A/N: Here is the next installment of my Jerlita Roleswap AU. Hope you all enjoy it~
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.
Note: Remember, any episodes not mentioned either as the inspiration for a chapter or just in passing are not part of the AU, mainly because the roleswap makes them useless, and those only mentioned in passing are just filler and/or would be the same no matter who has what role.
Beta read by swordsdownforreview
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"Aelita schedules a quick crash course on the basics of the supercomputer on the same day that Jérémie needs to solidify his participation in the robotics competition."
Episode 49: Crash Course
(Based on Crash Course)
Ulrich walked under the arches with Yumi, William, and Jérémie. There were no classes today, being a Sunday, so they could all relax. The quartet stopped just outside the rec room to rest, as Ulrich checked his watch.
"C'mon, where is he?" he muttered to himself.
"Where's who?" William asked.
"Odd. We were supposed to play foosball," Ulrich replied.
Yumi shrugged, "You know Odd. Something probably came up at the last second."
Amused, the German boy bragged, "More like he snuck off. He's probably hiding somewhere to avoid an inevitable loss."
"How modest of you, Stern," William teased. The brunette just responded by sticking out his tongue at him.
Jérémie was leaning against a nearby pillar, looking out at the courtyard. He turned his head towards them, smiling, "If you ask me, it might just be a certain dark-skinned pen pal of his."
The other three glanced over to where Jérémie was referring to. Sure enough, there was Odd sitting down on a bench with Sam. The two were decked out in elbow and knee pads and helmets, having clearly just returned from skate park. Sam was laughing at something Odd had said, likely a joke.
Ulrich shared a knowing glance with Yumi, "Well, what do you know? Our lovebirds are at it again."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The quartet had retreated to the rec room, having decided to wait for Odd in there. They were sitting on the couch in front of the television set—though they weren't using it. Ulrich took a sip of his soda as Odd walked in and joined them. The crazy-haired blonde sat down on the couch next to Yumi, putting his hands behind his head and his feet up on the table.
"Ah, you know, life isn't bad at all," he sighed, clearly in a good mood.
"I didn't know you had a date with Sam today, Odd," Jérémie gently teased. A light playful smirk was on his face.
"What?" Odd quickly got past his confusion. "Oh, yeah. Well, uh, planning isn't always...things just...at times, it's a lot more, well...you know what I mean?"
"No," Jérémie bluntly replied, now confused himself.
"Sometimes, Jer, dates are spontaneous," William translated. The young genius then nodded, finally understanding. "I know what you mean, Odd. Laura and I are the same way. Sometimes, our plans fall through, so we have to improvise." In his opinion, those outings (not dates; he and Laura weren't together...yet) were the most fun.
"So, Odd," Ulrich cut in, "why the spontaneous date this time?"
Odd averted his eyes, no longer smiling, "Oh, well...I just thought I'd treat her with some extra attention. Lately, I've been...feeling the strain of hiding Lyoko from her. It's not easy, keeping it a secret. I mean, yeah, she knows I have a secret and that sometimes I have to leave to take care of things, but...I don't like just ditching her whenever XANA attacks." He paused briefly, before his eyes lit up and his smile returned. "What I have with Sam is special. She's the one, I can feel it! She's funny, caring, and really cool, too! She doesn't deserve to be ditched, so I'm just trying to make it up to her."
"That's sweet, Odd," Ulrich replied. "It really is, I mean it. But are you sure Sam is worth all the extra stress?"
"Of course!" Odd answered with gusto, as his roommate took another sip of his soda. "She has something special that other girls don't! She's crazy about dogs, like me!"
Ulrich did a spit-take, choking on his soda. While he coughed to clear his throat, the other three all burst into laughter.
"Is that the only reason?" William asked him, amidst the chuckling.
Odd blushed, "Well, she once stole my dessert when I wasn't looking, but when I found out, I wasn't really mad." His frown deepened. "What's so funny?"
An amused Yumi asked him, "And those two things make all the difference in the world?"
"Hey, it's the little things that matter," the purple-loving blonde defended himself, his cheeks still red. The others couldn't deny that; they agreed with it. "To make up the ditching, I've decided to express my affections by being romantic. So this afternoon, we're going to the movies together."
"To see what?" Ulrich asked, sarcastically. "'Wheelchair Zombie 4' or 'Snorkeling Combat 2'?"
"Neither," Odd amazingly managed to keep his composure, crossing his arms. "We're going to see something romantic and intellectual. The movie's called 'Petals of Desire'."
The other four started laughing again.
Odd scoffed in response, "Well, you guys clearly have no sense of romance and no intellect."
Through his giggles, Jérémie advised, "Odd, maybe it would be best if you and Sam just be yourselves."
The laughter began dying down, and William asked, glancing around, "Speaking of intellect, has anyone seen Aelita?"
"She retreated to her room after breakfast," Jérémie replied, slight concern evident on his face. "I think she's got a few big problems..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"The only problem I have is our friend XANA," was Aelita's response when the others visited her dorm to check up on her. And it made sense. All of their problems stemmed from the AI that wanted their collective blood. "You guys remember the last few times it's attacked?"
Odd was sitting on the ground, "Which time? The one with the trees or at the swimming pool?"
Ulrich, sitting next to Yumi on the bed, quickly cut in, "Odd!" On his face was an angry expression. "We agreed not to bring up that day at the pool, right?"
"Why?" William asked from his spot on the floor next to Odd, leaning against the pink-ette's closet. "What happened at the swimming pool?"
Ulrich and Yumi both blushed at the memory—one of Ulrich accidentally grabbing one of Yumi's...feminine parts on her chest—and turned their faces away from each other.
"Nothing," Ulrich replied.
"Nothing at all," Yumi sternly agreed.
Seriously, why did Odd have to be a witness?! If he hadn't tagged along, then it would be much easier to deny everything they had gone through that day.
