Edited: 7/28/2011

Disclaimer: I don't own Code: Lyoko, or the characters from the show. I do, however, own Mardi.

Code: XANA

#1 Evil Flamenco

"XANA's been awful quiet lately," Odd mentioned out of no where as he and Ulrich awoke. It was the first conscious thought that popped into his head and since Ulrich was most likely still mad at him from the day before, he wanted to make an attempt at conversation.

"Is there a point to you talking?" Ulrich asked sending a glare at Odd. Still mad.

"I was just," Odd began, but Ulrich cut him off.

"You've got a funny way of apologizing."

Ulrich walked out of the room to breakfast leaving Odd and Kiwi shocked and unable to speak.

"You don't think that what I did was too wrong," Odd looked at his dog as he fell onto his bed. "Do you?" The look Kiwi gave Odd made him think that even Kiwi knew what he had done was wrong. "Even you are a better person than me, and you're not even human."

Odd's intentions had been good. A few students had been playing music in the park, and Odd happened to see Yumi escorted by William. Not wanting Ulrich to arrive and see the two dancing, Odd had approached and asked Yumi to dance. Of course, they were only dancing as friends, but Ulrich arrived just as Odd was pushed from behind and into Yumi's arms.

A bit of groping may have also been involved.

Ulrich wouldn't let either of them explain, especially when Sissy purposely told Nicholas and Herve how "Odd and Yumi, the newest couple, have finally made it official this morning." Odd couldn't help but notice that ever since Sissy had kissed Ulrich, things had been different. Ulrich actually considered listening to Sissy every once in a while.

"Hello Odd," Milly and Tamiya approached him as he walked toward the cafeteria for breakfast. "Do you mind giving us a quote about your relationship with Yumi?" Milly held the tape recorder right up to Odd while Tamiya took detailed notes.

"Sure," Odd said deciding to be friendly. The two were just doing their job, after all. When it came down to it, they were pretty good kids, if not a little nosy once in a while. "Yumi and I are friends, that's it. Not even best friends, just plain old friends. It is one-hundred percent platonic."

"Is there anyone here you would consider a non-platonic relationship with?" Milly persisted.

Odd sighed. There wasn't, but he wanted to find someone. "No, I'm sorry. Ask Yumi the same question and it might be a more interesting answer."

"Where is Yumi?" Sissy's voice rang behind Odd.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," Odd shot turning to look her in the eyes, but she was with someone. It was a girl. She smiled at him for a second, stopping Odd in his tracks.

"What's that you were saying?" Sissy asked. "Did she dump you already?"

"For your information, they were never going out to begin with," Milly snapped. Odd really wished sometimes that Milly and Tamiya wouldn't try to defend him.

"Too bad," Sissy laughed, "It would have been a nice change for them. Someone they could rely on." She smirked before turning to the new girl. "Come on, Mardi, it's almost class time."

Sissy turned and walked off, followed a moment later by Mardi. Odd couldn't help but think she was beautiful. She had long pale blonde hair that was shining in the morning sun and bright blue eyes that sparkled with adventure. She was wearing a preppy blue blouse and a light brown skirt that stopped about mid-thigh, showcasing her long, slender legs. She also wore a pair of black cowboy boots that looked old and battered, which, compared to the rest of her, looked out of place, but was oddly comforting to the blonde-haired boy.

"Who is she?" Odd asked hypothetically.

"That's Mardi Delmas," Milly answered anyway. "Sissy's cousin. She just arrived this morning from New Orleans."

"Sissy has relatives?" Odd asked. "Great, there goes any hope of happiness, now that there are two Sissies."

"She might not be that bad, Odd," Tamiya said lowering her pad of paper and pencil for once. "Who knows? She could be from the opposite side of the gene pool."

"It doesn't matter," Odd said shaking his head. "You're too young to understand, but Sissy is going to train her to be just like herself. The only difference will be that Sissy'll walk all over her." He shook his head as what he knew was bound to happen.

"Odd, give it up," Milly said, "I think you like her."

"I haven't even met her, how can I like her?"

"You think she's pretty," Tamiya said.

Odd looked at the two younger girls beside him. "Like I said, you two are too young to understand."

Odd turned toward the cafeteria and took a step towards food. The bell rang before he could take another step. "Aw, man! Missed breakfast, again!"

"Hello Odd," Aelita said when he sat down next to her in science class. "I missed you at breakfast today. Weren't you hungry."

Odd's stomach growled. "I still am, I just got, sidetracked."

"Good morning Miss Delmas and… Miss Delmas," Ms. Hertz said to Sissy and her cousin as they walked in.

