Bludgeoning Bloks

Sissi, Ulrich, and Odd arrive in the courtyard. Sissi heads towards Yolanda, the school nurse.

Sissi: Miss Yolanda! We have an injured student here.
Ulrich: C'mon, it's not that bad… Ouch!
Yolanda: Ulrich! Are you alright, what happened?
Sissi: Another paranormal phenomenon, now in my room. Please, help him!
Yolanda: (checking Ulrich's cut) Looks like a superficial cut, more flashy than serious. Come, we have to disinfect it. (she takes the kid's hand)
Delmas: Sissi! I've been looking for you everywhere…
Sissi: In a minute, dad, I have to do something! (leaves with the nurse and Ulrich)

Delmas sighs and puts his hands in his pockets.

Odd: Headmaster, in Sissi's dormitory, an electronic device almost sets fire. I think it'd be a good idea to send the firefighters there if possible.
Delmas: What are you saying? Something happened in Sissi's room?
Odd: Indeed, sir.
Delmas: But what sorcery is this? (looks to one side and then back at Odd) Well, thank you for your information, Odd, I'll take it from here.
Odd: You're welcome, sir. Now, about our punishment…
Delmas: I've no time to think about that, Odd. For now, stay in Kadic's dependencies and follow the teachers' instructions.
Odd: I can do that.

Odd mixes with the rest of the students. Once he feels safe enough, he dials Jeremie's phone.

Jeremie: Hello?
Odd: Hi, Jeremie. Everything okay on your side?
Jeremie: It's going well, although probably a little slow. How's the situation in Kadic?
Odd: It's somewhat under control, although something happened to Ulrich.
Jeremie: What happened?

Odd tells him about their experience when they went to look for Sissi.

Jeremie: I see… And how's Ulrich?
Odd: I'm not with him, but he looked stable. The cut was a bit painful I think, but he's in the nurse's hands now.
Jeremie: Okay.
Odd: If you hadn't explained to me about the causes of all this, I'd have sworn that Sissi had supernatural powers and that she was the one who shot the disk on purpose. Are we sure that's not the case?
Jeremie: Even though it's weird that so many of these events involve Sissi, I'm pretty convinced that she has no idea of the causes. These kinds of things started happening since we turned on the computer, last week.
Odd: I see. It's more as if she was cursed then.
Jeremie: (doubtful) You could say that…
Odd: I wouldn't be surprised, I imagine she has a lot of accumulated karma. Maybe that computer only came to pass her the bill.
Jeremie: I certainly doubt it, but I don't think it's a coincidence that XANA is so focused on Sissi. I think we can already assume this as a pattern.
Odd: Okay…
Jeremie: In any case, we've all been victims of XANA: the first attacks were done to our devices. Maybe it simply doesn't attack us anymore because we've disinfected our phones…
Odd: Speaking of which, maybe it's a good idea that I approach the administration building as we speak: the computer that set on fire was there.
Jeremie: It's a good idea, but it won't work.
Odd: What? Why not?
Jeremie: Computers and cell phones use different networks and protocols for communication. Due to that, the signal emmited by a phone won't be received by a computer.
Odd: I understand. I'll let you know when I come up with a useful idea then.
Jeremie: (chuckes, surprised) It's okay, Odd. Thanks for your info. I'll deal with deactivating the infected devices. Make sure Ulrich's okay, and beware Sissi's goons. Call me if you need anything, or if you have any reports.
Odd: At your command, Einstein. Talk to you later!

Odd hangs up. Jeremie starts typing again.

Meanwhile, in Lyoko, the girls hide behind a tree, looking at a group of about ten bloks that cover their path.

Aelita: Okay, we're getting close, but we can't remain hiding. It's time to trespass the blok barrier. You ready?
Yumi: Ready!
Aelita: Let's do this.

Yumi and Aelita get out of their hiding spot and start walking towards the bloks with a steady pace. Two of the monsters head towards them. Aelita starts singing loudly, instancing a rock the size of her head. Yumi walks alongside her, but once the rock renders, she focuses on it and starts controlling it. First, she breathes extending her arms and then joining her palms in front of her chest; then, she bends her knees slightly and steps forward once, without raising her center. The rock goes through one of the blocks, from front to back, making it blow up after a second. Yumi spins on her vertical axis, with her right leg extended horizontally, tracing a circumference around her. After half a turn, the rock spins in a manner that's parallel to Yumi's movement, which sets it in a direct trajectory towards the second blok. Yumi rises as she cross-steps to her left, making the rock move in that direction and pierce the creature, this time from side to side.

