Episode References: A Great Day


"Man, these trips to Sector Five running me ragged," I said, cracking my neck loudly.

"You know I hate it when you do that," Aelita said.

"But it feels so good. Cut me a break Strawberry Top," I said with a smirk. She smiled at the nickname and simply nodded. I really liked this girl. She was just so damn nice!

"Ok, the analysis program is running," we could hear Jeremy say as well made it to the top of the elevator.

"Great! And... what does that mean exactly?" Odd questioned.

"With all of the data that we've been able to recover, I've got a chance of finding where XANA is storing Aelita's memory," Jeremy said.

"And that time will hopefully be soon. Once we get through XANA's first fake memory plant," I said.

"Yes, of course. And hopefully, Aelita will no longer be tied to XANA," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, and we can shut this stupid AI down. Though, he does give us quite a bit of entertainment," I said.

"He's right. I mean, what are we going to do with our free time? I mean, if we can't save the world anymore..."

"You might study a little more," Yumi suggested. "And learn something for once." I threw out my hands dramatically.

"Oh, no. Odd becoming smart. The horror!" I said dramatically. The whole group laughed, except for Odd, who crossed his arms defiantly.

"Oh, man. Well, we better head for our rooms if we don't wanna get caught," Jeremy said. I turned to Aelita, who was already looking at me.

"As if I already had to ask. Well, at least you're getting me good exercise. Without you, I'd turn into a fat lump," I said, lifting her onto my back. I could feel her rub the top of my hair.

"Don't act like you don't enjoy her riding on you," Odd said with a smirk. I blushed. I had a really dirty joke to say about that, but I resisted the urge to say it.

"Suppose not. Anyway, we're headed back to the dorm," I said, starting to take off running.

I immediately turned into sneak mode once we got near the dorms, and I had to restrain myself from breathing hard after we got the dorm. The others were not far behind me, but I was the only one who had to go to the girls' dorm. I knew if I got caught by a teacher up here, I was dead.

"Do you know if Jeremy's calculations lead to something?" Aelita asked me as we were in front of her door.

"Other than the trap?" I questioned.

"Yes. Other than that," Aelita said.

"I am honestly not sure. I mean, I don't know everything. Though I kind of wish I did. It would make things easier," I said while breathing heavy. "You know, I'm starting to get less tired the more we make these trips."

"Cause I make a good weight on your shoulders. Literally speaking, not figuratively," Aelita said.

"I know what you meant Lita. But it's alright. I'm glad to do it. You are my princess after all," I said, holding a fake sword in front of me. She giggled.

"And you're my knight," she said before hugging me. "Good night."

"Night," I said, walking away and stretching my limbs out of their soreness. "Ugh. I'm definitely ready to hit the hay tonight."

I woke up from out of my bed and sat near the computer that I had. I had no idea where they even got the money for these items that they bought me and Aelita, but honestly, I did not care in the slightest bit. And I had also programmed this thing to be linked to the Supercomputer as well so Jeremy wouldn't be the only thing that could forewarn us.

I searched on the computer for any action of XANA. No tower was activated, which pleased me. I could use a chill day. Though Jeremy was likely going to send us to Sector Five again so we could look for more info. I know he really wanted to find Aelita's memory, but he had us running ragged for the past few days. I needed some down time.

I rubbed my neck when I came down for breakfast the other morning, but my path was immediately blockaded by Sissi. I instantly groaned.

"Oh, man. It's too early for you to start trouble. What do you want?" I asked her.

"To listen to this," Sissi said, holding up an mp3 disk. "It doesn't have a lot of music, but the words are really great." I frowned. She sounded really smug, and I didn't like that.

She didn't even wait for my response as she played the tape from last night of me and Aelita's conversation. I simply frowned.

"What exactly is this supposed to prove?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You're gonna do whatever I ask to make sure I don't show this tape to your little friend Jeremy," Sissi said with a smirk on her face. I shook my head at her stupidity.

"There are three reasons I'm not going to do that. One, I don't like you. Two, Aelita and I are not dating, and Jeremy will take my word over yours. And three, I don't like you. So move cretin. I've got breakfast to swallow," I said, attempting to move past her, but she consistently blocked my path. "If you don't move, I'm going to move you myself."

"Then think about this. If I show this to my father, I'll be able to tell him you and 'Lita' were up at night when you weren't supposed to," Sissi said.

