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
Note: 'Opening Act' is the most prominent inspiration of this chapter, as obviously shown below in the summary. The other two episodes listed actually border on the subtle side, but are both obvious enough to need to be listed.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"A member of the Subdigitals visits Kadic with a contest that entices Aelita, despite her and Jérémie having work to do."
Episode 46: Differing Paths
(Based on Opening Act, Double Take, & Wreck Room)
One Saturday afternoon, Yumi was leaving her history classroom when she noticed a group of students gathering together in the courtyard. Intrigued, and having nothing else to do today, she wandered over to see what the buzz was all about. Once her gaze settled on William, Odd, and Ulrich all in this crowd, she focused mainly on them.
"Hey, guys," she greeted. "What's happening?"
"Mr. Delmas has an announcement for us," William explained. "He told us this morning at breakfast that he'd tell us after today's classes were done."
Well, today's classes were over, and the headmaster himself was currently positioned in front of a locked door. "Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please!" Once he had it, he continued, "Today is the grand opening of the recreation room you've all been waiting for."
The crowd immediately cheered in excitement. The rec room had been requested early last year. Now, it was evidently coming to fruition.
Mr. Delmas cleared his throat, obviously not done yet. "This recreation room, though mainly for the boarding students, are also for day students. It was designed for relaxation. You will have at your disposal a foosball table, in addition to a table for ping-pong and a television set."
The crowd of students all smiled, clapping and cheering.
"Alright, quiet down, please," the headmaster continued, "Remember that, with privileges, come responsibilities, meaning taking care of the rec room, and that responsibility begins today with the election of a monitor to supervise its use. Any volunteers?"
Odd immediately stepped up, "As the eleventh grade deputy, I think I'm the most obvious choice."
Heidi Klinger rolled her eyes, "Of course you would pick yourself, Della Robbia."
"What's wrong with that?" he asked.
"Nothing, man," Matthew Ducroc cut in, "but are you sure you can handle it? You barely have enough time as things are now."
Yumi leaned in and whispered in her friend's ear, "He's right, Odd. XANA's not gonna give you the time to supervise anything."
Odd's shoulders sunk in disappointment, unable to deny the truth in her words.
Ulrich turned to the crowd, "Odd has receded his candidacy, having just been reminded of his already-filled schedule for the rest of the school year. I would like to cast my vote for Sissi."
Said girl blinked in surprise, "Wait, what?"
"Vote for rec room monitor," William shot her a smile. "I second the notion."
"R-Really?" A light blush began dotting her face. "A-Am I allowed to?" She turned to her father.
"Of course, you are," Mr. Delmas reassured her. "It's not any position on the school board." Not like the class rep position.
"It's a great idea, Sissi," Odd agreed. "We need somebody who's strong and brave, and who knows how to make sacrifices for others. You're the perfect fit."
"Okay," she meekly replied. "If you say so."
Ulrich turned to the other students, "Any objections?" Many people were shaking their heads; no one had any issues with Sissi being elected rec room monitor. After all, it wasn't like there was anybody else jumping in.
"Then, it's unanimous," Mr. Delmas finalized the vote. He then reached into his front breast pocket and pulled out a key. As he handed it to his daughter, he told her, "Do not lose this key, Miss Delmas."
"I won't, sir," she replied, accepting the key from him. The man then walked away, presumably back to his office.
Though, Jim remained behind. "Whenever you're ready, Miss Delmas." He motioned to the locked door.
She smiled, before stepping up to the door and inserting the key into the lock. One click later, the door was open, and Sissi stepped inside, turning on the light before letting everyone else follow her.
It wasn't a special sight, but it was a large room, and the students were marveling in awe. As promised, there was a television set, a foosball table, and a ping-pong table. There were also numerous couches to lounge on.
"Now, I want you all to behave like adults," Jim warned. "Don't forget, this recreation room is under your responsibility." His eyes grazed the ping-pong table, though, and that thought train was thrown out the window. "Whoa! Ping-pong's my favorite game!"
"And he wants us to behave like adults," William muttered in amusement to his three friends. He received three chuckles in return, as the four claimed the two couches in one of the corners (set up in a v-shape).
"We're breaking in this table right now!" Jim exclaimed. "Best of three sets! Who's ready?"
"I am, Jim," Sissi stepped up with a smile, meeting their gym teacher's challenge. "As rec room monitor, it's only appropriate."
"Yes!" Jim returned her smile, fired up. He threw her a paddle, which she caught with both of her hands. "Let's do it! But I must warn you," he said, as the two took their respective places, "I was interstate champion when I was young. I used to be called the 'Killer Racket'!"
Jim was about to serve the ball when Milly and Tamiya suddenly entered the room. "Breaking news!" Milly announced, an excited smile on her face. "Kadic's got a busy week ahead!"
"Read all about it!" Tamiya added, her arms full of the latest edition of the Kadic News.
Jim and Sissi's game went forgotten as, soon, everybody had their own copy of the newsletter. Because, for once, the news Milly and Tamiya had to report was actually newsworthy and exciting. In no time at all, everyone was hunched over a copy as they buzzed over the news.
This was the sight that Jérémie and Aelita arrived at the new rec room to see. Though surprised at the silence (which was rare), they quickly spotted their friends on the duo of couches in the corner, and made their way over.
"Hey, guys," the pink-ette greeted the others.
The four glanced up from their copies of the newsletter to acknowledge their two friends, who sat down in the empty spots, immediately sinking into fabric behind them.
"Hey, Jer. Hey, 'Lita," Yumi smiled. "You two look exhausted, yet accomplished."
"Oh, we are," Aelita replied. "We both spent the past five nights with very little sleep, but the four surface sectors have been recreated, along with the other eight-four towers. Our avatars have all been upgraded as well in order to help us gain a better footing against that clone."
"You really think that XANA will bring it back?" Ulrich asked.
"There's no way it will abandon it," Jérémie softly explained. "Not when it put so much work into it."
"He's right," Aelita agreed, her voice just as quiet. "We both have a gut feeling that won't go away. Anyway, whatever XANA has in store for us, we'll be ready. We still have to work on our virtual ship, though, but we'll start on it after lunch."
"Virtual ship?" Odd raised an eyebrow.
"My parents' idea," Jérémie explained. "They gave us some information about the internet." He nodded towards the newsletters in everybody's hands, "Now, what's going on? Is there actually a little news in the Kadic News this time?"
"Don't tell us you haven't heard!" Odd exclaimed.
"We haven't," Aelita reminded him. "We just got here. That's why we asked."
Ulrich, in response, simply handed his copy over to the two brainiacs so they could read the news for themselves.
"Scoop of the year, Chris coming to Kadic," Aelita muttered, "regional robotics competition, blah, blah, blah...Wait. Chris, as in–..." she trailed off.
