Chapter 18 Laughing Fit
A.N. – So, there is a small change in this chapter. The play is happening the same day, and not the day after. No reason to waste a whole day when Xana has launched a deadly attack.
Josh Xana – Yeah, I can see that. Just in the span of Xana Awakens till now, it seems like maybe 5-6 months rather than a full year.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko, the plot, or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show, the plot is owned by the creators, and the story idea was submitted by LittleRedRebel.
Laughing is heard as Jeremy twirls his pencil in his hands in their physics class. He leans towards Odd. "I've never seen her laugh so much."
"You're telling me, I've never seen her laugh at all!" Odd remarks.
"Since I've been attending, I've never seen her laugh either" Nadia adds.
They watch Ms. Hertz as she laughs for seemingly no reason at all. "The gas I've just inhaled in the small quantity is called Nitrogen Oxide. N20," she continues laughing. "You can see why this gas is sometimes used in hospitals to relax patients who are going to be operated on." She keeps on laughing.
"Not a bad idea. Nothing like a laughing attack after an appendix attack!" Odd jokes.
"Let's try to stay serious and strongest as this gas can be highly toxic," she explains, continuing her unusual laughter. "And provoking very serious modifications and perception and even lesions in the nervous system. Sometimes even fatal, so one can is the saying goes literally die laughing!" She laughs. "Only one thing can neutralize the gas. Water, all you need is one drop to volatilize it." She giggles opening her water bottle. She takes a sip, turning back to normal. "Enough of that. Get out a sheet of paper for a surprise quiz."
Nadia, Odd, Ulrich and Jeremy glance at each other, hoping a certain someone doesn't use it…
In the courtyard, the four watch Yumi as she sits on the bench across, sad. "She's been sulking like that for two days. Nothing seems to cheer her up" Ulrich explains.
"I could try some of my jokes on her. That might do the trick" Odd suggests.
"Considering how Yumi deals with your jokes when she's normal…" Nadia starts, hoping he'll take the hint.
"We're not saying you don't have a good sense of humor Odd, but I'd rather go and talk to her" Ulrich tells him, walking up to her.
"You think Ulrich will get her to smile?" Jeremy wonders.
"Yeah, as sure as Julia Roberts is gonna call and invite me out to dinner!" Odd says sarcastically.
"Yeah, I think you're right. She's really down."
Ulrich approaches Yumi. "Please Ulrich, leave me alone. I really don't feel like talking" Yumi says as she didn't even turn around.
"But I feel like talking, and with you" Ulrich admits.
"If you like talking so much, talk to yourself, okay?" She storms off.
"Don't worry Ulrich," he turns to Sissi. "Not all girls are like Yumi."
"Yeah, that's a shame" he walks away. She narrows her eyes.
"Hey, wait Ulrich!" She catches up with him. "Are you coming tomorrow to the rehearsal? Huh?"
"Yeah, I'll be there, but not for you. It's for Odd."
"For you information, it's thanks to me that Odd's playing the music. And if you want to be part of the group, the role of Romeo is just ideal for you" Sissi offers.
"And I suppose that you, of course, are Juliet?"
"Yes, that perfect casting, don't you think?"
"Well, it's a perfect reason for me not to play Romeo."
Sissi stops walking, crossing her arms in annoyance.
In the science room, an outlet parks, one of Xana's specters appearing in the room. It enters the cylinder of laughing gas. The gas then escapes its cylinder, turning into a scary looking face, with only the eyes visible…
Night falls and Ulrich steps up to Yumi's house, sniffing the pink rose in his hand. He rings the doorbell twice.
"Oh, it's you darling. I said to myself we couldn't stay angry with each other for-" Mrs. Ishiyama answers the door. "Oh, hello Ulrich.."
"Good Evening ma'am" he blushes, since this is the first time meeting Yumi's mom. "I wanted to talk to Yumi."
Ulrich paces around Yumi's room. "What about your dad? Where is he?"
Yumi's parents, who are usually so close, have decided to have a trail separation all because of a stupid incident.
"Uh," Yumi sniffs a flower, silently happy that Ulrich gave it to her. "Staying with a friend from work."
"And what was it your parents argued about, huh?" Ulrich places his hands on his hips.
"I have no idea," she admits. "My mother tried to tell me, but I…I didn't understand. And I'm not sure she didn't either." Ulrich sits next to her.
"Yeah, those arguments are the worst" Ulrich agrees.
"I'm really glad that you came" she confesses. "Thanks Ulrich, you know how to cheer someone up" she smiles. Ulrich places his hand on hers and she looks up in surprise. He smiles back at her.