Fortunately, Aelita quickly changed the subject, "Whatever! I mean all the attacks that XANA has launched since summer break ended! Haven't you guys noticed what the target has been?"
"Well, yeah," Odd replied, shrugging. "Us."
"Yes, in a general sense," Aelita explained, "but especially Jérémie and me! And it just so happens that we're the only ones who know the supercomputer inside and out!"
She was glossing over the reasons she and Jérémie were being targeted—the others knew—but no one said anything about it.
"C'mon, we've all done it," Ulrich reminded her. "When we started all this, the first thing you taught us were the basics in case you were incapacitated for whatever reason."
"I know, but William is new," Aelita replied, in turn reminding the others of something they hadn't thought to consider before. "He doesn't know the basics." She was right. "And what would happen if Jérémie and I were no longer around to give you guys any help?" A good point. Aelita stood up from her computer chair and walked across her room to her window. "That's why I'm giving you all a crash course on the supercomputer this afternoon. Just in case."
"What?! No way!" Odd immediately protested. "Count me out. I'm going to the movies with Sam!"
"And I've got a test to study for," Yumi crossed her arms.
"And I've got Pencak Silat practice," Ulrich added.
William bit his lip nervously, "Guys, c'mon..." He didn't want to let the team down, so he had decided to take Aelita's crash course.
But said pink-ette beat him to it, turning around to face them all, "If you guys think you have better things to do, I won't force you to come. But then don't expect us to gain ground on XANA."
Yumi sighed, mildly annoyed, "You're right. But you know, some days it's not easy being heroes..."
Aelita crossed the room, back over to her computer, "I know. Believe me, I wish it was easier, too. Listen, we'll meet up at the computer lab after lunch." She attempted to reassure them with a smile, "If you pick it up quickly, it'll be over in a couple of hours, okay?"
The other four all stood up, as William replied, "Okay. I'll be there, Aelita." And he meant it.
"We all will," Odd added, admitting defeat. Ulrich and Yumi both nodded.
The four then left the room, with hands in their pockets except for William. Jérémie, however, remained behind, having remained in the same spot (the spot between the bed and the computer).
"Um, Aelita?" the young genius finally spoke up. Still standing, she turned to him. "I, uh...I won't be able to come to the crash course..."
"Huh?" She asked in confusion, "Why not?"
"Well, if I want to solidify my participation in the robotics competition," he sheepishly explained, "I have to go to the stadium where it'll be held and complete my submission form there. By tonight at 7:00 pm."
"What?!" Aelita protested. "What if something happens to either of us while you're gone?!"
"It's okay," he reassured her with a smile. "You're teaching the others how to use the supercomputer in the lab, so it's unlikely XANA will try anything with you guys already there to stop it. Just in case, though, I'll have my phone on me, like always. Just give me a call, and I'll be there in no time."
Aelita blinked, thinking over what he just said, before sighing. "You're right. I just worry too much." For good reason, he felt. "Go ahead. I can manage without you." She then kissed his cheek, "Good luck," before sitting back down in her chair.
A blush appeared on his cheeks, as he inwardly squealed. He managed to stay calm, "You too," as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The other four were trudging down the hallway back to the rec room.
"So much for my training session," Ulrich grumbled. "Great."
"What about me?" Yumi complained. "I'm gonna flunk another exam for sure!"
"That's nothing!" Odd protested. "You think you've got it bad! How am I going to tell Sam that 'Petals of Desire' is out for today?" He, yet again, had to ditch her...
"Look on the bright side, Odd," Ulrich replied. "You're probably missing out on the most boring movie in the history of cinema. You're better off."
"C'mon, guys," William attempted to reassure the other sulking three, "it can't be all that bad. And I'll help you study for that test, Yumes."
She managed a small grateful smile, "Thanks."
"Don't be so optimistic, Will," Odd cut in. "A class given by our Miss Einstein can be boring too..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The group (sans Jérémie) all met up in the lab at 1:08 pm, as previously planned. Aelita had her bag with her and she placed it on the computer chair before digging into it and pulling out four identical booklets at least five centimeters thick. She promptly passed them out to the other four.
"Um, Aelita?" Yumi asked, after accepting hers. "Why is it so thick?"
"Because I've listed all the functions that I know," the pink-ette explained, as she returned to her usual chair, all four booklets passed out. "All of them, meaning more than just the basics. They're listed in order of the basics to the most advanced functions, and it includes a separate section on the Skidbladnir in the view of the controls here in the lab, and a separate section of the Skid's controls in the main cockpit, as well as which keys can be a bit temperamental, and–"
Odd cut her off, "'Lita." She stopped talking and glanced at him. "What's all this really about?"
Something else was definitely going on. The angel wasn't talking, so it was up to them to ask.
"We know XANA wants to throw Jérémie into the Digital Sea, even if we don't know why," Yumi was sympathetic, "but why is XANA going after you?"
"If only you and Jérémie didn't constantly remind me of them!"
Aelita averted her green-eyed gaze to the floor as the memories of that day in the forest came flooding back. "Because I remind it of Jérémie's mother..." Her voice was soft, almost in a whisper.
"What?" Ulrich asked, as he and the others were immediately filled with concern and mild surprise. They didn't know that.
"XANA told me that it saw me as Sophie 2.0, essentially," the pink-ette quietly explained. "And I can't blame it. I-I mean, she and I are the only ones who ever experimented with that neuronal headset, we both created a version of Lyoko, and we both know the supercomputer's functions inside and out. Plus other details that aren't really important to our mission..."
"That fact...scares you, doesn't it?" Yumi asked.
Aelita nodded, "Yeah...I'm sorry for being...overzealous, but in case anything happens to me," meaning, in case she actually died, "at least I'd go out knowing you guys still have a chance at winning."
Ulrich, of all people, was the one who embraced her first, "We'll study your notes thoroughly. We promise."
She relaxed in his arms, "Thank you."
"No problem, cuz," Odd replied with a reassuring smile. "But for now, let's focus on William. You're right. He doesn't know the basics, so it's up to us to teach him."