Yumi, William, Ulrich, and Odd all nodded at her. A smile immediately broke out on her face.
But Jérémie's reaction was different, "Kadic's looking to enter some students in the upcoming regional robotics competition? That's pretty cool. Should I?"
"Enter the competition?" Odd asked. "Sure, if that's what you want to do, Jer. But your attention immediately skipped past Chris."
"Because I have no idea who Chris is," Jérémie bluntly confessed.
"Chris is the drummer for the Subdigitals," Ulrich explained. "You remember who the Subdigitals are, right?" They had taken him to a concert once, after all.
"Yeah, I remember," the blonde in blue said. "They're your favorite band, all of you." He shrugged, "I just don't see why the hype is necessary. All the article says is that he's coming here to visit his uncle. That's it."
Odd faked a gasp, "Blasphemy! It's Chris from the Subdigitals! He's a celebrity! And he'll be at Kadic today!"
"Jérémie's right, guys," Yumi gently cut in. "Let's cool it. Besides, it sounds like phony scoop."
"Maybe," William replied, "but it could also be for real. And in any case, it raises an interesting and time-consuming brain teaser: who could Chris's uncle be?"
Jérémie rolled his eyes, "I clearly can't stop any of you from focusing so much on this, so I won't. But if I do sign up for that competition, you guys will be there to cheer me on, right?"
He received five reassuring smiles in return. "Of course, we will," Aelita said.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The six left the rec room together, and headed for the cafeteria. Odd was in front of the group, his head buried deep in his copy of the Kadic News.
"If it's true," Yumi asked, "who do you think his uncle could be?"
"Fumet, Chardin, Mr. Delmas," Ulrich listed off. "No, not Mr. Delmas. Sissi could never be Chris's cousin. She'd be shouting it out loud to anyone willing to listen to her."
"What about Rouiler?" Aelita wondered.
"Huh?! Michel Rouiler, the custodian?" Odd exclaimed. "Right, well, in that case, why not Jim?!" He was cut off by a brick wall that he suddenly ran into.
After shaking it off, he glanced up at said wall, which was, of all people, the face of Jim himself. "Well done, Della Robbia. As clumsy as ever. What are you daydreaming about now?"
"Jim! What a coincidence!" Odd nervously chuckled, "We were just talking about you!"
"Gossiping, you mean?" William corrected.
"Hush!" Odd hissed, before turning back to Jim. "Well, it seems that the Subdigital's drummer is coming to Kadic to visit his uncle, and we thought you'd be the first to know."
"Uh, me?" Jim tried to wave it off. "No, what gave you an idea like that?"
"I almost forgot! How stupid of me!" Odd facepalmed. "That's not your style of music at all, is it, Jim? You're more into the oldies."
Jim immediately responded, "Yeah, but I also listen to what you young people are into, and I love the Subdigitals! Those guys are very talented artists, especially my nephew! He's really great!"
The six teens collected gasped at his sudden declaration.
"Hey, I was right!" Odd exclaimed, excitedly. "You're Chris's uncle! I can't believe it!"
"Uh, I didn't say that," was Jim's anxious response, "did I?"
"Uh-huh, you sure did, Jim!" Odd turned around to face his friends. "That's what he said, right?"
Their gym teacher slowly sighed, sagging his shoulders, "Okay, okay, Chris is my nephew, but–"
Odd cut him off, addressing his friends, "Oh, that's amazing! Can you believe it?! Now, that's what I call a sensational scoop!"
Jim cleared his throat, "I'm counting on all of you to not tell anybody. Especially you, Della Robbia." He narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I don't want this getting around."
"I promise not to tell a living soul, Jim," Odd vowed.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
It wasn't Odd's fault. Rumors traveled fast at Kadic. Halfway through lunch hour, Jim found himself being chased by students through the courtyard.
"Jim, please! Give my poem to Chris!"
"I wrote a song!"
"And my drawing!"
"You've got the wrong guy!" he shouted at them, running away at full speed. "I don't know any Chris! I never heard of the guy, you hear? Go away! Away, I say!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
After lunch, an assembly was held in the auditorium to welcome Chris. Sure enough, the scoop was no phony at all. Chris Morales was standing on the stage, his uncle Jim standing next to him as Mr. Delmas took to the podium. Tamiya, meanwhile, was taking photos of their guest.
"My dear Chris," the headmaster said, "on behalf of the entire staff and student body of Kadic Academy, I would like to wish you a very warm welcome!"
The students all cheered as Chris approached the podium.
"The floor is all yours." Mr. Delmas stepped back, as Chris stepped up to the microphone.
The man held up a hand to silence the crowd. "Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for your enthusiasm. As all of you know, I came here to visit my uncle." He turned to Jim, who returned his smile. He turned back to the crowd, "However, there is another reason as well. As you know, Ben, Nico, and I," the other two members of the band, "all came from humble beginnings, with yours truly starting out at this very school ten years ago, and I would not be where I am today had my own uncle Jim not encouraged me to pursue my dreams. That's why, to celebrate five years of being the Subdigitals, we have decided to do a school tour here in Paris to discover new talent, and to develop that talent by giving you guys a chance to collaborate with us on a song at our next concert."
The crowd erupted into silent, yet excited cheers. Friends all turned to each other with gleeful expressions, and the Lyokowarriors (or rather, five of them) were not exempt from this. That was one heck of a way to celebrate a milestone.
Chris continued, "The winner will be given a handsome cash prize of 350 euros. Thanks to the kind authorization of your headmaster, we've organized an audition for this afternoon in your gymnasium. All musicians and aspiring DJs are welcome."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd burst into his room the moment he unlocked it. Behind him, Ulrich and Yumi calmly entered the room.
"Where did it go?!" the Italian boy was frantic as he dug through his closet. "I was positive I put it here!"
"Since when do you actually put any of your things away, Odd?" Ulrich quipped, as he and Yumi stood behind the blonde as he frantically sorted through his things.
"Ha ha, very funny!" He glanced back at them in annoyance. "You know, you guys could give me a hand!"
"We can't help you if we don't know what you're looking for," Yumi gently reminded him.
"My CD demo!" Odd replied, turning back to his digging. "I absolutely have to play it for Chris!"
Yumi's eyes, in response, grazed against Kiwi, who was lounging in his drawer. Underneath his paw was a CD case. "Well, you did put it away," she leaned down and grabbed the CD from Kiwi, "in Kiwi's drawer."
"Really?" Odd asked, snatching the CD from her. A smile immediately broke out on his face. "Yes, that's it! Thank you, my adorable little diggity dog!" He rubbed Kiwi's head.
Yumi just glared at him for the lack of appreciation. It wasn't like her eyes had noticed that Kiwi had it in the first place or anything...
