran over to a nearby gatehouse, pressing her back against the wall. She glanced around the corner and smiled at how empty the facility appeared to be.
"Looks like a military base," she quietly muttered, in case she was wrong. "With no one here, finding the supercomputer shouldn't be too hard."
"You're right, Yumi," Jérémie replied. "It is a military base, and it's obviously been abandoned. I hacked the network and managed to dig up a plan of it, so I can guide you." Aelita joined Yumi as they entered the compound side-by-side. "I think I found it. In front of you, on your left. At the foot of a hangar, there's an elevator that will take you underground."
"On our way," Yumi said. She turned to the angel on her left, "This place is really weird. I wonder if we're in Area 51..."
"You mean, the base at Rosewell?" Aelita asked, with an amused smile on her face. "The one with all those aliens supposedly? No, it wasn't the same at all."
The pink-ette starting running to the elevator, leaving Yumi standing there looking surprised. But she soon ran after her friend, quickly catching up, "W-Wait a second! How do you know what Area 51 looks like?"
"I don't!" Aelita laughed. "I was just kidding!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich was standing in front of the tower, with Odd in a cat-like crouch. They two looked up, and Odd got to his feet when they both noticed a group of Hornets flying out of the canyon.
Odd walked forward and took aim, "Here comes the welcoming committee!"
"Right on time!" Ulrich exclaimed, unsheathing both of his katanas. "It was getting rather quiet."
"Oh, I concur," Odd replied. "On your mark...get set..."
The Hornets started firing. The boys to either cartwheeled side to avoid the lasers. Ulrich stopped and blocked some shots with his katanas, before the Hornets flew over his head.
"Hey! He didn't say 'go' yet!" the samurai called out after them.
Odd was now in a crouch. He shook his hand and then aimed at the monsters, "Wow! Not very polite little beasts." He fired an Arrow. "Didn't even introduce themselves!" The Hornets dispersed, avoiding Odd's Arrow. "Hey, Prince Charming, we could use a couple of taxis!"
"And fast!" Ulrich added.
"Coming up."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
William was remaining tight-lipped, and it was making James and Lisa even more worried. The reason for his recent behavior was apparently a big secret. What could possibly be going on that he couldn't confide in his parents about it?
"William," James stressed, "tell us. Now." If being strict was the way to get answers right now, then so be it.
"Please, we're worried," Lisa added. "At least tell us what we can do to help!"
"You can help by dropping the subject," their son snapped. Both parents backed off slightly, surprised by his answer, as well as how annoyed he seemed to be. "You guys can't help with this. Trust me. It's something I have to do myself."
He was leaving so much out, and here, they realized that it was on purpose.
"Why can't you tell us what's going on?!" James demanded, getting ready to use the threat of pulling him out of Kadic and moving him back home to Scotland.
"Because it's not my secret to tell! I'm doing this to help my friend, but he made us promise not to tell anybody else!"
The following silence, as James and Lisa digested that, was interrupted by an alarm. And it was coming from...William's bag?
More alarming, however, was the fact that upon hearing the sound, their son immediately tensed up, as if expecting an ambush for a threat far more powerful than him...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie was in the process of bringing up Ulrich and Odd's vehicles when his typing was interrupted by an alert from the superscan.
"Uh-oh! Just what I was afraid of! Activated tower in the Forest Sector!"
"Vehicles first!" Odd replied, in the midst of battle. "Any news from William?"
"Not yet." Out of nowhere, the scanner status window opened, showing a scanner being occupied. "What's going on? How come I got an activated scanner? Did anyone just get devirtualized?" But he hit 'enter', bringing up the respective windows for the Overbike and Overboard.
"Wasn't me!" Odd denied, running over to the Overboard after taking out a Hornet. "Why leave when it's just getting interesting?"
"It wasn't me, either!" Ulrich added, taking out two more Hornets on his way to the Overbike.
"Strange. The girls are still Translated, too."
"If it's not us, then who is it?" Ulrich asked.
"I have no idea, but knowing a tower is activated, it can't be anything good..." Jérémie softly replied, bringing up the camera feed for the scanner room.
The window opened up on the screen just in time to show a scanner opening. The feed showed smoke pouring out, and when it faded, it was none other than Jérémie's evil twin.