The pink-ette sighed. It was her turn to accept defeat. "You're right. Just the basics, like virtualizing the others and bringing up the vehicles."
"I'm ready," William replied. And he meant it. That's why he was here.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Out in town, Jérémie arrived at the stadium. He lingered outside briefly, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. Why was he so nervous already? The competition was not until January, and it was November right now—not for another three months at least.
Probably because this was his first competition.
The blonde then head towards the main office, following the signs and asking the few people he came across to ensure he was going to right way. Thanks to those helpful people, he made to his destination in no time. Opening the door, he walked inside.
A couple other kids—students from neighboring schools—were sitting in the chairs, filling out the same form he was about to fill out himself.
Jérémie approached the main desk, just as Hervé Pichon turned around with a blank submission form in his own hands.
"Oh, Belpois," Hervé said, "why am I not surprised to see you here?"
"Because you signed up for the competition with Ms. Hertz only after I pointed out that its announcement was unfairly buried under the news about the Subdigitals?" Jérémie replied, unamused, phrasing it as a question even though he already knew it was the answer.
"Don't take that tone with me, Belpois," Hervé warned. "You're looking at the reigning champion of this competition. For the past five years."
"I know," Jérémie admitted, still unamused. "I saw the photos in Ms. Hertz's office."
"This year will be no different," the blonde's green-wearing rival boasted. "Expect a real challenge, Belpois."
"Next, please?" the lady at the receptionist desk cut in.
Seeing she was talking to him, Jérémie approached the desk, as he turned around to keep facing Hervé, this time wearing a bright, cheerful smile, "Oh, I'm counting on it, actually. You see, Pichon, I don't want it to be easy."
Hervé just growled in response, as the blonde genius turned to the receptionist.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"We're ready, William," came Ulrich's voice from the scanner room one level below.
"Make sure you hit the right button," Odd added, also from the scanner room. "I don't want to end up with four arms and three legs."
William sat in front of the computer monitor, with Yumi and Aelita standing on either side of him. He was sweating as he slowly typed in commands as laid out in Aelita's notes (which was open as it rested on his lap). First thing's first, select a sector. He chose, at random, the Ice Sector. The aforementioned pink-ette was closely monitoring the keys he was pressing.
"Okay, um...Trans-transfer Odd." He turned to Aelita for confirmation, "That right?"
She nodded at him with a smile.
"Okay, transfer Odd." He promptly selected the cat's ID, before doing the same with the samurai. "Transfer Ulrich." The eldest of the six typed in another short command. "Scanner Odd, scanner Ulrich." Their avatars began to load. Once they were done, he pressed the 'enter' key, "And, uh, virtualization..."
On the holomap, two green arrows appeared at the coordinates William had entered at the start of the process.
Odd let out a scream, "AAAH! You turned us into garden gnomes!"
"What?!" William began to panic, but he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Aelita shake her head in unamusement.
"Odd, shut up," she muttered, before addressing William. "If you had indeed turned them into garden gnomes, Will, you'd be getting an error message right now." And the screen was void of said error messages. Seeing this, William began to relax.
"Odd," Ulrich deadpanned, "why would do that to him?"
"Relax, I'm just kidding," Odd replied. "Everything's cool here, Will. You did it."
Said raven-haired boy turned back to Aelita, relieved, "Not so bad for a beginner, huh?"
"Yeah, not bad," the pink-ette replied with a smile. "You were confused there for a second and almost hit the wrong button, though."
"O-Oh, sorry," he sheepishly replied.
"It's okay," she reassured him. "The others made mistakes too."
"We certainly have," Yumi agreed. "Just wait until you're under the stress of a XANA attack."
As if on cue, the superscan popped up on screen, showing an alert and the wireframe of a tower turned red.
"Give me my seat back!" Aelita immediately ordered. William obeyed, now standing next to Yumi, as Aelita resumed her usual position at the controls. He and Yumi watched her type rapidly (showing just how talented she was at this compared to them). "Activated tower, Mountain Sector. Head for the scanners!"
A noise sounded behind them, however, and the trio glanced back to see a spectre make its way down from the ceiling before assuming the form of a man in a black suit in sunglasses, crouching by the wall (it looked like a man in black, a government agent).
The spectre stood up, and William ran up to it, "Leave him to me!"
He jumped up and aimed a kick at the spectre's head, only for it to catch his foot and throw him across the room. The spectre turned around to the wires on the floor. It picked up a cable and pulled it apart, creating two electrically-charged ends.
Aelita quickly jumped out of her chair, alarmed, "Hey!"
The spectre lunged at her, wielding one half of the cable.
"Aelita, watch out!" Yumi warned, seeing where this was going as she remembered her friend's confession earlier.
The pink-ette made a move to dodge her enemy's jump at her, only for the spectre to be faster and pin her against the holoprojector. "No!" she struggled against its grip.
Yumi ran towards her friend, "AELITA!", but she was too late. The spectre zapped her pink-haired friend, causing the girl to fall to the ground, now unconscious.
The Japanese girl, in response, narrowed her eyes in anger at the spectre, before taking on an offensive pose from Pencak Silat. She was about to attack, only for the spectre to lose its human shape and snake upwards into the air. She backed away as it reformed in a crouch on the arm of the supercomputer terminal, before losing its form again and disappearing inside the machinery.
William slowly stood up, "It disappeared..."
Yumi was kneeling at Aelita's side. The younger girl was still unresponsive, making no move to wake up any time soon.
"How is she?" he asked, walking over and kneeling on the pink-ette's other side.
Yumi had an ear to Aelita's chest, listening to her heartbeat. "She's still breathing," she reporting, sitting up, "but she took a lot of volts. She'll be out for at least another hour."
"Hello, tech support?" came Odd's voice from the monitor. "Remember us?"
"What's going on?" Ulrich quickly added, concern evident in his voice.