"Good morning," Mardi replied taking a seat next to Sissy.

"Who's that?" Aelita asked.

"That's Sissy's cousin, Mardi," Odd said somewhere between depressed and enchanted.

"Are you still upset about yesterday?"

"Ulrich still won't talk a nice word to me," Odd said. He glanced at Ulrich, and it was unmistakable that he was complaining to Jeremie that very moment.

"He's not dating Yumi," Jeremie said to Ulrich when Ulrich had finally stopped complaining.

"They were in each other's arms yesterday," Ulrich growled. "It sure looked like they're getting close to one another." He frowned, noticing Odd glance at him. He determinedly looked back at Jeremie, just so he wouldn't have to be reminded of the day before visually.

"That was bad timing on your part," Jeremie said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Odd was pushed into Yumi's arms just as you walked into the park."

"You expect me to believe that?" Ulrich growled.

"I do." Jeremie stared at Ulrich. "So do Odd and Yumi. By pushing them away, you might push them together."

"Ulrich," Ms. Hertz yelled, "since you feel that you don't need to pay attention, could you tell us the difference between circuits in parallel and circuits in series?"

Ulrich stared a moment. He hadn't heard a word Ms. Hertz had said, and even if he had, he'd probably still wouldn't have understood. He finally said, "No I cannot." The class laughed.

"Anyone?" Mardi raised her hand. "Miss Delmas, yes please."

"I didn't volunteer," Sissy squeaked, absolutely shocked to have been called on.

"I wasn't speaking to you Sissy," Ms. Hertz said. The class laughed again. "Mardi?"

"Circuits in parallel each receive all the voltage and divide the amps while circuits in series each receive all the amps and divide the voltage."

"Who is she?" Ulrich looked at Jeremie.

"Now you're willing to take my word?" Jeremie asked. "She's Sissy's cousin."

"Now there's two of her?" Ulrich did not sound happy at all at the news.

"Except Mardi seems to have a brain."

"You don't believe those ridiculous rumors?" Yumi asked William as relief washed over her face.

"Of course not," William said, "I saw what happened."

"At least someone believes me," Yumi sighed. She just wished Ulrich would believe her after a night's rest.

"Is something wrong?" William leaned slightly closer to Yumi.

"The whole school thinks I'm dating Odd. Odd! Yes, something is very wrong." Yumi looked back at the board.

"Okay, I guess I see where you're coming from on that," William said. He leaned back in his chair. "But don't worry. This whole thing will blow over in a day and no one will even remember the rumor existed in a week."

Jim had just finished checking the dorms were empty when he heard a noise. He turned around and was faced with a dark mist. The mist dove into him and his eyes flashed XANA's symbol.

"Wonder what we're doing in PE today," Odd said as he, Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich headed toward the gymnasium. Ulrich still didn't trust Odd and was on the far end of the group.

As they approached the building, they could hear music. Flamenco music to be exact.

"What is he doing in there?" Ulrich questioned.

"I'd say dancing," Jeremie said. They opened the door to find he was correct.

"What fun," Aelita said happily and quickly made her way further into the room.

"So beautiful, yet so naïve," Jeremie said after Aelita had walked further into the room.

"Oh, Ulrich dear," Sissy approached the brunette boy.

"Be prepared for another mindless, love-driven Sissy attack," Odd said. Ulrich glared at him.

"What is it Sissy?"

"You see, we need dancing partners and I don't have one yet," Sissy smiled.

"I'm going to see if Aelita will be my partner," Jeremie said leaving the scene.

"What about Nicholas and Herve?" Ulrich asked. "Wouldn't you usually partner with one of them?"

"They already have dancing partners," Sissy said. "Please Ulrich, you're the only boy left."

"What do I look like?" Odd questioned.

"You've got a girlfriend," Sissy laughed. "And like I would ever dance with a worthless loser like you."

"I'm not dating Yumi," Odd yelled. "And who said I wanted to dance with a brainless zombie like yourself?"

As the two quarreled, Ulrich sidestepped them and approached Mardi, who was still without a partner as she didn't know anyone and no one had thought to ask her.

"Back off Shorty," Sissy yelled. Her eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Where'd Ulrich go?"

"He's with your cousin," Odd smiled in triumph. That was until he realized that left Sissy as the only girl without a partner.

"Look what you've done," Sissy spat, "now I'm stuck with you."

"You should be glad," Odd said, "I'm a better dancer than him."

Jim called everyone around and began to teach them the dance.

