Hello everyone! Wow, I really am the worst. For everyone who actually reads this, thank you so much. I'm so sorry that I've left this story for so long. I'm seriously determined to continue writing it. Honestly, I haven't finished or published anything in a really long time. While I've still been writing for myself, and writing papers for class, I just haven't had the motivation to want to post anything online in a while. I hope that if you're still sticking with me, you enjoy this chapter! Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko!

I stared at Mrs. Hertz uncomfortably as she cackled loudly. From beside me, Ulrich also looked to be just as uncomfortable. Odd and Jeremie were sitting in front of us, speaking to each other.

"I've never seen her laugh so much," Jeremie leaned closer to Odd as he spoke.

"You're telling me! I've never seen her laugh at all," Odd said.

"The gas I've just inhaled in this small quantity is called nitrogen protoxide; n2o," Mrs. Hertz began explaining through her laughter, "For those of you interested in chemistry of course, although it's better known as laughing gas. You can see why this gas is sometimes used in hospitals to relax patients who are going to be operated on."

She had to stop in between her explanation at some points to laugh. It was sort of creepy seeing our usually strict science teacher laughing like this. Odd turned around to face Ulrich and I, a small smirk on his face.

"Not a bad idea. Nothing like a laughing attack after an appendix attack," He said, causing me to smirk in amusement at his words.

"Let's try to stay serious. In strongness, this gas can be highly toxic and can provoke very serious modifications in perception and even lesions in the nervous system. Sometimes even fatal. So one can, as the saying goes, literally die laughing!" Mrs. Hertz continued, still laughing loudly, "Only one thing can neutralize gas. Water! All you need is one drop to volatilize it."

I looked on in a sort of gross fascination as Mrs. Hertz reached for her water bottle, taking a sip and immediately ceasing her laughter. She grew serious once again.

"Enough of that. Get out a sheet of paper for a surprise quiz," She deadpanned.

Ulrich and I looked at each other, unamused expressions on our faces. On second thought, I think I missed the creepy, laughing Mrs. Hertz.

Later on that day, Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie, and I were standing in the courtyard observing Yumi. Her back was facing us, and she was slumped against the bench looking out at the other students milling around and walking by.

"She's been sulking like that for two days. Nothing seems to cheer her up," Ulrich informed us.

"I could try some of my jokes on her! That might do the trick!" Odd's eyes lit up at his own suggestion.

"I'm not saying you don't have a good sense of humor, Odd. But I'd rather go and talk to her," Ulrich shut him down quickly.

Saying that, he gave us a nod and began walking towards Yumi. I quirked an eyebrow in interest as I watched.

"You think Ulrich will manage to get her to smile?" Jeremie asked, stepping up into Ulrich's empty spot.

"Yeah, as sure as Julia Roberts is gonna call and invite me out to dinner," Odd shrugged casually.

"Yeah, I think you're right. She's really down," Jeremie frowned slightly as we looked back at Yumi.

"Maybe I should have gone and tried to talk to her," I sighed, watching as Yumi ignored Ulrich.

"I think that probably would have been a better idea," Odd agreed as we watched Yumi say something to Ulrich and stalk away.

"Great, and there goes Sissi," I rolled my eyes.

Sissi approached Ulrich from behind, smiling flirtatiously at him. Ulrich said something short to her and began walking back towards us. I could hear them now as they got closer.

"Hey, wait Ulrich! Are you coming tomorrow to the rehearsal?" She fell into step beside him.

"Yeah, I'll be there. But not for you. It's for Odd," Ulrich said.

"For your information, it's thanks to me that Odd's playing the music," Sissi started as Ulrich hummed in acknowledgment, "And if you want to be a part of the group, the role of Romeo is just ideal for you!"

"And I suppose that you, of course, are Juliet," Ulrich spoke knowingly.

"Yes, that's perfect casting! Don't you think?" Sissi prompted him, a fake smile on her face.

"Well, it's a perfect reason for me not to play Romeo," Ulrich gave her a fake smile right back, leaving her behind.

I couldn't help but laugh at Sissi's sour expression. Ulrich was definitely not in the mood to deal with her today.

Later that night, Jeremie was holed up in room talking to Aelita, and Ulrich had disappeared. After hours of begging me, I'd agreed to go with Odd to the rehearsal. Odd was on stage with his guitar as I leaned back in the seats of the auditorium and kicked my feet up. This should be interesting.

