Chapter 2

"The Principles Daughter"


A couple of miles away an old, but nice looking Red Ford F150 lumbers down the streets of France. It seems quite out of place among the euro-cars and taxis with its brilliantly red paint job obnoxiously loud straightpipes and a whining turbo. Even though the driver can't be seen through the glare in the windshield, it seems more than obvious that they are looking for something. Despite the appearance of the truck, which would send people the message that this guy was a jerk, it stops every few hundred feet to allow someone to cross the road and giving a friendly wave out of the drivers side window to the pedestrians who were staring at the source of the noise.

P.O.V. Change 1st person

As I roll down these old streets, I wish for once that my truck was silent so I could enjoy the beautiful sites of this city in peace. Perhaps I will take a walk through here when I get settled down. Maybe tomorrow, Sunday is always a nice day to take a walk.

Down the road a bit, I spot a girl and two boys waiting to cross the street. They seem to be around thirteen. Maybe they can help me find what I am looking for. I stop to allow them to pass. The girl is dressed in a pink short sleeve belly shirt with a yellow heart on the front, a short dark pink skirt over maroon pants and has a yellow hair band holding her hair straight back except for two small strands in front of each ear. She might be a nice looking girl if it weren't for the fact that she seemed to have worn a sour look for most of her life and the fact that she hung out with these two obvious social outcasts.

The first boy looked like a nerd from 500 feet away and looked even more so when right in front of him. He wore a green sweater and plain brown pants and seemed to have a severe case of acne. If I had to guess, he must be the one who does her homework. The second boy was wearing a blue shirt with a number 8 on the front and way-to-short short shorts. He seemed to have no expression at all on his face but when he looked at me I could tell he was a complete moron.

Well here goes nothin'.

"Excuse me, Miss?" I call out trying to get her attention as politely as I could. She hears me and is coming over to the window.

"Yes what do you want?" she says as if she has hated me forever.

"Sorry to bother you, but it seems that I am lost. I am trying to locate Kadic Academy."

"Why on earth do you want to go there?" she asks like she is the queen of the universe or something.

"I am a new student there. I moved here from America."

"Well I'll have you know I rule that school. My daddy is the principal so you had better watch yourself."

"I will be sure to do that." I say losing my overly polite attitude. "That is if someone can tell me how to get there."

"Why don't you ask someone who cares! C'mon herb and Nicholas, we're out of here." She says and storms across the street. 'Herb' as she called him decides to be a tough guy and goes to kick out my headlight. Just before he makes contact I drop the truck into neutral and gun the engine into the red zone. The noise created is so loud that several people up and down the street have to cover their ears. Herb gets so scared that he falls over, gets up and runs away.

I have to get out of here because there is no way that was legal. I put it in drive and peel away, weaving through the streets until I am a good distance from the site. I slow down and continue my search for my new school.

Chapter Three

The Meeting

    After my run-in with Queeny McB*tchface and her two jesters I go back to my previous task of looking for the school. As I am traveling, I spot a river crossing near an old condemned factory that sits in the middle of the river. "I think this is the River Seinne." I say to myself trying to remember the little map in the guidebook. "Yes, I remember now, this factory used to manufacture cars, Renault, if I'm not mistaken." As I cross the river I see the huge letters on the front of the building."Yep, that's it alright. I must be close."

    Just then I see a group of 5 kids emerge from the factory doors. They look like they are all the same age as that bitch and her cronies. Maybe they're a nicer bunch than that other ones, but what are they doing in an old condemned factory? None of my business. I just need to find this school, I'm already late for a meeting with this Delmas guy. I'll ask those kids if they can point me in the right direction. I hope that they can understand me with my accent. They moved off the bridge of the factory onto the sidewalk. I slowly drive up to them. It seems that no matter how obnoxious your vehicle is, as long as you keep it under 5 miles an hour nobody notices you. I pull up along side the group of five and shut my engine off. Apparently noticing the lack of background noise they stop and turn toward me.

    "Can I help you?" says the tallest member of the group. She is of Asian descent. Probably Japanese. She is dressed in a black long sleeve shirt that is just a little too long to be a belly shirt but too short to be a regular shirt, black pants, black platform boots and has straight black hair.

    "Yes, actually I am looking for Kadic academy." I say as I analyze the rest of the group. Wait, there's only four now. what happened to the other one? A streak of purple and yellow flies by my peripheral vision and half a second later a grinning face is less than a foot from mine. "Ahh!" I fall backwards into the seat.

    "We can help." says the face that just scared the bejeebers out of me. "We go to school there."

    A blond boy with glasses and a blue turtle neck accompanied by tan khakis speaks up with no introduction. "Thats an American truck. Judging by your facial hair, I'd say your in your late teens and the bags in the back of the truck mean you are moving somewhere. You speak with a New England accent and your looking for our school. You must be the new student. Welcome." he said all this as if he knew it all along. As if he was Sherlock and I was Watson.

    "You'll have to excuse Jeremie, hes been having a bad day." Says the pretty girl with pink hair.

    "That's all right it just kind of surprised me is all." I turn back to Jeremie "You're a lot smarter than I pegged you for. Ok, pop quiz hotshot. What's my name?"

    "Roger Edwin Costa the second"

    "No way. How?"

    "Odd stole your passport."

    "What did?"

    "Odd"

    "Whats odd?"

    The blond haired one who scared me popped up "I am."

    "You're odd?"

    "Yep thats my name,"

    "What is?"