Just then, a knock came to the open door. The trio already in the room turned to the doorframe. There stood William, slightly out of breath and in his hands his own CD demo.
"I got it," he told them, referring to his CD. "You ready, Odd?"
"Am I ever! Glory and fame are just around the corner, good buddy! I just hope not too many kids show up..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Meanwhile, Aelita was searching through her own room as well, though not making as much of a mess as her cousin was. She closed her closet after seeing that it wasn't there. She thought hard for a moment. Where could it be?
She then knelt down and pulled out a box from one of the two drawers within her bedframe. She emptied out the contents of the box onto her mattress and smiled in relief when she saw it: her CD demo, labeled 'Aelita remix'.
"There you are!"
She picked it up and kissed it, before leaving her room. The auditions awaited her. She couldn't wait! Even if she didn't win, she would always regret it if she didn't try out.
As she made her way to the gymnasium, however, a lingering feeling persisted in the back of her mind, the one that was telling her that she was forgetting something...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Glory and fame are just around the corner, good buddy! I just hope not too many kids show up..."
Odd's hopes were immediately dashed when he, William, Ulrich, and Yumi approached the gym. The line leading towards the doors was long. It seemed as though everybody wanted to audition, despite there only being about twelve DJs at Kadic (that is, kids who knew how to DJ and how to party).
"Um, you were saying, Odd?" William asked.
Odd just hummed in disappointment. It would take forever to get through the line. And the more kids in front of him, the more likely it was that Chris would choose someone else.
"Hey, guys," came Aelita's voice. The four turned around in time to see her slip into the line right behind them. "Quite the turnout, I see."
"Sure is," Yumi replied. "Ulrich and I aren't auditioning, though. We're just here for moral support."
"That's alright," the pink-ette reassured. "Chris promised that friends wouldn't be kicked out. He also promised to hear everybody out before making his judgement." She aimed this last part at her cousin, who was visibly sulking at all his competition.
"Easy for you to say," Odd muttered. "You'll probably win."
"And if she does," William cut in, "then she'll have earned it. Good luck, 'Lita."
Her resulting smile was almost blinding. "Thank you. You too."
Ahead of the group was Sissi. In her presence were Hervé, Nicolas, and Naomi. "Chris has to choose my demo," she was saying. "He's got a good ear for talent, and then I'll be the greatest star of all time!"
Odd turned to her in annoyance, and sighed, "I'm sick of waiting. What's more, I'm stuck with this ball and chain!"
She immediately turned around to face him, a glare in her eyes, "Cool it, Della Robbia! You better be nice to the rest of us, or else we won't let you inside our stretch limo!"
She then turned back around to face her friends, and he glanced down at his CD in worry of what Chris would think of it.
"Don't worry, Odd," Aelita tried to reassure him. "Your mix will blow everyone away. You were my teacher, after all."
"Yeah, as long as you don't bust our eardrums," Ulrich joked.
"Could you remind me what friends are for, again?" Odd retorted. "Because I'm starting to wonder!"
He was met with four sets of chuckles.
Inside, Matthias Burel was performing for Chris. As one of Kadic's twelve official DJs, he thought he had an edge. But when he turned off the music, Chris's response was...lackluster, to say the least.
"Thank you, uh, Matthias? Is that right?"
"Yes, sir," the boy replied.
Chris just crossed out the name on his clipboard. "Next!"
Up next was Sissi.
"Hello, I'm Sissi Delmas, the daughter of Jean-Pierre Delmas, the school's headmaster," she greeted him.
Chris just gave her a blank look as Hervé, Nicolas, and Naomi stood behind him with encouraging smiles.
Sissi giggled nervously before continuing, "I'm going to play my best track for you. It's called 'I'm Headed for the Stars'!"
"Okay, Sissi," Chris replied, as he began pouring himself a glass of orange juice. "I hope it really takes off for you."
"You won't believe your ears, Chris!" She inserted the record and the sound that came out was feedback.
It was so ear-shattering that it broke the glass in Chris's hand. Once the nails on the chalkboard disappeared, it was replaced with actual music. Nicolas, Naomi, and Hervé all clapped for her as the man exasperatedly held up a hand to stop the audition.
"Thank you, Sissi..." She was right. He couldn't believe his ears. "Next." He crossed out her name.
"Hey, Sissi! Your stretch limo have a flat tire?" Odd asked, as he entered the gymnasium, while Sissi and her gang walked past him.
"Dork!" she called after him.
Ulrich, here to support Odd, winced. Sissi knew she didn't do well, and Odd (for some reason) just made it worse.
The German boy stood behind Chris as the Italian boy took his place up on stage, inserting his CD.
"Hello, my name is Odd Della Robbia, and I think I'd better explain that my music is a little experimental. Actually, uh, well...pretty different. Well, anyway, you're gonna love it!"
His mix was something informal, very close to his famous 'Break Break Breakdance', and indeed more experimental than anything Ulrich had heard him play. Chris looked dismayed. Behind him, Ulrich was finding it hard not to laugh.
When Odd finished his demonstration, he took off the headphones with a smile of accomplishment, "And there you go!"
"Um, uh...well, um..." Chris had no words. "I..."
"Odd. Odd Della Robbia. And what you just heard is just a little taste of what I can do! I swear I've got lots of other tracks! You wanna hear them?"
"Some other time, perhaps," Chris replied. "Thanks a lot, uh, Odd." He crossed off Odd's name. "Next!"
Odd walked back towards Ulrich, placing down his disc with the others in disappointment. Ulrich escorted him towards the exit in sympathy.
"I was good, wasn't I?" Odd asked his roommate.
"Well, one thing's for sure," Ulrich replied, "you said it was different and you weren't lying."
William entered the gym, with Yumi at his side. The two quickly noted Odd's demeanor.
"I hope you have better luck than me," was all the blonde said.
After sharing a shrug, William took his place up on stage, as Yumi stood behind Chris.
"Hello, sir. I'm William Dunbar. The track I'm going to play is my best one."
He certainly tried his best, but like Odd and numerous others before him, it just wasn't what Chris was looking for.
"Thank you, William." He, too, crossed out his name. "Next!"
After placing his CD demo in the pile on Chris's table, William left the gym with Yumi at his side, crestfallen. As they left, Jim entered the room. He walked up to his nephew, who looked very stressed.
"Hey, kiddo. Have you found your future star, yet?"
Chris sighed, "I'd rather not talk about it, Uncle Jim."
"Don't worry, my boy," the man placed a comforting hand on Chris's shoulder. "There's gotta be a youngster around here with a ton of talent."
"I hope you're right. It's all part of this promotional operation. If we don't bring the record company some new talent, they'll be down on me like a ton of bricks. They've already made us change our name."
