Was watching Big Hero 6 and the idea came to me.
Post XANA, the Lyoko Warriors grow up and go to college. Their future is bright and they help revolutionize it of course and eventually they're in their mid to late twenties when they all move to San Fransokyo for a brighter future (but also, and they hate to admit it, they're fearful of another XANA situation because of how technologically advanced the city is).
Jeremy Belpois is a scientist who Bot Fights on the side. The Lyoko Warriors never did get over their penchant for doing illegal stuff and without XANA around Jeremy doesn't exactly have to forge papers, hack government satellites or cover up digital trails anymore.
So Jeremy Belpois, aged 25-27ish, regularly attends Bot Fights in the city despite the fact that they're illegal. ("Only BETTING on them is illegal Yumi" "Which you do" "Only a little and don't be a hypocrite, I've seen you bet on my bots too" "AELITA! A little help here?")
Aelita is busy tweaking her husband's said bot fighting robot ("Jeremy, you really should have hooked through the wiring of this part better. I forgot we had to tweak it so its a good thing I saw it now. We play to WIN, you hear me?" "Yes, dear" "... Sorry, Yumi what were you saying?")
Of course Yumi attends these bot fights when she has the time too. She absolutely DOES NOT bet on them like Jeremy accused her earlier. Pfft. Of course not.
("Ulrich?" *sigh* "I already know your regular Yumi. Slip a 10 for the first round. A 20 for the second")
Odd comes just for the thrill of it and of course, he makes plenty of money from Jeremy's bot bets too and the adrenaline rush when fighting off (or running) from thugs (and the police) when they are evidently furious that a seemingly innocent young looking Jeremy won the bot fight and they lost their money.
In essence it gives the Lyoko Warriors a purpose even if they try to keep it to a minimum. It's like being together and fighting XANA again. Jeremy and Aelita are the brains of the operation, making the boys and fighting with them. Yumi and Ulrich tag along to tell their friends this is a Very. Bad. Idea despite the fact they enjoy it every time and Odd loves the thrill of it. When they're caught in a tight situation Ulrich, Yumi and Odd are the ones playing bodyguard again and while playing getaway on motorbikes isn't as fun as the Over-vehicles on Lyoko, It's fun nonetheless.
Its on one Bot fight that Jeremy Belpois has the pleasure of coming face to face in the ring with Hiro Hamada. Unlike his other competitors, Jeremy does not underestimate the kid because he remembers what he accomplished silently as a 13 yr old along with his friends.
The fight is close. Hiro is actually shocked this young man didn't fall for his "innocent kid" act and didn't bet an obscene amount of money out of arrogance like the usual fighters did. In the end Jeremie wins but even he admits it was a very close match. The only reason he wins is cuz Hiro is frustrated and gets off put at Jeremy's nonchalance at his age and skill which ends up causing him to misstep.
For his record, Jeremy doesn't kill Hiro's bot despite the fact he would easily be able to. He just ends up disabling it with a magnetic repulse that confuses the coding.
With his bot out of comission, Hiro plans on leaving. He does not expect 5 young adults to corner him as he is, including the bespectacled blonde he just fought in the ring against ("No fair! Aren't I only supposed to get beat-up after I make a fool of you and destroy your bot?")
He does not expect them to hear this and Ulrich promptly bursts into laughter at this and responds in his usual sarcastic drawl. ("Not beating you up today kid, don't worry." "Maybe next time," teases Odd).
So Hiro is baffled because if these adults don't want to beat him up and they don't have anything left to ask after they decommissioned his bot then why are they here at all?
At this Jeremy introduces himself and praises Hiro's bot. ("You put up an amazing fight you know. Anyone else would have lost, I just had experience and didn't underestimate you.")
Hiro does not really understand what the "experience" part means and he never will because XANA is long gone thankfully. The fact that this adult didn't underestimate him is something that Hiro both enjoys (because it poses a challenge now if someone takes him seriously) and is irked by (because he really enjoys making a fool out of older bot fighters)
Just as the Lyoko Warriors are offering to drop Hiro home (because even if he's smart for his age he really shouldn't be wandering around sketchy places full of thugs all alone and definitely not on the Lyoko Warriors watch) the conversation is brought to an abrupt end by Tadashi arriving (HES ALIVE! FIGHT ME), scolding Hiro for his reckless bot fighting once again. At first Tadashi is upset seeing these 5 adults, quite a bit older than him, surrounding his brother. He's ready to make a run for it too, used to rescuing Hiro from tough spots like this.
Luckily they disperse themselves, Yumi calming a panicked Tadashi easily with some help from Odd cracking jokes. Aelita slips Hiro a small unembelished card. ("If you ever need us, don't be afraid to call.")
They're not exactly sure why, but somehow it makes sense another young child prodigy would get caught up trouble although it's doubtful their paths are likely to cross many times again.
Hiro and Tadashi go on their way as do the Lyoko Warriors. And for once even Yumi is ready to admit the bot fight may have been a good choice despite the legality of it.
Anyway I may or may not write a fic about this. I honestly don't know how this idea came about. I was watching the beginning of BH6 and the bot fight scene just made me think that in a post XANA world, Jeremy would probably go back to making and advancing robots because he'd have the time to. He already enjoys bot fights (although they're non violent) in school and, after fighting XANA, with his technological prowess he'd enjoy the challenge. Not to mention the legal repercussions would never bother him and the other Lyoko Warriors wouldn't not tag along if they had a chance to relive some of their adventurous days as kids (without the life threatening danger).
Yumi of course would be on the fence because she's supposed to be the oldest and the consequences did always matter to her more than the others but there's no way she wouldn't enjoy it just as much.
Aelita would only help Jeremy. It's not like she has any extra love for the law herself. She'd probably find experimenting with his robots even more fun which is why they make the ultimate married team in the future. When she's not making music, working with Jeremy on his bots is a fun activity for her too because she enjoys experimenting with tech as much as he does.
Odd and Ulrich, as mentioned earlier, are in it for the funsies and adrenaline rush more than anything else. Reliving his youth is more important to Odd but it's fun for Ulrich as well who never feels as much part of a family as he's with his best friends and fellow Warriors.
In essence, these kids are addicted to illegal stuff but we don't blame them for it cuz its harmless.
Any fellow Code Lyoko and/or BH6 or Disney fans, feel free to add your ideas and opinions. This was just a fun little thing that came to me and I felt I had to pen down.
Edit: So I ended up writing the fic in case anyone is indeed interested. Please do leave a review or constructive criticism if you like it.
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