    "my name is Odd."

    "Can't be that bad."

    "No thats actually my name."

    "What is?"

    "No,no, my full name is Odd Della-Robia."

    "Oh, I get it now. My B."

    "Here ya go." he said and handed me back my passport.

    I accept it with a question "How did you get this out of my locked Glove box?"

    "I'm pretty handy with a paper clip," he says and winks.

    "Ok." I take a moment to look at him now. "You're kinda scrawny ain't ya? even for your age."

    "I'm not scrawny, I'm Svelte," he says. He is dressed from head to toe in purple with gold-yellow colored shoes and a belt to match his hair which has a small purple spot in the front of the gravity defying do.

    "Nice style, I can see why they call you Odd"

    "Thanks! I like it it too, and I like your truck." he goes off to inspect it.

    "Don't worry, he's a little crazy, but he's got a good heart," says the pink haired girl.

    "Well, stealing someone's passport isn't exactly the best first impression you can make," I respond

    Odd pops out of nowhere again, "Hey I'm sorry dude. I shouldn't have taken it."

    Jeremie speaks up again. "Umm... actually thats my fault, I told him to take it. I wasn't sure if we could trust you."

    "All right, I understand, kinda, sorta not really" I shrug, "but after that encounter I had with 'Bitchzilla' back there, I'm really not in the trusting mood either."

    "You met Sissi?"

    "Thats her name? Well she can certainly turn your mood sour quickly. And those two she had following her were real pieces of work too. That Herb kid tried to kick my truck, but I scared the crap out of him."

    "How'd you do that?"

    "I revved my engine."

    "That must have been the noise we heard."

    "Yeah, it probably was. You heard it way the hell over here?"

    "Yeah, that was loud."

    "Thats the advantage of making your own exhaust system. I also have a sweet Air horn up top and the Dukes of Hazzard horn under the hood. So whose the rest of the group. I've only got Jeremie and Odd." gesturing towards each in turn. "Wait let me guess. Yumi right?" I ask pointing to the Japanese girl.

    "How did you know that?" she asks astounded.

    "My amazing powers of intuition." I say. "Also your math homework is sticking out of your pocket." At this, everyone cracks up. Even the one dressed all in green with brown hair who has not said a word the whole time. "So lets get the formal introduction out of the way. I'm Roger Costa. My friends call me Rudger or Rud for short. I moved here from Rhode Island in the States. I decided that I put too much work into my truck to give it up so I brought it with me. I am going to attend your school because the education standards in Europe far exceed standards in the states. I was a junior in high school, but I got bumped back to the 8th grade over here. That's about it." I extend my hand in a friendly manner.

    "Odd Della-Robia, Resident weirdo and class clown." says the purple clad kid nearly shaking my hand off.

    "Yumi Ishiyama" She says, with a smile and a firm handshake. The one dressed in green comes up but doesn't shake my hand "Ulrich Stern."

    "Hey, he speaks. Can he do anything else?" I say jokingly, Odd laughed but the others seemed a little nervous.

    "Sorry, I don't trust strangers as easy as everyone else."

    "Well I'm Roger and you're Ulrich. There, now were not strangers."

    "Ha, I guess you're right." he says and grasps my hand "Nice to meet you, Rud."

    "Likewise."

    Next came Jeremie. "Jeremie Belpois, Resident nerd and computer guy."

    The last one to shake my hand was the pink haired girl. "Aelita Stones. Like the rock group. I'm Odd's cousin." she says and shakes my hand. She was dressed in a pink dress-type-thing with pink boots.

    "Lovely name."

    "Thank you." she says and blushes.

    "Well that's everyone." I say when suddenly a muffled sound comes from the gym bag in the passengers seat. Odd notices and looks at me. "Odd, can you keep a secret?"

    "Sure whats up?"

    I turn towards the passengers seat and bring back a football sized fluffball in my arms.

    "What is that?" asks Yumi.

    "Its my dog, Tommy."

    Jeremie says, "Ya know Rud, your dog, looks really dumb."

    "Don’t say that. He’s very sensitive and he can get real mean," I say and hold him out towards Jeremie.

    "Oh yeah, really?" he says and backs away nervously.

    "Nooo" I say and give a goofy grin. Ulrich puts his face in his palm and shakes his head. We all share a laugh and then Odd nearly knocks Jeremie over to get to see Tommy up close."Wow! He's cool. What is he?"

    "He’s a shitzu and he’s blind in one eye. But I don't think dogs are allowed in the dorms, so please don't tell anyone."

    "We won’t. I’ve got a dog too. His name is Kiwi. I bet they'll get along great."

    "I’m sure they will. Lets get back on topic shall we? How do I get to the school?"

    "We’ll show you if you give us a ride."

    "I’ve only got one  open seat."

    "No problem" says Ulrich as they climb into my truck bed. Aelita sits in the cab to give me directions. I hear a thump and suddenly see yellow shoes in front of my windshield.

    "Nice seat Odd!" I yell up to him "Hold on!" I start the engine, shift into drive and take off so hard that Odd falls back into the bed with an "oof."

    "I told you to hold on," I go back to driving normally,  Aelita gives me directions and soon we arrive at the front gates. They get out of the bed and Odd says "We gotta go, but thanks for the lift."