Three bloks are alerted by the movement and noise around them. They approach Yumi and Aelita from three fronts, practically surrounding them. Aelita sings once again, instancing another rock, identical to the previous one. Yumi goes on with her dance, this time more intensely, moving her legs fast, and making both rocks fly in circles around her. The bloks manage to dodge them a couple of times, but one of them is finally pierced by one of them. Yumi joins both of the stones and directs them towards another cube, from two different directions. The third blok charges against Yumi, but Aelita, having foreseen the situation, instances yet another rock, considerably bigger, in the blok's trajectory, which falls over it when it keeps going forward, splatting it irreversibly. One of the two small stones pierce the remaining blok through the exact center of one of its faces.

Other bloks around there notice what's happening, but knowing the fate of their companions, run away.

Yumi and Aelita head forward for a bit longer, and end up in front of a very wide tree log, that would need at least three more people to have it completely embraced. In front of them, a double door is cut on the log's base.

Yumi: (panting) Huff! That was epic. High-five, Aelita!

The two girls smile and high-five up top.

Aelita: That felt really good. Are you okay? You look tired.
Yumi: (still panting) Well… It's not easy to move that unnaturally for a minute, and also having to focus on my movements.
Aelita: It's okay. Come, let's get in here, this is the source of the bloks.

A couple of feet to Yumi's right, a blok gets instanced. Yumi looks at it menacingly, and the blok runs away.

Yumi: Hah, you better run!

The girls enter the tree. Inside, there's a floating interface, identical to the one Yumi say at the center of the northern cave. Aelita approaches it.

Yumi: Hey, Jeremie! Did you see your act?

Jeremie takes a while before answering.

Jeremie: Huh? No, I didn't see it. What did I miss?
Yumi: What? You didn't see anything? Jeez, Jeremie, you missed our greatest moment!
Jeremie: Oh, sorry, Yumi. I was focused on something else. I see you managed to make your way without problem. Excellent job!

Aelita puts her hand over the interface and enters a few commands.

Screen: Lyoko key code accepted. Rebooting…
Aelita: Mission accomplished, the source is deactivated.
Jeremie: Fantastic, thanks, Aelita.
Aelita: I'm just doing my job.
Jeremie: Yeah, well… In that regard…
Aelita: Wait… I still feel pulsations!
Yumi: Me too! What's going on, Jeremie?
Jeremie: I have some news: I managed to establish a connection with the infected devices that have XANA active. Unfortunately, the connection means a manifestation of XANA on Lyoko, so we have to deactivate them from there.
Aelita: (sighs, now more relaxed) Okay. I'll find out its source.
Jeremie: That won't be necessary: I know that the connection sector is the main square. I made sure to redirect the signal towards there, so that the job is easier.
Aelita: Oh, that's pretty convenient. Thanks, Jeremie, we'll head there.
Jeremie: No problem. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be doing some other stuff.
Aelita: Go ahead.
Yumi: I don't excuse your lack of attention to our performance!
Jeremie: (laughs) Alright, next time I'll pay more attention.

Yumi and Aelita get out of the tree log, heading to the map's origin. They hurry themselves a bit.

Yumi: By the way, what's the tree's name?
Aelita: The file is under the name mother_tree.
Yumi: Quite mystical! How many times did you have to go there before?
Aelita: I only remember two times. That being said, there wasn't that much resistance then.
Yumi: I see. Hey, I can see you're more relaxed now. Are you better?
Aelita: Yeah, I'm better, thanks.
Yumi: Any chance of knowing what happened?
Aelita: We had a fight with Jeremie. I'd like to comment it in private, though.
Yumi: It's fine. Well, I'm glad you're calmer now. Hey, how about a race to the main square?
Aelita: Humm, wouldn't it be dangerous? We're going downhill right now.
Yumi: It's true, but we have additional protection now, don't we? How many feet of fall damage can we endure with these?
Aelita: It's true, I'd forgotten about it! Let's do the following: we'll race, but if one of us has a serious stumble, we'll stop, okay?
Yumi: Deal! Hey, Jeremie, do you wanna give us the start?

Jeremie doesn't respond.

Yumi: Must be doing his thing. You give us the start, Aelita.
Aelita: Okay.