William resumed his previous position at the controls, slipping in the earpiece. "Odd, Ulrich? I think we're in a huge jam. XANA sicced a polymorphic spectre on us, and now Aelita's out cold."
"She okay?" Odd asked, worry in his own voice now.
"Yeah, just unconscious," William answered.
"Well, it's a good thing she showed us how to work the supercomputer," Ulrich cut in.
Right. This was his chance to learn from experience. So William fully turned towards the keyboard, "Yeah, you're right. It's up to us. Anyone have any idea what to do now?"
"Yes, call Jérémie," Yumi replied, still kneeling next to Aelita. She pulled out her mobile and speed-dialed the blonde genius's number.
Unknown to her, Jérémie's phone was in his shoulder bag, on vibrate. So said blue-clad blonde was unaware of someone trying to contact him, his attention entirely focused on the submission form he was filling out...
"...No answer," Yumi frowned in worry, pulling her phone away from her ear as she hung up. "I'll send him a text message."
"We'll just have to improvise," Odd said, as William was studying the booklet Aelita had given to him. "XANA has obviously activated a tower. Where is it?"
"Yeah," Ulrich agreed. "Odd and I can go on and start clearing the passage."
"The superscan has located the tower in the Mountain Sector," Yumi replied, approaching the monitor.
"H-Hold on." William skeptically asking, "Yumi, shouldn't we bring Odd and Ulrich back to Earth while we wait for Jérémie to get here? Wouldn't that be safer?"
"No way!" Odd cut in, protesting to that notion. "We'd rather stay here and fight!"
"He's right," Ulrich agreed. "Besides, you don't know how to materialize us, William. Just direct us to the nearest way tower."
"Way tower?" William asked in confusion.
"How we manually change sectors once virtualized," Yumi quickly explained. "Lets see...oh, I remember! To find a way tower, you have to bring up a radar window with these two keys!" She tapped two keys on the uppermost row, on the right side.
It brought up—of all things—Odd's avatar, and it showed some operation being performed on his head, to everyone's horror.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Odd cried. "Get it right!"
"Stop it! Hurry up!" Ulrich urged.
Yumi pressed the same two buttons again. Fortunately, the window closed, and it seemed to work, to revert things back to normal.
"Thanks," Odd sighed.
"Plan B," Ulrich cut in. "Try to bring up a vehicle. Any vehicle. Maybe we can find that way tower on our own from the air."
"Okay, um, vehicles, vehicles..." William flipped through the packet. "How advanced does Aelita think bringing up the vehicles are?"
Yumi tried her best to help him, without just taking over and doing it for him, "It should be in the basics section."
"Take your time, okay?" Odd asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "It's not like Ulrich and I have anything better to do."
"I'm trying my best," William defended himself. "I'm not an expert at this like you guys are."
"Sorry," the cat replied. "Anyway, any sign of Spectre Gadget?"
Good question, actually. "Yeah, how come it just disappeared like that?" Yumi wondered.
"Maybe it had another date," Ulrich replied.
Yumi suddenly gasped in realization, "Jérémie!" The other three immediately froze up. "The spectre must've gone after him! We have to warn him right away!" She took off in the direction of the lift. "Keep going without me, William!"
"Hold on!" William called out in protest. "You're not gonna leave me alone now, are you?!"
"Don't worry, William, you're doing great," she replied, as she pressed the 'up' button. "Just keep it up!" she added, as the doors closed.
William just frowned before turning back to the keyboard. There was still a job to do.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd and Ulrich ran across an ice floe before stopping at the edge. The cat glanced out at the vast expanse of the Digital Sea, as the samurai glanced at the next ice floe—their next destination.
"I don't believe it," Odd muttered. "Where is this way tower?"
"I-I don't know," William stuttered nervously. "I'm still working on it, but uh, you guys got some...thingamajigs heading your way..."
The two glanced behind them, and sure enough, William was right. Four Bloks were crawling towards them.
"Spotted," Ulrich immediately reported, drawing both katanas from the holder on his back.
"You're making progress, Will, but those 'thingamajigs' are Bloks," Odd broke out into a sprint, running towards their enemies, "and they don't look too friendly!"
As Odd got close, the Bloks all opened fire, some at Ulrich who used his dual katanas to block the shots, though mostly at Odd. The cat began running on all fours, easily dodging lasers, before jumping up and starting shooting back at the monsters, aiming an Arrow at each of them.
Unfortunately, the arrows bounced off the Bloks' hard exteriors, missing their eyes. Odd landed and slid across the ice towards them, "I don't believe it! I missed them all!" The Bloks began shooting at him again.
"Odd!" Ulrich shouted, still in the same position and blocking lasers. "Get back here where there's cover!" Next to the samurai was a large ice rock.
Odd quickly obeyed, stopping right in front of the Bloks and running the other way, back to Ulrich as he remained under fire.
"Okay, you monsters cool it!" he cried, before getting hit in the tail, "Ouch!"
He then leapt up into the air, before landing next to Ulrich.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The spectre wound its way across the ground, snaking around the feet of various people walking along the sidewalk, all of them unaware that a certain AI was looming closer to its primary target...
Said target approached the desk of the stadium's main office, a completed application in hand. Hervé, still filling out his own due to being unsure what to call the robot he was going to enter and use in the competition (there was a section on it), scowled at the blonde as he walked past.
The receptionist offered Jérémie a smile after saving a digital copy of his application into the computer, "And there we go, Mr. Belpois. You are officially a contestant. Good luck."
"Thank you," he returned her smile, before turning to the exit. Mission accomplished. He could leave now.
On his way out the door, he pulled his phone out of his bag to check for any messages. His eyes widened when he read Yumi's message.
"Oh no..." he muttered.
Hervé had seen Jérémie freeze in the doorway out of the corner of his eye. In that moment, his attention was drawn back to his application when he finally got an inspiration for his robot. He quickly wrote down the name he had thought of, before glancing back up at the doorway, only to blink in surprise.