    "No prob, thanks for the directions," they wave and head off towards what looks like the dorm rooms. I find a parking spot and think about the days events as I start to unload. Nice kids. 4 seconds and I've already got 5 friends. That's a lot better than back home. No, not back home. This is my home now, France, Kadic academy. Oh well, gotta unpack. As I am unloading I get the feeling of being watched. I turn swiftly to see whose there only to find the tree I parked near. I stare at it, daring it to move. Suddenly, a shadow moves from under the tree on its own and disappears into the shadows of the building. I blink rapidly, like the action will suddenly clear my vision and reveal a squirrel or something. Nothing. Better stay off the late night movies and caffeine drinks. As I continue to move my luggage to the pavement, a shadow looms over me. I drop my bag, turn and kick hard towards the head. Before I even complete the action I realize that it is actually a large muscular man in a jogging suit. I can't stop my kick in time and he catches it in the side of the head sending him to the ground.

    "Ah jeez kid what'd ya do that for I was only going to help with the luggage!" he says still laying on the ground.

    "I'm not buying it, Who are you, why were you following me, why are you wearing that bandage?" I demand and put my boot on his throat.

    "I’m James Morales, but you can call me Jim. I’m the phys.ed. teacher here at the academy. Ya know, you should think about joining a sparring class or something. You're pretty good," he says with a smile, and as he says this, I can't help but wonder why he is smiling when he is in this position. Before I can render a thought he grabs the leg on his throat and uses it as a holding point to whip his body around and try to take out my standing leg. I jump over his attack, but that is just what he was looking for. He turns the leg he is holding while I'm up in the air and sends me into a barrel roll. I land on my right foot, and without missing a beat I whip around with my left expecting to catch him in the side of the head as he is getting up. Instead I find my leg in his grasp again and him standing in front of me. I can't pull my leg out of his iron grip. "That enough of that for now. Fighting is strictly prohibited on school grounds. I should report you to the principal, but since your not technically a student yet, I guess I cant." he says and releases my leg.

    "Right, Well thanks" I say and brush myself off, "So Jim, where did you learn those moves?"

    "I picked up some martial arts skill when I was a soldier in china, but I'd rather not talk about it. The principal, Mr. Delmas is waiting for you in his office. You’ll find it easily. I’ll take these things to your room for you, here's your key. You're gonna have a room mate and we don't have a bed set up for you so you have to sleep on the floor tonight. we will have it set up tomorrow."

    "Don’t bother, I already got one."

    "Alright your choice."

    "I’ll go see Mr. Delmas then. Thanks Jim. and good fight." I hold my hand out to him and he shakes it. As I walk away I remember Tommy and go back and grab the bag he is in. "I’ll keep this with me. Very fragile." I walk towards the administration building and enter my new life.

Chapter Four

Short Fuses

"But sir, He made a deliberate attempt to damage my property." I find myself saying again after being yelled at by my new headmaster with Sissi and Herb standing on the side smirking. I am at least two inches taller than Mr. Delmas but he still makes me feel like a little kid.

"I don't want to hear some ridiculous malarkey about one of my top students suddenly being violent. All I can see is some teenager with a 'cool' truck that likes to scare people!" says the headmaster.

I am typically known for having three buttons. He just pushed one, the stereotyping teenagers button.

"You were 17 once. Did you like scaring people? Because I don't and that would be the only other example you could have of someone my age, seeing as they are all in high school and you run a middle school." I retort.

"Yes, I was a teenager at one time and I did have my fun, running around on our motorcycles and scaring people, but we scared people our own age and it was all a joke. You on the other hand can only scare children younger than you because you such a horrible student you got sent from high school to middle school." Is his response. That would be the insulting my intelligence button.

"So you're saying that because your country has higher education standards than mine, I'm stupid? Well FUCK YOU!"

"That's Enough! You just got yourself 2 weeks detention. Now get to your dorm and out of my office!" He says. As I am leaving I hear him say to his daughter "Fucking Americans they're all so fucking stubborn and stupid." And that would be button number three. Before I know it, I am crossing the room at full steam. I can't stop myself now. I have to let it play out. I jump the desk that he just vacated and backed away from, grab him by the throat and slam him up against the wall. "Never shit talk the United States behind an American's back you worthless piece of shit. Just because you're partially in charge of me does not mean that you have any right to diss my country you fucking slime bag. I don't give a shit what you think of me personally but you have not got, and never will have the right to say anything about any body's country of origin. Fuck free speech, it's called common sense and if you think you do have that right at least have the balls to say it to their face you miserable, weak old man, "I finish and release him. "and while were having this nice little chat." I say looking over at his daughter. "Sissi, wasn't it?" she nods. "Why don't you tell him what really happened out in town today. And where did your little friend go? Did he abandon you? Real classy."

"H-h-he w-went to get help," she says, her voice barely a whisper. "and daddy, he was right about earlier today. Herb did try to kick his truck and all he did was rev his engine. I was trying to get him in trouble because I didn't like him." she says and burst out in tears.

"Thank you for finally telling the truth." I say. "I knew you weren't completely heartless. As for you." I say going over to Delmas who is still kneeling down on the floor and crouching down to eye level."Are you all right, sir? Do you need me to take you to the infirmary? You shouldn't get me pissed off. If there is one thing I can say I am, it's patriotic. I am sorry and I am willing to take any punishment set forth by you without question."