"Yeah, but you were too, so I fail to see your logic," I said. Sissi smirked before putting on a mock innocent voice.

"'Oh, daddy. The two of them were just so loud last night and woke me up. I did my part as a responsible student and recorded this for you,'" she said before her voice went back to normal. "And it's my word, the daughter of the principal, over your word. The guy who ruined his clean slate after the first week. I think he'll take my word of yours, don't you think? And you may be able to handle your punishment, but will your precious little Miss Einstein be able to?"

I clenched my fists. Even though I was steaming mad, I had to admit that she had the cunning of the most devious of the snakes right now. I really didn't want Aelita to get in trouble for a simple mistake. But more importantly, while Aelita and I were stuck in detention, that could cause problems with XANA if he attacks. She and I were the only ones who could deactivate towers. Great.

"Fine. Just... what do you want?" I said, finally giving in. Sissi got a devious grin on her face, and my heart immediately dropped at the sight. I knew I was screwed from the get go. God, this was an unholy pile of fuck.


"You alright Robert? You're really quiet this morning, and you haven't eaten much," Aelita said as I barely managed a few bites of food. The thing she was making me to do made me sick to my stomach. I had even put a good word into this girl for Ulrich, which I was beginning to regret as I sat here.

"Come on, there's obviously something wrong. You and Odd normally compete of which of you can swallow down the most food the fastest," Ulrich said in a joking tone. But I didn't even crack a smile.

My eyes wandered over towards the direction of Sissi and she smirked. I knew she was listening to everything I was saying, and me and Aelita were screwed if she heard me give it away.

"I woke up feeling as sick as a dog this morning," I lied nonchalantly. Sometimes, I regretting being such a good liar. But then I could feel Aelita place the back of her hand on my forehead.

"You don't feel all that warm. Some kind of stomach bug?" she asked me.

"That would explain his considerable lack of appetite," Jeremy said.

"Probably," I said, still looking directly down.

"So this means I can have your portions?" Odd asked with a cheerful tone.

"Go ahead," I said, waving a nonchalant hand. He immediately grabbed the food from under me and I laid my head down on my arms. I never thought I could feel sick physically just from words, but this girl had did it. She deserved a fucking award.

"You think with your stomach and not your head most of the time, don't you?" Aelita questioned, her tone sounding somewhat impatient.

"Yup. It's much more liberating that way," Odd said.

"You think you'll be alright for class? Should we take you to Nurse Yolanda?" Jeremy asked.

"Nah. It's sure to wear off later on. At least I hope so," I said, standing up. "Maybe some air will do me good." I then walked out of the cafeteria and felt the early morning breeze on my face. It felt so good. But I still felt sick to my stomach.

"I can't stand this girl. I cannot stand her. I wish this bitch could fall down the stairs and be hospitalized for a few months so she'll be out of my hair," I thought to myself as I paced.

"You're keeping your end of the bargain. Good. You better keep it that way," Sissi said, walking outside to join me.

"I hate you for this. You know I hate you for this, right?" I told her, trying my best to keep my face neutral just in case any of my friends happened to be looking at me.

"How about we go for a walk?" Sissi asked with a smirk. I was in no position to refuse, so I walked with her. It was a struggle to keep my face even because a vicious snarl was begging to replace how stolid I looked.

"I hate you so much," I repeated.

"You'll eventually turn that hate to love. After all, you've got no choice really," Sissi said.

"I have a choice. I'm just making the most self-destructive one," I said.

"Either way, I'm making it for you. You'll be walking me to class," Sissi said.

"Just what is this even proving? You think pretending to date me will make Ulrich jealous? You are sorely mistaken," I said.

"This time, it's not about Ulrich. It's all about your pink-haired friend," Sissi said, making me look at her crazy.

"What does Aelita have to do with-"

"I don't like her. You of all people know that. So that's why I'm going to use you to really make her want to move back to Canada where she belongs," Sissi said, making me tighten my grip on my fists.

"You sadistic little-" I tried my hardest to avoid saying something I would regret, but it was hard. But I knew this would backfire. Aelita had no romantic interest in me, so this wouldn't bother her other than the fact that I had stooped so low. But just the absolute nerve of it...

