A/N: Sorry to make you guys wait. Here's the next chapter.
Please re-read "The Theory of Evolution" before you read this. I know I say that a lot, but this chapter, it's really important for understanding Sissi's character development here, as well as William's.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or CL: Evolution in any way, shape, or form.
Beta read by FP7ETDP43
Special Announcement: This fic now has a TVTropes page, thanks to the work and dedication of AO3's ChrisWritesAUs.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!
"Laura catches a bad case of jealousy as Jérémie and Aelita begin their work on the modified multi-agent program."
A World Without Danger
Code Lyoko: Evolution Rewrite
Season 5, Episode 9: Green with Envy
One Sunday night saw the Lyokowarriors on a late night mission. However, their 'friend' XANA had nothing to do with this one.
Aelita stood at the interface, readjusting some windows and getting rid of others that she didn't need, while Odd and Yumi both remained alert at her side, keeping an eye out for any enemies like that Mantas' nest. Meanwhile, down in the Core Chamber, William and Ulrich kept their eyes on the Core.
"I'm ready, Jérémie," the pink-ette said.
"Alright, I'm sending the program now," said blonde replied. On the interface, another window opened up—the Anti-XANA program.
Yumi leaned slightly over Aelita's shoulder to get a better view of it, "It's a blank version, though."
"That's on purpose," Jérémie explained. "I copied the original and modified said copy to be used for this dry run, which will help us determine how to modify the real thing."
This mission was a test. The two Einsteins had explained to the others that they would need to use the Anti-XANA program on the Cortex in order to get rid of XANA this time. Jérémie had further explained that since the Cortex was an imperfect copy of Lyoko, if the program worked on Lyoko, it should also work on the Cortex.
Down in the Core Chamber, Ulrich asked, "Are you sure the program will have to be updated?" This was one of their primary concerns. Why not just launch the Anti-XANA program on the Cortex the way it was now? Apparently, it was more complicated than that.
"Absolutely," Jérémie replied. "I'm just not sure by how much."
"Well, that's what this dry run is for," Aelita reminded them all.
"That's right," the young genius confirmed.
Aelita turned to the interface, but before she could press anything, Odd softly cut in, "Um, do either of you know how much power will be needed to run the real thing this time?"
He was obviously referring to Hopper's sacrifice, and everybody knew that. He was only asking out of curiosity, but like he expected (and to his guilt), a wave of sadness immediately washed over Aelita. She began to hang her head as the memories of that day came rushing back.
A blanket of sorrow had also covered Jérémie, as evidenced in how quiet and solemn he was in his following response, "The stronger XANA is, the more power the program requires. If we don't want any more sacrifices, then we need to do this now."
"Right," Aelita agreed, her expression now one of determination, despite the pain still evident in her green eyes. "I'm running the program now."
She placed her hand on the interface. It accepted her handprint as the proper authorization (like it did last time), before the screen closed out.
Down in the Core Chamber, Ulrich and William carefully watched the Core. According to Jérémie, the program was currently a blank version, which meant that it wasn't supposed to be capable of doing anything, much less do any damage. They were here to monitor it, though, just in case.
The Core glowed a bright white, causing the two to shield their eyes, before sending out a shockwave. They braced themselves for the edge of it, but it didn't reach them. That was it—nothing else happened.
"Is that it?" William asked their mission control. "Did it work?"
"I have all the data I need," was Jérémie's reply. "I'm bringing you guys back now."
Ulrich and William shared a glance and a shrug of slight confusion—neither of them knew what all of that meant—before their wireframes began disappearing from the virtual world.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
But Jérémie did, and apparently, he was pleased with the results. He had a smile on his face as he typed away at the monitor when the other five returned to the lab via the elevator. They immediately joined him, surrounding the chair as they peaked at the screen, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"So you got the data you were looking for?" Aelita asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.
"And more," he added. His smile didn't fade. "I know how the program will have to be modified, and how much."
"We'll get to work on that tomorrow morning," Aelita said, addressing the others more than Jérémie. On her face was now a smile similar to Jérémie's—of course she'd know what all this gibberish said.
"We'll need to go back to the Cortex for its source codes, though," the blonde genius explained. "XANA's ability to attack from there as well indicates that the two share a connection."
"Which makes sense," Yumi cut in, "given how this version of XANA was lying dormant within the Cortex's database for about two years."
"Yeah," Jérémie added. "It also means we'll need to launch the program, once modified, directly into the Cortex's supercomputer."
The others went silent. That meant...
"You mean like with the replicas?" Odd asked. "From the real world?"
Jérémie and Aelita both nodded in confirmation. That meant that it was time to dig out the Translation program and wipe off the dust that had accumulated.
"How long will it take for you guys to finish the modifications?" William asked. He had no idea what to expect. The others had told him about the replicas and how they were destroyed, but he didn't have any experience being a spectre like they did. He wanted to prepare.
"About a month," Aelita answered, "at the very least."
"So, that's how long we have to prepare," William said, mostly to himself.
"Yep, and we'll help you," Yumi reassured him. She then let slip a small yawn. "But can we talk more about this tomorrow morning? William and I have a chemistry test tomorrow that I personally don't want to end up sleeping through."
"Of course," Jérémie, surprisingly, quickly relented. "Let's go get some sleep."
The six left the lab via the elevator together.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The next morning, Laura Gauthier awoke at 7:00 AM sharp, the moment her alarm went off. She quickly shut off said alarm, before getting out of bed, grabbing her toiletries bag, and making her way to the girls' shower room.
The moment she stepped inside, she was greeted with a quintet of girls all telling her, "Good morning, Laura!"
In response, the blonde politely smiled and nodded at them, before approaching an open sink next to Sissi. As she turned on the water, the principal's daughter started a conversation, "How did you sleep, Laura?"
"Very well, thank you," she replied.
"You know, the end-of-year dance is next Saturday," Sissi said. "Have you decided if you want to come with me after today's classes to help Milly and Tamiya shop for dresses?"