" I am fine, I may be an old man but I can still take some abuse, and I will not punish you for your patriotism. It is... understandable, I would have done no less and I'm sorry for saying that, but I will punish you for attacking the administrator of this school which is usually expulsion but because none of this would have happened without Sissi's trickery" he says, glaring at his daughter "I think the previous punishment set forth of two weeks detention starting Monday after classes will suffice, and Sissi will be dealt with." He says as he tries to stand up. I detect a strange tone in his voice. Is that respect? I wouldn't believe it it it weren't true but there it was, I just attacked him and he likes me for it, Most of the few people that I have attack outright have a note of fear in their voices. He actually is happy that I nearly killed him. Strange.

"I think that seeing her father in that position is hard enough on her sir. Maybe now she will think of the possible consequences of her actions."

"True enough, now go before Jim gets here. I'll sot this out later." He says and rushes me out of the room.

I go into the hall and walk normally towards the exit. When I get outside and see Jim running in the side entrance with Herb on his heels. I quickly head off to the dorms.

I find my dorm quickly due to the large amount of bags sitting in front of it. I go to open it and find that it is locked, so I open it with my key. The room is bare except for a computer, a poster, a standing closet, a bed, and a tack board. "Not much of a decorator but certainly a computer nerd." I take one look at the pc and notice two things. 1 that this has got to be some kind of super hyped up on crack computer, and 2 that it is still running, although the monitors seem to have gone into power save mode. "oh well, better move in while he's gone so I don't disturb him." I say to nobody in particular and looking out of the window to see the setting sun. "Better get a move on."

After about an hour The light coming in the window is orange and it shines on several open bags, a tube metal frame, and a sleeping ball of fluff. I yawn and stretch my arms. inadvertently hitting the desk the computer is on. The screens flicker to life and display a computer nerds dream. one screen has scrolling code that looks like something from The Matrix, another holds a sort of 3D world map of some kind of terrain, all mounted to a central sphere by what looks like big cables, and yet another has a program running called Super scan that looks like its running through a group of pillars or towers trying to find something, but what? and another window on the same screen is more computer code but this time it is labeled as: Transporter Sphere Code. "what is all this?" I ask myself and as I am reaching for the mouse the door opens and a dark figure enters and immediately begins yelling at me.

"Who are you and what is all this junk and why are you touching my computer??? get away from there."

"Dude I'm sorry, I didn't touch anything. honest. I was just looking because I accidentally hit the desk and the monitors came on so I was curious."

"Roger?" says the voice and steps into the light. I can now see that it is Jeremie.

"Oh jeez," I say and breathe a sigh of relief, "Jeremie you scared the crap out of me."

"I knew I couldn't trust you! how'd you get in? What's in those bags huh?"

"Chill dude, I thought you were supposed to be smart, I'm your new roommate, duh, these bags are my things. And I didn't touch any of your stuff."

"Oh, thank god. I thought you were trying to steal my information. Did you say you're my new roommate?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind of course."

Odds voice enters the room followed by his body. "Of course he doesn't mind. Do you Jeremie? And what was with all of the yelling?"

"We had a bit of a misunderstanding, and of course I don't mind, welcome to your new room Rud." Jeremie replies

"Thanks. where is everybody else?"

Odd answers "They've all got classes this period and then they're done for today." After he finishes a bell rings in the distance. "That's the end of the day. They will all be up here soon." sure enough, Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita are in the room in less than a minute.

"That was quick." I say.

Ulrich responds by asking "What are you doing in here?"

"I'm Jer's new roomie"

"Oh, umm... can we have a word in private with Jeremie please Rud?"

"Sure, I was gonna go to the bathroom anyways."

"Thanks."

As I head out the door and close it behind me I hear Ulrich talking and he says the words secret, password and zana. I get to the bathroom without a problem. I stop in front of the mirror and give myself a good long look. Man, I look like crap. I've been running myself ragged all month in preparation for coming here. At this point I am dressed in the New England standard summer clothes. An extremely loose white T-shirt with faded baggy blue jeans, which is how I like them because the shirt reduces how fat I look and the pants hide my over sized leg muscles. I have always been overweight but now I'm actually fat. The only good thing about being fat is that your leg muscles develop extremely quickly due to the weight they carry on a daily basis. In high school I could leg press 1200+ pounds without breaking a sweat and it has come in handy to make me strong and fast on my feet.

The rest of my ensemble is a pair of old black steel toe boots that I have had for several years now, and scraggly long curly black hair that has never been combed. I need a makeover bad. Maybe I will ask Odd for some tips. Haha, not likely. Thinking of Odd brought me back to the conversation they were having right now without me. Why did they want me to leave? I didn't do anything wrong. They're keeping something secret from me. As soon as Ulrich heard I was Jer's new roommate he had to talk with everybody. If it is important enough to keep within that tight circle than I guess I don't need to know about it, but they think I might find out, which is why Ulrich was so hesitant to welcome me. I can't risk my friendship on a stupid secret.I hope that when they are ready they will tell me. I only met them a few hours ago, I can't really expect them to open up that easily. whatever, I should head back.

By the time I finish my thoughts I glance at my watch and notice it has been about a half-hour since I left the room. "shit, they must be worried." I hurry back to the room and open the door to reveal something completely unexpected. My futon has been put together and up against the wall with Odd and Aelita sitting on it with Yumi and ulrich on Jer's bed and Jeremie in his computer chair, there is now another stand up closet and two dressers in the room (Tommy is in the bottom drawer of one) and all of my stuff is set up including my computer and X-box, although there is no TV so we can't play it yet. "Oh my god. how did you do all of this in half an hour?" I ask.