The specialized Clone.
It glanced up at the camera and smiled, somehow knowing that the real Jérémie was watching. Said blonde fell back in his seat in shock.
Frick, frick, frick! "It's the Clone..." he muttered. Without his Lyoko powers, he was essentially powerless. There was no way he could take it on alone.
"XANA materialized the Clone?!" Ulrich asked, partly in shock. "Why? If XANA was smart, it would kindly wait for you at the tower!" And it had, numerous times in the past.
"I-I don't know..." Jérémie couldn't hide how shaken he was. Here, however, a call came in from their missing sixth member. "William?"
"I got the alert," William said. "No sign of the attack here yet, though. I'm just calling to see if you could use my help."
"S-Stand by," Jérémie replied, too afraid to be concerned about his stutter. "XANA materialized the Clone. Now it's in the factory, but I don't know what it's planning."
That news justifiably startled William. "What?!"
"Were you expecting company, Prince Charming?" Odd asked, he and Ulrich able to hear William's end as well. "Did you stock up on canapés, potato chips, soda, magazines for XANA to read or something?"
The window showing the location of the factory lift was open on screen, and Jérémie watched as it went down.
"It's not coming up here," he relayed. "It's going down to the supercomputer! It must have come to destroy it!" In a split second, he made his choice. "William, get to the factory now! I'll need your help!"
"Okay," William replied, before hanging up.
"Better deactivate the tower quick, Jer!" Ulrich said. "If the supercomputer gets destroyed with us inside, then we'll all be permanently deleted!"
"I know," Jérémie replied, before taking out the earpiece.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi opened a door and quickly checked for any nasty surprises. Not finding any but a busy assembly room, she entered the room with Aelita right behind her. The duo walked down a flight of stairs to the main floor, where there were lots of conveyor belts and robotic arms working on building large circuit boards.
Strange. This place was supposed to be abandoned, right?
"What's up with these conveyor belts?" Yumi asked, wanting Aelita's opinion.
"Good question," the angel replied. "What do you think, Jérémie?"
No response.
"Jérémie?"
Still no answer. The two girls glanced at each other, now worried.
Why had they lost contact with Jérémie?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Meanwhile, Odd and Ulrich regrouped in front of the Skid tower, dismounting their vehicles. Unlike the girls, they were aware of the sudden danger.
"We have to get back to the factory," Odd worriedly told his roommate. "Jérémie! Are you there? Can you hear us?"
"There's no need to yell," Ulrich calmly told him. "He's probably trying to figure out a way to keep the Clone busy until William arrives to help him. Besides, we can't do anything seeing as how we're stuck here."
"What are you talking about?! I tell you, we've gotta go!" the cat retorted, impatient and on the verge of panicking.
"I already told you," the samurai replied. "We're stuck here. He hasn't Translated Yumi and Aelita back yet. We can't do it for him from here, we can't join them out there, and we already have a mission to protect the Skid at all costs. So we wait."
"But I hate waiting!" Odd clenched his fist. "There must be something we can do!"
"I know how you feel, Odd," Ulrich said, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "And there is something we can do: defend our position."
He was looking ahead, and Odd followed his gaze. Three Tarantulas were making their way towards the tower.
"Good!" Odd pounded a fist into his other palm. "Thanks to our friends here, at least we won't be bored!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Clone, in its Jérémie mask, stood in front of the supercomputer, watching in delight as it rose up from its cooling chamber. Wisps of smoke enveloped and winded around it, the innards of the machine now exposed.
"I had no idea you were into computers, XANA," came the real Jérémie's voice.
The Clone turned around to see the boy emerge from the now-open lift. The XANA logo flashed in its eyes as it morphed into Aelita. Jérémie paused for just a split second, before rushing towards the Spectre. He leapt towards it, knocking it to the side with his momentum.
Both quickly got back to their feet. Jérémie threw a punch, and then another, but XANA-Aelita dodged both of them with great speed. When he swung another punch, the Clone blocked his hand before throwing him against a wall. Jérémie winced at the painful landing he made.
The Clone walked towards him—menacingly, decided, merciless—morphing into Ulrich on the way.