"I don't know if she'll appear tonight, but, uh, let's see… Oh, I know she loves me!" Herve recited blandly, looking up at Sissi.

"That's awful! It's about as flat as a pancake!" Sissi cried in outrage.

Odd stopped his playing, looking up at her with narrowed eyes. My own eyebrows raised in slight suspense. He wouldn't say anything stupid, would he?

"It's not me, it's the lines!" Herve declared, holding up the script in his hand.

"What's wrong with the lines?" Nicholas asked in annoyance.

"Well, I can't even say them!" Herve stated.

Nicholas walked over to him, and I quickly sat up. Were they really about to start fighting right now? Nicholas pushed a finger towards Herve angrily as he argued back.

"There's nothing wrong with them! It's you! You know how long I spent on the text?" Nicholas huffed.

"Well, my guess would be about 30 seconds!" Herve sneered.

"I dare you to repeat that!" Nicholas shouted.

"Look, I'd rather you repeated your lines, Herve, and with feeling! Nicholas, there's no reason for you to be on stage! And Odd, you're playing much too fast!" Sissi interjected, calling everyone out.

"Sure, if I play a little slower, it'll give me more than enough time to take a little nap," Odd smiled sarcastically up at her.

"Hey, keep all your bad jokes to yourself! Okay, now let's take it again from the top and try to concentrate!" Sissi huffed, turning and walking back into the makeshift tower.

Nicholas and Herve looked at each other with matching scowls before Nicholas turned and stormed away. I rolled my eyes at the scene that had just played out before me. This was ridiculous. Stupid Odd, making me feel bad and getting me to agree to come with him.

I leaned back once again as Odd started playing the guitar once more. Herve stepped up, holding the script to his face to begin practicing his lines once more.

"I don't know if she'll appear tonight, but I know, but I don't know, if she loves me," He recited plainly once more, "Oh, a guard! On guard!"

Suddenly, Odd began cracking up out of nowhere, the guitar music stopping. Turning to look at him, my eyes widened in shock. This couldn't be good. I shot up quickly, ignoring Sissi as I raced towards him.

"What is going on?! What is it now, Odd?!" Sissi growled.

I finally made my way over to him, placing a hand on his back as he continued laughing loudly. He threw his guitar to the side as he leaned over, holding his stomach.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad," Herve sighed.

"You're not gonna wanna laugh when I get through with you!" Sissi snapped in annoyance.

"Odd, pull yourself together! What happened?" I asked him frantically.

He didn't answer; couldn't answer as he was practically choking out in laughter still. There was nothing I could do but watch him worriedly as Sissi stormed down the stairs and towards us. I gasped in shock when Odd leaned back a bit too far, falling back in his chair. Before I could make a move to help him up, Sissi unscrewed the cap of her water bottle and poured it into Odd's face.

"Sissi! What do you think you're doing?!" I cried in disbelief.

However, to my relief, Odd stopped laughing slowly, coughing as he tried to regain his breath. I kneeled down beside him, helping him sit up.

"And don't bother coming tomorrow, Odd! We're performing a tragedy, not a musical comedy!" Sissi hissed, turning and stalking away.

"Huh? Hey, wait!" Odd's eyes widened as he watched her go.

I only shook my head at him. It was better for now if she just walked away.

"Odd, what the hell happened?" I turned to him.

He looked up at me, confusion plainly written across his face.

"I have no idea," He shook his head slowly.

Odd and I made our way to Jeremie's room, finding him still talking to Aelita. We were explaining what happened to the two of them. I was sitting on Jeremie's bed, still looking at Odd worriedly as Kiwi rested in my lap. I'm sure it wasn't that big of a deal; it was just a laughing fit. But I still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

"It was crazy! I really didn't feel like laughing at all, but it was impossible to stop! As soon as Sissi poured water on me, that was it! I stopped immediately," Odd told Jeremie and Aelita.

"n2o—laughing gas. Miss Hertz said that the only thing that could volatilize it was water," Jeremie realized.

"You think this could be a XANA thing?" Odd questioned.

"You never know. Aelita, keep looking around," Jeremie requested.

"Okay, but no pulsations for now," Aelita informed us.