"It was easy." responds Odd "Jim brought up the closet and a dresser for you and Yumi went home and got another dresser her father was throwing away. After that all we had to do was set up your collapsible table, put your stuff away, and hook up your computer."

"Oh, thanks guys, you're the best!" I say and take them all in a massive bear hug.

"You're crushing my ribs." Odd says. I let go and we all start laughing. "How are you gonna play X-box? we don't have TV's"

"leave that to me, c'mon and see." I bring them out to my truck and fold the seat forward to reveal a 20 inch flat panel plasma screen.

"Whoa! that must have cost you a few Euros huh?" Jeremie exclaims.

"About 5 actually."

"5 Euros! where did you get it? Off a crack addict?"Odd asks.

"No I got it out of some guys trash on the way here. I looked at it and said 'maybe I can fix it'. I didn't feel right taking something that expensive so I slipped a 5 under his door, I still have to fix it, but here we are."

"Awesome! lets get it back to the room so we can make it to dinner on time."

Ulrich glances between me and Odd. "looks like you've got some competition Odd."

Odd comes back with "yeah right, like Rud could ever beat me. I can out eat anybody."

"Well I'm not just anybody, I'm Rudger, World class eater of all things uh...umm... edible! yes, thats the word, edible." everyone cracks up at that remark and Ulrich says, "I better go warn the kitchen staff." and we all share a good laugh.

"Oh yeah Rud, Well I challenge you to an eating battle. Whoever has more plates wins." Odd challenges.

"you're on!" I say. We finish bringing the screen up and head down to the cafeteria. Odd, heads over to the counter, reaches over and grabs the big pot of spaghetti."Thank you." he says to the lady.

"Hey, you cant do that!" she says.

"Were having a contest." Odd explains, motioning towards me.

"Oh, I see." she says.

"You might want to cook up another pot."

"No problem." she says and turn to the rest of the cafeteria. "Taking all bets, 3 to 1 odds on the new kid!" I look back and see a swarm of people including Jim himself making bets. He says, "Ah I used to do this with my coworkers at a taste-testing company. Oh, and I'll have you know that gambling is strictly prohibited on school grounds. Give me 50 on the new kid."

I look at him and ask, "you worked as a taste-tester?"

"yes I did." He says and glances at Ulrich who was leaving the room with the rest of the gang to escape the crowd. He seems to remember something, "But I'd rather not talk about it."

"Ok" I say and something dawns on me, "Hey, what's our take?"

"Winner gets 60 percent of whats left after bets are paid off, loser gets nothing." says Rosa over the uproar. "Ok, all bets are final, no more new bets, time to start the fun." She walks behind the counter and puts another pot on the stove. She finishes up, walks back to our table and puts the same amount of food on both our plates." I will be the regulator of this match. Nobody is to interfere in this contest and anyone who does will lose their money. The winner will be the one to finish the most plates of food. Now chow time. 3, 2, 1, GO!" Odd shovels down a plate in 30 seconds while I eat normally and stare Odd right in the eye as he waits for me to finish.

"Am I allowed to put anything on this?" I ask, finishing my plate after a minute.

"Yeah, whatever you want but it looks like it wont make a difference, this IS a contest you know." she says while serving another plate.

"Just bring me some butter and grated cheese." I say waiting for my order and still staring Odd in the eye while he finishes another plate and waits. my request is filled and I slowly butter my pasta and and sprinkle some cheese over it. I put down the cheese shaker and pick up my fork. I twirl it in the pasta for a moment and then decide against using it. I put the fork down and pick up the plate.

"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" is heard in the crowd that gathered around the table.

I say "This" and dump the whole plate in my mouth without stopping. I chew twice and swallow.

"What the...?" and "Holy hell!" are heard in the crowd and everyone is amazed except Odd, who is staring at me while the plates are being loaded once more. We continue on this course for six more plates, staring unblinkingly into each others eyes, waiting for a sign of defeat. On the ninth plate I look away from Odd. I can see joy rising in his eyes when I look back. Then I let out a belch to shake the windows and continue eating. Odd's expression fades to one of dispare as we enter the tenth plate. "Whats the matter Odd? Lost the will to fight?" I taunt him.

"No," he replies in a strained voice, "I'm just gathering my strength." I can hear pain in his voice. He's stuffed to the gills but won't admit defeat. He'll probably go until his stomach bursts. We'll just have to wait and find out. The tenth plate is finished and Odd's face is contorted in pain but he refuses to give in. Damn it all to hell! I can't sit here and watch him kill himself. "I'm done, I cant eat any more." I say, Trying to force a victory on Odd.

"No Way! You're just trying to make me win," he says, his voice straining. "Lets g.." and finishes his sentence by vomiting all over the table. Cries of disgust and disappointment are heard along with cheering.

"Are you happy now Odd, you lost. At the cost of your dignity, title and your health."

"It was worth it. I haven't had an actual challenger before now" he says before passing out. I collect my winnings, over 1200 Euros, and carry Odd up to his room over my shoulder. The others, who left before the battle, were in his room waiting for him to come in bragging, they rush over and take him and put him on his bed."What the fuck happened?" says Ulrich in a this-Is-your-fault voice.

"He ate too much and puked everywhere."

"Why did you let him do it you creep?" Yumi spouts in anger.

"I tried to throw the fight but he wouldn't let me."

"Yeah right! I bet you did something to him you bastard! Just get the fuck out of here."