Laura found herself shrinking (metaphorically, not physically), "I'm...not sure I'm going to the dance, actually." Why did always get shy when thinking about any social outing? She normally wasn't. Then again, she'd never really spent any time with people her own age. "I mean...does one not need a companion nowadays?"
Sissi rolled her eyes, "Man, you are worse than Jérémie."
Laura's confusion covered up the skipped beat of her heart at the name of her crush, "What do you mean? Worse in what way?"
Emilie Leduc cut in from across the room, "Jérémie has the social skills of a potato. It's honestly a wonder how he managed to confess his feelings to Aelita at all." That's right, Laura remembered. The two were together. "But you, Laura, are worse than him, because he, at least, knows that a dance is a social event. Yes, it's nice if you have a romantic partner to spend your time with, and most people will, but you can also go with someone as friends. There's also going with a group, or going by yourself and socializing with others."
Clair Girard piped up from beside Emilie, "Have you ever socialized before, Laura?"
The young blonde genius went quiet as she remember her father's catchphrase. "No. My father sees such activities as, quote, 'a waste of time'." She wished he wasn't so hard on her, that he would've allowed her to make friends when she was younger. But he didn't. He always had a task for her, always concerning his company. "I was homeschooled before this, so he made certain that I never had the opportunity."
The other girls were sympathetic, as Sissi commented, "Geez, your dad sounds very controlling."
"He is," Laura confirmed, solemnly.
Anais Fiquet, on Sissi's other side, cut in, "Weird, then, that he would suddenly send his homeschooled daughter to a boarding school. As a boarder, no less."
Laura could only shrug, nonverbally telling the other girls that she didn't know the answer. In reality, she did actually know, but she couldn't say anything. The task her father had for her now was supposed to be a secret.
Heidi Klinger approached the genius, "Regardless, Laura, if you ever need help or just someone to talk to, then all you have to do is ask." The other girls all made sounds of agreement, whether with words or not.
"Yeah," Sissi added. "And think about the dress shopping, okay? We're going today once classes are out."
"I will," Laura replied with a smile. And she meant it.
In that moment, the door to the shower area opened, and out stepped Aelita in her pajamas (the girls got dressed in their rooms), her hair damp. "Good morning, everyone!" On her face was a bright smile.
"Wow, you're in a good mood, 'Lita," Emilie told her, slightly amused.
The pink-ette scratched the back of her neck, sheepishly, "Well, just this morning, Jérémie asked me to his date to next week's dance."
Laura's heart fell as the other girls are gave Aelita words of congratulations. They were officially dating, the blonde told herself. Knock it off.
"Wish Hiroki would be as confident as Jérémie is," Milly muttered from the corner. Tamiya, beside her, just giggled.
"Well, to be honest," Aelita admitted, "mine and Jérémie's relationship involves conversations spoken entirely through mind-reading, or rather, that's what it feels like. We just know each other that well. So there was never any doubt that we were going together. He really only asked aloud because he knew we'd both appreciate having verbal confirmation." Her cheeks were dotted with a light red color, and seeing this made Laura's heart sink even more.
"You guys are soulmates," Anais quipped. "I wish Christophe and I were like that."
Her face red, Aelita replied, "Don't be so down, Anais. Every relationship is different. And I wouldn't call Jérémie and I soulmates, but I would say that we got very lucky." She checked the clock on the wall. "Oh, I have to go down to breakfast now. Jérémie and I have a special project to work on together. See you guys later!"
"Bye! Have fun!" the other girls told the pink-ette as she left the shower room.
The moment Stones was gone was when Laura finally spoke up, "I don't think I understand." The other girls turned to her, ready to explain things to her again. She continued, "Jérémie's activities are purely intellectual—robotics, computers, science—as opposed to Aelita's creative interests like music and painting."
"And fashion," Sissi cut in, "surprisingly."
That just proved her point, Laura felt. "Yes, well, how can people who are so different read each other's minds the way she describes? Of course, that's ignoring the scientific impossibility of that for a moment."
To her surprise, Emilie and Anais both gave her knowing smiles. "Ah, you have a crush on Jérémie," Anais said.
"And you're jealous of Aelita," Emilie added.
"Is it...that obvious?" Laura asked, unable to deny either of those points. They were both true.
Anais and Emilie both nodded, as Sissi gently cut in, "Don't judge books by their cover, Gauthier. On top of his 'Einstein' title, Jérémie is also very kind and sweet. Aelita was also second to Jérémie, and rivaled Hervé, in the school's GPAs before you arrived here at Kadic. I mean, there's a reason I started calling her 'Mrs. Einstein'. The two are more alike than people initially assume."
Those words sat with Laura for a long time. "I see," she replied. "Thank you for your advice. I must go now, before I'm late for breakfast." The other girls bid her 'goodbye' and 'good luck' for the day, as she left the room.
However, walking down the hallway back to her room, alone, she immediately rescinded on her verbal promise to take Sissi's advice. There could only be one Mrs. Einstein, and Aelita didn't deserve that title.
Laura was the best match for Jérémie, and she was going to prove it.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
It was around 10:30 AM when the first round of classes let out. Jérémie and Aelita were lounging by the vending machines, both working on something using his laptop. Ulrich and Odd joined them first.
"Hey, guys, how was History?" Aelita asked the two with a smile as they approached.
"Same old stuff," Odd waved her off. "Did you and Einstein enjoy your time in Study Hall together?"
He intended to tease them, only for them to ignore his bait. "Yes, we did," Jérémie replied. "We got a significant amount of work done on the modifications for the Anti-XANA program."
Ulrich rolled his eyes at his roommate's disappointment, "Forget it, Odd. They've been desensitized to your teasing." He turned to the two geniuses. "Glad you two got so much work done in an hour and a half." Any work done on that update got them one step closer to beating XANA for good (hopefully).
Aelita send him a grateful smile, as William and Yumi approached the group.
"Hey, guys," Odd greeted the elder two. "How'd that Chemistry test go?"
"I think I passed," Yumi admitted. "At least, I sure hope I did. The information came easy to me this time. As for William..."
