A/N: Behold, a collection of side stories for my Jerlita Roleswap AU—an alternate universe where Jérémie and Aelita have swapped roles, if you need a refresher. These are the stories that didn't quite make the cut for the main story "The Boy in the Computer", but are still canon to the general AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.

Chapters of TBITC to Read Before Reading This One: 18 – A Brand New World, 19 – Fragmented Reality

!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!

"One Saturday afternoon, Odd challenges a girl named Taluma to a skateboarding competition at the 'Killer Skate Park of the Dead'."

The Girl From the Outside

Episode 18.4: A True Breakage Skater

For Odd, there's no better time of the week than Saturday afternoon. With classes behind him, he doesn't have to worry about school again until Monday morning. He can sleep in Sunday morning, taking comfort in the knowledge that he has a cousin and Japanese friend who will both help him with his homework if he asks them politely. And it all starts with lunch, the glorious hour of the day (or one of three) where he can eat—his favorite activity.

This week, however, is even better. This time, Jérémie is visiting them from Lyoko.

It's officially been two weeks since Aelita perfected her Code: EARTH program, and the Lyokowarriors have quickly settled into the routine of Jérémie visiting them and Earth every Saturday afternoon. It's only for two to three hours, but they look forward to the visits. Last week, all five of them went back to the mall on Jérémie's request. While there, they bought for him a navy blue dress shirt that he really liked.

This week, however, it's only the boys. Aelita has homework to catch up on, her schedule having been taken up by the anti-virus, while Yumi has to babysit her brother while her parents catch up with old friends from Japan out in town.

Before going their separate ways after lunch hour, the girls made the boys promise not to do anything too fun without them. They responded that no promises could be made. Jérémie had specifically requested this visit, not backtracking even after he was told about the girls being unable to make it, so they assumed he had something already in mind.

Now, Ulrich and Odd are in the scanner room, waiting for Jérémie to emerge from the scanners. Apparently, he could launch Code: EARTH himself like he could with the Returns to the Past. That was a useful piece of information, knowing that Jérémie could materialize himself in case of an emergency, or if Aelita was incapacitated.

They don't have to wait long. A few seconds after Jérémie activates the program, the scanner doors open up, smoke billowing out from use. Inside is Jérémie, still wearing the navy blue overshirt they got him last week.

He stumbles out of the scanner, still not used to materialization (despite this being his third time), but fortunately, Ulrich catches him before the blonde in blue falls on his face.

His first materialization went the same way. The moment Aelita helped Jérémie to his feet, the boy had immediately collapsed. The group had to help him get his bearings before they felt comfortable enough going outside. Aelita's only explanation was two theories. Either, one: he was already weak when he virtualized, or two: he hadn't used his human body for a long time, and needed a moment to get used to it again. However, she felt it was a mixture of both.

"Sorry," he mutters into Ulrich's shoulder.

The brunette just gently smiles. "It's okay." It really is. "The return trip is rough for us too. We're just used to it."

"Why is it rough?" Odd asks, as Ulrich helps Jérémie straighten up. "I've always wondered about that."

"Because your own atoms are breaking down and being reformatted," Jérémie explains in a soft voice, not fighting his friend's assistance. "Twice." As in, going to Lyoko as well as returning. "In other words, what we're feeling are the after-effects of trauma on the body."

Ulrich nods, "Makes sense."

But Odd tilts an eyebrow, "But there's no actual injuries. Everything is virtual."

"That's why we find it strange," Jérémie replies. "It's like phantom pain." His expression breaks out into an amused smile at the purple-loving blonde's confusion. "Trust me, Odd, I find it strange too."

"More like confusing, actually," Odd corrects.

Jérémie just chuckles.

"Man, you know a lot about Lyoko, Prince Charming," the Italian boy comments. "Probably because you've spent who-knows-how-long there."

The boy in blue just shrugs, "It's more of an instinct than actual knowledge."

By now, he's gotten his bearings, has regained his center of balance. He's standing on his own, no longer leaning on Ulrich, though hasn't shrugged off his friend's hand from his back (probably because he likes being able to sense touch).

This isn't lost on Ulrich, "You feeling better now?"

Jérémie smiles, "Yes, thank you."

"Good," the brunette replies. "Sometimes, we just need a moment or two to re-orient ourselves." Jérémie just nods in agreement.