"I didn't do anything!" I try to explain then Ulrich rushes up to me and slugs me in the face with no apparent effect aside from a grunt.

"She said get the fuck out! Now go!" he says and slugs me again.

"Fine, I'm gone." I say calmly and walk out of the room. I stop in my room to get Tommy and check for damage on my face. Some major bruising is starting to show. I go outside and get in my truck. Jim comes over to me and says "Sorry Roger, can't leave the grounds after dark."

"Oh, really? Well this is for the damage." I say and hand him all my winnings.

"What damage?"

"This damage" I say as I start my truck. I reverse out of my spot shift to drive and smash through the gates of the school, roaring away into the night.

Chapter 5

No title at this time


POV change= 3rd person.

As the brake lights disappear into the distance the lyoko crew goes back to Odd's side.

Jeremie breaks the silence, "Don't you think you were a little hard on him back there?"

Ulrich looks livid, "Why, should I have gone easy on him? He hurt my best friend! You think I was hard on him, I should have killed his sorry ass."

Yumi cuts in, "What if he did that to Aelita? Would you still be thinking like that?"

"Did what to Aeilita?" Jeremie shoots back "Had an eating contest with her? There is no physical damage to Odd and the only thing that makes it look like something wrong is that he's asleep outside of history class." Just then Aelita spoke up.

"I agree with Jeremie. There's nothing wrong with him. He's just out."she says

"Of course you agree with him." says Ulrich

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aelita asks angrily.

"Nothing, Sorry, I'm just upset about Odd." he says and plopped down on the edge of the bed.

"Why are you upset about me?" asks Odd from behind Ulrich.

"Because of what Roger did to you. Now we don't know how long it's gonna be before you wake up and... Wait a second. Odd your awake!" he realizes and everyone gives Odd a big hug. "You jerk, how long have you been awake?"

"Since 'Don't you think we were a little hard on him?', you guys don't like to let a guy sleep do you?" he answers wearily.

"Oh, well, just so you know, we took care of Roger. He won't bother us again."

"He never bothered anybody the first time!"

"What?"

"You think I was out because of him? That's completely wrong. I ate too much, threw up and passed out. He didn't do anything. I guess he's the one who brought me upstairs. then you kicked him out? Good job guys. You gotta go apologize to him right now." Odd explains. The gang looks sheepishly at him. Odd peirces Ulrich with his eyes, "Well, go."

"We can't." says Jeremie.

"Why not?"

"He kind of drove off, really fast. I don't think he's coming back."

"What did you do?"

"I kind of punched him... in the face." Ulrich says quietly.

"Well that's just great, now we have to go find him."

"How?. We have no way of tracking him." Just then Jeremie speaks up, "I think I know how." and leaves the room followed by Aelita. He comes back a few minutes later, "I hacked his desktop and got his cell number. Follow me." They all get up and follow Jeremie to his room where Aelita is at the computer, typing. "She's running a tracing program to find the general location of his cell. Wherever the cell goes is hopefully where he is."

Aelita turns around, "I've got a lock. He's somewhere near the river, in the area of the factory. Jeremie, I put this program on your laptop so we can see if he leaves."

"Thanks Aelita. Ok, lets go. We need to find him fast."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Parked on the street, next to a river, near an abandoned factory sits an old puckup truck with airhorns. It's sole inhabitant is sleeping on the passenger side. The windows are down and the owner is nowhere in sight. A cellular phone sitting on the dashboard lights up and displays the message: Roger, we're sorry, please come back.

A dark figure watches the street from a high vantage point above the river, unseen on this dark and moonless night. A couple walks down the street and turns a corner, chatting away with no worries. A heavy fog rolls in off of the water.

Ten minutes go by without a single movement, when suddenly a group of people emerge from a side street and head towards the factory bridge. The figure watches them cautiously.  Jeremie says, "I'll see if the supercomputer can find him more acurately." as he walks into the factory, followed by the others. Ulrich stops outside of the doors to the factory, unnoticed by the others who continue there voyage into the old abandoned structure. He walks to the side of the bridge and leans over a bit, squinting down the road, straining to see something through the fog. "That looks like Roger's truck." he says to himself.

The dark figure sees an opening and swoops down upon the unsuspecting teen, sending him tumbling over the edge of the bridge straight towards the concrete foundation below that the factory sit's upon. A voice from the distance yells, "Ulrich!" and a large hand reaches out and grabs the boy by the wrist as he dangles helplessly above the hard surface below. The one who saved the boy falls over and starts sliding towards the edge of the bridge, his leg get torn up by a loose bolt sticking up from the deck. He screams in pain but doesn't let go of the boy who punched him in the face less than an hour ago. As he reaches the edge his steel toe boot catches on the same bolt that cut up his leg and he jerks to a stop. The bolt creaks and snaps, sending both of the teens towards the hard concrete. He let's go of Ulrich with one hand and wraps his arm around a support beam on the side of the bridge. His shoulder makes a sickening crack as his descent is ceaced abruptly and he screams but doesn't let go out of the pure instinct to survive.

"Ulrich I can't hold on. Climb up before we both fall."

"Where did you come from Roger?" Ulrich says, as he begins to climb slowly, grabbing onto Roger's shit and then his neck.