When did Jérémie get so fast? He was already gone...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd and Ulrich were hiding behind the ice rock, as the four Bloks continued shooting at them. Odd peered out from their cover, asking, "Hey, William, where's our ride? Are you sending it over or not?!"
"Uhh, I'm working on it!" William replied. "Let's see, uh...oh, there it is, I found it!" In Aelita's guide, he meant.
"Well, try to work faster!" Ulrich replied, as Odd ran up the rock and crouched on the top of it.
The cat then jumped off and shot at the Bloks. One of the Arrows hit its mark, destroying one of the two middle Bloks. When Odd landed, he immediately ran back to the ice rock Ulrich was using as cover, as the other three Bloks began to advance.
"Virtualization Overbike!" William announced. The two peered out from behind their cover in time to see the Overbike appear.
Ulrich smiled, "Nice job, William! You really are making progress!"
"I'm trying to send you the Overboard too," their mission control admitted, "but for now, you'll have to make do."
"One vehicle is better than nothing," Odd replied. "But there's just one problem. You were supposed to send it to us! Not to them! You dummy!"
The Overbike was positioned behind the three Bloks still crawling towards them.
"Sorry..."
"It's alright," Ulrich quickly cut in, his twin katanas still in hand. "It's just up to us to un-Blok the situation. Right, Odd?"
"Right. Let's go!"
The two both emerged from behind the ice rock, running in opposite directions. Odd shot at one of the Bloks, destroying it, as Ulrich Sprinted up to another and sliced through it, destroying it, before hopping onto the Overbike. Odd jumped on top of the last Blok, before quickly jumping off and landing on the Overbike as Ulrich's passenger.
"Time to saddle up!" Ulrich said, revving the engine and taking off.
He drove towards the Blok, before taking the small lump in the ice in front of it as a ramp. Said ramp launched him and Odd over the monster, as it looked around in confusion.
The two drove away, now safe for the time being.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie was running down the sidewalk as fast as he could. He was exhausted and probably needed some water, but he had to hurry. XANA had activated a tower, and its attack was a spectre posed as a government agent, a man-in-black.
However, he was forced to stop when he spotted an unusual sight: a man in a fancy black suit and sunglasses stalking towards him in a threatening manner. The man flickered gray...
Jérémie gasped. Spectre spotted. He began backing away, "No..."
He had no choice but to turn around and run in the direction he just came from. The spectre quickly sprinted after him in pursuit, steadily catching up to him. It reached out a hand, electricity ready to knock him out, as the two approached a corner...
Only for it to be tackled by an angry Yumi, as Jérémie kept running. The spectre fell into the middle of the road. A car came speeding towards it, with the driver frantically slamming on his breaks. The spectre, however, held its ground and phases right through the car before it came to a screeching halt.
Yumi, in the meantime, had caught up to Jérémie, and the two glanced at the scene. "C'mon, let's go!" Yumi exclaimed, before the two teens ran off towards the factory.
The spectre quickly recovered from the incident and stood up, as the driver of the car got out. "Um...a-are you okay?" the man asked. "Nothing broken?" The spectre just stared at the man as he walked up, arms out wide in a placating gesture. "Everything cool? Please, say something..."
When the man got close, The spectre grabbed him by the shirt and threw him to the ground. The AI's creation promptly got into the car and drove off, as two civilians came to check on the driver, who was now lying on the road.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
"What'd that guy do?"
The car swerved around as it sped down the road.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Ulrich and Odd—according to the holomap on the screen in front of William—were stuck in the Ice Sector, still riding on the Overbike. William was busy studying Aelita's notes, searching for the command that would tell him where to find the nearest way tower.
"Hey, William!" Ulrich called out. "Did you fall asleep or something? Where's that way tower?"
"Sorry, guys," William glanced up at the screen from his notes. "I'm afraid to push some of these buttons."
"Well, you better!" Odd replied. "We're starting to rust over here!"
Before William could do anything, he received a call from Yumi through the supercomputer. He quickly picked up, "Yumi! Just in time! I need help!"
"I've retrieved Jérémie," she relayed. "We're on our way to the factory now. What do you need help with?"
"How to bring up that radar window for the way tower," William explained. "I've been looking through Aelita's notes for the past fifteen minutes, and I can't find it!"
"Hang on!" Yumi replied. "I'll let you talk to the expert!" There was a bit of rustling on Yumi's end here.
"William, it's me!" That was Jérémie's voice, to the raven-haired boy's relief. Thank goodness he was safe. "Knowing Aelita, it would be grouped with the holomap commands, in the 'basics' section." Oh. William felt like an idiot; he was only looking beyond that section. Jérémie continued, "On the holomap, way towers differ from neutral ones by having blue-green wireframes as opposed to the neutral white."
William was looking through the notes, in the basics section now. He quickly came upon the holomap commands, and smiled, "I found it! Is the command codenamed 'Cheese and Bubblegum'?"
"Yes," Jérémie replied.
The eldest Lyokowarrior quickly typed in the command and the results were immediately, as the holomap began pointing in the direction of the nearest way tower—to the upper right. "It worked!"
"Good," the blonde genius was smiling. "Yumi and I will meet you at the factory. Good luck."
"You too. Be careful," William replied, before hanging up.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi and Jérémie had been running through town, and they slowed to a walk as Jérémie gave Yumi her phone back.
As she put it safely in her pocket, Yumi raised an eyebrow in confusion, "'Cheese and Bubblegum'?"
Jérémie averted his eyes, his cheeks a bright red, "It's a, um...a private joke between Aelita and me..."
Yumi just smiled knowingly (it was obviously referring to their respective hair-colors), before the two looked up in surprise when they heard a car speeding towards them. The spectre was easily seen in the driver's seat, as the stolen car flew over the hill and fishtailed as it drove towards the river nearby.
"Yumi!" Jérémie exclaimed, inwardly shaking in fear.
The girl pointed to a staircase on their left, "That way!"