"Let's go and see if the bottle of laughing gas Miss Hertz used is still in the science room," Jeremie decided.

I got up slowly to follow them, moving Kiwi onto the bed comfortably. I smiled down at him, patting his head.

"We'll be back, boy," I said.

Kiwi barked in acknowledgment as we left Jeremie's room.

I looked around nervously, wanting to make sure that no one had seen us. It was always situations like this that Jim seemed to catch us, and I wanted to make sure we were safe as we snuck into the science room. I lingered behind, staring down into the dark hallway as Jeremie tried to pick the lock of the science room.

"Aelita and me, we never fight. You think that's normal?" Jeremie asked Odd and I.

"Huh? Yeah, no, how do I know?" Odd shook his head in confusion at the sudden question.

"You think we'd fight if she lived here in our world?" Jeremie questioned.

"Where is this even coming from?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"Who knows? But what I do think is we're gonna get caught if you don't hurry up!" Odd sighed.

Suddenly, there was a click, and Jeremie twisted the knob and opened the door.

"Bingo," He smirked.

The three of us walked into the room, and I closed the door lightly behind us to be safe. Jeremie immediately made his way over to the tanks of laughing gas, twisting the knob at the top of one.

"It's empty. Guess we ran out of gas," He stated.

"Okay, listen. Tomorrow, we'll go to the factory instead of the play and check things out," Odd decided.

I nodded in agreement to his suggestion. Quickly, we made sure no evidence was left behind as we locked the science room door behind us and made our way back to our rooms. Odd insisted on walking me back to my dorm, so after we left Jeremie, the two of us walked side-by-side in silence for a bit.

"Why do you think Jeremie was asking about him and Aelita fighting? Pretty weird thing to worry about, huh?" Odd mused aloud as he looked up at the dark sky above us.

"Hm? Who knows," I shrugged, "I mean, we already know that he's in love with her. It might have something to do with that."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I don't see what the big deal is though. We fight sometimes, and Ulrich and Yumi definitely do. But we always make up in the end, right?" Odd turned to me with a smile.

"That's true," I smiled back in agreement.

"Well, he'll figure it out," Odd sighed, reaching down.

He grabbed my hand in his, twining our hands together. I couldn't help the blush that blossomed on my cheeks as I turned my head away from him. Still, I squeezed his hand in acknowledgment as he led me back to my room.

The next day, Odd, Jeremie, and I made our way to the factory. Odd and I leaned on either side of Jeremie as he sat with his headset on, trying to reach Aelita.

"Aelita? Hey, Aelita, can you hear me?" He spoke.

We waited for a few seconds but received no answer. My eyebrows furrowed worriedly as the computer started beeping.

"Communication refused. Communication refused," The computer gave us an answer.

"Okay, Jeremie. Let's get going, Nicky," Odd turned to me.

I nodded quickly, following him into the elevator to get to the scanner room. The two of us stepped into scanners across from each other. I sent Odd a smile while he winked at me. I rolled my eyes in amusement as the scanner doors closed and Jeremie's voice was heard overhead.

"I'll transfer you two to the mountain region. I've spotted some monsters there! The tower can't be far," Jeremie informed us as the scanner whirred to life, "Transfer Odd. Transfer Nicky. Scanner Odd. Scanner Nicky. Virtualization!"

Odd and I landed in the mountain region together. I looked around me quickly, making sure nothing was around. But when I heard Odd groaning weakly, I turned back to him worriedly.

"I feel very weak, Jeremie. Did anything happen during the transfer?" Odd asked.

Jeremie didn't answer, and I turned to Odd in confusion.

"Jeremie?" I called.

"Can you hear us, Jeremie?" Odd added.

There was once again no answer. Something was definitely wrong.

"Jeremie!" Odd and I shouted in unison.

I frowned worriedly. This definitely wasn't good. I turned to Odd who was already looking at me.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Let's head to the nearest tower for now. We have to be careful though. Jeremie said he saw some monsters down there," Odd decided.

"Right. Let's get going then," I nodded in agreement.

The two of us set off. Odd was definitely moving slower than he usually was. Something really must have happened. It had to be XANA; there was no other explanation. But why was Odd the only one affected? I felt completely fine.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I spotted two blocks just outside of the tower we were heading to. Odd and I stopped in our tracks, and I groaned in annoyance.