"I was following you." he says through clenched teeth as the support beam digs into his arm. His arm slips and his one hand is now the only thing holding both teens. "I"m slipping, go!" and shoves his free hand up under ulrich's shoes sending him up onto the deck of the bridge. This act also has the unfortunate result of making him slip all the way off and dissapear into the fog. He doesn't scream on the way down, he just closes his eyes and prepares for the impact. Ulrich looks down after him and hears a loud crack, a thump and the loudest, most pain filled scream he has ever heard in his life. "ROGER!" He shouts, listening for a response. A tear forms in his eye and he runs into the factory, slides down the rope and dashes to an exterior door. He bursts out onto the foundation of the factory and looks around frantically. "ROGER, ANSWER ME!" His request is met by a cough and another scream. He hurries to the source of the noise and looks over his battered savior, the left leg is at an odd angle and his chest is colapsed it looks as if his spine has snapped also, there is blood pooling around his head. "Why did you do it Roger? Why did you save me? I never even trusted you."

The response is slow in coming but the message is clear, "You're my friend, and I'd do it again if I had the chance, besides you've got something to live for, this is probably the only useful thing I've ever done." Roger sputters. He then reaches up and touches Ulrich's shoulder and says almost inaudibly, "Goodbye, friend." and his head falls back onto the concrete, eyes open and staring at nothing at all.

"no, no, nononononono NO!" Ulrich screams and slams the ground with his fist. He then seems to have a revelation, He pulls out his cellphone and places a call. the other end clicks and Jeremie is heard, "Where have you..." Urich inturrupts, "No time, launch a return to the past now."

"Why?"

"Just do it Jer, before it's too late! Roger's dying!"

"What?!"

Ulrich yells into his phone, "DO IT NOW!" and hangs it up. A few seconds later, a bright light englufs the world and the group finds themselves in the lab a few hours in the past. "I hope we were fast enough."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A couple miles away an old but nice looking red Ford F-150 swerves off the road and crashes into a wall, The driver is motionless. groups of people gather around as an ambulance arrives and removes the driver from the vehicle, loads him up and drives off. Some police take the luggage and the dog from the truck and put them into thier cruisers. A tow truck arrives and hauls away the battered vehicle.

Chapter 6
A Strange Turn of Events



The story picks up about an hour after the last scene.


5 kids. Fate brought them together for a reason: to save the world. They once vowed to save it from the forces of XANA, but now, for the first time they really know what it is to lose a battle. This battle was not fought in Lyoko and the fate of the world was not hanging in the balance, but the loss still burns like a thousand suns and demoralizes them completely. The ability to travel back in time to before any of the events happened had dulled them to the sense of death. There had been a few close calls in the past, but no one really thought that they would never see their friends again. Now, as they wait for someone they haven't even known for a whole day yet to come around the corner in a big red pickup, each feels the growing sense of dread as the minute's tick by and turn to hours and they finally know what it is to lose. One person in particular, who was never known for doing such a thing, lets a tear run down his cheek and onto his dark green over shirt. He would have thought he would have the least amount of emotion, but one single event had bonded him to that person almost as closely as Odd or Yumi and now he waits with the others. The sun sets on them and still they wait and watch silently until Jeremie breaks the silence.

"Guys, it's getting pretty late. I don't think he's coming..." Ulrich rounds on him, eyes blazing.

"Of Course he's coming!"he shouts "Don't be ridiculous. You'll see." He turns back to the street corner. Suddenly a set of headlights rounds a corner and the all hold their breath. "See, I told you." Says Ulrich as the lights round the corner, but they quickly realized that Roger's truck had been much louder than this and they sigh as the truck drives by with the words Marco's Auto Supply embossed on the door. Yumi puts a hand on Ulrich's shoulder.

"C'mon Ulrich, let's get back to the dorms before we get in trouble with Jim." Ulrich looks her in the eyes and then nods solemnly. As they all head back to the dorms, Ulrich grasps Yumi's hand and the walk together.

Back in Jeremie's room, Ulrich sits with Yumi on Jeremie's bed while Aelita sits in an extra computer chair next to Jeremie and Odd cross legged on the floor with Kiwi. They sit silently again, not wanting to ask Jeremie the question they are all wondering.

"So what happened to him?" Odd finally asks quietly, while scratching Kiwi behind the ears. Jeremie's reply is not well taken.

"I don't know for sure, but..." he trails off

"But what Jeremie?" prods Ulrich, His voice wavering slightly.

"But, none of the possibilities are good. He could have suffered brain damage, could be brain dead, hell, he might not even exist anymore."

"Don't say that!"

"You asked and I'm giving you the best answer I can. Besides we have bigger concerns at the moment. If what you said is accurate that means Xana's upped his activity and he's coming after us."

"Don't you even care that someone died tonight?!"

"Of course I care, But he sacrificed himself to save you from the very thing that we've been fighting all along. Do you want to give up and let that be in vain? Do you want to let XANA run free and destroy the rest of the human race?" he asked his voice rising. "We all feel badly that he died Ulrich, you'r not alone. Is he guys?" he looks around the rest of the group. They all shake their heads and mutter 'no' and 'of course not'. "I think we all need some sleep. We'll talk about this in the morning."

They say their goodbyes and head off to their respective rooms and Yumi heads home. As Aeilita passes through the girls hallway she hears Sissi on the phone with he father.

"...daddy, some stupid american crashed his truck right near me, Herb and Nicolas." Her voice drifted into the hall like a highly annoying breeze "I don't know who he was, he looked like a teenager from where I was, and he had this stupid mangy dog with him that wouldn't leave his side until the paramedics had loaded him up and taken off. Then the police had to chase it down. Can I go now daddy? I want to go to sleep. Goodnight."