"It's strange that they're mad at each other" Aelita comments, Jeremy having heard what happened from Ulrich. "Yumi and Ulrich always get along so well."
"You know Aelita, very often people get along well have fights" Jeremy answers.
"Really? What about you and I? Why don't we even fight?" She wonders being so close to Jeremy.
"You and I? I don't really know. Anyway, Xana has been quiet lately. Too quiet, don't you think?" He points out.
"What I worry most about are the risks you all take. You know Xana would really love to get rid of you" she states.
"Don't worry, the only one who's in real danger today is Odd. He's rehearsing with Sissi, now that's what I call a risk" Jeremy answers.
Odd starts playing the guitar as he sits in the chair.
"I don't know if she'll appear tonight, but, uh…let's see…" Herb is Romeo. "I know she loves me!" He looks up at Sissi.
"That's awful! That's about as flat as a pancake!" Sissi yells.
"Hmm?" Odd stops playing, looking up.
"It's not me, it's the lines!" Herb holds up the script.
"What's wrong with the lines, hm?" Nicolas sounds insulted since he's the one who wrote the script in the first place.
"Well, I, you can't even say them!" Herb gestures to the script.
"There's nothing wrong with them, it's you! You know how long I spent on the text?" Nicolas points a finger at his chest.
"Well, my guess would be about 30 seconds!"
"I dare you to repeat that!" Nicolas makes a fist.
"Look, I'd rather you repeated your lines Herb, and with feeling! Nicolas, there's no reason for you to be on stage, and Odd, you're playing much too fast!" Sissi points at Odd.
"Sure, if I play a little slower, it'll give me more than enough time to take a little nap" Odd jokes.
"Hey, keep all your bad jokes for yourself, huh?" Sissi retorts. "Okay now, let's take it again from the top and try to concentrate!" She walks away from the balcony to prepare for her cue. Herb and Nicolas glare at each other before he gets off stage. Odd plays the music again. The laughing gas appears from off stage.
"I don't know if she'll appear tonight. But I know, but I don't know if she loves me." As Odd is playing, he doesn't notice the gas. "A guard. Oh, a guard!"
Odd starts laughing and they turn to him. "What is going on?" Sissi runs up to the balcony, seeing Odd laughing. "What is it now Odd?"
"Come on, it wasn't that bad!" Herb comments, Odd dropping the guitar.
"You're not gonna want to laugh when I get through with you" Sissi threatens, grabbing a water bottle.
"Get him Sissi!" Herb calls out as she gets off the stage. Odd falls to the ground.
Sissi pours water over him, the gas going away. "And don't bother coming tonight Odd. We're performing a tragedy, not a musical comedy!" She storms off, Odd looking up in confusion.
"Hey, wait, uh…"
Yumi rings the doorbell. The friend of her dad's opens the door. "Yumi."
"Good evening sir. I would like to see my father" she states.
"Just a second, I'll get him." He starts to leave but turns around. "Uh, would you know why your father and mother aren't talking to each other?" She shakes her head no. "I was afraid of that." She turns around as he leaves, Ulrich giving her a thumbs up.
"Yumi," she turns to Mr. Ishiyama as Ulrich hides. "How nice to see you. Come in" he gestures inside.
"Daddy, I…I, uh, I want you to come home" she looks sadly at him.
"Listen Yumi," he places his hand son her shoulders. "This is between your mother and me. And she and I have got to work it out."
"Oh yeah? And how? You're not even willing to speak to each other!" She starts to cry.
"It was crazy. I really didn't feel like laughing at all, but it was impossible to stop" Odd explains to Jeremy and Nadia in his room. "As soon as Sissi poured water on me, that was it, I stopped immediately."
"N2O" Jeremy says.
"The laughing gas" Nadia finishes.
"Ms. Hertz said that the only thing that could volatilize it was water."
"You think this could be a Xana thing?" Odd suggests.
"You never know. Aelita, keep looking around."
"Okay, but no pulsations for now" she says.
"Let's go and see if the bottle of laughing gas Ms. Hertz used is still in the science room."
"Kiwi, you stay here" Odd orders. Kiwi looks up before laying his head down on the floor.
Someone knocks on Sissi's door. "If you've come to apologize Odd, don't bother!" Ulrich opens the door. "Oh…oh it's you Ulrich." She sits up. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was wondering Sissi, if there was a part, even a little one that…that Yumi could play" he suggests.
"And why would I want to give Yumi a part?" Sissi raises an eyebrow.
"Forget that I even asked. Goodbye" he closes the door.