"That's right," Odd interjects, his hands behind his head. "And now that you are, Jer, it's guy time!"

"Yeah, you're the one who requested this visit," Ulrich adds. "What do you want to do?"

It's Jérémie's turn to be confused, "'Guy time'...that is a figure of speech, yes? Recently, I've been researching what your vocabulary and vernacular mean, but I haven't had much luck. Correct me if I'm wrong, but 'guy time' means spending time with other males, no?"

"No, you're right," Ulrich replied. "Generally, it means hanging out with your guy friends, without any girls around. Since Aelita and Yumi are preoccupied today, our time together here would qualify as 'guy time'."

"Noted." Jérémie then asks, "Now what activities does 'guy time' consist of? Just out of curiosity..."

"Oh, there's a million things that we can do without the girls!" Odd exclaims.

"Nothing too dangerous, though," Ulrich quickly cuts in. "Or could corrupt him too badly. Yumi and Aelita would kill us."

They can already hearing the girls' voices telling them, amidst a flurry of fire, dark shadowy faces, and bright red demon-like eyes: 'Ruin his innocence and die!'

"Relax, good buddy," Odd replies, as the trio head towards the elevator. "I was thinking along the lines of, say, burping contests."

Ulrich's response is automatic. "No."

"Prank calls. Or pulling relatively harmless pranks in general."

"Hm...maybe. Go on."

"Teaching him how to flirt."

"Absolutely not!" Aelita would kill them.

"I meant as practice!" When seeing Ulrich's stern brown-eyed gaze, Odd sighs in disappointment. "Fine. Eating contests. And Jérémie can be an impartial judge instead of a participant. Same with the burping contests. Y'know, loopholes."

Ulrich sighs here, "The girls would skin us alive if we taught him any of that stuff, regardless of the role he plays." He briefly pauses. "How about the arcade? Or the cinema? Or going back to the mall?"

Jérémie listens to them the entire way, and he's the one who presses the button that closes the door and pulls the lift up towards the surface.

"All of that would be interesting," he interrupts them, and they both turn to him expectantly, "but actually, I was hoping you guys could help me with some research."

"Oh?" Odd asks, he and Ulrich intrigued by his phrasing. "Research on what?"

"Skateboarding."

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

In the Ishiyama family's living room, the scratching of Aelita's pencil against her homework is concluded with a soft "aha!" of victory as she finishes. She then puts her homework inside her folder, then that folder and her pencil back into her bag, before leaning back in her Japanese-style chair and relaxing.

Yumi sets down a plate full of sushi (which she made herself) on the living room table, next to the tea that's already out, "You don't have to stay now that you're done. I know you want to see Jérémie."

The pink-ette pauses, "No, I'm fine here. I could use a break." From the anti-virus, mostly, but it's a lot deeper than that—and both girls know that. "Ulrich and Odd are competent." They are. They will protect Jérémie if things go south for whatever reason. "I trust them."

Besides, they had both Yumi and Aelita's numbers in case of a XANA attack.

"Why not visit him?" Hiroki interrupts them, returning from the restroom. "He's your boyfriend, right?"

"Hiroki," Yumi warns, unimpressed by his teasing.

"It's okay," a red-faced Aelita reassures her friend, before addressing her friend's brother. "No, he's not my boyfriend." Not yet, anyway, her mind finishes for her. Yes, they know how they feel about each other, but she personally wants to wait until XANA's gone and Jérémie has a solid grasp on dating.

"Do you want him to be?" Hiroki asks her, leaning against his sister's back and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

The pink-ette can feel the heat her blush is radiating, but she ignores it, "Yes." Not a lie.

A victorious smile appears on the boy's face. "Ha! I knew it!" He turns to his sister, "You know, you need to follow her example. It wouldn't hurt you to admit aloud that you want Ulrich to be your boyfriend."

It's Yumi's turn to blush, "Hiroki!" She turns to Aelita, "Sorry about him."

Aelita just shrugs. "I told you, Yumes. It's okay. I don't mind. I'd rather deal with Hiroki's teasing than Hervé's constant questions."

Yumi's face shows an expression of understanding. Hervé has been making a nuisance of himself lately, to all four of them, because he can't let go of the fact that Aelita's in love with this pen pal of hers.

But Hiroki is confused, "What's he asking you about?"