"If I call your name," Jim said after the lesson, "you will need to attend a second lesson after school today and everyday until you can correctly dance. Missing this lesson will mean automatic failure. Jeremie, Sissy, Herve, Ulrich, and Marie. The rest of you currently are passing."

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Ulrich asked a little later.

"You were only two steps behind Mardi at all times," Aelita said. "At least you were better than Herve, who was so nervous he forgot most of what we learned. I felt bad for his partner."

"I cannot see you dancing with Sissy," Yumi laughed when she heard about Odd's unfortunate pairing. The Lyoko gang was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch. "But she was that bad?"

"I wasn't aware that checking make-up was part of the Flamenco," Odd said. He looked at Ulrich who hadn't reacted to yet another Sissy joke.

Aelita cocked her head to the side suddenly. "Did Jim say anything about partners joining those who aren't passing?"

"No he didn't," Ulrich said.

"It'll be interesting to see two failing dancers try to learn together," Odd said and laughed, until both Jeremie and Ulrich glared at him. "I guess that wasn't funny."

"Good guess," Ulrich said.

"While I'm stuck with Twinkle Toes Jim," Jeremie turned to Aelita, "you might want to look over what of the anti-virus I've written."

"Or we could have fun," Odd reassured her putting an arm over her shoulders, "right Aelita?"

"I was actually going to read that book for literature class," Aelita said. "It's never a bad idea to get ahead of schedule for school."

Odd looked disappointed.

"Don't worry Odd," Yumi said, "I'm sure you'll find something to do."

"What are you up to Yumi?" Odd asked hopefully.

"Studying," Yumi said as her face flushed.

"Alone?" Ulrich asked, lifting a single eyebrow.

"With a small study group in the library."

"You mean William?" Ulrich looked across the cafeteria at the boy Yumi spent much of her time with.

"Along with a few others," Yumi said. "Do you have a problem with me studying? Or would you rather I fail my math test tomorrow?"

"Forget I asked," Ulrich growled.

"Ulrich and Sissy," Jim assigned partners for the after school dance session. "Herve and Marie; which leaves Jeremie. You'll be my assistant."

"That'll be a couple to remember," Sissy snickered.

"Miss Delmas and Mr. Stern," Jim bellowed, "how about you show us what you've got." Jim started the music.

Sissy pulled Ulrich onto the dance floor and they began to dance; or rather they began to try to dance. By the time they were half through, Jeremie, Herve, and Marie were rolling on the floor laughing.

"Okay, it's about time you two learned to pay attention," Jim said. "Jeremie, come here." Jeremie stood up slowly and nervously. "First off, Ulrich, you're the male, you're in the lead. Second off, Sissy, what were you doing with your hands? Now, observe, Sissy, as I show you how to correctly dance the Flamenco." Jeremie turned beat red as Jim started the music and began dancing. Jim was dancing the female part, which made the whole experience harder for the others to not laugh.

"Where is everyone?" Yumi asked as she entered the library with William.

"They bailed to watch some television show," William said. "I guess that the channel is announcing a phone number and the hundredth caller gets five free backstage passes to the new band."

"What a coincidence," Yumi said. She sat down at the table across from where William took a seat.

"Did you understand last nights homework?" William asked. "I know we went over them in class, but I still don't get it."

"Sure," Yumi leaned across the table. "Let's see what you've got so far."

William turned his notebook toward Yumi so she could read his notes.

Odd looked around the courtyard to see that Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita were still occupied. Nicholas was hitting the coffee machine, trying to get a drink he paid for; Milly and Tamiya were looking for something to write about; Emily was on her cell phone and laughing quite hard; and Mardi was sitting alone on the bench staring blankly into her science book. Odd smiled. It was time to possibly save her from Sissy's evil.

"Hello," Odd said looking down at her.

"Hi," Mardi said looking up from the book. She closed it and slipped it into her bag, then she put the bag on the ground and motioned that it was okay for him to sit down. "We never were introduced as you and my cousin argued. My name is Mardi."

"Odd." Odd said.

"My name?" Mardi asked.

"No," Odd corrected. "My name is Odd."

"Ah," Mardi smiled. "You don't seem to get along with Sissy. But, I think she has a crush on your friend Ulrich."

"Is it really that obvious?" Odd asked jokingly. "They've been in that after school lesson for a long time now."

"They have," Mardi looked at the time on her cell phone. "Three hours now. I didn't think they were that bad."

The gymnasium doors finally opened and the five students trudged out, dripping with sweat and not trying to look up. Nicholas promptly went to help Sissy, so Odd decided to help Jeremie who seemed about to collapse under his own weight. He stood and waved good-bye to Mardi, who waved back and stood herself to walk with Sissy and Nicholas. Herve tried his best to keep up, but fell behind in his weakened state.