"Oh, no Ulrich, wait I-!" She stands up. He opens the door again.
"Hmm?"
"There just might be a solution" she gives a smug look.
In the science lab, Jeremy is talking to Odd. "Aelita and me, we never fight. You think that's normal?" He picks the lock to the classroom.
"Trust me, you will. How you haven't already is the real question" Nadia replies.
"And I don't know" Odd adds.
"You think we'd fight if she lived here in our world?" Jeremy asks.
"Real or not, once she starts thinking for herself, you two are gonna collide on issue's you see differently. Right now, you're doing her thinking for her" Nadia tells him.
"Yeah, and we're gonna get caught if you don't hurry up!" Odd urges him.
"Bingo" Jeremy opens the door. He looks at the gas, turning the valve. "It's empty. Guess we ran out of gas if you can pardon the expression."
"No one needs that much gas, and didn't Ms. Hertz say large amounts can become fatal?" Nadia recalls.
"Then we better get to the factory and check things out" Odd suggests.
"And we better hurry before someone literally dies laughing. And knowing Xana, he'll be sure to use this to his advantage."
Jeremy tries to contact Aelita at the lab. "Aelita. Hey Aelita, can you hear me?"
In the mountain sector, Aelita runs away from two bloks. They fire at her, and she runs past a large boulder. They follow her.
"Communication refused. Communication refused."
"Okay, we're ready to go" Odd says as he and Nadia are in the scanner room. Aelita makes it to the edge, looking down nervously. All she could see was fog. She whips around to see the bloks and decides to go for it, jumping off. Luckily, the digital sea isn't below her, just another platform.
"Thank God, there's a tower, just in time" she sees a way tower surrounded by rocks. She runs to it, the bloks pursuing her. She runs inside just in time. Jeremy is preparing the transfer.
"I'll transfer you two to the mountain sector. I've spotted some monsters there. The tower can't be far." Nadia and Odd step in. The gas comes into both scanners and Nadia notices.
"Odd-!" Both scanners close before she can finish.
"Transfer Nadia. Transfer Odd. Scanner Nadia. Scanner Odd." Some of the gas enters the lab. Jeremy turns around gasping. "Virtualization!" He pushes the button and runs away before he can be affected.
"Data transfer problem." Nadia and Odd's ID cards show red icons.
Nadia and Odd are virtualized, but both feel weak. "I feel very weak Jeremy. Did anything happen during the transfer?"
Nadia takes a step and falls. "Odd…some of the gas…entered the scanner…before our virtualization. It must have…messed up the procedure. That's why…we feel this way."
"Which means…" Odd starts.
"Xana was targeting us. And I'm sure…he went after Jeremy too."
Aelita is using the interface in the tower, trying to contact Jeremy. "Jeremy? Can you hear me? Jeremy?"
Back at the factory, Jeremy was running from the gas. Everyone was on their own…
It was a few hours before the play and Sissi was putting up Ulrich's lines. "Well, there we are. I've put your lines up everywhere Ulrich. You'll see, you're like a perfect Romeo" Sissi comments.
"Hey, I'm doing it for you" Ulrich says to Yumi, who's upset.
"She's right, you know. You do make a perfect Romeo" she retorts.
"Okay Yumi, now come with me so I can show you your costume" Sissi tells her. Yumi follows, while Herb looks angry.
"I can't believe you stole my part!" He exclaims to Ulrich.
"This isn't my fault Herb, I swear" Ulrich tells him.
"Why don't I just slug you?" Herb clenches his fist.
"Fear maybe?" Ulrich replies with a smug look.
"Please tell me I don't look too dumb, huh?" Yumi calls out and he turns to see her in the most ridiculous outfit she could ever wear. Yumi has been cast as a guard.
"Don't be silly, you look really stunning" Sissi says, though this seems on purpose.
"I hope we're not doing this for nothing. Did you talk to your folks?"
"Yeah, they're gonna come" Yumi answers.
"Both of them? How'd you do it?" He answers.
"I lied. I told each one of them that the other wasn't gonna come" she admits.
He chuckles. "Huh, adults can be such children sometime, huh?" She pouts at that.
Jeremy dashes into the boiler room as fast as he can, jumping over a pipe. He looks back to see the gas approaching. He sees a door in front of him.
Odd and Nadia slowly traverse the mountain sector. Nadia falls down. "My reflexes are useless. I can barely walk" Nadia comments.
Odd looks and sees a way tower, guarded by bloks. "Aelita has to be in there."
"Yeah, with bloks. I don't know what will happen to us if we get blasted away."
"Virtual envelope damaged. Virtual envelope damaged" the computer goes off.