A soft female voice interrupted them, "Um, excuse me." Both adults turned to see a pink-haired girl, who was peering into them gym. "Are auditions over? Or would you like to take a break?"
Chris glanced down at the sign-up sheet. There was one more name on the list. He waved her in, "No, no, come on in. You are..."
"Aelita," the girl replied, as she took her place up on stage. "Aelita Schaeffer. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," Chris said. "Whenever you're ready."
She nodded as she put on the headphones. Then the music started and he saw her get swept away in the moment. He would've been impressed by that alone—the other students seemed more interested in impressing him. But not Aelita. That's how he knew she genuinely loved DJing and music.
But that wasn't all. He was becoming increasingly frustrated by the apparent lack of talent among the students, but this music right here? It was perfect, fantastic.
It's what he'd been looking for all day!
The music eventually stopped, though too soon for his liking. He turned to Jim, who quickly understood the epiphany his nephew had just gone through, because he was smiling in encouragement.
Chris turned back to the girl, "Your name is Aelita, correct?" He had a lot of questions to ask her.
"Yes, sir..." She trailed off, though, as if her mind was now on something else. She then placed her CD amongst the pile of others, a horrified expression on her face. "I-I'm sorry, but I have to go!"
To his and Jim's shock, she then ran off stage and out the exit like the gymnasium was on fire.
"Wait!" Chris attempted to stop her, but to no avail.
She was already gone.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The others were standing outside of the gym's exit, waiting for Aelita to finish up her audition.
"And you figure that compared to the rest of the candidates," Odd was ranting, "I've got a pretty good chance of getting picked! Just thinking about collaborating with the Subdigitals gives me the chills!"
"Uh..." Yumi glanced at Ulrich, skeptically. "Odd, there's something we need to explain to you..."
"It's not in the bag just yet," Ulrich quickly followed with said explanation.
"They're right," William added. "And how do you know you'll be the 'chosen one'? It could be me. It could also be Aelita."
Odd huffed, "It's me trying to be optimistic, okay?"
Out of nowhere, the gymnasium doors opened and Aelita ran past them. It caught them off-guard, because she seemed to be in a hurry.
"Aelita?" Yumi called out. "Something wrong?"
But the pink-ette didn't respond, nor did she stop running. She seemed panicked.
Yumi and Ulrich both shared a concerned glance, before running after her. Did something happen in there with Chris? Did she grab the wrong CD demo? Odd and William were hot on their heels, hoping that it wasn't because Chris rejected her...
They tailed her to her dorm, arriving in time to see her open her door before quickly closing it. She didn't acknowledge them as she then took the stairs down one level and repeating the process with, of all things, Jérémie's dorm.
It was empty. And for some reason, that made the pink-ette upset.
The other four were finally able to catch their breath as she leaned against the wall outside the open door, before sliding down it, defeated.
"Aelita?" Yumi asked again. "Everything okay?"
The pink-haired girl rested her forehead on her knees, "No." The elder girl promptly sat down next to her against the wall.
"What's wrong?" William asked. "Your audition didn't go well?"
"No, it went fine," Aelita softly explained. "He was about to ask me some follow-up questions when I remembered that Jérémie and I already had plans this afternoon. We were supposed to be working on our virtual ship together, and I had just remembered that I changed our plans to go to the audition instead. Without telling him..."
Oh. No wonder she was upset. She felt guilty about changing their plans without telling him.
And now they didn't know where he was.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
In the newly restored Forest Sector, pulsations raced away from a neutral tower.
The halo turned from white to a bright red...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Chris was on break outside of the gym, near the back exit (rather than the front). Jim was by his side as the young man held his CD player in his hand, in which was Aelita's CD. The two were intently listening to the various tracks.
Jim was closely observing his nephew's reaction. "Well?"
Chris's eyes widened, as his lips curled up into a large smile. "This is it, Uncle Jim. This is what I've been looking for. Aelita Schaeffer is her name?" He glanced at the CD case, on which were words 'Aelita remix'.
"Yep. She's Kadic's best DJ."
"I can see why. She has genuine talent. I just wonder why she ran out before I could ask her to stay."
"She probably forgot something," Jim explained. "Don't worry, we'll find her."
Inside the gym, electricity sparked by the turntables on stage and a spectre emerged from the mixing board, approaching the two men...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie grabbed a soda from the vending machines, before opening it and taking a sip. The courtyard was unusually empty. Where was everybody? Where were his friends?
But he mentally answered his own questions when he saw Chris Morales, the Subdigitals' drummer, stalking towards him. He had sunglasses on over his eyes and both hands were resting in his pants' front pockets.
Oh. Right. The auditions. Everybody was likely there, waiting for Chris's judgement. And knowing his friends, Odd, William, and Aelita had all tried out.
But then why was Chris approaching him?
"Um, hello, Mr. Morales," Jérémie tried his best, amidst his confusion, to be polite. "How did the auditions go?"
Chris suddenly reached out and snatched the boy's wrist—the one holding his soda, making him drop it. Jérémie immediately began struggling.
"W-What are you–?!"
He cut himself off when he glanced up at Chris's eyes, only to see the sunglasses flashing with the eye of XANA.
"Uh-oh..."
XANA-Chris promptly shocked him with a jolt of a electricity before he could say another word, knocking him out. He fell unconscious on top of Chris's feet.
Milly and Tamiya arrived in the still-empty courtyard just in time to see Chris sling the out-cold Jérémie over his shoulder.
"Hey, Chris!" Tamiya smiled.
"Have you found your talent yet?" Milly asked.
However, the two both gasped when they saw the sight in front of them, as XANA-Chris simply walked past them with Jérémie on his shoulder without a word.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The others were escorting a sulking Aelita back to her room.
"It's okay, 'Lita," Odd reassured her, as they reached her door. "We'll just call him. And if he doesn't answer, you can track him down with your cellphone tracer program."
They were cut off by a muted alarm within her room. Recognizing it, Aelita snapped to attention and promptly opened her door to confirm it. Sure enough, it was an alert from the superscan.
"Activated tower in the Forest Sector," she relayed to the others.
Ulrich was on the phone, and he frowned, "Jérémie's not picking up."
The others immediately turned their heads toward him. "Is he really that mad at Aelita?" Odd asked.
"I don't think so," the brunette put his phone back in his pocket. "The call went through; he just didn't pick up. I think he may in trouble."
"Then let's split up," Aelita took charge. "Yumi and I will head to the factory. Odd, Ulrich, William, you three search Kadic for Jérémie."
No one objected. Once outside the dormitory building, the five split up, with the girls heading towards the park passage and the guys heading in the opposite direction.
Yumi and Aelita were running past the cafeteria when they saw Milly and Tamiya sitting on the front steps leading to said building. What made the elder two stop was the fact that the younger two had wide eyes as if they saw something unnatural.