"He keeps bugging me about Jérémie's impending arrival," the pink-ette explains, without giving too much away. "Due to the tie-up with his paperwork," that's the excuse they used, and is code for the anti-virus, "his stay with us becoming permanent has been delayed. Now, Hervé is wondering if Jérémie even exists at all."

Because he believes that he still has a chance with Aelita. Imaginary or real, he sees Jérémie as a threat, possibly the biggest one to him securing Aelita as his girlfriend.

Hiroki raises another teasing eyebrow, "Is he right?"

Aelita just reaches into her jumper pocket and produces the photo strip—the one the five of them took at their first visit to the mall, the visit that no longer exists. In the center of all four photos is the boy with blonde hair and blue eyes covered with black-rimmed glasses—Jérémie himself.

In other words, no. Hervé is wrong. Jérémie does exist.

"Ah, no wonder you find his questions annoying," Hiroki seems to understand. "Now, since you're done with your homework, Aelita, do you mind helping me with mine?"

"Sure," she replies. "What is it?"

"Fractions."

"I see. Don't worry," she cracks her knuckles in preparation, as the boy sits down between the two girls. "Those are my specialty."

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

Now at the local park, Jérémie intently watches Odd as the latter kickflipped, twirling his skateboard mid-air, catching an old man resting on a bench off-guard. He then leaps over a dog, with his board rolling through the dog's legs, before grinding down a stair rail. He then performs another kickflip, before landing in front of his friends.

"Nicely done, Odd," Ulrich says, standing next to Jérémie.

"Thank you," Odd replies, before turning to the third member of their trio. "So, Jérémie, was that any help for your research?"

Jérémie smiles, "Mm-hmm. It's helping me a lot."

"Good to hear," Ulrich replies. "But are you sure you don't want to tell us what this research is for?"

"I'm sure," Jérémie calmly answers. "I told you, it's a surprise." He addresses Odd, "Regardless, it's a big help. You were amazing."

"Naturally, Prince Charming," Odd boasts. "I mean, skateboarding's even better than being in a virtual world!"

They're interrupted by an unfamiliar voice, "I'm sure there are better sources for your research there. I mean, your 'tricks' aren't bad, but are they the same for guys?"

The three tense up as they turn around. But it's not XANA talking to them. Instead it's a dark-skinned girl with a pink tank top and yellow cargo pants. Standing on either side of her are two other girls, obviously her friends—one a hippie girl (with long blonde hair, a green tank top, a purple beanie, an orange skirt, and sandals) and the other a punk girl (with short red hair, a black shirt that shows her midriff, a blue plaid skirt, black lace boots, and a fishnet glove on her left wrist).

Irked by the sexist comment, Odd boasts, "Hey girls, come see me again when you're done playing with your dolls. Maybe I could give you some lessons."

The dark-skinned girl just darkly chuckles, before kicking up her skateboard and catching it with one hand. She then jumps up and boards her skateboard mid-air, landing on and grinding the edge of the nearby fountain. But she shocks them when she kickflips and lands on top of a nearby pole.

"That girl's a pro!" Ulrich comments, shocked. Beside him, Jérémie and Odd are the same way.

She balances herself on the pole with one hand while holding her board against her feet with the other, before landing on the ground in front of her own friends. Said friends were cheering.

"Go, Taluma!" the punk girl exclaims. "You're the best!"

Odd was speechless in shock. This girl is way better than him! He was the best skateboarder at Kadic and could prove it! She must've been an out-of-towner or something.

"Better than not bad," Jérémie admits. "What's your name?"

"Ta-lu-ma," the girl replies, her skateboard under her arm. She motioned to the two girls behind her, "And these are my best friends, Fleur," the hippie girl waves, "and Maddy," prompting the punk girl to offer a 'hi!'. Taluma continues, "We're from the coast, and we've come here to look for good skaters in the area to join our club. But obviously, there's no one good here. Just bad tricks."

This angers Odd, "Why you! I'll show you my skills! That was just a taste of what I can do!"

"Odd," Ulrich warns, knowing what was coming, unable to rid himself of the feeling that his roommate was about to make a poor decision.

But this falls on deaf ears.

Because Taluma just indulges him, "Oh yeah? Then meet us at the 'Killer Skate Park of the Dead'..." an immediate chill falls over the six of them, "unless you're a wimp."

Jérémie expresses his confusion, "What is...the 'Killer Skate Park of the Dead'?"