"What did he make you do?" Odd asked.

"Two and a half hours of non-stop Flamenco dancing," Ulrich said. "I think I've danced with Sissy more today than I ever wanted to in my life."

Jeremie gave Ulrich a look that said, 'You thought that was bad?' but didn't speak because he was panting too hard from exhaustion.

"What did you end up doing?" Ulrich asked. He apparently had forgotten he was mad at Odd, or figured that they roomed together so it was better to get along.

"I studied for the physics quiz," Odd said. "And I met Mardi."

"She's nice," Ulrich said.

The three boys looked in the direction of Mardi, Sissy, Nicholas, and Herve. Mardi seemed to sense their stares because she looked back, smiled, and waved at them before walking through a set of double doors.

"Hey guys," Yumi walked out of the library and approached them. She looked at Ulrich and flushed, so she turned to Jeremie. "What did Jim put you through?"

"Flamenco boot-camp," Ulrich answered for Jeremie. "And Jeremie here was Jim's partner."

"You were Einstein?" Odd asked. "That must have been worse than dancing with Sissy."

Yumi looked at Ulrich as if to ask if he had had to dance with Sissy. Ulrich didn't answer; he just stared back at her.

Jeremie pointed toward the building to indicate that he wanted to get to his room to rest. "Sorry Einstein," Odd said supporting him as they began to walk toward the boarder's rooms.

"Miss Ishiyama," Jim's voice rang, "I believe that you do not live here. Please proceed to your own house while these three boys will proceed to their rooms."

"Bye Yumi," Ulrich called out as she walked away from them. "See you tomorrow."

"You too Ulrich," Yumi called out.

"Where's Jeremie?" Aelita asked the next morning at breakfast.

"Don't know," Odd said.

"He probably can't move," Ulrich said. Ulrich kept rolling his shoulders and stretching random parts of his body. "I can barely move after Jim's Flamenco session. I can only imagine what Jeremie must be going through."

"Poor Jeremie," Aelita said. "I'm going to check on him and see if I can't get him out of bed."

Aelita stood and walked out of the cafeteria passing a drowsy Sissy on her way out. When Aelita knocked on Jeremie's door, she only heard groaning. She opened the door and put her hands oh her hips. Jeremie was working on his laptop. He looked up at her.

"Just checking on Lyoko," Jeremie claimed. "I couldn't move enough to get to the desk." Jeremie motioned to his desk where his other computer sat.

"Jeremie," Aelita said, "you have to get up. We have classes."

"I know," Jeremie said. He crawled out of his bed so Aelita stepped into the hallway and closed the door. Moments later, she heard a loud thud on the floor. She opened the door to see Jeremie collapsed on the floor.

"Jeremie, what happened?" Aelita asked.

"I'm too stiff to move," Jeremie said. "Maybe I ought to stay in bed for the day."

Aelita sighed and helped Jeremie back to his bed. Just as he sat down, his laptop beeped.

"XANA's activated a tower," Jeremie looked at his computer. "And I'll never be able to make it to the factory."

"We'll handle it without you then," Aelita said. "It'll be a cinch."

Aelita ran through the halls and caught Odd and Ulrich just before they walked into their first class of the day. After she told them about XANA, Ulrich sent her and Odd to the factory while he went to get Yumi.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Jim caught Ulrich on his way to find Yumi. Ulrich turned to look Jim in the eye. "Or would you rather a trip to the Principal's office?" He grabbed Ulrich by the arm and dragged him to see the principal.

"Hello Jeremie," Aelita's face appeared on his laptop. "Odd and I have made it to Lyoko and there aren't any monsters in sight. We're just waiting on Yumi and Ulrich."

"Good," Jeremie said. "I can't do anything from here, so be careful."

"We will," Aelita said. "We've materialized the vehicles already."

"How about we get a head start," Odd suggested to Aelita after surveying the area for the seventh time. "I'm not convinced that they're coming."

"A few minutes, Odd," Aelita said. "We don't know what may lie ahead of us. Jeremie has sent them text messages."

"I bet they got sidetracked into each other's arms," Odd said. "It's about time too, but couldn't they have waited until after stopping XANA?"

After another few minutes, Aelita agreed that they should start so they could deactivate the tower as quickly as possible.

"You cannot tell me where Aelita and Odd are and you claim that Jeremie is probably in bed because he is stiff from an after school Flamenco dancing lesson, but Jim has checked Jeremie's room and no one is in there," Ulrich never knew how ridiculous it sounded until someone else recited back to him what he said.