The girls take a racing stance.

Aelita: On your marks… get set… go!

Ulrich sits on a plastic chair, while Yolanda covers his forearm with a gauze fabric. From time to time, he groans mildly because of the pain. Sitting next to him, Sissi stares at him worriedly.

After a few turns of the fabric over the arm, Yolanda fixes it with a bit of scotch tape.

Yolanda: There you go. It should cicatrize before tomorrow. If it eventually hurts too much or it keeps bleeding, come see me, okay?
Ulrich: Yes, ma'am. Thanks a lot.
Sissi: Thank you, Yolanda, for saving Ulrich!
Yolanda: It was nothing. You can leave now, Ulrich. Be careful, okay?
Ulrich: Sure, ma'am. Later.

Ulrich stands up and starts walking. Sissi joins him.

Ulrich: Uh, Sissi, um… Thanks a lot for keeping me company.
Sissi: Don't thank me! You came to rescue me and because of that, you got injured in my room; it's the least I can do.
Ulrich: Okay… It's just, it's unusual to interact with you in a way that's… not conflictive, so to speak.
Sissi: Sure… Well, it doesn't have to be like that all the time, does it?

Sissi puts one hand on Ulrich's shoulder. Ulrich makes an abrupt movement to shake it off. Sissi gets a bit weirded out, frowns and lowers her head, thinking. Ulrich sighs.

Ulrich: I don't want to sound bad, but you don't need to keep me company now. Thanks again.
Sissi: Yeah… Sure… You're welcome.

Sissi changes her course. Ulrich looks at her for a few seconds before heading his own way. After a few seconds, he sees Odd walking towards him.

Odd: Hi, Ulrich! How's that cut going?
Ulrich: Better, thanks.
Odd: I hope Sissi didn't reopen it.
Ulrich: On the contrary, she behaved in a surprisingly compassionate way.
Odd: Well well well! Love triumphed at last then.
Ulrich: I guess so…
Nicholas: That's how we wanted to find you two!

Odd and Ulrich look ahead. Nicholas and Herve block their path.

Herve: Stern! Injured, aren't we?
Ulrich: None of your business, Pichon. How about you leave us alone and we avoid a tragedy?
Herve: Oh please! It'd be a shame to let this chance pass. Besides, I happen to be a tragedy lover.
Odd: Hey, don't forget who rescued your dear Sissi a while ago!
Nicholas: We remember it clearly, bozo, and let me remind you, that's actually our job. We don't like the competition, you know.
Odd: Of course I know, it's clear you're not really competent.

Nicholas extends his huge arm to grab Odd from his T-shirt, but he manages to hop backwards before that.

Nicholas: C'mere, worm, you'll pay for that!

Meanwhile, Ulrich and Herve stare at each other. Every now and then, Herve looks at Ulrich's injured arm.

Sissi: Nicholas! Herve!

Sissi's about twenty steps east of the scene. The two alluded boys look at her instinctively.

Herve: Ah, Sissi! We came to make Ulrich pay their t… (Sissi raises her right index; Hervé shuts up)
Nicholas: Come on, Sissi! Don't you remember how disrespect…? (Sissi glares at him, making him stop talking)
Sissi: Until further notice, consider their toll paid. Now come, I need you.

Herve walks away from Ulrich, holding his gaze for a few steps. Nicholas grunts, lowers his head and approaches Sissi as well.

Once next to her, the three look at the two boys, who stare back at them. Ulrich looks with alert, while Odd does so with curiosity; the two big guys look back with hate, but Sissi stares with confusion on her eyes, still frowning.

Ulrich: Let's get out of here, before she changes her mind.
Odd: Good idea.

The boys mingle with the rest of their classmates. They hear the firefigters' siren approaching.

Aelita gets to the square about four seconds before Yumi. Once she touches the fountain, she stops to catch her breath. Yumi does the same.

Yumi: (panting) Wow, you sure know how to traverse this terrain! I found it really hard to keep up with you.
Aelita: Yeah, well… I had some advantage for knowing the place.
Yumi: True, but I think it was a fair race nonetheless. After all, it was I who challenged you.
Aelita: (giggles) It's okay. Well, let's go end our mission.

The girls stand up straight and head towards the cabin.

Aelita: Hold up…
Yumi: Something wrong?
Aelita: On the contrary… I don't feel the pulsations.
Yumi: It's true, me neither. Did XANA deactivate?
Aelita: Hey, the cabin door is opening!