Then I could suddenly feel her lips pressed against mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Jeremy and the others were looking my direction. So I had to force myself to lean deeper into her lips. To act like I enjoyed it. That was my purpose. To act like a pawn in her mind games.

"Ugh. This is not how I wanted my first kiss to be. I wanted it to feel wonderful and romantic. Not... forced. I was thinking that I wouldn't ever be lured into these games that people pulled. Well... never say never I guess," I thought to myself as I continued to kiss her. Then I had to pull away cause breath was lacking.

"Why did you pull away? They're still right there!" Sissi said.

"One, I don't want to be attached to your lips any longer than I have to, and two, I have to breathe. You can't do anything with a person who suffocated themselves to death," I told her while I forced myself to smile as they were right there. Sissi smiled as well while stroking my cheek. What this girl would not do to achieve her goals...

"You have a point. But I can say that you're not a great kisser. My Ulrich was so much better," she said. I remembered with a pang that Ulrich was forced into the same situation that I was. I wonder if he felt as bad as I do now.

"No shit. I didn't really want to kiss you. I just forced my lips onto yours," I said through a fake smile.

"That doesn't mean you have to make it terrible for a lady," Sissi said. I snorted.

"Someone walk up behind you?" I asked, pretending to look past her. Her face turned angry for a second before it quickly became neutral.

"Hmm. Sounds like something Odd would say," Sissi said.

"I've been giving him lessons," I said right as the bell rang.

"Kiss me on the cheek," Sissi said, turning her head. It took all of the effort I had not to smack her instead, but I gently placed my lips to her cheek and that was it. Didn't pucker or anything.

"I hate you," I repeated again.

"Love you too. Have fun," Sissi said with a smirk. I walked back towards the group who was still standing there, and it took all the urge I had not to wipe the gloss off my lips and started spitting and vomiting all over the ground.

"So... is that really what was your problem?" Jeremy questioned.

"Or were you being really cruel and giving her your bug?" Odd said with a hopeful grin.

"The first thing," I said, making Odd's smile turn into a frown.

"This is ridiculous," Yumi said, before staring my dead in my eyes "Is she blackmailing you?"

"No she isn't," I said evenly before thinking furiously, "Please see through my lie... Please see through my lie... Please see through my lie..."

"Out of all of the hot chicks you could've gone after in this school, you chose Sissi? My God, are you that desperate?" Odd questioned.

"Enough of this discussion. I want to have a normal class day," I said, glancing towards Aelita. She didn't say anything, nor did she look at me. She seemed... relatively neutral. Maybe she didn't know how to go about it.

Classes were so uncomfortable as I sat next to Aelita. She seemed to only talk to me when the class demanded it. Even then, it wasn't in the friendly tone that we always address each other with. She was a paragon of neutrality. Probably because she was divided between taking my side and the others'. And it drove me crazy.

I didn't even bother saying anything to anyone in Mrs. Hertz's class. I just felt awful as Sissi kept sending me winks half the class. I responded with a half hearted wave and paid attention to the lesson with a focus that I haven't felt in class since my CSI classes. The only subject I truly gave a shit about in my classes.

And of course, Odd manages to get in trouble with Mrs. Hertz when he was talking among the others. I just ignored it and looked down at my desk. I had never felt so upset in my life. My first kiss was robbed from me, and my friends were pissed at me. Except Aelita. The plain neutrality I got from her was worse than anger or irritation. I would've taken that over just treating me like was a minor acquaintance. It was torture.

I didn't even bother to join the others as they grouped up, and I settled for staying inside and sitting on the steps that lead to the dorms with a depressed look. I was in a good mood this morning. Now I just felt downright miserable. I could lie to them. Lying had become easy for me now. But I far from enjoyed it. I just felt irritation and anger of the highest degree.

"You ok?" I heard a voice say from above me. I recognized Emily from the Routine episode immediately and I shook my head. To hell with keeping it a secret now. Sissi was not around.

"No. I feel terrible," I said.

"I would too. Being trapped in a relationship with Sissi," Emily said.

"I'm being blackmailed into it. She's got something that could get one of my friends into trouble, and I want to avoid that, so I'm suffering through this," I said.

"To act like you actually enjoy the affection you give Sissi is not easy. Though, what were her exact words to you as far as this agreement goes?" Emily asked.

"'You better not tell any of your little friends, or guess where this tape's going,'" I reiterated. Emily smiled.