"You two look like you're in shock," Yumi asked them. "Did Nicolas say something intelligent for once?"
"Chris just kidnapped Jérémie," Tamiya replied.
"What?!" Aelita's eyes widened at her sentence.
"Yeah, we saw him pass by with Jérémie on his shoulder," Milly got to her feet. "He was totally weird, like the mad killer in Executioner 2."
So, XANA had possessed Chris to kidnap Jérémie, bring him to the factory, and virtualize him onto Lyoko, where XANA could throw him into the Digital Sea.
"Should we call the police?" Tamiya wondered.
Yumi quickly cut in, "Uh, I wouldn't do that! That was just for the, uh...the video! Ha, I mean, the new Subdigitals video! They're doing this science fiction thing with robots invading the school!"
"Right!" Aelita quickly played along, jerking a thumb behind her. "We've gotta go now. We've got parts in the next scene they're shooting."
The two then took off, leaving the younger two girls confused.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The three guys were in the hallway leading to the administrative building when they got Aelita's call.
"Yes, Aelita?" Odd listened to what she had to say. "Chris, possessed by XANA? Got it. We'll meet you at the factory." He then hung up.
But William held his gaze on the waiting room at the other end of the hall. "Chris has been possessed by XANA? I don't think so." He nodded his head at that room.
The three looked into the window. To their confusion, there was Chris chatting away with Jim.
"He doesn't seem possessed, does he?" Ulrich asked, though he already knew the answer.
"No," Odd replied. "Nor do I see Jérémie in there either. Well, there's only one way to find out."
Jim opened the door, letting the three boys catch the tail end of their conversation. "Don't worry, kid. We'll find Miss Schaeffer, no matter what it takes."
Their ears perked up. He was looking for Aelita?
"I hope so," Chris sighed.
Odd got an idea and decided to approach the two, "Are you two talking about Aelita?"
The two men turned to him. "You know Aelita?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, she's my cousin," Odd replied. "Why are you looking for her?"
Chris held up her CD demo. "I'd like to talk to her about her mix, but she ran out of the gym before I could." He handed the boy the CD. "Can you confirm this being hers?"
Odd took the CD and pretended to glance it over. It was definitely hers; he didn't need to pretend to not know. "Yep, it's hers, alright. But, I'm sorry, I don't know where she is now." A lie. She was on her way to the factory with Yumi.
He then handed the CD back to Chris, who grabbed it, but Odd refused to let it go. He stared hard into Chris's eyes as they had a mini tug-of-war over the CD.
"What's wrong?" Chris asked, lifting up his sunglasses. "You want an autograph or what?"
But he didn't lash out. No eye of XANA or jolts of electricity from his hands.
Seeing this, Odd stood down. "No, sorry. Forgive me. Aelita's my cousin, so I feel responsible for her safety. If I run into her, I'll tell her you're looking for her."
He then walked away, Ulrich and William closely following him. They left behind a confused Chris and a tense and protective Jim.
Out in the courtyard, the trio was thinking about what just happened.
"I don't get it," William dejectedly put his hands in his pockets. "If he didn't kidnap Jérémie, then what could've..."
Ulrich and Odd suddenly realized and simultaneously revealed, "A polymorphic spectre!"
William raised an eyebrow in confused, "A what spectre?"
"Polymorphic," Ulrich told him. "We'll explain on the way. Right now, we need to get to the factory!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie came to while lying down on the ground of the Forest Sector, slightly disoriented. What happened? How did he get here?
Oh, right. XANA possessed Chris and brought him here.
He slowly got to his feet, taking in his surroundings and barely acknowledging his new avatar—a white and blue body suit—as he wondered what he was doing here.
Suddenly, his visor (replacing his goggles) picked up on the holomap three enemy prescences.
The special spectre, wearing its William mask, with two Krabes flanking it, and all three advancing on him...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd, William, and Ulrich were running through the park, heading for the passage, when Ulrich's phone rang.
"Yeah, Aelita?"
"You can stop looking for Jérémie," the pink-ette said. "He's on Lyoko."
"We know," Ulrich replied. "There's a polymorphic spectre on the loose."
"Acknowledged," Aelita said. "I'm sending Yumi in right now. You three hurry on over here."
"We're on our way," the brunette reassured her. "We're at the secret passage."
He then hung up and put his phone away. William was about to remove the cover from the tunnel when the trio heard laughing. They looked up in surprise to see Chris and Jim approaching them.
"You guys are as easy to track down as a caribou in the great north!" Jim exclaimed. "Stay where you are. We have a few questions to ask you."
"Sorry, Jim, but we don't have time," Ulrich immediately protested. "We have to–"
"Well, we happen to be in a hurry, too," Chris held up Aelita's CD demo. "Tell me more about the girl who put this together."
"I told you," Odd replied. "Her name is Aelita, and she's my cousin."
"Do you know about her most frequented styles?"
"Who cares about that?" William cut in, getting to his feet. "Right now, a friend of ours is in danger, and that's why we're in such a big hurry." He understood that Chris wanted to know more about Aelita and her music, but right now was not the time.
Jim blinked. "Who's in danger?"
"What's the difference?" Ulrich asked. "We have to go."
"What do you mean 'in danger'?" Chris asked. "What's this all about?"
"Take us to Miss Schaeffer immediately," Jim ordered, "unless you'd rather settle this in the principal's office!"
The three boys glanced at each other. They had no choice. It was either risking their secret or wasting time that could be used for saving Jérémie by meeting with Mr. Delmas instead.
"Okay, then," Ulrich replied. "Come with us. But let me warn you about two things. One: try to avoid asking any questions, and two: get ready for a workout."
"Works for me, Stern," Jim exclaimed. "There's no work that I like better than working out!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie slowly backed up as the clone (wearing its William mask) only got closer. He formed an energy bow and fired a single arrow at it, only for the clone to use its Zweihänder to slice the arrow in half. It then formed a ball of black smoke in its hands and threw it at him.
The elf was being smothered in the smoke—he could feel it begin to shut down his senses—when he heard the familiar sound of two tessen fans flying through the air.
Said dual fans flew in front of XANA-William, cutting off his concentration and thus freeing Jérémie from the smoke. They and the two Krabes turned to the entrance of the plateau they were on in time to see the fans return to Yumi—also in a brand-new suit, with her fans disappearing into her hands (an upgrade he and Aelita gave her).
Jérémie smiled in relief as Yumi addressed the clone, "You might want to try a different mask, XANA. William's still a rookie on Lyoko, after all."
"Attack!" the clone ordered (speaking in William's voice backed with a deep robotic one), and the two Krabes immediately began firing at Yumi.