The girls put themselves on guard. From inside the cabin emerges a humanoid avatar, with a round and blonde face, a pair of glasses and a blue jumper. He carries a flower pot under his arm, with a pretty tall sunflower on it.

Yumi: Jeremie!
Aelita: …Jeremie?
Jeremie: (closing the door behind him) Hello, girls. Hello, Aelita.
Yumi: We finally see you in virtual form! How're you feeling?
Jeremie: Good, my nerves have calmed down now.
Aelita: Well, thanks for dealing with this part of the job.
Jeremie: It's nothing. Yumi, could you give us some space for a little bit?
Yumi: (looking at both of them) …Yeah, sure. I'll wait for you at the fountain.

Yumi goes to the aforementioned spot and stares at them. She's able to listen to Jeremie's voice, but can't understand what he's saying. He sees how he offers the sunflower to Aelita as he keeps talking. Then, both of them exchange a few words. The girl receives the pot, looks at it and then leaves it on the ground. She says a couple of things haltingly, after which she extends her arms. The boy imitates her and she steps closer to him, which ends up in a hug that lasts for a couple of seconds. After dissolving, they exchange a few more words. Yumi smiles softly.

Aelita signals Yumi so that she joins them again. The girl obeys.

Yumi: What's all of this about?
Aelita: (drying her tears) It's nothing, Jeremie just apologized.
Yumi: Oh, I see. Everything okay?
Aelita: Yeah, everything okay, thanks.
Jeremie: Well, Yumi, how about we materialize ourselves?
Yumi: Fine with me. Aelita, it was very nice to share a trip through Lyoko with you!
Aelita: Same here! I hope this repeats soon.
Yumi: I hope so too! See you later, partner.
Aelita: Bye!

Both girls hug.

Jeremie: Bye, Aelita. We'll see each other.
Aelita: Bye, Jeremie. Yeah, hopefully soon. (smiles)

Jeremie smiles back and heads towards the cabin, followed by Yumi. The boy scratches the back of his head as he walks.

CONSOLE
In: devirt 0 yumi

Yumi disappears in front of Jeremie. After one second, she finds herself in the leftmost scanner. Its doors open.

CONSOLE
In: devirt 1 jeremie

Jeremie disappears and materializes in the second scanner, whose doors open.

Yumi: Welcome, Jeremie.
Jeremie: Thanks, Yumi.
Yumi: Hey, is there any chance that Aelita and I have a space to chat from time to time?
Jeremie: Oh! Sure, whenever I'm not in front of the computer. (thinks for a moment) You know what? I'm starving right now, so I'll go get something to eat. If you want, I can buy something for you too and in the meantime, you can have some time to talk. Is that okay?
Yumi: I like your idea! Thanks, Jeremie.
Jeremie: It's nothing, it's cool that you keep consolidating your friendship. Besides, Aelita must be fed up of seeing me all the time.
Yumi: (laughs) Don't punish yourself too much, Jeremie.
Jeremie: Okay, okay. Anyway, anything in mind for your lunch?
Yumi: I think any sandwich will hit the spot. Buy at your discretion, I'll pay you back in any case.
Jeremie: Roger that. See you later!

- END OF CHAPTER 15 -

A/N: This concludes episode 3. This one's the longest yet. I hope you liked it.

Something about Jeremie's talk with Aelita when saying sorry: at first, I wanted to write the dialogue between them, word by word, but I found out that anything I'd write would end up sounding awkward or cheesy. In the end, I opted for Yumi to look at the scene from afar so that the reader would complete the dialogues in their head.

About the continuation of the series: unfortunately, I cannot assure you that I'll be consistent with the uploading of the following chapters, because my life is full of work goals at the moment. What I can assure you is the following: The next two episodes are already written in Spanish, so the only thing remaining is to translate them. Rest assured I'll upload them eventually.

Alongside the next two episodes, there's other bits of the story that I've also already written. I probably won't upload them for a long time now, because they correspond to chapters that occur a lot later. But I tell you this so you can be sure that: 1. The story will end eventually; and 2. The main plotline is already sketched up. Be sure I'm very invested in continuing CL: Reboot. I hope you are as well.

One last reminder about the other work of CL fan fiction that I posted: Lyoko Lost Logs. There's currently one story published there about Ulrich. Be sure to check it out!

Thank you so much for reading!