Aelita stood there, stunned for a moment until her head could wrap around this information. Then she sprinted back up the stairs so fast that she tripped halfway up them ans went sprawling on the landing. She picked herself up and ran to Ulrich's room, banging on the door. He opened it, still in only his boxers which caused him a moment of embarrassment when he saw who it was. " No time to explain, I know where Roger is, call Yumi back." she panted and ran down the hall to Jeremie's Room, barging in without knocking. Jeremie jumps out of his skin and makes a desperate and futile attempt to block all of the monitors with Lyoko information on them, one in particular containing a 3D model of a pink haired girl that is strangely unclothed, until he sees Aelita's face.

"Uh, uh, Aelita? What are you doing here?" he stammered trying to close the program before she sees it. He finally just pulls the power cord with his foot, "Whoops, silly me. I kicked the power cord." Odd and Ulrich enter the room just then followed shortly by Yumi. "Why is everyone back here?"

"I heard Sissi say that she saw Roger being taken to the hospital after crashing his truck today." Aelita says in a giddy with excitement sort of voice. Ulrich's face brightens up substantially and Odd does a Jump for joy with a quiet little 'Yeah!' mixed in. Everyone seems happier except for Jeremie.

"Ok" He says, "that doesn't mean he doesn't have brain damage or worse. It's great that we know where he is, but there's no cause for celebration yet."

"Well I for one am going to see him tomorrow." says Ulrich, "So who's going with me?"

"Ulrich, what's the point? He won't remember us. We returned to the past. To him, we never existed."

"I don't care, I'm going to see if he's ok. I owe him at least that much. So are you with me?" Ulrich asks coldly, staring at Jeremie.

"Fine, but I still don't see why." Jeremie submits. The rest of the group agree to go also. They all leave once again, Aelita the last to go. Before she departs she strides up to Jeremie and gives him a backhand across the face, sending his glasses askew.

"I think you know what that's for." she says and leaves him with with his face reddened.

The next day all five of the gang and even Kiwi head down to the hospital, Jeremie apologizing the whole way there and Aelita telling him to stop and forget it. They ask to see Roger at the front desk and are relieved to find that he is in stable condition and woke up just a couple of hours ago. They take the elevator to the third floor and enter his room to see him fast asleep. Kiwi Jumps out of Odd's backpack and onto the bed where he begins licking Roger's face. Odd tries to grab him when Roger groans and turns his head to the side, facing Odd. They all gasp as he opens his eyes. They wonder what his reaction to 5 strangers is going to be. Roger rubs his eyes out and tries to focus. He starts to speak "Ugh, Kiwi, get off me. Oh, hey Odd," He says and looks past him "and the rest of you. Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" The gang just stares at him and blinks. An awkward silence engulfs the room for several minutes until Jeremie mutters one word to himself...

"Incredible." Is the only word he can wrap his mouth around so he says it several more times while the rest of them interrogate Roger, starting with Aelita.

"You remember us?" She asks incredulously although there was no denying it after he just Identified two of the group in the room that were supposed to be total strangers. A slow nod with all the signs of 'fuckin' duh' written on his face confirmed her observation. She shirked away from any further questions and Odd took over the question asking.

"If you really remember us, then whats my favorite color? HMMM?" He asked like he had struck some kind of golden question that would reveal him to be lying. Roger shrugged.

"How should I know..."He started.

"AHA! He's lying."

"As I was saying, You never told me. We spent most of our time together eating pasta. Remember? Anyways, guessing, I'd have to say purple." Roger finishes, pointing at Odd's shirt. Odd blinks and steps back. He motions for Yumi to continue the interrogation. She steps forward shyly.

"I guess your pretty mad at us then?" She asks with her head turned away, an ashamed look on her face.

"What for? I have no reason to be mad at any of you. Except Odd." Roger states and points an accusing finger at him. Everyone looks shocked, even Kiwi who perks his ears up and growls deeply

"What did I do?" Odd retorts, looking hurt and angry.

"You," Roger points again "provided no competition whatsoever. I mean come on, I wasn't even trying. I thought you said you'd be a challenge."He finishes with a wry smile. Odd stares at him blankly and a small smile crawls across his face before he bursts into a laughing fit, quickly joined by everyone else. After they calm down, Roger starts to speak again."Seriously though, You all should be mad at me. Storming out like that." Jeremie's head whips up at this statement.

"Uh, guys, Remember that thing we had to do for Jim today, We'd better get going."He says quickly while pushing his protesting friends out the door and shoving Kiwi back into Odds arms. "Nice to see you again Roger, Well visit again soon. Bye."

Out in the hall Jeremie faces down his friends who seem to be a little confused...and angry.

"What the hell was that Jer?" Yumi shouts and gets shushed by a nurse, "We were just getting interested."

"That's not who you think it is."

"What??" This time it was Odds turn to get shushed.

"Think about it, from what we know of Roger, he would have stormed out of here as soon as he woke up to go and find Tommy and his truck. This guy doesn't seem to even realize they exist. Plus, when you mentioned the fight, it was like he didn't know what happened."

"So what are you suggesting Einstein?" Ulrich inquires.

"I believe that our friend Roger has been possessed by our recently revealed foe. In other words, XANA."

"Get the fuck out of here." Odd yells in disbelief. The nurse walks over to them and explains that that would be an excellent Idea before escorting them to the exit.