She trailed off on purpose. "I swear I tried my best," William finished for her. "We'll get the results tomorrow." He then changed the subject. "So what were you guys talking about?"
"The Anti-XANA patch," Aelita explained. "Jérémie and I got some of it done in Study Hall."
"It's far from done, though," Jérémie cut in. "Remember, we'll need some codes from the Cortex."
"Because we'll need to launch it from the Cortex this time," Aelita added, "so we'll need to format it to the Cortex's database."
"When are we going back?" Yumi asked. It was an important question.
"Tomorrow night?" Jérémie offered, glancing up at his friends as a nonverbal request for their input.
"Sounds good," Ulrich replied, with the others all agreeing with nods.
The warning bell interrupted them in that moment, signalling the next wave of classes. Jérémie put his laptop away and got to his feet, joining Ulrich in splitting from the group.
"Time for Math," Ulrich was deadpan as he faked enthusiasm. "Joy."
Jérémie couldn't disguise his chuckles as he waved at the others. Yumi and William headed for Italian, and Odd and Aelita were paired up this time for Music.
Laura also had Music class next, and she joined Odd and Aelita in walking towards Mr. Mirti's classroom. Being behind them, she didn't think they noticed her, or knew she was there, but she had a good view as she observed them. More specifically, their dynamic.
They seemed to be having a lot of fun together, way more fun than Aelita and Jérémie did in Study Hall, with whatever special project they were working on together. And that gave her an idea.
Her phone—in her bag—vibrated twice, indicating a text. She took it out to check. Sure enough, it was her father (it couldn't have been anyone else; only he had her number). He had sent her text saying: 'I don't care about who you like, and you shouldn't either. Focus on your homework.'
She just rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore him and put her phone back in her bag as she entered Mr. Mirti's classroom. Her father, for once, didn't know what he was talking about...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
All throughout Music class (during which Mr. Mirti taught them about the piano), Laura continued to observe Aelita Stones and Odd Della Robbia. Their dynamic, how they interacted with each other, was rather interesting to her.
With Jérémie, Aelita was intellectual, polite, and used big words that normal people probably weren't aware of. She was eloquent, well-behaved, and—dare Laura say it—a bit of a teacher's pet.
But with Odd, Aelita was different. She teased people, made jokes, and sunk down to Odd's level by taking his bait. Together, the two were borderline troublemakers, pranksters, and students who liked to bend the rules as much as they could to see when the breaking point was—toeing the line, but not actually doing enough to get into trouble. With Odd, Aelita's playful side was brought out way more.
Aelita and Odd also bickered a lot more—in a playful way, of course—usually over the most miniscule and unimportant things. Meanwhile, Jérémie and Aelita's bickering felt a lot more personal. Surely—Laura felt—that meant something.
But what really interested the blonde girl was that Odd matched Aelita's creative interests a lot more than Jérémie ever could. Odd and Aelita both enjoyed music, were both artistic, and apparently, he was willing to indulge her whenever she expressed a wish to try something new—in this case, skateboarding, something Laura knew Jérémie would never be too keen on trying.
Aelita Stones seemed to have a lot more in common with Odd Della Robbia than she did with Jérémie Belpois—and Laura could use that to her advantage.
She could use this intel to make Jérémie and Aelita to have a fight bad enough to break them up (or rather, their social commitment, because that's all it was—social), after which Laura could cozy up to Jérémie under the guise of cheering him up. All she had to do was plant seeds of doubt into his mind while pretending to be a concerned friend.
There was a chance to put her plan into action the moment classes let out. Upon leaving the Music classroom, behind Odd and Aelita, she saw Jérémie leave the Math classroom with Ulrich at his side. The brunette was dreading finals next week, especially the Math one, and the blonde was promising to help his friend study for them.
Making her choice, she ran up to them. "Jérémie, can I speak with you for a moment?" The two boys stopped and turned to her, letting her catch up with them.
"Sure," Jérémie replied before turning to Ulrich, "Go on. I'll catch up." The brunette shrugged as if to say 'If you say so', before leaving. This left Laura alone with Jérémie, exactly what she wanted. "What's up? You want to discuss homework or something?"
"Um, no," she began to act concerned, as if she was saddened by him being unsuspecting. "I, um, wish to discuss something more...personal."
"Oh?" Unlike her, his concern here was genuine.
She lowered her voice. Time to put her plan into motion. "I, uh, don't think Aelita is entirely faithful to you."
He raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Um, what? Care to explain?"
She was truthful as she explained to him what her observations told her, "Well, I was watching her interact with Odd in Music class. They appeared to have a lot of chemistry together. At one point, she asked him to teach her how to skateboard, and he agreed, with both of them citing how much you hate doing anything physical. I'm just worried that you're being played without knowing."
Something within Jérémie clicked here, as she saw his confusion turn into anger. Her heart began to soar—she did it. The seeds had been planted...!
"Stop it." She blinked in genuine confusion. "Aelita is not unfaithful. I know her and I know Odd."
"Are you sure you're not just in denial?" she asked, hoping that his reaction was a joke he was playing on her. She had to make him mad at Aelita!
"I'm not in denial," his voice was hard, but he was hiding his blue eyes from her. "I know what you're trying to do, Laura, and I'm warning you right now: it's not going to work."
She attempted to feign innocence and ignorance, "I-I don't know what you mean–"
"Yes, you do." He cut her off, his anger becoming more and more pronounced by the second, "You're trying to sabotage mine and Aelita's relationship. It's not going to work."
The two were gaining an audience now, which included Sissi and Jérémie's friends—which Laura did not like—but Jérémie seemed to be unaware of it, or if he was, then he just didn't care. Either way, he continued to sternly tell her off.
"Odd and Aelita are cousins." They were? "They are also best friends, so of course they're going to be close! What they do is none of my business, unless their antics involve putting each other in danger intentionally." He sighed, frustrated, "I'm warning you for a third and final time, Laura: your sabotage is not going to work. And if you persist, then you and I can no longer be friends."
When delivering the final sentence, he finally met her eyes, and her heart panged with guilt when she saw unshed tears lining the bottom of his eyes. It was only for a moment, as he quickly walked away afterwards, but her heart sank in embarrassment and self-disappointment as she watched him.