The two ran towards the staircase just as the car came around the corner. The car came to a stop in sight of the staircase as the teens disappeared down it.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
While all of that was going on, Ulrich and Odd continued driving across the vast Ice Sector.
"This ice floe sure is deserted," Odd commented, before spotting a neutral tower on their right. "Let's try that tower."
Ulrich shrugged, "Welp, nothing to lose." He then drove towards it.
The two phased through the tower wall, flying down over the edge of the bottom platform and down into the datastream, past the walls of various codes. The two came up inside (what appeared to be) another tower and exited through a tower wall.
Only for Ulrich to skid to a halt when they were greeted with more ice.
"Oh, c'mon!" the samurai groaned. "We're still stuck in the Ice Sector!"
William interrupted them (having just hung up from his call with Yumi), "Guys, I got it! That way tower is just a little further, bearing northwest from your current position! Yumi and Jérémie are also on their way!"
Odd smiled, "Well, better late than never," as Ulrich drove off in the mentioned direction, across the nearby ice bridge.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi and Jérémie were fast approaching the factory, running across the bridge now. Behind them, the stolen car swerved around the corner and headed straight for them.
Fortunately, the two managed to reach the ropes in time, swinging down as the car skidded to a stop right at the edge of the factory floor.
Yumi quickly pressed the button to close the door and take them down to the lab. While the lift was descending, she turned to her friend, noticing his miniscule trembling. "You okay?"
He managed a reassuring nod, "I am now. Thanks for the save."
"No problem," she smiled at him. "Did you get your participation finalized?"
Jérémie nodded again, this time with a bright smile, "Mm-hmm."
"Good." And she meant it.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Virtualization!" William announced, as Yumi and Jérémie's avatars appeared in the sky of the Mountain Sector, before dropping to the ground. Nearby was a tower with a red aura, on the other end of a long and narrow path.
As they stood up, Jérémie relayed, "Nice job, William. We're right next to the tower."
"Thank you," the eldest replied. "Odd and Ulrich should be joining you any minute."
"So we'll wait for them," Yumi said, before she and Jérémie ran up to the nearby large rock, framing the entrance to that path towards the tower. The two peered out to see what was waiting for them. "William, how many enemies do you see in front of the tower?"
"Five." He was right. The two could see five enemies.
"Confirmed," Yumi replied, just as she and the elf beside her both heard a revving sound behind them.
They turned around in time to see Ulrich and Odd arriving on the Overbike, stopping next to their friends. Odd quickly hopped off, "Finally, we made it! I was beginning to think we'd be forever trapped with all that ice!"
"Show a little more trust in William, Odd," Ulrich replied, walking towards Yumi and Jérémie. "What's on the menu?"
Yumi nodded towards the base of the tower—where four Krabes and the special Spectre awaited them. "Usual stuff. A whole seafood platter over there, and the Clone's the lemon."
And said Spectre was wearing its William mask. It seemed to be XANA's personal favorite.
"We can handle it," Jérémie reassured them, before addressing their mission control. "But we're going to need more vehicles, William." No response. "William, are you there?"
Silence, which made them all worried.
"Just transmission problems, I hope," Odd confessed nervously.
"No, I don't think so," Jérémie solemnly replied. "Something tells me that the spectre is now in the computer lab."
Yumi softly gasped in concern, "Oh no!"
"I think you're right, Jérémie," Ulrich said, turning to Odd. "I'll go. Shoot me, Odd." They had to make sure William was okay, especially after Aelita had earlier admitted the rather personal reason XANA had for targeting her so much.
"No, I'll go," Odd shook his head. "I've already lost lots of lifepoints, and you still have most of yours." The most recent update from William had confirmed that—Odd had been hit four times with currently 40 lifepoints left, while Ulrich was only hit once with 85 lifepoints remaining. "You'd be more useful here." The cat smirked, scratching his cheek with his claw, as he added, "Besides, we did the same thing during the swimming pool attack. If I hadn't, you and Yumi wouldn't have, y'know..."
Ulrich's response was immediate, as he growled, "Don't. Talk. About. The swimming pool!" With the last three words, he unsheathed his twin katanas and slashed at Odd, who cried out as he was devirtualized. "That'll teach you, huh?" The samurai then nodded his head towards the tower, "Let's go."
Yumi nodded, thankful that one couldn't blush on Lyoko. Jérémie also nodded, amusedly, before waving a hand over his transwatch and summoning his wings.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The man-in-black spectre was relentless. Its attack slammed William against the wall, despite the boy's attempt to fight it off. He knew how to fight, but the AI was simply stronger. And invincible.
William struggled to stand up, aware that the spectre was stalking towards him. It cracked its knuckles together, ready to finish him off, only to suddenly electrocuted from behind. It phased out like it was glitching, as it fell to the ground, now a black shapeless cloud.
Standing in its place stood Odd, holding both live wires the spectre had created earlier. William smiled in relief.
Odd dropped the live wires before kneeling down next to his friend, "You okay, Will?"
"I...I didn't realize you were back..."
"Neither did XANA," Odd replied, as he helped the elder of the two to his feet, "but it sure knows now."
"Sorry I couldn't maintain control of the interface," William softly said, mentally wondering why Odd was taking him to the elevator.
"That's alright," Odd said, before leaning William against the lift wall. "Now, down to the scanner room with you. The others could use your help."
"Are you sure?" William asked, unsure. Half of him understood Odd's reasoning, but the other half wanted to stay, to prove himself at the controls like the others had.
"Absolutely! Just relax!" Odd replied as he sat down at the controls and began typing. William, in response, smiled before pressing the down button, closing the lift doors. "Besides, I'm a computer whiz. You know that."
The elevator closed, fortunately covering up William's soft response, "Um...not..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The trio charged towards the tower. Ulrich was piloting the Overbike down the narrow path leading to it, with Yumi as his passenger, as Jérémie flew alongside them.
"This is gonna be tough," the elf muttered.