Jérémie attempted a kick, but XANA grabbed the boy's foot and, spinning around, threw him into a another wall.
The young genius fell down again, dazed, and his glasses landed beside him. He tried to stand up, but he immediately fell back down, wincing in pain. "Ah, my leg..."
So XANA needed him alive, but it wasn't afraid to hurt him. Good to know.
"Too easy..." XANA-Ulrich said, as Jérémie picked his glasses back up and placed them where they were supposed to be. It grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up like he was a wisp of straw. "And now, you're going to witness the total destruction of the supercomputer and the end of your little gang of so-called friends!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi and Aelita continued to study the assembly room, both wondering why it was still in operation despite this facility being supposedly abandoned.
"What the heck is all this?" the geisha asked. "It's like we're in a scene from Executioner 2." She quickly covered her nose. "And it smells like Odd's feet in here."
"What worries me the most," the angel muttered in concern, "is that we've lost contact with Jérémie." Yeah, that was a problem. "We have to find a way to get back to the Skid and then return to the factory."
"You mean, abort the mission?" Yumi asked. "Personally, I think he'd want us to focus on the Replika. Besides, we need to find out what XANA's putting together here."
"Trust me, Yumi, I don't like this any more than you do," the pink-ette replied. "But I can't ignore the gut feeling that he needs our help. Something's wrong..."
And her gut feelings were usually correct. Yumi couldn't deny that; her own gut feelings were usually correct as well.
"I still think we should continue the mission," the Japanese girl said. "But if we do decide to abort, there's only one way for us to get back to the Skid."
"Right," Aelita decided. "We De-translate at the first sign of trouble."
That was a compromise Yumi could get behind. "Agreed."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
XANA-Ulrich still had Jérémie up by the collar, as the boy pleaded with someone—anyone—to help him. As if on cue, the lift doors began to open.
But the boy's attention was completely captured by the Clone, as it growled, "You're lucky I still need you, Périn. Otherwise, you'd be gone by now."
"Jérémie?"
He and the Clone both turned to the now-open lift. Standing there were William and, of all people, his parents. James and Lisa were shocked by what they were seeing, with the woman covering her mouth with both hands, but William's expression immediately turned into anger.
"Get your hands off him, XANA!" he yelled.
XANA-Ulrich tossed Jérémie away, before William ran over and tackled the Clone across the room, slamming it into the wall. Meanwhile, James and Lisa were torn between keeping their eyes on their son and checking on the hurt boy on the floor next to them.
"You're...William's parents...?" Jérémie weakly muttered. "What are you doing here?"
"We're sorry," Lisa said, as she knelt at the blonde's side. "Our son said it was a secret and warned us not to follow him, but we were too curious."
The trio watched as the Clone morphed into Odd before it and William began to wrestle. James and Lisa both took note.
"What is that...thing that he's fighting?" James asked, justifiably freaked out and scared, even if he wouldn't say it aloud.
"A polymorphic clone, controlled by an evil, sentient artificial intelligence," Jérémie weakly explained, as he slowly stood up, leaning on the wall for support.
Something seemed to click the two adults' minds, as Lisa got to her feet as well. "So...the secret he was referring to earlier...it's yours, isn't it?"
"Yes." He then rested his foot on the floor, only to immediately wince in pain and sink back down to the floor.
Great. There was no way he could make it down to the scanner room and deactivate the tower now. He should've just lured the Clone back to the scanners and fought it on Lyoko. He would've had much better odds that way.
But William's parents being here, while not recommended, was a welcome twist. They were his last hope.
"Listen, you guys have to go back up to the computer lab, Level 1. Use the microphone there and tell the others to abort their mission and come back here. Fast."
"Did you say 'the others'?" James asked, as something else seemed to click. Must've been something William said to them earlier. Jérémie just nodded.
Fortunately, Lisa didn't ask any questions. "I'm on it." She backed into the lift and pressed the button to go up.
By the time the lift door closed, William and XANA-Odd were now wrestling on top of the supercomputer. The Clone pushed William off, but he performed a backflip, pulling the Clone down with him to the floor. They let go of each other.
William threw a punch, but missed. XANA-Odd then threw a punch as well, but also missed. Now angry, it then tackled William across the room and into the wall.