The other Lyokowarriors knew something was wrong the moment they heard Jérémie raising his voice, and not at any of them. To their surprise, they saw that the victim of his wrath this time was Laura, of all people, before realizing that she probably wasn't the victim, but rather the one pushing his buttons.
When he walked away, towards the park and not to them, the five were faced with a choice. Aelita, this time, chose to ignore the crestfallen Laura and instead chase after her upset boyfriend. Odd followed Aelita, while Ulrich, Yumi, and William chose to remain behind.
It seemed as though history was about to repeat itself, so they had some words for her.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Odd and Aelita found Jérémie on the bench in the park surrounding the academy, visibly sulking. He was staring straight ahead at the trees in front of him, but not actually seeing them, as if his mind was blank. The two faux-cousins had heard what he told Laura (it wasn't like they were whispering), and it was evident that he was upset about it.
"Jer?" Odd broke the ice, as he and the pink-ette cautiously approached.
Although the young genius didn't blink or move his eyes, he did respond, "Hey, guys."
Aelita sat down next to him, "Are you okay?"
"I will be," Jérémie softly replied, before gently sighing. "I'm just wondering if I went too far." Concerning Laura, he meant.
Odd stepped in here, his rare wisdom peeking through, "If you recall, Jérémie, I once called you out in a very similar manner." Said nerd could only nod—that Valentine's Day was one of the darkest days of his life. Of course he remembered. "And you learned your lesson. You learned not to let your jealousy control you, and we've moved on. We haven't fought about that since." Jérémie nodded again. The purple-loving boy continued, "Laura let her jealousy control her. You just warned her about what would happen if she didn't snap out of it. So, no, you didn't go too far."
"He's right," Aelita quickly added, offering her boyfriend a reassuring smile. "All you did was warn her about your boundaries, which you're allowed to have. By the way, thank you for defending us. Given her lack of social skills, she likely misread our dynamic."
"Probably," Jérémie agreed, still quiet. "I just...I just don't want her and I to stop being friends..."
"That's not on you, Einstein," Odd swiftly jumped in. It was clear that Jérémie didn't want to be the one to ruin that friendship. "Real friends are the ones who give you a reality check when you need one. Heaven knows we've given you plenty."
"Sorry..." And the blue-clad genius would always appreciate them.
Odd softly knocked the side of Jérémie's head—an affectionate gesture. "My point is that you did nothing wrong. Like Aelita said, all you did was set boundaries. If Laura keeps trying to sabotage the Jerlita relationship, then the resulting fallout will be all on her. Not you."
True. "Thank you, both of you," Jérémie replied in a soft voice. "But...what is 'Jerlita'?"
"Is that our names mixed together?" Aelita asked her faux-cousin, an eyebrow raised in amusement. "Jérémie and Aelita—Jerlita?"
Odd's smile in response was bright and teasing, "Of course, it is! Don't worry, Ulrich and Yumi aren't exempt from it. I like to call them Ulumi!" It was clearly meant to cheer Jérémie up.
And it worked, as evidenced by Jérémie's resulting chuckles.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
At the same time, back at Kadic, William approached Laura—still crestfallen. After telling everybody else to go about their business (and they thankfully obeyed), he led her to the vending machines, where Ulrich and Yumi were.
The three guarded her from the judging gazes of passersby with their bodies.
"Are you okay?" William asked her.
"What do you think?!" she snapped, visibly upset. No, she was not okay.
"It's never a good idea to let jealousy control you, Laura," Yumi softly cut in. "Yes, it's a natural emotion, but letting it cloud your judgement will always lead to disaster."
Laura only reached up and wiped away an unshed tear from her brown eyes.
"Jealousy only gets in the way of trust," Ulrich added. "Believe us, we all know that from personal experience."
For the longest time, Ulrich was jealous of William, and even now, he sometimes felt soft waves of it whenever he watched the two head off to class together. For the longest time, Yumi was jealous of Sissi, and once of Emilie and Brynja, with her feeling envy nowadays with Ulrich's many fangirls. And even though William had urged them to get together, he still felt jealous that Ulrich and Yumi were a couple.
But now they were all honest and open about it—a far cry from back then.
"Are Aelita and Odd really cousins?" came Laura's soft voice, almost at a whisper.
"Yes," William and Ulrich both replied, with the cover story in mind (obviously) rather than the truth.
"Their dynamic is actually more like siblings than cousins, though," Yumi added with a fond smile. "Why did you think that they were more than that?" The question wasn't malicious, and Laura seemed to be aware of that.
"Because I've always thought," the blonde girl replied, her tone showing her vulnerability, "that the more alike two people are, the more chemistry they have. Judging by my research, I'm more compatible with Jérémie than Aelita is."
"There's a difference between chemistry and compatibility," Ulrich explained to her. "You can have chemistry with someone and not be a good fit with them. You can also be a good fit with someone and not have chemistry with them. Because feelings and emotions are complicated, and some people really don't like talking about them because it requires them to open up and be vulnerable."
"Right," Yumi agreed. "And some people can't even word their feelings properly." Here, she sent Ulrich a knowing look, to which he shot back a sarcastic smile.
"Noted," Laura quietly replied. "So what should I do? I still like Jérémie, but I don't want to lose his friendship."
"Well, you have a choice to make," William told her. "Which is more important to you: taking Aelita out of the picture and thus losing Jérémie's friendship, or remaining as Jérémie's friend and thus losing your chance with him as a romantic partner?"
Laura didn't answer. Instead, she was lost deep in thought over their words.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Deep in the heart of the Ice Sector, a tower atop of an iceberg gained a red halo...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The trio's transwatches all went off, interrupting the tension and Laura's reverie. XANA had activated a tower.
"Sorry, Laura," William attempted, "but we have to go."
However, as soon as he turned to face her, he, Ulrich and Yumi all saw a familiar black spectre emerge from the nearby coffee vending machine and enter Laura's being. Her entire body flickered, as if she was glitching inside a video game, her eyes squeezed shut. When she opened them, her brown irises had been replaced with the eye of XANA.