However, she easily dodged their lasers with impressive flips and cartwheels, with the gymnastics that her new body suit had made easier for her to perform.
Jérémie was pleased that Yumi had easily settled into her new avatar. Easier movement, easier access to her fans, and easier use of her telekinesis—it was perfect.
"Jérémie!" It was Aelita, speaking from the lab. "Head for the tower! 64 degrees south!"
So there was a tower to deactivate. Of course there was; XANA had possessed Chris to bring him here. So he obeyed, taking off down the pathway behind him, feeling faint pulsations as he did so.
XANA-William, however, glanced back in time to see Jérémie becoming smaller on the horizon. It turned to the two Krabes, "Follow him!"
The two monsters obeyed, heading down the same path that the elf took.
The clone watched the chase until a sharp whistle sounded behind it. It turned around to see Yumi there, ready to fight.
Without a word, she pulled out her fans, before running up to XANA-William, tossing her two weapons before leaping into the air.
The clone dodged both fans, but not the kick she aimed at him. It stumbled back, sliding to a stop before it ran at her. She leapt up to dodge its swing, and landed on its back. She used said back as a launching pad, knocking it onto the ground.
Once she landed, she addressed the one at the controls, "Aelita, where are the guys? I could use some back-up over here!"
"They're on their way," the pink-ette replied. "Meanwhile, try to catch up to Jérémie. He's heading to the activated tower, directed south of your position. I'll bring you up a vehicle."
As Aelita said this, Yumi backflipped away from XANA-William's Zweihänder, before throwing her fans away. It deflected them both with its weapon like they were nothing, before running towards her.
She simply jumped up, catching her fans mid-air.
When she landed, she briefly glanced around. No vehicle yet. Knowing this, she made a choice: she had to keep the clone away from Jérémie. So she ran down the northern path, rather than the southern one (the one the elf took).
Fortunately, the clone followed her.
"Aelita, where's that vehicle, huh?" Yumi asked. No response from the lab. Something must've happened to her. Probably the polymorphic spectre the guys were talking about.
She turned around, coming to a stop. Her opponent, the clone, was running at her at full speed. She pulled out her fans and threw them high into the air.
The clone prepared its Zweihänder to block them, but she just used her telekinesis to alter their trajectory as it swung at them. She then directed them to turn around and hit the clone in the back.
Solid hit, as the clone was knocked down.
Nice, she told herself. These upgrades were amazing, and they certainly made it easier on her to keep up with this special clone.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The elevator doors opened to reveal Ulrich, Odd, and William arriving the lab with Chris and Jim, only for the five to be greeted with a roughed-up Aelita landing in front of them with a cry of pain.
"Aelita!" Ulrich and Odd immediately knelt down to check on her.
"Holy cow, what is this place?" Jim asked, glancing around at the room he and his nephew were taken to. "A mad scientist's hideout?"
Standing next to the monitor was the polymorphic spectre, still wearing its appearance as Chris Morales.
The real Chris quickly noticed, "Who's that guy over there? A celebrity impersonator or a stunt double?"
"Neither," William answered. "It's a polymorphic spectre."
Chris walked up to his look-alike, "Yeah, well, spectre or not, he's not getting my autograph–"
The clone cut him off by grabbing the front of his shirt and promptly throwing him into the ground.
Jim immediately stepped in and restrained the clone by pulling its arm behind its back while simultaneously choking it by the neck. "Hey, hands off my nephew, pal! Now, you'll see what it's like to mess with an old special forces agent!"
The spectre simply reverted to its ghost-like form and slipped out of the gym teacher's hold. Said teacher was shocked.
Odd was shaking his cousin's shoulder, "Hey, we really need you, 'Lita, so wake up!"
The pink-ette groaned as she came to, sitting up just as Jim was thrown into a nearby wall. "H-Hurry," she stuttered. "Get to-get to the scanner room! You have to help Jérémie!"
XANA-Chris was approaching them, only to get knocked down by the real Chris. "Hey, what's going on around here?" he demanded.
"We told you not to ask any questions," Ulrich reminded him, getting to his feet.
"We'll explain later," Aelita cut in, getting to her feet. "You three, to the scanner room, now!" She ordered, as she returned to the controls.
Chris watched as Ulrich, Odd, and William each took the side ladder down to the level below them. After a few seconds of silence, he heard Odd call out to her, "We're ready, Aelita!"
"Okay," she replied, typing in commands that brought up their ID cards one by one. "Transfer William, transfer Odd, transfer Ulrich!" Their avatars began loading. "Scanner William, scanner Odd, scanner Ulrich!" Once they were finished loading, she pressed 'Enter'. "Virtualization!"
She then brought up her own ID card, as well as a timer.
"Chris," she addressed him, to his surprise, "I need to go somewhere real quick. A friend of mine is in trouble, and I have to help him. You and Jim need to protect this monitor from that spectre. It's very important."
"Okay," was all he said. Aelita was right here in front of him, but she was clearly busy. And to be honest, if he were in her shoes, he'd want to save his friend first too. Knowing this, he chose to respect her wishes.
She sent him a soft smile, "Thanks," before pressing the 'enter' key, thus starting the countdown.
He could only watch her as she took off towards the side ladder. But his attention was swiftly captured by the spectre resuming its Chris disguise.
The real Chris tensed up, ready to fight.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie was running away the two Krabes at full speed, narrowly dodging the lasers they were firing at him to slow him down. He was forced to stop when he came upon a dead end.
He frantically glanced around at his surroundings, and was relieved to see another path in front of him. The only problem?
There was a massive gap.
Granted, thanks to his energy manipulation abilities, he could make it across, no problem. The Krabes wouldn't be able to. Not without falling into the Digital Sea, at least.
Making his choice, he backed up to get a running start. He leapt when he reached the edge of the plateau, using his energy powers to give him a boost in the middle of the gap. Hope filled his entire being as he reached the other side. He was going to make it...
Said hope was dashed by one of those Krabes shooting him in the back, making him lose his trajectory. He barely managed to grab the ledge with his left hand. What now?
Glancing back confirmed that the two Krabes were still there. Glancing up revealed (through his visor) that three more Krabes had arrived on this plateau in order to loosen his grip somehow.
Frick...
"Aelita..." he pled, hoping to everything-good-in-the-two-worlds that she could hear him.
Fortunately, an answer came to him in the form of her voice announcing, "Virtualization!"
Ulrich and William landed in front of a Krabe, side by side, while Odd landed on top of it—all three in their new avatars.
"Hey there, you little crabcakes!" Odd exclaimed. "Did you miss us?" He then fired an arrow at its eye. He leapt off to avoid the resulting explosion.