"I have to help him," James muttered and ran towards the fight before Jérémie could protest.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Tarantula at the front walked on two legs to shoot at Odd and Ulrich while moving. Odd ducked and covered his head with his hands, as Ulrich divided himself into three, "Triplicate!"
One Ulrich blocked lasers for Odd, another (the real one) deflected lasers for himself, while the third hijacked Odd's vehicle, it and the Overbike on stand-by until now.
"No, my Overboard!" Odd cried out.
Ulrich steered the Overboard towards the first Tarantula. He then jumped off and dive-bombed at it. The monster was destroyed as a result, but so was the clone. The Overboard flew back over to Odd, as Ulrich fused back together.
"Fusion!"
Odd crouched down and rubbed the Overboard, "Don't ever do that without telling me!" He rubbed his fingers together as though looking for traces of dust where he rubbed the vehicle. "I hope you didn't mess up the paint job..."
Ulrich just scoffed, "Bigger issues, bud."
The cat looked up as more lasers flew past them. One of the remaining two Tarantulas was now walking on two legs and shooting. It got back down on all fours, as the boys boarded their vehicles again and flew over the monsters, heading straight for the canyon. The Tarantulas looked up at the Skid, before XANA made the choice to follow them into the canyon.
In the heat of the chase, an unfamiliar female voice cut in, "Um, hello? Can anyone read me?"
Lasers from the Tarantula flew past Odd. "Huh? That you, Prince Charming? What's with that voice of yours? You catch a cold or something?"
A shot hit the Overboard, knocking Odd off as it was destroyed. He went spinning down to the ground, only to land on the back of the Overbike.
"No, uh, it's...it's Lisa Dunbar."
Ulrich glanced up at the sky, "'Dunbar'? You're William's mother?"
"Yes."
"I don't believe it!" Odd exclaimed, as Ulrich weaved to dodge lasers. "What are you doing at the factory?"
"James and I followed William here after his friend told him to come to the factory," Lisa explained. "He didn't want us to, but we were too stubborn to give him any choice."
Ulrich managed to avoid most of the shots, but he couldn't dodge and weave forever. Eventually, the Overbike was hit, and the two boys were forced to bail before they would caught in the resulting explosion. Now, the two were running away from the approaching monsters.
"Well, that's one heck of a surprise!" Ulrich asked, "Where's Jérémie?" A Tarantula chased after him.
The two were nearing the end of the canyon. Once outside of it, Odd turned around and walked backwards as he aimed at the Tarantula chasing him.
"The blonde boy?" Lisa replied. "He told me to tell you to abort the mission and come back right away, uh, whoever you are..."
'Abort the mission'—that was Jérémie's order. Ulrich and Odd shared a knowing, yet alerted glance. Now that they had heard the order, neither felt bad in choosing to leave this Replika standing for now.
William's mother also sounded a mix of scared and concerned. She had clearly seen how bad it was.
"Don't worry, we're on our way!" Ulrich told her.
"Please hurry. My son is fighting...a polymorphic clone..." They figured.
"We will!" the samurai reassured her, before turning to his partner. "Sorry, Odd, but the fun's over. We're going home!"
Odd pulled an akanbe on the monsters (something he picked up from Yumi). "It's your lucky day, Tarantulas! See you later!"
The boys then turned and ran back towards the canyon, running past both monsters and entering the canyon. The two Tarantulas followed, however.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
'...Abort the mission...'
It wasn't Jérémie's voice, but William's mother had relayed his orders.
"You hear that?" Aelita asked her partner. "If Mrs. Dunbar is in the factory, then we've definitely got a problem. Let's go."
"Roger that," Yumi replied, before stepping back and pulling out a fan.
"On three," Aelita began counting down, as she formed an Energy Field. "One, two..."
A few seconds later, the two both appeared inside the Skids, in their respective cockpits, unconscious.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd and Ulrich ran out of the canyon and over to the tower as quickly as they could.
"Yumi and Aelita might have Translated back by now!" the samurai suggested as the two came to a stop at the base.
Odd cupped his mouth, "Yoo-hoo! Anybody home!"
Ulrich was suddenly shot in the ankle, and he cried out at the very brief pain. The two boys turned around in time to see that the two Tarantulas had just left the canyon. One of them was getting back down onto all fours.