"I got an idea, but you'll have to be bait" Odd says.
"Wonderful" Nadia replies sarcastically.
Jeremy is in the sewers, the gas hot on his trail. It engulfs him and he falls in the water. The gas escapes him and Jeremy looks to see it disappearing.
"Good evening" the principal greets parents at the door. Mrs. Ishiyama approaches, Ulrich and Yumi peeking through the curtains. She's in a black dress, along with a purple purse.
"There's my mother" Yumi whispers.
"Good evening. I suppose your husband is meeting you here tonight?" Principal Delmas suggests.
"Uhh, no, my husband isn't able to come. He's, uh…not feeling well" she lies to the principal. Right after she steps in, Mr. Ishiyama arrives.
"Oh Mr. Ishiyama, I'm delighted to see that you're feeling better already" he shakes his hand.
"Feeling better?" He asks in confusion.
"Your wife has just arrived" the principal gestures inside.
"My wife…is here?" He looks inside. Yumi and Ulrich watch as Mr. Ishiyama sits down next to his wife, clearing his throat. She turns to him in surprise, not expecting him to be here. He glances at her, and she turns her head away sharply.
"You're not out of the woods yet" Ulrich comments.
Nadia slowly approaches the bloks and they move towards her. She looks visibly weak. Odd slowly crawls on the side of the mountain. Odd appears behind them. "Laser arrow!" He fires and destroys one. The other turns around as Odd heads to the tower. "Aelita, are you there?"
She hears him. "Odd?"
Odd turns to see the blok arriving. It charges its laser before blowing up. Odd sees Nadia behind it. "I may be weak…but not out." She picks up and stashes her sword.
Aelita then steps out. "Where are the bloks?"
"Gone. We had to out-strategize them" Odd says.
"Hurry up. Xana might send more. We'd better not stay here."
"Uh, I, um…I…I don't know if she will – she will appear tonight at her balcony. "I'm…" Ulrich can't read the lines from far away. The parents murmur in confusion. "What does it say? I can't read it!" He sighs, trying to get closer. "Does she…what does it say? Oh, oh right. Does she love me? Anyway, I think she does. Enter guard? Huh?" They laugh since he wasn't supposed to read that. "Oh, guard! Guard!" Yumi's parents laugh along with the crowd. "Hide, hide!"
Yumi steps onto the stage. "Look, it's Yumi" Mr. Ishiyama says, while his wife glances at him. He stops laughing, crossing his arms.
"Boy, they're tough."
Yumi just stares at the audience before leaving. Sissi appears in her costume on the balcony. "Oh no, where are my next lines?" He looks up at Sissi. "I see em." They're all the way across the stage.
Jeremy shivers as he looks at the gas. He swims away, but the gas follows his every move. He splashes it. "Go away!" It approaches him.
On Lyoko, Nadia and Odd walk with Aelita, still weakened from the gas. "The gas must be affecting us over time. I feel weaker more than when we arrived here…" Odd murmurs.
"I think our virtual structures…were combined with the gas…during virtualization. Xana is within us" Nadia adds as both her and Odd collapse.
"Odd, Nadia, are you okay?" Aelita asks.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Nadia?" Odd asks.
"I should be fine, but if we don't find the tower soon…I'll tap out" she responds.
Aelita can feel the pulsations in their direction. "You've gotta hang on guys. You see the pulsations? The tower that Xana activated can't be too far" she points ahead.
"I hope not" Odd falls to the ground.
"Odd!" Aelita bends down to him.
"Hey, what's that?"
Aelita gives a worried look. "Oh no, that's all we needed. A labyrinth." The tower lies beyond a maze.
"We're too weak to fight, now we're supposed to navigate a maze? What's next?" Nadia asks.
The gas reaches the school, going to the auditorium. "Ah, last you're here, you who is so fair…and fair" Ulrich recites.
Aelita, Nadia, and Odd walk into the maze, turning left. Aelita watches the two walk slowly and they start to feel dizzy. They reach a dead end, resting slightly against the wall. Aelita places her hands on their shoulders. They start walking again but reach the same spot.
"We've been here before. I'm sure" Aelita says, while she continues to walk. Odd and Nadia were both on the edge of defeat.
"Lost…without Jeremy's help, it's all over…" Odd concludes.
"We can't give up. Yumi and Ulrich…as well as Jeremy…are at risk of dying. Xana ain't going to pass up…this opportunity" Nadia tells him.
"Well Jeremy, how do you wanna die? Freezing or laughing? I gotta do something. I can't hang on any longer." He lets himself succumb to the water, the gas not daring to go in. Jeremy swims to avoid being caught.