As William used his Zweihänder to block the shots from another Krabe, Odd let Ulrich use his feet as a launching board. Ulrich landed on top of the third Krabe, and pulled out a katana from his back (he had two now, like the clone did) and stabbed its eye. He also jumped off to avoid to resulting explosion, landing beside William.
He sheathed his katana as Aelita's avatar was formed in the sky. She dropped down, landing at Odd's side, before turning to the ledge.
"Take care of the Krabes," she ordered as she ran to where Jérémie was still helplessly dangling. "Hang on, Jer!"
But as soon as she reached him, he lost his grip. The others could only watch, horrified, as he fell towards the Digital Sea, as Aelita prayed that the upgrade she programmed for him actually worked.
The transwatch on Jérémie's wrist briefly flashed a bright white color, and a pair of techno-looking wings appeared on his back. His fall broken, though surprised, he gratefully flew up back up towards the plateau his friends were on.
Said friends looked surprised, but ultimately relieved.
"Where did these come from?" he asked, looking back to study his wings.
"You like 'em?" Aelita was smiling at him. "They're just a little surprise I thought was appropriate, given XANA's goals now. That transwatch will sense whenever you're falling and activate your wings automatically."
"That's awesome, Prince Charming!" Odd exclaimed. "Now you can fly like Aelita can!"
"Aelita," Jérémie's smile and voice were both soft, "you are the wind beneath my wings."
If she could blush on Lyoko, she would have here. Instead, she just tugged at the collar of her new suit, while averting her eyes in embarrassment. "They're also, I guess, an apology for earlier, for forgetting about our plans."
To her surprise, Jérémie just gave her a confused look, "What plans?" He then seemed to remember. "Oh, the virtual ship." The others became very curious when he suddenly became rather sheepish, scratching the back of his head. "About that, I, um...I forgot too."
"You did?" William asked.
"Yeah, I was busy signing up for the robotics competition," the elf explained. "I knew you'd want to go to the audition, Aelita, so I didn't say anything."
Her heart began to warm up at the gesture. Despite their differing interests, he still held no qualms about supporting her.
But the moment was ruined by Ulrich suddenly shouting, "Jérémie, look out!"
The elf barely managed to dodge the following shots from the Krabes on the plateau behind him. All three monsters were charging up their lasers, but thanks to his new wings, he managed to dodge them all.
"I have to deactivate the tower!" he told them.
"Then, go!" Ulrich ordered. "Aelita, go with him." The pink-ette nodded, summoning her own wings, before taking off towards the tower with Jérémie. Ulrich continued, "I need to help Yumi with the clone. You two can have the rest of the Krabes. Super Sprint!"
He then took off towards where Yumi was still fighting the clone.
"Great! I love having seconds!" Odd quipped, staying behind with the lone Krabe on this plateau.
Meanwhile, William activated his light manipulation abilities and used his powers to travel over to the other plateau to take care of the other two Krabes.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Chris was holding his own pretty well, actually. But that changed when his uncle woke up from his previous knockout.
"The imposter's still here?!" He growled. "No one does that to me and gets away with it! Geronimo!"
He charged at one of the Chris's, but he ended up tackling the wrong one.
"No, Uncle Jim!" the real Chris attempted, before his own uncle knocked him out.
"Oh, no! Chris, I'm sorry!" Jim stuttered, before glancing up at the clone.
He could only watch as the clone then transformed into Jim himself, to the real Jim's surprise and distress.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The clone was acting strange. It was now constantly cycling through all six masks, despite it trying to hang on its William mask. If Aelita's theory was correct—about the clone only having access to the masks of the Lyokowarriors who were not virtualized—then this likely meant that all six Lyokowarriors were on Lyoko now.
Yumi backflipped away from the clone's swings of Ulrich's dual katanas, which hit the ground where she just was instead. She took out her fans and threw them, only for the clone to knock them away with Odd's shield.
She noticed a lake behind her (with three logs leading to an island) as she retrieved her fans, before running towards one of the logs. She flipped onto it, with the clone following her.
It hit her with one of Aelita's Energy Fields, knocking her down. She glanced up, and was unable to stop it from devirtualizing her with one of Jérémie's energy daggers.
The real Ulrich arrived via his Sprint in time to see the clone assume its Yumi mask, now stable because the real Yumi was gone.
He promptly joined it on top of the log it was standing on, ready to avenge his just-a-friend. "Nice try, XANA," he told the clone, "but you won't get rid of me that easily."
The two stared each other down. Once the clone pulled out Yumi's fans, Ulrich unsheathed both of his katanas and launched himself at his opponent.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Chris came to in time to see two Jims facing off against each other. Given how much one of them was talking made him confident in knowing who the real one was.
"You don't have to be a math genius to know that there's one too many Jims here! Reminds me of the time I fought against Hurricane Joe in Las Vegas back in '94!"
Chris took the crowbar from beside him and swung at the spectre, only for the clone to duck.
"In the third round, I just won–" Jim was cut off when the crowbar hit him in the face instead.
He fell to the ground unconscious, as Chris frantically apologized, "Oops! Sorry, Uncle Jim! I–..."
The clone of his uncle was approaching him, and Chris prepared himself for the following hit. But it never came.
The spectre hit the ground, glitching out, with Yumi standing above it. "You okay?" she asked Chris.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"No problem," the Japanese girl replied. "I need to take up the controls. You keep occupying the spectre."
"Right," he acknowledged.
Pleased, she ran towards the monitor and sat in the chair, as the spectre resumed its Jim shape and growled as it approached Chris.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd was dodging lasers by running on all fours when Yumi's voice suddenly sounded over the intercom, "How are you guys doing? We've got our hands full here at the lab, and if this keeps up, the Subdigitals are gonna need a new drummer."
"We're doing our best, Yumes!" Odd said, before he ran up a tree (testing out his upgrade—a pair of anti-gravity boots), the Krabe still firing at him. "Okay, let's get down to business!"
He then backflipped, flying above the Krabe. He fired three Arrows, all hitting the same target, destroying the monster, before landing safely on the ground below.
On the other plateau, he saw William use his light powers to snake up a Krabe's legs and land on its top shell, where he promptly stabbed it.
The Overboard suddenly appeared in front of Odd, courtesy of Yumi, and he promptly hopped onto it and flew over to William.
William was blocking lasers from the last Krabe with his Zweihänder as Odd flew in and destroyed it with a couple more Arrows.
"Nice job," Yumi told them. "Ulrich is fighting the clone, direction northwest from your current position."
"We're on it!" William replied, before hopping onto the Overboard behind Odd.
The two then took off, hoping they weren't too late.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
XANA-Yumi threw her fans, only for Ulrich to narrowly dodge them and then block them both on the return trip. The clone caught the fans as it ran towards him, only for him to jump over it.
He grabbed its hands, struggling to keep it in place, only to ease up when he glanced into the clone's eyes. This was Yumi's face, his beloved...