"Those jerks!" the cat exclaimed. "They stick to you like glue!"
The other Tarantula stood up and started shooting. Odd shot back as Ulrich unsheathed his katanas.
Meanwhile, inside the main cockpit, Aelita slowly began to wake up. Once her green eyes were open, and she remembered where she was and what was going on, she straightened up, "Yumi, wake up."
The geisha was startled awake here, "Huh? What?" She then remembered, "Oh, right. Jérémie's in trouble." Glancing down at the ground below, she saw Ulrich and Odd defending the Skid tower. "The boys are here. Do they know?"
"If they don't, we'll tell them," Aelita replied. "Odd, Ulrich, we're almost ready to take off. I just need to get the two of you back on board first."
Odd ran towards a Tarantula and flipped over it. In mid-air, he fired an Arrow and destroyed it.
"I read ya, cuz!" the cat called out to the samurai. "Ulrich, come on!"
Ulrich was blocking lasers with his katanas. "Coming!" He briefly glanced back as he said this, though, giving the last Tarantula the chance to devirtualize him.
"Good luck, Ulrich. Keep Jérémie safe," Aelita whispered, as she typed in a command on the keypad, "Embarking Odd."
Odd backed away from the Tarantula, tail swishing in agitation. He suddenly vanished, teleporting back to his Navskid.
"Okay, everyone's on board. Next stop, Lyoko!" Aelita announced, pulling her joysticks.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie watched as the Clone (still in its Odd mask) kicked William in his chest, sending him flying back. However, James quickly stepped in, tackling the Clone against the wall. XANA struggled against the man's hold, but he was too strong. Seeing this, the AI chose to turn into its spectre form and snaked away.
James watched the spectre fly up through the hole on the ceiling. "Good riddance!"
"It's far from over!" But Jérémie was shaking his head. "It's going up to the lab!" Where Lisa was. "It can still mess with the programming and get rid of the others!"
William tried getting to his feet, only to collapse back onto the ground, holding his chest. Mirroring Jérémie's injured leg, William likely had bruised ribs. Seeing his friend unable to move anymore, Jérémie turned to their last hope.
"It's up to you, Mr. Dunbar. Go up to the lab. You have to stop XANA before it starts doing some real harm!"
James remained for a moment, clearly reluctant as he watched his son crawl his way to Jérémie's side and rest against the wall in a similar manner. However, William gave him a pained nod, and the man made his choice.
"Okay."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Lisa was closely observing the monitor, watching the Skid—represented by a large blue triangle—as it traveled through the network. She wasn't sure what to do except keep the four kids inside the computer company and update them.
"Maman?"
She turned to the familiar sound. Sure enough, her son was there, climbing up a side ladder. She was immediately on edge. "Which one are you: the fake or the real deal?"
"The real one, of course."
She believed him, ignoring the small, lingering feeling that he was lying. She hated doubting her own son. She had her reasons for being so concerned, but he was still her son.
"Let me take over now," he told her, as he walked towards her.
"Okay." Lisa took out the earpiece and got out of the chair.
He promptly took her place, but he ignored the earpiece. Interesting. The four kids inside the computer were, if not his friends, his partners in this big secret of his. After all, once he saw that the blonde boy down at Level 3 was in the hands of this clone, William freaked out.
On the screen was a window, showing three columns (the scanner status window). Her son smirked before pressing 'enter'.
Her suspicions began to grow. Lisa began very closely studying him, not at all caring about the ramifications if this was the real one in front of her (he would understand; she was sure). Physically, he didn't look different at all. If this was the fake, then it was a perfect copy appearance-wise.
She was trembling in fear. It was subtle, but if you were close enough to her, you'd be able to tell. Right now, this William was close enough to tell, and her son would have reassured her by now, tell her that everything would work out. He always was an optimist...
An idea came to mind. She knew how to tell for sure, "You know, I've always hoped that you'd at least be decent with computers. You've certainly grown up; I'm so proud of you. It seemed like just yesterday that you were being expelled for placing stickers all over the school." She'd never acted that convincing before; it kind of scared her.
William chuckled as he brought up another window, "Yeah, including all over the headmaster's car. That's how I was caught."