She immediately pounced on them, but Ulrich and Yumi were just as quick. They held her back with a good majority of their combined strength, as William pulled out his phone from his back pocket.
"Jérémie? XANA's–"
"–on the attack," the genius replied, sounding as if he was running. His feet were pounding against concrete, and his breathing was staggered. "We know."
"Laura's been possessed," William informed their de-facto leader. "Ulrich, Yumi, and I will try to hold her off, but we can't make any promises."
"The rest of us are on our way to the factory right now," Jérémie said. "We'll try to be quick, though I'd prefer if at least one of you is able to break away to help Odd and Aelita."
"We'll try, but again, no promises," William replied, before ducking to avoid an electricity blast from XANA's latest victim. He then hung up to focus on the current fight.
Ulrich and Yumi were both hunched over, exhausted already. No visible injuries—fortunately—but they already had their backs against the wall. That wasn't good.
XANA was using Laura's face to grin evilly at them.
"One of us needs to join Odd and Aelita in deactivating the tower," William relayed. "Ulrich."
Despite being volunteered against his will, the brunette didn't think twice, "On it. Good luck, you two. Don't die."
He then ran off towards the park passage by himself. Thanks to Yumi and William, XANA-Laura didn't think twice about him.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"Virtualization!"
Aelita and Odd landed side-by-side on the ground of the Ice Sector. They stood up together as they surveyed their surroundings.
"The tower should be in sight," Jérémie told them.
"Spotted," Odd replied, with a hand over his eyes as he stared at the mentioned structure.
It was indeed stationed in front of them, a few hundred meters away. It rested on top of an immense iceberg, and it was connected to another glacier just as large with a narrow pathway between them. Aelita recognized the layout as similar to the tower XANA used on the Ice replica to teleport William to the Siberian base.
"There's a path that ramps up to the adjacent iceberg," she told Odd.
"Then let's go," the cat replied.
The two then took off together, on foot because the tower didn't seem too far away to warrant any vehicles.
As their feet pounded against the virtual ice, Jérémie warned them, "Be careful. I can't see any monsters on my screen."
Odd immediately stopped in his tracks and held out an arm to stop Aelita as well. She had no choice but to obey.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Stay on guard," the cat warned. "For XANA to not have even a single Kankrelat guarding the tower—that's weird."
He was right. XANA always had at least one monster roaming about, regardless of the mission. Right now, the tower was in sight, and for there to be an open path to it, with no obstacles? Odd was right. There had to be a trap somewhere.
Odd's cat ears suddenly twitched, indicating that they had picked up a sound ordinary human hearing couldn't. "What's that sound?" he asked, as he turned to look behind them.
"What sound?" Aelita turned to follow his gaze, only to gasp in surprise.
The wind behind them was picking up, rather sharp and quite quick. In no time, the wind was stirring up frost and diamond dust, and a lot of it. And it was heading right for them.
"It's a blizzard!" the angel exclaimed. So that was XANA's trap. "Let's run!"
"Agreed!"
The two resumed their running towards the tower, this time faster in order to avoid the twisting snow billowing at their tails (literally, in Odd's case).
"Einstein, we've got a problem here!" Odd cried out.
"I know, I see it," Jérémie replied. "And make that two problems. There's a monster on your tails."
Welp, there was that monster they were expecting. Odd briefly glanced back to see the blizzard barely covering up the dark metal shell of a Megatank.
Seconds later, the blizzard caught up with them, obscuring their vision and slowing them down.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
XANA-Laura ducked Yumi's punch, before grabbing the elder girl's arm and throwing her over the blonde's head. The Japanese girl ended up smacking her back into a nearby wall.
She and William had tried their best to take the fight away from school grounds, but they didn't succeed. They were in the courtyard, and there had been witnesses until they were sent away by a wise and concerned Jim.
The possessed girl launched at Yumi while the latter was still down, only for William to quickly step in. William tightly clutched into both of Laura's wrists, trying with all his might to keep her in place.
"Fight it, Laura," he urged. "I know you're in there!"
His mind kept going back to when Yumi had managed to reach him, when she had brought him back just by reminding him, with words, of where his loyalty should've been.
He'd been possessed by this same artificial intelligence for nine months. Anyone else experiencing the same fate for even one second made his heart twist in sympathy. He knew what it was like and it wouldn't wish it on anybody, especially not Laura. There was a kindred spirit between the two, so this situation was hurting him emotionally.
XANA's hold on Laura was too strong, though. It had her easily overpower him with a jolt of electricity, shocking him. This made him let his guard down unwillingly, as she picked him up by the front of his shirt and flung him into the same wall she had thrown Yumi into.
XANA-Laura paused, glaring at the two, before turning around and walking away towards the park passage, towards the factory.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Odd and Aelita were struggling slowly forward, shielding their eyes from the ice in the air around them. The winds were violent and they couldn't see where they were going, so they could only hope that they were going the right way.
"Be careful!" Jérémie suddenly exclaimed. "In front of you!"
The two heard a Megatank open up and immediately fire its laser. Odd suddenly tackled Aelita to the ground right before a red laser wall shot past him. He quickly recovered and shot a trio of Laser Arrows in the direction the laser came from, only for all three of them to hit the monster's metal shell.
He then helped Aelita up, urging, "Let's go! We can't linger!"
She didn't protest, quickly getting to her feet and following him. The Megatank quickly followed them, suddenly appearing in front of them out of nowhere (or it felt like it, thanks to the blizzard). The duo stopped in their tracks, before backing away a few paces.
The monster opened up and immediately fired at them, but the two both dodged the shot by leaping off to either side. As she did so, Aelita formed and threw an Energy Field, only for the Megatank to quickly close up, protecting itself with its shell and rendering Aelita's attack harmless.
She growled in frustration, as the blizzard began to pick up again, cutting off their view of the Megatank.
Beneath their feet, cracks began appearing in the ground. The duo stood back to back as the cracks grew wider until it was evident that the platform they were standing on was being separated from the surrounding plateau.