"It's an abandoned skate park," Fleur is the one who explains it to him. "It used to be a popular hangout in its heyday, but now it has a reputation of being supposedly dangerous and haunted."

"'Dangerous'?" Jérémie repeats, worriedly. "Odd..."

But like with Ulrich, the warning goes ignored.

Mostly thanks to his anger at Taluma, "Whenever you're ready, Talu-whatever!"

Taluma just chuckles as she walks away, her friends following her. "Then follow us."

Odd leads the way, ignoring his friends' warnings.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

The Killer Skate Park of the Dead is indeed an abandoned skate park, with graffiti over every single concrete surface in sight. It wouldn't be so bad if said graffiti wasn't mostly skulls, or if the atmosphere wasn't dark and foreboding, as evidenced by the blackened storm clouds now in the sky.

"Well..." is Ulrich's initial reaction, "I think I understand how this place got its name."

Jérémie turned to his crazy-haired friend, "Um, Odd? I don't think this is a good idea..."

Odd holds his skateboard underneath his arm, "Trust me, guys."

"Sorry, Odd," Ulrich swiftly interjected, "but I agree with Jérémie. I get that you're mad that she insulted you, but proving your skills in a place like this is a bad idea. This place is dangerous. Maddy and Fleur told me more about it on the way here. Somebody always gets hurt here. A girl even died once."

The expression on Jérémie's face turns from concern to panic in a split second.

Ulrich continues, his voice stern with worry of his own, "We promised, Odd, not to do anything dangerous. I'm pretty sure this qualifies."

"The girls meant dangerous for Jérémie, good buddy," Odd replies angrily. Not at his friends. He's just psyching himself up. "I'm the one skating, not him, so it's fine."

"They meant dangerous for all of us, you idiot!" Ulrich hisses back.

"You can't stop me!" Odd shoots back, finally turning to face his roommate. "I'm doing this! I'm racing against that girl and I will not be persuaded otherwise!"

The air between the three boys is tense, as Jérémie worriedly glances back and forth between his two friends on either side of him (he doesn't like in-fighting).

Ulrich breaks first, sighing in frustration, "Fine. But if someone gets hurt, Jérémie and I get to say 'we told you so'."

Odd shrugs, "Whatever." He's acting like it doesn't bother him—his friends' concern, that is—but it does.

"You guys done fighting now?" Taluma interrupts them, also holding her skateboard under her arm. Fleur and Maddy stand on either side of her, looking confident but showing a bit of worry deep down.

"Yeah, we're good," Jérémie replies before either Ulrich or Odd can, faking a smile.

Fleur sends him a gentle, knowing smile, but doesn't say anything about his forced positivity. Taluma and Maddy don't either.

Instead, Taluma gets down to business, "So, you ready for a race?", addressing Odd.

"No problemo, Taloopy!" Odd's anger is back. Just looking at her face is enough to remember her insults, which makes him angry.

"Taluma," she swiftly corrects him. "I just want to let you know that I'm going to make a big fool out of you, blondie. You want me to give you a meter head start?"

Odd grins, "You're kidding." He motions to the track in front of them. "Ladies and children first!"

She giggles, "As you wish..."

The two take off like a Megatank is after them. It's a bit of a struggle to keep up with them.

Taluma is in the lead, and it remains that way for a good majority of the race. Odd chases her up a ramp, then a second one, then a rail grind, and then a loop.

After the loop, however, Odd manages to pull ahead. It's shown only for a split second, but Taluma is caught off-guard by his maneuver.

"Aha!" he exclaims, as he briefly turns to face her, if only to see the surprise on her face.

But she immediately calls out, "Odd, watch out!"

He turns back to what's in front of him, but it all happens within the span of a single second—the front wheel of his skateboard hits a small rock in the middle of the road, and Odd is sent flying. He tumbles to the ground, before stopping after flying about six meters.

Taluma stops and runs up to check on him, as he groans and holds his right leg in pain.

"Odd!" she kneels beside him. "Show me your leg." She seems to already know what's going on, and what to do. As if she's seen this before.

"I can't..." he mutters. "It hurts too much..."

As she helps him sit up, Taluma briefly glances behind her when she hears four pairs of footsteps running up to them.

"What happened?" Ulrich asks, Jérémie hot on his heels, and both of them about to go insane with worry.

She turns back to Odd as she tries her best to brace his leg with her bare hands. "I think Odd broke his leg."