"Well, I'm not one of your little friends, am I? I could tell them for you," she said, making me smile in relief.

"I feel so happy, I could kiss you," I said with a smile.

"Don't. You still have Sissi on you. Disinfect them with soap and water, then I'll think about it. I'll go find them now," Emily said with a smirk and walking further down the steps and out of the door. Thank God for Emily. This made my situation considerably better. It's likely she would tell her father anyway if she found out I told Emily, but she wasn't keeping almost constant tabs on Emily, now was she?

I leaned back on the steps like it was a bed, and I closed my eyes while relaxing. Ah, I felt so much better. The weight that is Sissi had been lifted from my shoulders. I definitely owed Emily for this. Now my friends won't think I'm a complete shithead.

But after a few minutes, a familiar white light covered my entire vision and I was back in my bed in my night clothes again. Did we just return to the past? I knew for a fact Jeremy didn't do that, so I immediately suspected XANA. I had to let the others know. It would be considerably easier considering Emily had lifted the awkward burden that was Sissi off my back.

I walked out of my dorm and walked directly into Jeremy. His expression immediately turned into a displeased one and he turned the other direction, making me frown.

"Jeremy! Are you still pissed at me for lying to you?" I asked, catching up to him.

"What do you think?" Jeremy said.

"Didn't Emily tell you?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No. She approached us, but she didn't have a chance to explain what she wanted. You sent her?" Jeremy said as Sissi came around the corner. The sight of her immediately filled me with anger that made hear the blood pounding in my ears. I felt so pissed off, it wasn't even funny. My nails were digging into my palms and I could swear that I had snarled audibly. Like I was a rabid dog. By Jeremy's surprised look, I did.

I didn't even say anything as I approached Sissi, my snarl still in play. She didn't even notice it as she was smirking at the disk in her hand. She didn't even get a word out as I threw the disk out of her hand and into the wall, shattering it. Then, with a strength that I didn't even know was in me, forced Sissi on her knees as I pulled her face close to mine, my snarl still in play.

"I swear on every fiber of my being, if you EVER try and blackmail me with some bullshit like this again, I will curbstomp you in your teeth so hard, they'll be forced up your fucking skull and start bouncing around in there. Do. You. Get. Me?" I said angrily, my words like venom on every enunciation. The thing that even scared me a little is that... I actually felt like doing it. She whimpered at how vicious my expression looked and nodded. I pushed her down the hallway she came from, and my anger hadn't even gotten close to simmering down.

"So..." I immediately cut him off by raising a hand.

"Give me a moment to calm down before I accidentally release it on you too," I said, slumping down on the wall and onto the floor. I took rapid and deep breaths. In and out... in and out... in and out...

"What's with him?" Yumi said.

"So, apparently Sissi did try to blackmail him with something and he smashed the one thing that she had on him," Jeremy said.

"See? I told you he was being blackmailed!" Odd exclaimed.

"Just how did you even manage to that so well? I could not have pulled that off," Ulrich said.

"I'm a good liar. Apparently, much better than I could've ever fucking thought," I said, licking my sleeve. My voice soon became one of despair. "Ugh. Even the return of the past can't remove the aura of her lips. Man, my first kiss was fucking wasted. Makes me wish I could forget it."

"Tell me about it," Ulrich said, knowing my pain. Yumi looked at Ulrich with a raised eyebrow, but Odd's cutoff saved him from accusation.

"Just what was so bad on that tape that it would get you to deal with Sissi?" Odd asked.

"XANA's best opportunity. The thing that was on there was a conversation me and Aelita had last night that would've gotten us both in trouble. And if we served detention together, they know I have a habit of skipping out when we don't return to the past. So they would have the doors covered. And that equals..."

"An easy opportunity for XANA to attack. I see. That's quite the sacrifice. You must be really devoted to this cause," Jeremy said.

"I am. Now do you get why I felt sick to my stomach this morning?" I asked.

"It's very clear now. Sorry we doubted you," Jeremy said.

"Ah, it's fine. I don't fault you for it. But come to think of it, I was a good actor, wasn't I? Maybe I should go join Broadway," I said, in a fake thoughtful pose to test the waters.

"You'd ruin it. You're a good actor, but they can't handle the type of chaos you'd bring to the table. You'd be a hurricane on their little village," Jeremy said with a smirk. I grinned with my eyes closed and I heard Odd and Ulrich chuckle.