Bingo. "Actually, it was love notes, not stickers. And you were caught because the girl told her parents, who then complained to the headmaster."
'William' immediately stopped his typing, and his smile faded. He turned to her as she began backing away, now glaring.
"You're not my son," Lisa dropped her purse to the ground. "He would know how he was actually expelled." She then took up a fighting stance, "If you think you're going to wreck everything, you'll have to deal with me first."
The Clone just turned around, smirking, and shot a purple electricity beam at her. Lisa screamed as she flew back into the wall behind her.
"I don't have to deal with you," XANA-William turned back to the computer and resumed typing, "but I do have to wreck everything."
The window it had opened showed the supercomputer. A blue status bar began to drain until it was empty.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich had returned to the scanner, but it wasn't lit up like it should normally be. The door opened only a couple of centimeters, making the brunette frown.
"Gee, thanks for the warm welcome," he muttered. Something was obviously wrong.
He promptly grabbed the doors and began pulling them apart. He growled and sweated as they refused to budge.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
William and Jérémie remained sitting down against the wall as steam began pouring from the base of the supercomputer. An alarm began blaring.
"Um, Jérémie?" William said, terrified. "Tell me that's normal and that everything is actually okay..."
"No, it's not normal," the blonde replied. "The cooling chamber is overheating. Without it, the supercomputer will soon reach a combustible, critical mass."
"We have to stop it."
But the blonde shook his head, "We can't. Not when I can't even stand up." He was mentally beating himself up for choosing to confronted the Clone instead of deactivating the tower.
William was becoming increasingly concerned by the minute.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Skid exited a hub, now back onto Lyoko's network. The moment they arrived, however, the water turned from blue to red.
"Do you see what I see?" Odd wondered.
"Great, that's all we needed!" Yumi rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming.
"Retro-brakes!" The Skid braked to a halt. Shark-like creatures swam past not far away. Aelita took a breath, "I really didn't feel like fishing today." She pulled two of the Navskid levers. "Navskids, away!"
Odd and Yumi's Navskids disconnected and sped towards the monsters. "C'mon, Sharks!" Odd exclaimed. "Have at us!"
The newly-named monsters each fired a torpedo from their mouths. One spiraled towards Yumi, and she spun her Navskid out of the way to avoid it, almost colliding with Odd. The torpedo missed both of them.
"Hey, keep to your right, Miss Old-Enough-to-Drive!" Odd called out to her.
"Sorry about that," she apologized, before the two split up.
The Sharks swam around each other before splitting up as well to follow them. Odd's Shark started shooting at him, and he dodged to either side.
"I've got one stuck to me!" the cat exclaimed. "That's worse than forgetting a candy bar in your jeans during a heatwave!"
"Just another groupie," Yumi joked, "crazy about Odd the Magnificent!" She giggled as she turned her Navskid around and pressed her trigger. "Torpedo!"Two torpedos shot from her Navskid and hit the Shark, destroying it. "Odd, higher up! I can get him..."
"Only because it's you!" Odd dodged two more torpedoes and accelerated. He then turned around and went back the way he came, passing the Shark on the way.
Yumi rushed past him, "Over here, Mr. Shark~!" She aimed and then pressed the trigger again, "Now!" The two torpedoes fired and destroyed the Shark. "Well, that takes care of that! Aren't you tired of us saving you all the time, Odd?"
"Hush up! I don't need that much saving!"
"Enough with the jokes, you two!" Aelita cut in. "Back to the Skid, ASAP! We've already lost a lot of time!"
Odd and Yumi returned to the mainframe as the water returned back to blue.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich had managed to pry the scanner doors open slightly, but there was still a ways to go. He growled loudly as he got the doors open just widely enough to him to slip through.
He stepped out of the cabin and the doors immediately shut behind him. He laid down on the floor to catch his breath and regain his strength.
That took a lot out of him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Skid surfaced into the Mountain Sector, the real one. As Aelita piloted upwards towards the dome that was Sector Five, she announced, "Jérémie, we're back on Lyoko. Do you read us?"
No response. From anyone that may have been in the lab.
She flew the Skid through the tunnel and back into the the Skid Hangar via the hole in the ceiling. "We're starting the docking procedure."