The Megatank fired at them again, this time hitting Odd right in his chest and forcing him to stumble backwards. In no time, to Aelita's surprise, her faux-cousin was teetering on the edge of the platform, flailing his arms wildly to try and keep his balance. She rushed forward to grab his wrist and save him, only to be too late. He lost his balance and fell over the edge.
With no other choice, Aelita quickly hit him with an Energy Field, devirtualizing him before he could hit the unforgiving water.
The blizzard began to clear up. Sure enough, the platform she was on was far away from the rest of the land, but the Megatank was now nowhere to be found.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Odd emerged from the scanner, slouched down with his back against the cylindrical wall, just as the elevator doors opened to reveal Ulrich's arrival.
"Thanks, Aelita," the purple-clad blonde muttered, before addressing his roommate as the brunette climbed into an open scanner. "Good luck, buddy."
"You too," Ulrich replied, before addressing the blonde in the lab above. "I'm here, Jérémie."
"Thank goodness! Just in time!" The scanner doors promptly closed on Ulrich.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Aelita was glancing around, taking in her options. "Jérémie?" She could use his input right about now.
"Hang on," he told her. "I'm sending you Ulrich."
A few seconds later, the samurai's wireframe appeared in the sky above her before filling in with color. Ulrich himself then dropped down from that point, landing by the angel's side.
"Welcome," she greeted. "As you can see, we're in quite a pickle." She motioned to the massive gap between them and the plateau in front of them.
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Jérémie muttered, before the Overwing and Overbike both appeared in front of them.
"Oh, valet parking! Nice!" Ulrich exclaimed as he hopped onto the Overbike, while Aelita climbed onto the Overwing.
"Let's go," Aelita ordered, and the two took off towards the tower.
Both of them easily overtook the gap thanks to the vehicles' flight capabilities.
"Be careful," Jérémie warned. "Two Tarantulas and that Megatank are now guarding the tower."
"Oh, we'll make life miserable for the enemy," Ulrich told him. "Don't you worry."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Jérémie watched their respective arrows—one yellow and one green—move across the holomap. He was worried. William and Yumi hadn't called him in a while to give them an update. Their biosignals shown in the top left corner of his screen told them that they were fine, just strained because they were fighting against a super-powered human being.
As if on cue, he got a call on the supercomputer right then. He immediately answered, knowing only two people it could be. "Yes?"
"Laura's on her way to the factory right now." It was William. He sounded breathless. "She's too fast for Yumi and me to catch up to her." Jérémie glanced over nervously at the closed lift doors. "We'll try our best, but right now, you're on your own."
There was something he could do, actually. "Thanks for the warning, William." He began typing on the keyboard a sequence to bring up the controls for the elevator. "I'll take care of it." He'd try his best anyway.
In no time, the factory's elevator had been shut down and locked in place.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Once that was taken care of (for the moment, at least), Jérémie turned his attention back to the duo on Lyoko, "Ulrich, Aelita, how's it going?"
"We're almost at the tower," Aelita relayed, as the Megatank from earlier rolled out from behind one of the two connected icebergs.
"Just a pest or two to get rid of first," Ulrich added.
The Megatank opened up and began charging its laser, before firing. Spotting it, Aelita maneuvered the Overwing out of the way, as Ulrich crouched on the seat of the Overbike before jumping up into the air. The Overbike was destroyed by the laser, but Ulrich landed on the back of the Overwing, behind Aelita, just as the pink-ette fired an Energy Field at the monster, destroying.
"Now that's teamwork," Ulrich complimented her. She shot back a smile at him in return as she kept flying towards the tower.
"You're gonna need it," Jérémie warned. "Don't forget the two Tarantulas."
Said enemies were stationed in front of the tower. They both got onto their knees and opened fire the moment Aelita tried to fly close, forcing her to perform a U-turn and fly back along the path connecting the two icebergs together.
As she and Ulrich flew over the adjacent platform, the Overwing was hit and promptly destroyed, sending its two riders to the ground. Fortunately, both landed on said platform on their feet.
They looked back over at the monsters. After moving slightly closer, the Tarantulas opened fire again, forcing the human duo to take cover behind a curved ice rock, one of many surrounding them.
As lasers flew past them, and battered their cover, Ulrich reassured Aelita, "Don't worry. This isn't the first time we've been in a situation like this."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
As Odd arrived in the lab via the side ladder, XANA-Laura also arrived at the factory. She jumped down to the floor below the gallery before running to the lift, where she punched the control panel with a bolt of electricity, wrecking it. Electricity continued to run along her arm as she pulled out some wires. The lift cables shook as the elevator itself started to ascend to the surface.
Odd was disconcerted as he and Jérémie watched the lift control window show the elevator bypassing the blocks Jérémie had put in place and rising to the top floor. Apparently, the AI had used Laura's own knowledge of coding to hack into the control panel up there—and that scared Odd, not gonna lie.
But the blonde genius was already typing in another sequence, "Oh, I don't think so, XANA." He pressed enter.
A series of noises came from the (still closed) elevator doors, sounding like several lock mechanisms moving in place.
Meanwhile, William and Yumi also arrived, both aching due to the beatdown earlier at the school but neither wanting to give up just yet. Jérémie was still in danger, and XANA was likely possessing Laura to knock him and bring him to Lyoko.
The two swung down from the ropes, landing in front of the elevator shaft. The first thing they saw was the damaged lift control panel.
William sighed, "Is there anything that XANA won't ruin?"
Yumi didn't grace that with an answer, just pointing in the direction of the boiler room, "That way!", before taking off running in that direction. William quickly followed.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"Ulrich, Aelita, how's everything going?" Jérémie asked, sounding antsy.
The Tarantulas had stopped firing at them, probably having realized that they were just wasting their energy.
"We're almost there," Ulrich reassured his friend. "We just have to get past the bouncers." He observed their two enemies as best he could from his vantage point behind the ice rock. "Things sound pretty hairy over at the factory," he muttered to Aelita. "Jérémie seemed tense."
"Then we'd better hurry," she replied. "We'll have to force our way through."