All five enemies quickly perked up, indicating that they had seen the three.
"Attack!" the Spectre—still donning its William mask—ordered, and the four Krabes immediately opened fire.
Ulrich began zigzagging, swerving to dodge the lasers. "Four Krabes," he told Yumi. "That's two for each of us." She nodded in acknowledgement. He then turned to the elf, "Jérémie, you just focus on the tower."
"Right!" Jérémie replied, before quickly ascending high into the sky. The Krabes immediately started shooting at him, obviously trying to shoot him down, but the elf expertly managed to dodge all of the shots.
Him drawing the Krabes' fire was unintentional, but it was welcome, as it allowed Ulrich and Yumi to unsheath their weapons as they both crouched on the seat of the Overbike. Ulrich used his feet to steer to vehicle underneath one of the Krabes. He backflipped onto the monster's back, as Yumi did the same, leaping off and landing in front of the two Krabes on the right.
Ulrich focused on the left-most Krabes, stabbing the one he was standing on in the eye, before leaping off to avoid the resulting explosion. He landed near the Spectre, though focused most of his attention on his second Krabe.
Meanwhile, Yumi stood up, her twin fans in hand and ready to be thrown. The two Krabes in front of her opened fire and she cartwheeled to the side to avoid the lasers before throwing both fans. However, they missed and returned to her hands.
"Tough guys..." she commented, as she backed up a couple steps.
She then charged, running over to the two monsters, before climbing up one of their legs to get on its back. She took out a fan, just as the other monster fired. She blocked the laser with said fan with a twirl before throwing it, striking the Krabe's eye and destroying it.
The resulting explosion pushed the Krabe she was standing on a couple meters backwards and caused her to lose her balance. She landed safely on the ground, before cartwheeling away as the Krabe began firing at her. It followed her, as she wisely led it away from the tower.
With only two Krabes left, and both of them preoccupied, Jérémie flew towards the base of the tower and landed, deactivating his wings. He quickly glanced back before running towards the structure.
He halted in his tracks, however, when the Spectre suddenly appeared in front of him in Super Smoke form, reverting to human form (its William mask) to block the elf's path. The Clone stretched its neck as it smirked at Jérémie in anticipation.
Jérémie formed a bow and fired a trio of energy arrows, but XANA-William blocked all of them easily with its Zweihänder. It then slung the large sword over its shoulder as it slowly began walking towards its prey, as said prey began backing away, an expression of fear clear across his face.
Meanwhile, Ulrich was Super Sprinting in a circle around his last Krabe, before jumping on its back and promptly stabbing it in the eye. As it exploded, he jumped off, before glancing back at Yumi.
The geisha was cartwheeling away, avoiding laser fire from the last Krabe. Mid-flip, she threw a fan, only for it to barely miss. In response, the monster shot again, this time hitting Yumi square in the chest and sending her flying backwards on the ground.
Ulrich was already on his way to help her.
XANA-William threw its Zweihänder at Jérémie. The elf panicked and frantically formed a shield to block it, and succeeded. However, he was thrown backwards by the force of the attack and ending up lying flat on his stomach.
"Jérémie!" Ulrich and Yumi cried out in unison. Their friend needed help.
The Clone switched to its Aelita mask, as it laughed in amusement. Jérémie quickly picked himself up, backing away fearfully as XANA-Aelita approached.
The last Krabe turned to Ulrich and began firing at him, seeing how his back was turned. The samurai narrowly avoided the laser, fortunately, before Sprinting away along the edge of the platform, zigzagging to avoid lasers. He was eventually hit in the back and fell to the ground. The Krabe walked up to and tried to stab him with its claw, only for Yumi to tackle Ulrich out of the way.
The two got back to their feet together, with Ulrich sighing in relief. That was close, but Jérémie was still in trouble...
Seemingly out of nowhere, though, an bright Energy Slash flew threw the air and hit XANA-Aelita's hand, canceling the Energy Field it was forming. The four all turned to the real William as he slung his Zweihänder over his shoulders.
"Y'know, 'Lita," he quipped, "if you're trying to score a date with Jérémie, I'm not sure that's the right way."
Jérémie was too relieved to be embarrassed, while XANA-Aelita just growled at the newcomer.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Nice one, Odd," Jérémie said. Odd could hear the relief in his friend's voice. "Just in time!"
"Thank you, thank you," the group jokester replied, sitting at the controls. "That was just a taste of my talent. Aelita would be so–"
He was cut off by the polymorphic spectre reforming into its man of black form. It growled at the boy, before stalking towards him.
"Oh, that's funny," Odd said, joking to hide his slight fear, "I could've sworn you were taller..."
Was this how Aelita felt whenever there was an attack and she was forced to stay behind in the lab? If so, her cousin definitely understood that feeling now...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The lone Krabe took a shot at Yumi, who had no choice but to be sent back to Earth. In retaliation, Ulrich ran up to the beast. The two danced around each other by the edge of the platform. The samurai got close to one of the monster's legs and slashed it with both of his katanas. Its leg severed, the Krabe lost its balance, stumbling before it fell backwards over the edge, down into the Digital Sea below.
Ulrich sheathed his katanas, before giving the monster a salute, "Later, gator!"
Behind him, William charged up and fired another Energy Slash, but XANA-Aelita's two Energy Fields—one thrown right after the other—stopped it (the first) before breaking it apart into shards (the second).
The Clone then morphed into its Yumi mask, and William and Jérémie backed away with each step it took to advance towards them.
XANA-Yumi then broke out into a run, running up to the duo as it threw a fan. William easily deflected it, but the Clone promptly back-flipped high into the air, "You're finished, William!"
William broke out into a run, "We'll see about that!", before jumping into the air.
The two met in mid-air, and when they did, XANA-Yumi used her two fans to slash William across the chest, instantly devirtualizing him.
The Clone landed, smirking at Jérémie. The elf quickly glanced at his surroundings, looking for a way out. Seeing only one, he summoned his wings and took off, flying up into the air.