"Ow!" Odd yelps. "That really hurts!"

Taluma continues, "He needs a hospital."

Ulrich pulls out his phone, "I'll call an ambulance," and proceeds to make the call.

Meanwhile, Jérémie kneels on Odd's other side, not sure what to do. He's inwardly beating himself up for not fighting harder to make Odd quit before the race. He and Ulrich had foreseen this happening. But something else far outweighs this guilt.

This isn't the first time Jérémie has seen his friends get hurt. They get shot by XANA's lasers on Lyoko all the time, but here...here, there's no virtual aspect to save them. If they get hurt on Earth, the pain lingers—he's seeing now with Odd—for a long time.

He wants to say something, anything, to make Odd feel better, but he's unable to find the words. All he can do is remain at his friend's side as Taluma keeps him awake and alert.

!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!

As his closest relative (physically) at the moment, only Aelita was allowed to visit Odd while he got the cast. Ulrich had called her after the ambulance arrived. But it was a good thing in hindsight, as being confined to the waiting room allowed Ulrich the time and space to calm Jérémie down. Yumi wasn't able to come until later, thanks to her parents not being home yet.

Now, a couple hours later, the five are back in the public park. Aelita sits next to her cousin as he lounges on a bench, propping his right leg—now in a purple cast—up next to him. Ulrich, Yumi, and Jérémie stand around the two.

"And what did the doctor say?" Yumi asks, her arms crossed as if she already knows the answer.

"To not move like an idiot for a month," Odd replies, almost verbatim, "and after that, we'll see if the cast can come off."

"It may be less than that," Aelita adds. "The doctor was pretty optimistic about his recovery."

"Regardless," Jérémie sighs, "let's hope XANA stays quiet until then."

"I know you're injured, Odd, but we told you so," Ulrich interjects. "All that to prove yourself to a girl who really made you look good. "

Odd sighs, but doesn't get a chance to respond. He's interrupted by a familiar voice.

"You talking about me?" The five turn to face the speaker.

It's Taluma. She's holding, in her arms, a bouquet of flowers and a small gift with red wrapping paper.

"Taluma?" Odd asks. She helped him power through the pain until the doctor was able to give him some painkillers. He owed her—hence why she no longer makes him angry. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I came to hear the latest," she replies, approaching the group now that she knows she won't be chased away. "I'm also here to apologize. I'm sorry. It's my fault you broke your leg. I shouldn't have taunted you. I was just trying to see your skills."

Odd just smiles, "All you had to do was ask."

Taluma smiles back, "Noted. Also, while you were in the hospital, your headmaster helped me get in contact with your parents about your medical bill. I told them all that I would take care of it."

"You don't have to..." Odd attempts.

But she shakes her head, "No, I do. It's my fault your leg is broken." A quick pause. "Here, this is for you." She then holds out the bouquet and gift.

Odd accepts them with ease. He passes the flowers to Aelita, before focusing on the gift. "What is it?" he asks as he opens it.

It's two tickets for 'free seats' to a skate show, as well as a skateboarding magazine with Taluma's picture on the cover, along with the words 'TALUMA, JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION'.

"They're tickets to go..." Odd does a double take and re-reads the subtitle, the one about Taluma being... "...to go see you?!" He glances up at her. "You're a skating world champion?"

Taluma is sheepish as she rubs the back of her head, "Uh...yeah...I hadn't told you...Sorry, I should have..."

No wonder she was so good!

Odd gulps, dumbfounded at the sudden realization, as his cousin and friends struggle to hide their laughs, "Yeah, you probably should have..."

!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!

A/N: If you have any ideas for side stories of this AU, please let me know in a review or a PM.

Chapter Notes: Based on the comic "A True Breakage Skater". I'm looking at the other four comics too, just so you know. I may not adapt all of them, but I promise I'm thinking about it.

Inspiration must be properly credited (once again) to Cybra's Switch AU on FFN, this time with their story "Switch". It's where this chapter's "boys' day out" idea/plot came from.

This story explains the origin of Jérémie's navy blue outer shirt that I've drawn him wearing for Seasons 2 and 3 (which is meant to mirror Aelita's outfit change in the same seasons in canon). It also sets up Jérémie creating the vehicles (which includes Aelita's wings), hence the need to read Chapter 19. Also, if you need to see the photo strip, it's up on my DA page.