"Uh-oh," Odd sighed, "This is not a good time for Jeremie to desert us. The welcoming committee looks really mean, and I'm not feeling too good."

Once again, there was no answer from Jeremie. At that moment, the blocks seemed to notice us and started making their way over.

"Things don't look so good," I voiced nervously.

"I'm too weak to fight them," Odd looked at me.

I bit my lip in thought, trying to come up with a plan. I wasn't sure I'd be able to defeat them alone. I wasn't exactly that strong, after all. And I couldn't afford to be devirtualized and leave Odd here by himself.

"Let's try to trick them," I suggested, forming an energy field in my right hand.

Odd was quick to agree. He jumped up into the air while I stayed down, confusing the two blocks. I threw my energy field at the one on the left, effectively destroying it.

"One down!" I smiled victoriously.

Suddenly, the other block shot towards Odd. He moved quickly, jumping towards me and over the platform. In the meantime, I formed two energy fields in my hands and connected them to form a sort of shield. The block forgot about Odd, shooting at me instead. I was able to deflect most of the shots, but I ended up getting hit in the shoulder by one, gritting my teeth at the feeling. Just before the block could fire again, Odd appeared from the other side of the platform and shot one of his arrows at the block.

"Laser Arrow!"

Sadly, the shot missed. But it distracted the block long enough for him to grab my arm and tug me behind him. We ran quickly towards the tower, stopping just outside of it.

"Aelita, are you there?" Odd called loudly.

The block stood at the lip of the entrance we'd just come through, charging up to fire again. Before I could do anything, Odd pushed me out of the way and took the shot.

"Odd!" I cried as he was sent flying back into the side of the mountain.

At that moment, Aelita walked out of the tower. She froze in shock as the block stood right in front of her. Before the block could even try to charge up again, Odd shot it, destroying it this time. I sighed in relief, heading towards Odd to make sure he was okay as Aelita turned to us.

"Hurry, you two! XANA might send us more monsters. We'd better not stay here," She motioned towards us.

I helped Odd as we began moving, holding his arm around my shoulders as mine was around his waist. He was really weak, and taking that last shot certainly didn't help. Aelita walked on his other side, eyeing him worriedly.

"There must have been a problem during the transfer. I feel weaker and weaker," Odd spoke breathily.

He stopped for a moment, grabbing at his head. I held onto him tighter as I peered up at him nervously.

"Odd, you okay?" Aelita asked.

"Uh, yeah, I'll be just fine," Odd shook his head, trying to compose himself.

I felt a sudden rumble underneath me, and the three of us looked down to see pulsations leading down the path. We were right; XANA had activated a tower. Aelita turned back to Odd, placing a hand on his arm.

"You've got to hang on, Odd. You see the pulsations? The tower that XANA activated can't be too far," Aelita informed us.

"I hope not," Odd sighed, starting to walk forward again.

I had no choice but to follow along, but he seemed to lose his footing and stumble forward. I yelped in surprise, not being able to handle his weight as we both fell to the ground. Odd was slightly on top of me with his hands on either side of my head, holding himself up. My eyes widened at this compromising position, but Odd didn't seem to notice as he stared straight ahead at something.

"Nicky, Odd!" Aelita cried, kneeling down beside us.

"Hey, what's that?" Odd cried.

"Oh no! That's all we needed. A labyrinth," Aelita frowned.

She quickly helped Odd up, getting him off of me so that I could stand as well. I resumed my previous position, helping Odd walk steadily as we made our way to the labyrinth. This was just getting worse and worse, and Jeremie was still nowhere to be found.

The three of us stood at the entrance to the labyrinth, pausing for a second to look inside before we started on in. We had to get to the tower to deactivate it as quickly as possible. Odd and I led as Aelita trailed slightly behind. We walked slowly, looking closely at our surroundings. It all just looked so similar.

"We've been here before. I'm sure," Aelita sighed as we ended up back in a similar place.

Odd's knees suddenly buckled, and I did my best to keep him standing. Aelita quickly grabbed onto his other side, helping me out.

"We're lost. Without Jeremie's help, it's all over," Odd spoke weakly.

"We can't give up yet! We need to deactivate the tower. Jeremie needs us," I shook my head determinedly.