XANA-Yumi threw both fans at him, but they were diverted at the last moment by Ulrich when he jumped in at high speed, blocking one fan but taking the other straight on while throwing his own katanas at the Clone.
The Spectre was devirtualized in a cloud of black smoke and a brief red light with the samurai's twin katanas embedded in its stomach.
The passage now completely and truly clear, Jérémie landed once again at the base of the tower. This time, he managed to enter it at a sprint.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd was lightly whimpering as his back was pressed against the wall. The spectre approached him, flickering occasionally. The boy gave a nervous grin and giggled, getting an idea. He pointed to something to the side, "Hey, look up there!"
JEREMIE_
The spectre turned its head, and Odd began moving the other way, only for the spectre to grab him by the shirt, lifting him off the floor.
Now, the Italian boy was really scared. "It works most of the time!"
CODE_
Holding Odd up off the floor in one hand, the spectre held up a severed, sparking cable with the other, ignoring the boy's cries for help.
LYOKO_
Just before the cable could touch him, the spectre flickered and growled before finally disappearing. Odd dropped to the floor, with the cable landing not far away.
"Tower deactivated," came those always-relieving words from Jérémie.
The crazy-haired blonde breathed a sigh of relief. They did it. They won this time.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
It was about ten minutes later when Aelita regained consciousness. The faces of her friends watching her swam in and out of focus, before clearing up the longer she remained awake.
"What happened?" She asked, feeling groggy and her speech a bit slurred. She blinked a few times, before looking over at Jérémie. "Jérémie...the spectre...uh, tower..." She sat up on her elbows, "Did you...did you do it?"
Jérémie just smiled, "Me?" He gestured to himself. "I didn't do anything."
The other four smiled in relief as the pink-ette glanced towards them.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
About three hours later, the group (sans Odd, who went to the movies with Sam) were sitting around the television set in the rec room. Aelita and Jérémie were playing Go, while Ulrich and Yumi (respectively) were lounging at their sides. Meanwhile, William was lounging in front of the coffee table that the game board was resting on. Aelita was feeling a lot better and had heard the whole story from the others.
"I have to say, I'm impressed," Aelita was saying, as she placed one of her white pieces onto the board. "You guys certainly held your own, but you deserve extra points, William. Well done. You picked up on the basics faster than I had anticipated."
"Does that mean you trust me with the supercomputer?" William asked.
"Yes," the pink-ette replied, as Jérémie made his move using one of his black pieces. "In a pinch, at least. Which is good," she added, "because the day after tomorrow, I'll be gone all day."
Yumi raised an eyebrow, "Why?"
"I've got my first rehearsal," Aelita revealed, unable to contain her excitement. "The Subdigitals chose me as the winner for their contest! We'll be writing the song together!"
"That's fabulous, Aelita," Jérémie smiled at her. "Well done!" Beside him, Yumi had an equally excited grin on her face, as did William.
"Yeah, that's great!" Ulrich added, before noticing their sixth member approaching them. As Odd sat down next to William, the brunette asked, "Hey, Odd. How was 'Petals of Desire'?"
"We didn't see it," Odd admitted, resting his arms and head on the coffee table. He looked pleased with himself. "I took your advice, Jérémie. I just acted as I normally did, and so did Sam. That led to us picking 'Wheelchair Zombie 4' instead."
"That's good," William replied. "As long as you two had fun together."
"We did, and I know she appreciated it," Odd was smiling as though he was at peace. "Outright romance isn't really our thing. We both prefer action, like the day of the swimming pool attack."
An annoyed Yumi immediately growled at him, "Mm, Odd! Don't talk about the swimming pool, okay?!"
"Are you two ever going to tell us what happened at the pool?" William asked, despite already knowing the answer.
Ulrich was blunt, "No. So stop asking."
"Oh, it's simple, Will," Odd cut in, sitting up a little straighter. "You remember the attack in the gynasium?"
Before William could respond, Jérémie spoke first, sternly warning his friend, "Odd! We told you never to bring up the attack in the gym, right?"
The other four noticed that Jérémie and Aelita were both tense and looking at the pink-ette's cousin in barely contained horror on their faces.
This piqued their curiosity, as Ulrich asked, "Why? What happened in the gym?"
Their game of Go now forgotten, that embarrassing memory—the one of her accidentally walking in on him changing when she worriedly went to check on him—flowed through their heads. Both of their cheeks were hot and a bright red.
"Oh, n-nothing really," Jérémie immediately replied.
"N-Nothing at all!" Aelita swiftly agreed, the two unable to keep their eyes off each other.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 50 - Miscommunication / The Lyokowarriors return to explore that replica created by XANA, as Odd suddenly starts acting nastily towards Aelita.
A/N: Behold: My absolute favorite episode of Code Lyoko! It's got healthy doses of both Ulumi and Jerlita, one of Jérémie's many struggles being directly addressed (the dangers he faces while alone in the lab), the others proving they can use the supercomputer in a pinch, and some silly-ness. I may write a fic in the future expanding on the ending, though.
I'll expand on the pool and gym attacks in a side story later, with no detail left out, I promise. For now, just enjoy the hints as to why the incidents are so embarrassing for them. The readers who have also read my 'A World Without Danger' story will recognize those memories. It's because they're my headcanons (a simple accidental kiss, in my opinion, isn't embarrassing enough), and it makes sense given their ages (they are teenagers, after all).
For the 'day in the forest' Aelita's referring to, re-read Chapter 37: "Protect the Forest" for a refresher if you need one (and do I think XANA sees Jérémie as Waldo 2.0 in canon? Yes, 100 percent.). Also, I calculate lifepoints by looking up on the CL Wiki how much lifepoints each monster's laser takes away. Bloks take away 15 lifepoints with the regular shots. Finally, Yumi against the Krabes is 'footage' I took from 'The Lake', and Jérémie and Aelita playing Go together is from 'Canine Conundrum'.