This distraction caused his grip on the clone's wrists to ease up, letting XANA-Yumi flip him over onto his back. It aimed a fan at him, only for him to narrowly dodge it by Sprinting through her legs.
He landed on the island on the other end of the log, taking a moment to catch his breath.
Damn that XANA, using Yumi's face to distract him like that...
"Hiyaa!" came Yumi's battle cry.
Ulrich glanced up and his eyes widened when he saw the clone jumping down at him. He narrowly Sprinted out of the way. This was definitely going to be harder than it seemed. He couldn't be soft.
This wasn't Yumi. This wasn't Yumi. This wasn't Yumi. This was XANA.
XANA-Yumi hopped off the log and onto the island with him. "Manta!" she ordered.
Ulrich glanced behind him to see the Black Manta appearing from below the plateau.
Frick. He was now surrounded and outnumbered. If he moved, he was an instant goner.
The Manta fired at him, narrowly missing his feet, as the clone charged at him. His katanas were pressed against her dual fans in a dead-lock.
Out of nowhere, the Manta was destroyed, courtesy of Odd. "Yoohoo!"
William jumped off the Overboard and landed between Ulrich and the clone. His Zweihänder in hand, he glared at the clone.
XANA-Yumi glanced around at its surroundings. Ulrich and William were both in front of it, weapons at the ready, with Odd taking charge of the air. It was cornered.
To make matters worse, the Périn boy was just a few meters away from the tower now.
"You can never defeat us, XANA," Ulrich vowed. "We'll fight you every step of the way."
Accepting defeat, the AI directed the special clone to the ledge, where it jumped off and dove into the Digital Sea.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The tower was being guarded by two Tarantulas. Aelita immediately charged up an Energy Field and threw it mid-flight. Despite the long shot, it hit its target, destroying one monster and leaving only the second.
The second Tarantula just now noticed it had company and assumed its firing position. Aelita easily dodged the lasers, before forming an Energy Field and diving to the ground. She landed and threw her weapon at the monster, destroying it.
"Your turn, Jérémie," she said.
Jérémie, in turn, carefully flew towards the base of the tower. His wings disappeared, letting him land on the ground. He promptly entered the tower.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Chris's neck was grabbed by XANA-Jim, who was threatening to electrocute him.
JEREMIE_
CODE_
Yumi jumped onto XANA-Jim's back, trying to save Chris, only to be electrocuted instead.
LYOKO_
Just then, the spectre disappeared, its ghost traveling back into the cables above. Jim awoke at this moment and glared at his nephew, who just innocently chuckled.
"Tower deactivated," Jérémie relayed from the tower.
"Nice job, Jer," Yumi replied with a smile, approaching the monitor. "Everyone's okay."
"Ishiyama!" she jumped at the sound of Jim's voice. She turned to see her gym teacher and his nephew approach her. "I want an explanation right now! What is going on? What in the world is all this equipment for?"
"I would give you one, Jim," she admitted, "but we're getting tired of explaining it all to you. Because in ten seconds, you won't remember any of it anyway." What was this? The fourth time Jim's discovered the lab?
"Not so fast!" Chris interrupted. "First, tell me how you know Aelita!"
"Jérémie," was all Yumi said. He wouldn't remember anything she told him anyway.
"On it," the elf replied, before a couple seconds later, the holomap in the center of the room lit up a bright white and engulfed everything.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Time rewinded back to the start of auditions earlier that afternoon. Odd and William were back to the end of the line, with Ulrich and Yumi still there as moral support.
"Well, Will, how was your first Return trip?" Yumi asked.
"A bit disorienting," he replied. "But now we have a second chance at our auditions, right?"
"We sure do!" Odd answered. "And speaking of, I finally figured out what was wrong with my demo. I didn't push the second break with a series of scratches. You'll see, I'll do a lot better this time."
Yumi playfully scoffed, as Ulrich quipped, "As optimistic as ever, I see. I mean, we all know that Aelita's gonna win."
"You never know," came said pink-ette's voice from behind them. "Odd or William may turn the tables this time." Sure enough, she had slipped into the line behind them, only this time, she was joined by Jérémie.
"Regardless," said blonde said, "good luck to all of you."
"So you've signed yourself up for the robotics competition, huh?" Yumi asked.
"What?!" Hervé overheard from the spot next to Sissi and immediately turned around. "There's a robotics competition coming up?!"
Jérémie blinked in amusement. "Yeah. Didn't you read the Kadic News?" It was there, just unfairly buried under the news about Chris.
Hervé was clearly panicking as he raced out of the line without another word, heading towards Ms. Hertz's office (she was in charge of the sign-ups).
The six chuckled, before Aelita turned to the others and answered their previous question, "Yeah, that's where the two of us just came from."
"Supporting each other," Odd pretended to wipe a stray tear away from his eyes. "That's so sweet."
"Of course, we are," Jérémie replied. "Our problem the previous take was that we failed to keep each other in the loop."
"And didn't plan out our work schedules better," Aelita added.
"That too."
"What about the virtual ship?" Ulrich asked.
"It can wait," Aelita replied, "until after the auditions. I think we deserve a break."
"You do," Yumi quickly agreed. "You two have working really hard lately. Speaking of, the new suits? Perfect." The other three nodded in agreement.
"Thank you," the two Einsteins replied simultaneously.
Aelita began bouncing up and down in nervousness, "Man, I hope Chris likes my mix."
The other four each shared a knowing glance, remembering how intent Chris was in hunting her down.
"Don't worry, 'Lita," Odd reassured her. "Chris will love it. Just trust us."
The pink-ette shrugged, as if to say 'if you say so', before turning back to the line.
"So, Jer," William cut through the soft, gentle silence, "what are you going to design your model after?"
Jérémie just teased them with a wink, "That's a surprise."
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 47 - Skidbladnir / Jérémie and Aelita are almost done with their virtual submarine, but their success hinges on them closely following all aspects of the program.
A/N: New season, new appearances, for both the Earth forms as well as virtual. References can be found on my DA page, same penname.
A bit of background/lore for the Subdigitals. I changed the 'opening act' thing up a bit so that it seems less forced child labor (someone on Twitter/X may have said something). The robotics competition will come up again later, and it felt 'buried' here on purpose, mainly to emphasize how different Jérémie is from his friends.
As for changes from the original episodes: Wreck Room's been omitted because William's still good, same for Double Take (sorry to the readers who want to see clone Aelita; I'll focus on clone Aelita later in a side story, but spoiler alert: It wouldn't be able to stop flirting with Jérémie). Opening Act, meanwhile, was mostly changed due to personal choice, because in this AU, Jérémie fully supports Aelita's DJing, and I used the robotics competition to emphasize that he has his own interests.