Odd took a deep breath, nodding at my words. Aelita moved away after seeing that Odd was okay to stand up now, and walked slightly ahead of us. Suddenly, Odd grabbed his head in his hand and screwed his eyes shut. I looked up at him worriedly.

"Odd, hey! Are you okay?" I questioned frantically.

His eyes shot open, and he looked at me. For a moment, he looked almost rejuvenated, but then he buckled forward again. Not expecting this, he slipped from my grasp and landed on his knees.

"Odd!" I exclaimed.

"I'm okay. I just had a psychic vision; we're almost at the tower. You two have to go left here," Odd pointed ahead, "And don't wait for me. I'm too weak to go."

"But Odd…" I trailed off worriedly.

Aelita placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a reassuring smile.

"Come on, Nicky. Once we get to the tower and deactivate it, Odd can get back to the real world and get some rest," She said.

"You're right. Let's get going then! Stay put, Odd. Don't move around unnecessarily," I pointed at him seriously.

"Don't worry about me. Just go," He rolled his eyes jokingly.

I couldn't help but smile at that, looking back to Aelita. The two of us followed Odd's directions, running towards the tower. His directions proved to be correct, as we moved through the rest of the labyrinth easily and spotted the tower.

"Come on! We've gotta hurry!" Aelita pushed forwards.

I followed behind her, and both of us stepped into the tower. We walked towards the middle, and grabbed each other's hands. Our feet left the ground as we were brought up to the second platform. Walking to the middle of that one, a familiar screen appeared in front of us. Aelita placed her hand on in first.

Aelita

Secondary Handprint:

I placed my hand on next.

Nicolette

Code:

L-Y-O-K-O

All around us, the files in the tower began dropping to the bottom. And in the next second, a bright light flashed from the bottom of the tower and engulfed over everything.

I couldn't help but smile in amusement as I looked down at Yumi. The five of us were gathered together in the courtyard, but unlike the previous time we lived this day, all four of us had gone to talk to Yumi.

"You've got to be kidding. I won't ever be part of that dumb play again," Yumi griped in annoyance.

"Well, at least now we know how to get your folks together!" Odd brought up optimistically.

At this, Yumi whipped around to face us. Her hair swung around with her as she looked at us with narrowed eyes.

"I'm never gonna wear that stupid costume again!" Yumi shook her head adamantly.

"I agree," Jeremie nodded.

"Hm?" Ulrich hummed as we all turned to Jeremie.

"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," Jeremie looked at Ulrich.

"At least that way we can finally see him as Romeo!" Odd cried excitedly.

"Oh, now that's something I definitely want to see," I grinned wickedly, causing Ulrich to glare at Odd and I.

"Let's face it; a nice laughing fit is good for you from time-to-time," Jeremie smiled.

Ulrich's eyes only widened in confusion at his words.

"I don't know if she'll appear tonight on her balcony, but I'm certain… Um, I'm certain, she—she loves me!" Ulrich recited shakily.

Odd, Jeremie, and I were standing backstage, and I couldn't help but snicker in amusement. Ulrich was awful on a stage, that much was obvious. Luckily, Yumi was there to help him. She was hidden behind a bush, whispering his lines to him. All he really had to do was repeat what she was saying to him.

"And I know I love her very much!" Ulrich continued, "Oh, no! A guard!"

He ran towards the fake bush, hiding behind it as Herve walked out on stage. This was just getting better and better. The audience started laughing, and it took everything in me to hold myself back from full-blown laughing myself.

"Alright, here we go," Jeremie cracked his fingers as he walked towards the rope behind us.

As he pulled on the rope, the fake bush on stage began rising up, revealing Ulrich and Yumi. The audience laughed harder at this.

"It worked," Jeremie walked up behind us as we all looked out from behind the curtain.

"What's the matter now! What happened?! Why are you all laughing? You don't understand drama! This is not a comedy, it's a great tragedy!" Sissi appeared at the top of the tower to yell down at everyone.

The three of us looked at each other before joining in with the laughter. Yumi's parents leaned against each other as they laughed as well. Looking over at Yumi, I saw a happy smile light up her features. Everything had gone according to Jeremie's plan! Comedy really was the way to go.

I really hope that you guys liked this chapter! I'm going to try to update again as soon as possible, but it's nearing the end of the semester here and I've got a lot of stuff left to finish! Thank you guys again for reading!

-rememberiingsundays