"Roger that. Super Sprint!" Ulrich then sprinted out from the behind the rock, causing their enemies to immediately open fire again.
He ran towards the Tarantulas at full speed, avoiding their lasers with ease. When he got close, he jumped up and threw one of his katanas into the eye of a Tarantula, destroying it. He landed right next to the second one and it promptly aimed at him.
"Energy Field!"
The monster was immediately engulfed in glowing pink energy before exploding. Ulrich shield his fast from the blast before glancing over at Aelita, who was standing at the other end of the path, before she began running towards the tower.
"Nice job, Princess!" Ulrich exclaimed. "Go on."
She entered the tower at a sprint.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Violet electricity shone through the crack in the door as XANA-Laura was in the process of prying the locked elevator doors open. She opened her eyes, her irises flashing with the eye of XANA—reminding Jérémie that this wasn't Laura who wanted to hurt him. It was XANA.
Odd immediately stepped in front of Jérémie as the door finally gave way and slid open at great speed. As a result, the edge of the doors as well as Laura's hands were left smoking.
"Hands off my buddy!" Odd cried before rushing at the girl.
Said girl just ducked and grabbed the front of Odd's shirt, before blasting him with electricity and then throwing him into a nearby wall.
She then turned towards Jérémie, slowly and menacingly, forcing him to slowly get out of his chair.
This wasn't Laura, he reminded himself. This was XANA.
Regardless, it was still scary for him. With each step forward she made, he made one step back.
AELITA_
XANA-Laura charged up lightning in both of her hands before firing a burst at him. It came at him too fast, so he wouldn't have been able to duck. At least, if it hadn't been for Yumi to come from seemingly nowhere (from up top, actually, from the boilers) and tackle him to the ground.
At the same time, William (coming from the same direction as Yumi) tackled Laura from behind and held her back by linking his arms around hers.
CODE_
"Don't even think about it, XANA," William growled.
XANA used Laura's mouth to growl back. Her hands jolted with electricity again as she struggled against William's grasp.
LYOKO_
But the AI didn't get very far. Its hold over Laura was there one moment and gone the next, as Laura's eyes returned to their normal brown color.
"W-Wha...?" Her eyes were darting around the room, taking in her surroundings. Thanks to the gap in her memories, she obviously didn't know where she was or how she got here. "What's going on? Where am I? What are you guys doing here?"
Yumi stopped hovering protectively over Jérémie, choosing to instead kneel beside him. "You okay?"
He nodded as he sat up, grateful that she and William had shown up when they did. As she helped him to his feet, William let Laura go free.
She didn't move an inch, only glancing back at the raven-haired boy behind her and unable to unsee the sympathy in his eyes.
"What is this place? What's going on?" she softly asked, before turning back to Jérémie, watching him as he crossed over to the monitor. "Jérémie?"
"You'll never know, Laura," he told her, his voice just as quiet. "But if it's any consolation," he was typing in another sequence into the keyboard, "you'll get a second chance to do the right thing."
He then hit 'enter', prompting a bright white light to start engulfing the room.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Time rewinded to the moment where Laura Gauthier received her self-proclaimed great idea.
This time, however, before she could approach Jérémie as he left the Math classroom with Ulrich, she was stopped by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see William and Sissi standing there, side-by-side.
"Is it worth it?" William asked.
Laura raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"Your plan to make Jérémie and Aelita break up," the raven-haired boy elaborated. That surprised her. How did he know what she was about to do? The plan she was about to set into motion? Then again, judging by earlier in the shower room, maybe her jealousy was just that obvious. "Is it worth it?"
"Of course it is," Laura replied, her hands on her hips. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"Are you sure?" Sissi softly asked her. "Is risking your friendship with Jérémie worth trying to sabotage his and Aelita's relationship? I mean, even if you succeed in breaking them up, there's no guarantee he'll start falling for you."
A pause. Sissi made a good point. There was actually more than one moving part to this plan of hers.
"He'll see right through it," William sternly warned, making Laura meet his navy-blue gaze. "He's not stupid, and he will not be amused."
That was true, Laura thought as her heart sank a little. She had fallen for Jérémie because he was smart, because he was observant, because he knew more than the average person.
"He's right," Sissi agreed, and added, "Besides, his bond with Aelita is too strong to be broken for long."
A defeated Laura sat down on a nearby bench, and her vulnerability now was a familiar sight to William. "What should I do?" she quietly asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "My crush on him is pretty strong." She couldn't take her eyes off of the blonde boy as he laughed at a joke Odd made. "I mean, I've never met someone so much like me."
As Sissi sat down next to the blonde girl, William stayed on his feet on her other side, "Is it possible that your crush is actually mostly excitement at having a friend?"
"Yes, it's possible," Laura replied, his words obviously making her think. "Jérémie is my very first friend, after all."
"That's something you'll have to think long and hard about," Sissi said, her vocal tone and facial expression both comforting (or at least, attempting to be). "We're sorry for needing to break your heart, Laura, but take it from us. William and I know how you feel, from personal experience."
Laura perked up with interest, "Oh?"
"You see Ulrich and Yumi there?" William nodded over at the brunette boy and Japanese girl next to Jérémie. "For the longest time, I had a crush on Yumi, while Sissi here really liked Ulrich. We pined after them for so long, despite them having mutual feelings for each other. We were optimistic that we would win, until our bad luck with them made us both realize eventually that we would always lose. Their attraction to each other was too strong."
"So we both stepped back for their happiness," Sissi continued the story. "Yes, the choice hurt, and it still hurts sometimes, but all four of us are overall happier for it. It's taken a while to get used to it, but it's better being their friend than being shunned from their lives completely." She turned to face Laura here, "You're lucky to be Jérémie's friend at all, for many reasons and not just because of Aelita. You have a choice to make here, the same one we did."
William repeated, "Which is more important to you: your friendship with Jérémie, or your crush on him?" He then gave another warning, "Just know that if you choose your crush, you'll most likely have to say goodbye to your friendship, and that will be what hurts most of all."