"But in all seriousness. I can tell you this much. If I ever enter a relationship, unless I'm still working things out, you will all know about it. I assure you of that," I told them.

"That's good to know. But hopefully Sissi is not in your future," Ulrich said.

"I honestly thought at times she could be good, but... either I thought wrong or that's until much, much later. Anyways, ignoring that, XANA's taking over the return to the past function. He's going to keep repeating it over and over again to increase his power," I told them.

"What? XANA gets more power from the return to the past function?" Odd questioned.

"How is that possible?" Ulrich asked.

"I don't know how it works. All I know is that one more return trip means he can start possessing people now, and that's not good. We need to skip the morning and head straight to Lyoko. The only good thing about this is that we have plenty of time before he starts the process on it again. We need to get moving," I said with my arms crossed.

"What are we waiting for?" Jeremy said, walking past me to head towards the tower. I looked at Aelita, who looked at me with a slightly guilty look.

"Robert..."

"Don't bother Lita," I said, perhaps more gently than necessary. "It's fine." I followed Jeremy as we began to run to the tower. I felt very distant from Aelita ever since she gave me her version of the cold shoulder. I hated getting the cold shoulder.

We continued towards the factory and we were quickly virtualized to Lyoko to handle the tower, to which Jeremy already had the coordinates to. I turned towards Aelita and smirked while holding my arm to the side as if I was a plane. She gave me a small smile before grabbing my arm. I immediately raised my arm towards my back and she grabbed ahold of my neck before I dashed off immediately.

"About Sissi..." I couldn't restrain a gag in my throat.

"Please don't bring that up again. I'm still trying to forget that it happened," I said, unintentionally slowing down from my disgust.

"I'm sorry. I thought you had lied to us. I mean, from what we saw..."

"I told you. I don't fault you for it. But you are starting to irritate me by bringing it up several times. Let's just let it die. That makes it easier to forget," I said as I stopped right outside the tower, which was guarded by four blocks and a swarm of hornets. It was more than likely this was more powerful than the canon welcoming committee. "Can you clear things up for us a little?"

"No problem," Aelita said as she held her hand out and began to sing. A large rock suddenly appeared above the monsters and crushed most of them except a few hornets that managed to move out of the way at the last minute. They immediately spotted us upon moving out of the way and started firing at us, forcing me to have to run another direction to not get shot. I didn't want to take any risks with Aelita on my back by jumping at them.

"Need a little help?" I could hear Odd shout. I turned towards his voice and saw that Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd were coming up on their vehicles.

"That'd be great," I said as I slid behind a rock and dropping Aelita off. "When I say now, run for the tower." She nodded before I bent back my feet to get into a sprinter's stance before taking off. I used the rock to propel myself upward before I was met by rapid laser fire. As I was running on the tower, I glanced at the side to see a tarantula had shown up to the party as well as the Scyphozoa.

"Isn't this fantastic?" I sarcastically said to myself before standing at the top of the tower. I then went into a missile style dive with my swords spinning out in the front of me. The tarantula couldn't do anything as I went straight through him when I launched myself. The explosion didn't even hurt me. I then focused my attention on the Scyphozoa, who was getting close to Aelita.

I quickly ran in front of it and started slicing so fast, it was like I was in a kung fu film. When I blinked, I saw that a bunch of its tentacles were gone and it was forced back when I decided to lash out for it's center target reticle. It quickly moved out of range before I could and was gone.

"Bitch," I said, holstering my swords. I could hear from the lack of laser gunfire that the others had taken care of the hornets that remained.

"That was a good workout," I said as I approached the others with my fingers taking an appearance of guns.

"Yes, it definitely was. Though none of us really need to lose weight," Ulrich said.

"How about you save the conversation for later and deal with the tower now?" Jeremy asked.

"Can do. Aelita?" I said, gesturing towards the tower. "Your throne, your highness."

"Appreciated, noble knight," Aelita said, holding the bottom edges of her outfit as if she was doing an extravagant princess bow. It was too much for me and I started laughing before I was shortly joined by the others. The dynamic we had was back baby. Hell yeah.


A/N: Dis chapter though. It was a random twist to this episode that may be a little bit of a stretch, but hey. Everything that happens in this story is a stretch. Hope you enjoyed it.