"You who lights up my day, you who is the sunshine of my nights" Ulrich kneels in front of the balcony. The gas travels through the floor.
"This is awful. He's massacring my text, huh?" Nicolas comments as he and Herb watch from behind the curtain. "Even you were better."
"Oh, my Romeo. You are my beau. Oh, Romeo, carry me, o amor mio…" Sissi says. Ulrich starts laughing as the gas consumes him, falling to the ground. Everyone else laughs, Sissi looking offended. "What did I say? What's so funny?" The gas consumes Yumi as well, and she begins laughing. "Everyone is laughing at me now."
Jeremy crawls out of the water, spitting some out in disgust. He walks out and runs, the gas nowhere in sight.
The audience watches Yumi and Ulrich still laughing. "It's not normal. They're going to choke!" Mrs. Ishiyama says, worried.
"We've gotta find a way to help" Mr. Ishiyama replies.
"I know what to do" Sissi walks up to them, holding a bottle of water. She pours it over Ulrich and the gas escapes him.
"What happened? It was like I was being controlled!"
"What's he talking about?" Mr. Ishiyama demands.
"This thing is afraid of water," Ulrich stands up. "Sissi, give me that, fast."
"You could say please?" She holds it away.
"Sissi! Give me that bottle, will ya? Hurry up," he holds his hand out. "Come on." She hands it to him and Ulrich sprays Yumi. She gasps as the gas goes away. "Yumi, you okay?"
Her parents walk up to her. "Oh darling, we were so frightened!"
She smiles a little, seeing her parents stop arguing for her safety. Ulrich is surrounded by the gas again, starting to laugh. "Ulrich!" Yumi cries before the gas consumes her too.
"What's going on? What's the matter with her?" Principal Delmas walks up.
The gas chases after Jeremy and he's caught by it, laughing.
Aelita turns around, placing a hand on her hip. Odd and Nadia are too weak to continue. Odd gets a future flash, seeing the path to the tower. "We're almost there Aelita. I just had a vision. You have to go left, you hear? And don't wait for us, we're too weak to go."
"Okay guys, I'll get there. Don't worry" she assures.
"Just go before Xana finds out" Nadia says.
Jeremy lies on the floor, weak from laughter.
Aelita runs to the tower, using the path that Odd told her. She runs across the bridge before entering. She walks to the middle, floating to the top.
Ulrich and Yumi fall weak. "Water! And call for help, please hurry" Mrs. Ishiyama tells the principal. He starts running.
Jeremy makes a fist, barely alive…
Aelita reaches the top. She walks up, pressing her hand to the interface.
Aelita
Code
Lyoko
The tower is deactivated, and time is reversed.
"You've gotta be kidding. I won't ever be part of that dumb play again" Yumi states.
"Well, at least now we know how to get your folks together" Odd suggests.
"I'm never gonna wear that stupid costume again."
"I agree," Jeremy says. All turn to him. "I've got a better idea. As for Ulrich, I'm really sorry, but you're going to have to sacrifice yourself one more time."
"At least that way we can finally see him as Romeo!" Odd comments.
"Let's face it, a nice laughing fit is good for you from time to time" Jeremy says, though Ulrich has to go through this experience again.
"Yeah, you'll turn a tragedy into a comedy" Nadia adds.
"I don't know if she'll appear tonight on her balcony, but I'm certain…and I'm certain she – she loves me!" Ulrich says confidently, not even reading the script. Both Ishiyama's smile.
"And I know I love her very much" Yumi whispers, helping Ulrich.
"And I know I love her very much," Ulrich repeats. "Ah, no, a guard!" Ulrich hides while Herb comes in as the guard. Everyone laughs at him, Odd smirking.
"Where's Yumi?" Mr. Ishiyama asks. "Isn't she supposed to be in the play?"
Jeremy turns around, as he and Nadia pull the rope. It lifts the fake bush to show Ulrich and Yumi. The crowd laughs, Ulrich and Yumi watching her parents.
"It worked!" Jeremy cheers.
"I guess it's true. Laughter is the best medicine" Nadia comments.
"Yeah, as long as it's used properly."
"What's the matter now? Why are you all laughing? You don't understand drama! This is not a comedy, it's a great tragedy!" Sissi exclaims, annoyed. As Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama laugh, she places her hand on his shoulder. Yumi smiles, happy that she was able to reconcile her parents.
A.N. – Okay, so I'm back to normal, so normal schedule will resume. Next chapter will be back on a normal schedule, so call this a grand return. PM me with story ideas! Review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97