The ship moved into position. The support arms closed around it and locked into place with a glowing blue lock image on the Skid's shield (this part was automatic). After typing in the command, Aelita, Odd, and Yumi appeared on their respective teleporter spots.
Aelita turned to the other two and shrugged, "Jérémie's still not answering."
"Neither is Mrs. Dunbar," Odd added. "Well, there aren't a whole lot of ways to devirtualize ourselves." He aimed at Aelita.
"Again?" Yumi asked, as she took out a fan and aimed it at Odd.
Meanwhile, Aelita formed an Energy Field in Yumi's direction. "On three..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
XANA-William chuckled as it watched the supercomputer's temperature changed. The scanner status window showed all three scanners being activated.
"Ah, the cavalry is finally here," it amusedly commented. "Only too late, as usual."
"Wanna bet?!" The Clone turned around to see James Dunbar emerging from the lift. "We'll see about that!"
"Be careful, James," Lisa weakly called out to him. "We're no match for it."
James approached the Clone, aware that it had his son's form, as the lift door closed. XANA-William just smirked and chuckled. Its victory was practically secured...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich was now on his knees, though he was still recovering. All three scanners began to open. Yumi and Aelita stepped out of two, while the third's (Odd's) doors started and stopped instead of opening smoothly. Once they were open, he stepped out with his hands on his hips. By this time, Ulrich was back on his feet.
"What'd you do to my scanner?!" he accused of his roommate.
Ulrich rolled his eyes, "Not my fault. Someone's messing with the controls."
"No time for small talk!" Yumi interrupted, she and Aelita already next to the closed lift doors.
Right. They had aborted the mission for a reason.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Jérémie, are you okay?" Aelita's voice was heard from the monitor. "We're all in the scanner room now."
"It's now six against one!" James demanded, addressing the Clone. "Just give up!"
XANA finishing setting up a delayed virtualization and got out of the chair, chuckling. James held his fists up, ready to fight. But the Clone just ignored him and ran over to the side ladder, jumping down to the scanner room.
Just as it left, the lift opened up once more, revealing Yumi, Aelita, Ulrich, and Odd all ready to fight.
"It's you guys!" Lisa exclaimed, hopeful. "You're William's friends!" The ones she saw inside the computer.
James ran over and crouched next to the trapdoor, the one the Clone escaped through, "Go on and run away, you wimp! Go back to where you came from! You touch my son again and you'll have to face me!"
During this, Aelita had rushed up to the monitor and was now sitting in the chair. The virtualization timer counted down as the supercomputer's temperature was heating up. She began typing, seeing the damage that had been done.
"The Clone set up a delayed virtualization. It's going back to Lyoko." The superscan showed the Forest Sector tower being released from XANA's control. "It's gone. The tower's back to neutral control. But the problem is that it's managed to cut the cooling system."
Yumi turned to William's parents, "Are you two okay?" James knelt next to Lisa to check on her.
"We're fine," Lisa replied.
"Can you fix it, cuz?" Odd asked the pink-ette.
Aelita finished typing. The supercomputer's temperature was now dropping. "Yep. Don't worry. I managed to stop the process in time."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
It was a few minutes later. The chaos had died down, and Jérémie and William had been fetched from the supercomputer room. Back in the lab, Yumi and Ulrich tended to William and his injured chest (he indeed had some bruised ribs), while Aelita and Odd helped Jérémie into the chair.
"So you've been fighting against XANA for how long?" Lisa asked. William's parents had begun to ask the group questions like the concerned parents they were.
"A little over two years," Jérémie answered, feeling it right that he answer their questions. It was his secret after all.
"And when did William get involved?" James followed up with this.
"A couple months ago," the blonde boy replied. "The fight was getting too intense for us, so we needed someone to help take some pressure off."
"How often does this happen?" Lisa asked, her worry clear.
"It happens all the time," Odd cut in, his arms crossed. "We fight XANA almost every day."
"Odd," William warned.
The purple-clad blonde shrugged, "What? You said they deserved the truth." And the others agreed, seeing how willing they were to help fight against XANA.
James and Lisa shared an alarmed glance with each other.