"Something like that," Ulrich replied.

"I'm going to have to give you a few detentions for this," the principal said. "I could cut that down to one if you tell me where Jeremie, Odd, and Aelita are."

"I can't," Ulrich said.

"Fine then," the principal said, "get to class. And if you don't show up, you will be expelled."

"Right Sir," Ulrich said. He stood and walked out of the building. Once outside, he picked up his phone and called Jeremie. "If I don't go to class, I'm going to be expelled," he spoke as soon as Jeremie answered.

"What?" Jeremie yelled into the phone, "but Aelita and Odd are in Lyoko. At least see if you can get Yumi to go."

"I'll try," Ulrich said. "No promises. I'll see if I can track her during the next passing period."

"Good luck," Jeremie said.

Ulrich entered his math class and didn't look at anyone as he took his seat. Immediately people began to whisper about him and his missing friends. Ulrich didn't listen to what they said, instead he tried to concentrate for once.

"Hold on Princess," Odd said as they approached the activated tower. "XANA won't dare harm you so if we dive in there, the tarantulas won't shoot at you and I drop you off and you fix this little mess we're in."

"Odd, that's crazy," Aelita yelled.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Odd said.

"We don't even know what XANA's plan is," Aelita said. "It can't be too dangerous or we would have noticed something."

"Where were you?" Mardi ran up beside Ulrich as the class left math.

"None of your business," Ulrich said. He scanned the courtyard for Yumi. She was with William. "Typical."

"What's so typical?" Mardi asked.

"Once again," Ulrich growled, "none of your business."

"Sorry," Mardi said sincerely. "Want to talk?"

"No."

"I'm just trying to make a few friends," Mardi said. "You seemed plenty nice yesterday. And so was your friend Odd."

"You're Sissy's cousin," Ulrich turned to look her in the eye. "I'm sure she can introduce you to a person or two."

"You're right," Mardi said, "she introduced me to two people." Mardi glanced at Sissy, Herve, and Nicholas. "I don't like them so I wanted to meet a few people on my own. Clearly, I was mistaken in wanting to meet you." Mardi turned and walked away.

"What was that about?" Yumi surprised Ulrich from behind.

"Me making an ass of myself," Ulrich said. "You're needed in Lyoko."

"What about you?" Yumi lifted an eyebrow.

"If I miss class, I'll be expelled," Ulrich said. "Here comes Jim. I've got to go or he'll keep me from class with the hope of getting me expelled. Bye Yumi."

"Yumi!" Jim yelled as Yumi turned to go to the park. "Ulrich. Come here. We need to talk."

"Sure Jim," Yumi said. She grabbed Ulrich's arm before he could escape.

Jim steered them toward the park. "Where are Odd and Aelita?"

"We don't know, Jim," Yumi said. "Ulrich just asked me if I knew a moment ago."

"Tut, tut," Jim said as the air grew a bit ominous around them, "what liars you two are. You know they're in Lyoko."

"How do you know about Lyoko?" Ulrich asked.

Jim's eyes flashed XANA's sign. No one was around, so he punched Ulrich. Ulrich collided with a thick tree.

"Ulrich," Yumi yelled, but Jim grabbed her by the shirt and dragged her to the shed and locked her inside.

Ulrich opened his eyes to see Jim approach with a crowbar. He pulled himself to his feet and began to run.

"We're going down Princess," Odd yelled as he and Aelita crashed. They were right outside the tower so Odd pushed her inside. He didn't even have time to turn around before he was out of life points.

Odd reappeared in one of the scanners. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jeremie.

"Aelita is in the tower," Odd cheered.

"You have to set up the return to the past program or Ulrich will be expelled."

Jim lifted the crowbar, ready to bring it down on Ulrich

Aelita typed in 'Lyoko.' "Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past now!" Odd said pressing the correct button.

"Where's Yumi?" Sissy's voice rang behind Odd the morning before, again.

"I think she and Ulrich are making out behind the shed," Odd said as he turned around.

Sissy went wide-eyed and ran to see if what Odd said was true.

"My name's Odd," he held out a hand to Mardi.

"I know," Mardi said.

Odd lifted an eyebrow. "You do?" Milly and Tamiya looked very interested.

"Sissy told me just before walking up to you," Mardi blushed. "I'm going to go now."

"One moment," Odd stopped her. Milly and Tamiya moved on to talk to other people. "I was wondering, if we happen to be dancing Flamenco in physical education, would you be my partner?"

"I'm Mardi," she said, "and I'd love to."