Their words left Laura in deep thought. So that's what that meant: Was it worth it?
If she succeeding in turning Jérémie and Aelita away from each other, he'd be sad over the break-up, and still be thinking about the pink-ette as he mourned his loss. He looked so happy right now, being surrounding by friends as Aelita completely disregarded his personal space, standing so close to him—which he didn't appear to mind. Could Laura really live with knowing that she—not Aelita—took that joy away if she went through with her plan?
No, she couldn't. It was not worth it.
In that moment, she made her choice.
William and Sissi did not make any move to stop Laura as she got up from the bench and approached the vending machines, where Jérémie was. Her heart was pounding with nervousness, yet also with the confidence in her decision, that she knew what she wanted, as she softly called out, "Jérémie?"
He turned to her, expectantly, "Yeah?" His four friends mirrored his reaction.
She softly smiled, "Thank you."
He blinked, confused, but smiled back, "You're welcome. But may I ask what you're thanking me for?"
"For being my first friend," she fondly explained. "Our friendship means a lot to me. No matter what happens to us, I'll always cherish it above anything else."
She was being vague on purpose, but judging by the look in his eyes, he seemed to understand the true meaning behind her words, "As will I."
A warmth filled Laura's heart—yes, she had made the right choice. She then turned to the pink-ette at Jérémie's side. A ping of jealousy—at their physical closeness—made her heart twinge, but she powered through, "Aelita?"
It was Aelita's turn to blink in surprise, "Yes?"
"I'm sorry, for everything. I concede the title of Mrs. Einstein to you."
Despite the pink-haired girl's confusion, Laura left it at that and walked away, back to William and Sissi. Yes, it hurt, but she felt confident in her decision, because in the long run, they would all be happier.
As the blonde girl was approaching them, William turned to Sissi, "Thanks for your help. I couldn't have done it without you."
"No problem," Sissi smiled back, brightly. "I'll help whenever and wherever I can."
By this point, Laura had reached them. Her hands behind her back, she shyly spoke up, "Thank you, both of you, for your advice. Um, Sissi," a blush appeared on her face, "may I go with you, Milly, and Tamiya? To shop for dresses?"
"Of course you can!" Sissi exclaimed with delight and excitement, as she stood up from the bench. "Let's go get Milly and Tamiya now!"
William watched, with a smile, as Sissi led Laura away from the courtyard, arm slung over the blonde's shoulder like they were old friends. After a moment, he then walked back to the other Lyokowarriors, all of whom were watching that exchange.
"So she chose friendship over crush, huh?" Yumi asked him, knowingly.
"Yep," William replied. "And I'm glad."
"Me too," Aelita confessed. "Now that she's no longer chasing my boyfriend, I can finally get to know her beyond that." If it weren't for Laura's attraction to Jérémie, she and Aelita would probably be good friends.
Jérémie turned to William, "Thanks for your help."
William shrugged, "No need to thank me. It's just a favor for a friend." He took a surprised step back when Odd suddenly got in his face. "Um, can I help you?"
"Are those reddened cheeks I see?" the purple-clad blonde teased with a smile.
"U-Um..." Were they red?
Odd's smile only grew wider. "I think they are. Are you, perhaps, forming a crush on Laura?"
"I don't know yet," William swiftly admitted. "But I do know that, deep down, she's a sensitive person." And she was experiencing a type of pain that he knew intimately. If he couldn't spare her from that pain, he could at least guide her through it while protecting her from XANA.
"Just so you know, Will," Ulrich told him, "regardless of how you feel, we'll be teasing you relentlessly. As your friends, that's our job."
William just smiled knowingly, "I know." And part of him was actually looking forward to it.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!
Inspiration: CLE's "Virus"
Up next: Episode 10, May I Have This Dance? - "The last time there was a dance, XANA attacked, and the gang shouldn't have expected any different. Meanwhile, Sissi drops out of the Beauty Queen contest."
A/N: Chapter Meaning: "Green with envy" is an idiom about jealousy, which hits Laura pretty hard in this chapter.
-The girls I put in the girls' shower room scene are those we've seen as boarders in the animated show, namely in "Mister Pück" and "Uncharted Territory". Yeah, I did some rather extensive research for that scene, because we mostly see the boys' shower room.
-The tower XANA activates is (a copy of) the one it activates in "Cold Sweat". And the blizzard is because I miss the early days where XANA could control Lyoko's landscape. Now that it's tied to the supercomputer again, I can bring it back.
-Is this the start of William/Laura? You bet it is. Get ready for a slow burn, though; it won't be happening overnight.
~Evolution concepts~
This chapter is meant to replace EVO's "Virus", probably my least favorite Evolution episode. I just don't like how Jérémie and Aelita are dumbed down in order to make Laura look smarter, and that's an understatement. "Virus" really does our two Einsteins dirty, as apparently, only Laura was able to realize that the Cortex's core is coded differently and they weren't. I will commend the writers' creativity in Laura being able to discreetly tamper with the RTTP (even though I personally don't think it should've worked; her brain has to be scanned into the supercomputer), even though Laura does it without the group's permission, thus souring the heroes and the audience to Laura even more. If the writers wanted people to like Laura, then that was certainly not the way to do it. The last critique I have of the episode is of the heroes deciding to use Laura like that. That shouldn't have happened; they're better than that.
This chapter erases that. The virus has been changed to a patch (or an update) to the Anti-XANA program, one that Jérémie wrote the majority of and had Hopper's help in completing. With Aelita helping him, the group doesn't need to recruit Laura to help them, only needing to go back to the Cortex to retrieve its source codes. Since I've decided to focus more on Laura's lack of social skills, this chapter was dedicated to Laura's jealousy, as opposed to Aelita's. Jérémie's forgiveness of Laura here is because he's aware of how little she knows about social cues (which is why she misreads Odd and Aelita's dynamic), but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have boundaries. He does, and now Laura is aware of them.
Concerning Laura's background, in EVO, everything we know about her family solely comes from "Chaos at Kadic". Here, since I have different plans for her, I'll be revealing her backstory across multiple chapters. Keep reading to find out.