"You really face danger like that every single day?" James asked, sounding as if he was unable to believe it. The teens understood that.
"If you want someone to blame for all of this," Jérémie solemnly replied, "then blame me. My parents and I are the ones responsible for creating XANA and setting it free. Just know that William is an amazing friend and a huge help."
This brought a smile to said friend's face, as he was touched by those words.
Lisa placed a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder, "We're not looking for anyone to blame, don't worry. We're just asking because that's what responsible parents do."
"It also takes a lot of courage to actively stand up to your mistakes like this XANA," James added. "Especially if it's endangering other people. Keep on fighting. We're just not sure if we want our son involved..."
That was the last straw for William. "Nope! Not letting you two entertain that thought for another minute!" He understood his parents' concern for his safety, but he wanted to remain in the group, for many reasons. "Jérémie?"
"On it." He promptly pressed the 'enter' key. "Return to the past now."
The world was immediately engulfed in white.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Time rewinded to earlier, when William met up with his parents in Kadic's courtyard for dinner.
"Hey, Papa," he warmly greeted. "Hey, Maman. I'm all set." He tightly clenched the strap of his shoulder bag. Like before, Jérémie's laptop was resting in there alongside his mother's gift, just in case.
"Good," James replied, making a move towards the front gate. "Shall we head out now?"
"Not yet," William said. This was it. His excuse. He sighed, "Listen, I know the real reason you guys are visiting me. It's because you're worried about me, right?"
James and Lisa shared a glance before turning back to him. "Yes, it is," Lisa answered. "But with your recent tardiness, your dropping grades, you forgetting to call us every Sunday, and you forgetting my birthday last night...can you blame us?"
"No." William was honest. "I can't. That's why I figured I owe you guys an explanation." Here it was. "I'm still me, still your son. Yes, I've grown up, especially considering what I was expelled for back home, but I'm still William Dunbar. I can't give any specifics, but I'm just going through a rough patch right now. My friends have been helping me, but there's only so much they can do. I'm also half-way through my final year here and I still don't know for sure what to do for university. I was really hoping you guys could help me out with that."
All of that was the truth. He was leaving out Lyoko and XANA, but not once there did he lie. And he felt so much better. Especially after seeing their reaction.
"Of course we'll help you, son," James seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "We'll be more than happy to."
As did Lisa, "And we'll support you no matter what you choose to do."
William's smile softened, "I'm sorry I forgot your birthday."
She grabbed both of his cheeks, "I've already forgiven you, Willy."
He groaned, inwardly and audibly, at the pet name, "Please, don't call me that."
"Too bad. I'm your mother," she sternly told him in a playful way. "I will always call you that."
James chuckled, "Shall we get going?"
"Yes, let's go! I hope you still like Italian!" Lisa told her son.
Still questioning his preferences, but this time, it was in a teasing manner, which he didn't mind. Actually, he much preferred it over genuine concern.
"Yep, let's get going!" William replied, as he turned around and waved at his friends. They smiled back at him, as he began making his way towards the front gate with his parents.
"So," his mother leaned in a bit, "tell us more about this Laura girl."
A blush immediately crept up on William's face, "W-What?"
The others could only fail to hide their chuckles as they listened to the teasing as it faded into the ambiance of Kadic afternoons.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 60 - Superstitions / The Lyokowarriors return to the Desert Replika, only to stumble when Odd's bad luck begins affecting the others.
A/N: William's father is indeed named James in canon, but William's mother isn't. The name Lisa is just one that I've given her at random. Also, we've met the other Lyokowarriors' parents, and what their home life is like; it's only fair that I give William the same treatment. Now, we don't know much about their canon dynamic in a casual sense, but it's widely considered that William has a pretty good home life, given how worried his parents were about his clone's behavior.
XANA activated a tower to send the Clone to Earth here, because it did the same in "Renaissance", and it has to. With William in canon, it didn't need to, because William was human and came to Lyoko via the scanners. However, the Clone here is a XANA-made creation, coming from the virtual world.
The fight between Jérémie and the Clone here was inspired by the deleted scene (like always, you can find it on the .fr website). And levels reached by the lift: 0 is the factory floor, 1 is the lab, 2 is the scanner room, and 3 is the supercomputer room.