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.
