Chapter 8: Cruel Dilemma
Yeah, I know, long time, no update. But, look on the bright side, at least I'm updating my stories, and now, we move on to the disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I just checked, I still do not own Code Lyoko or any of its characters. McKenna belongs to my friend, and Matt belongs to my other friend.
Now Enjoy!
Dear Diary,
I think XANA's eco-hating personality is really beginning to get on my nerves. I woke up in a cold sweat just a couple of minutes ago, and I couldn't get back to sleep, so that's how I'm writing this entry. I know that I decided to stick around and hope for the best, but I still want to go home more than anything. Thing is, I don't know how Matt, McKenna, and I got here to the Code Lyoko world. Good thing I always take my diary with me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to take the notes I take for the day, and write what happened the day before. I'm walking to the Hermitage right now, because the music room's locked, and I need to be somewhere near a piano right now. Maybe if I get in touch with the music in my life, I can actually think how my friends and I got here.
Write more soon!
-Naomi
"I hope that I can have some time to myself to think." I said to myself
I found the piano, and sat down in front of it. Some of the keys were still intact, so I played the song dad first taught me when I was a little girl. Whenever I played this song, it always helped me to feel better, even if dad wasn't around.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are.
Something fell out of the piano and dust found its way to my face. I coughed like crazy, because I had asthma.
"What's this? It's a letter, addressed to me!" I exclaimed
Dear Natalie,
If you are reading this letter, then you have somehow activated the dimension transporter device that I have created, but this also means that you are in grave danger. It is about time you knew the truth. I once worked in the military, working on a secret project called Project: Dimension. I nicknamed the project, Project: Natalie, after you. When I learned that my superiors were going to use this project to take over the world, I knew I had to stop them. I hid the keys in one of the many dimensions, now it's your job to find it. Be warned, the key is able to travel to different dimensions by its own free will. I have also learned that no matter which dimension you are in, when you return to the dimension you came from, your age will return to the age you were when you left. Best of luck, and watch out for any danger that may come your way.
With love, your father
-Kenneth Jones
"Dad, so that's what the 'project' was all this time. If…if I ran away from home to my cousin's place and didn't end up here, is it possible that I could have been kidnapped, and you would have been forced to give the keys to them? That's why you've been fighting with mom for my custody rights; you were trying to protect me." I said
I went back to the school, and McKenna and Matt noticed that I was a little under the weather. During gym class, they decided to talk to me about what's up.
"Hey Naomi, something wrong?" asked McKenna
"Nothing." I said
"Come on, we know you, when something's wrong, we're the first to know." Said Matt
"Here." I said as I gave them the letter to see
"No way." Said McKenna
"I don't believe it." Said Matt
"You mean this crazy machine is why we're here?" asked McKenna
"Yeah, and the bad news, dad created it." I said
"What'cha talkin' about?" asked Odd
"Nothing." Matt, McKenna, and I said in unison
I went back to my thought, thinking about how in the world Matt, McKenna, and I would get back home. If dad created the dimension transporter, then I would have to start thinking like him. He knows I play the piano, so if he thought I would come here one day, then he would have hid that letter inside a piano. Suddenly, my cell phone vibrated.
"A text, Meet in Dorm Room, Good News. J. Guys, we need to head to Jeremy's room." I said
"How come?" asked Matt
"I think he found the key to materialization." I said
In Jeremy's room…
"Yumi, it's now or never, we may not get a second chance. What if there's some kind of bug? I'll never be able to set up the program again!" exclaimed Jeremy
"Listen, you can't just materialize Aelita like that without making a lot of preparations." Said Yumi
"I've boosted the scans, I've got the program going, everything's ready." Said Jeremy
"Yeah, in your head. Hey, come back to Earth Jeremy; try to be practical for once. Aelita has no parents, and she hasn't got a birth certificate! What's more, she's not enrolled in any school. Um, okay, that's no biggie, but all that together means she doesn't exist in our world!" exclaimed Ulrich
"Imagine, Hello, I'm Aelita, I just got here from a virtual reality. That's a one way ticket to the nuthouse." Said Odd
"I got a newsflash Odd, if Jeremy does materialize Aelita today, she could stay in the factory until Jeremy can create all those things you mentioned Ulrich, even a Student ID." I said
"You know Jeremy, it doesn't have to be today, I can wait." Said Aelita
"Well what do we do now?" asked Jeremy
"I can put her up in house, my folks wouldn't mind." Said Yumi
"And you could plug into the city hall computers, and create a phony identity for her! Find her a new name, all the stuff she needs." Said Ulrich
"Then, you just have to enroll her at our school, and try to put her in our class, that'll be really cool, huh?" said Odd
There was a long pause of silence, and then Jeremy made up his mind.
"Okay, we'll get started first thing tomorrow." Said Jeremy
That evening…
"What's all that noise? It sounds like a bulldozer or something. AH! Correction, it IS a bulldozer! Where's that noisemaker? Bingo, wakey, wakey McKenna! It's a XANA attack!" I yelled while using the noisemaker
"What's with all the noise?" asked McKenna sleepily
"XANA's launched an attack; he's possessed the bulldozers Mr. Delmas was talking about earlier." I said
"Oh, that's bad. We need to wake the others." Said McKenna
"Jeremy needs to know now, after that we'll wake up Matt, Ulrich, and Odd." I said
"Let's go then." Said McKenna
We ran downstairs, but we had to tiptoe past Jim's room, otherwise we would get in trouble. Jeremy just walked out of his room to Ulrich and Odd's room, so we headed to Matt's room.
"Wake up! The bulldozers are on the loose! XANA's attacking!" I exclaimed
He was still asleep, say what?
"I'll shake him, you try to wake him up again." Said McKenna
"On three…three!" I exclaimed
McKenna shook him while I yelled in his ear for him to wake up, and boy did it work.
"What's going on?" asked Matt
"XANA's attacking; we need to get to the factory now!" I exclaimed
"Say what? Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" exclaimed Matt
"*Sigh* We tried." I said
"Come on, if I remember correctly, Ulrich and Odd will be trying to drive the bulldozers!" exclaimed McKenna
"Let's get to the factory first!" I exclaimed
At the factory…
"Aelita, don't worry, Odd, Matt, McKenna, and Naomi should be there soon. And, now let's hope Yumi and Ulrich are on their way." Said Jeremy
"Ulrich? He's on the bulldozer, trying to find out what XANA's up to." Said Odd
"Isn't that a bit, okay, a LOT reckless?" I asked
"Ulrich? Do you read me?" asked Jeremy
"Bad news Jeremy, I'm on the riverbank, and I'm afraid XANA's targeting the factory!" exclaimed Ulrich
"That's gotta be it! If XANA manages to destroy our factory, we can say good-bye to our equipment, no more computer meaning no more communicate with Aelita." Said Jeremy
"Don't forget about the scans, without them, no more transfers to Lyoko, and that means total victory for XANA." Said Odd
"Ready the scanners, we're going in!" exclaimed Matt
In the scanner room…
"Normally, we ladies would go first, but this time, you boys can go first." Said McKenna
"Ready? Transfer Odd, transfer Matt. Scanner Odd, scanner Matt. Virtualization. Your turn girls. Transfer McKenna, transfer Naomi. Scanner McKenna, Scanner Naomi. VIRTUALIZATION!" exclaimed Jeremy
"Odd, you're looking stressed." Said Aelita
"No, I'm okay Aelita, it's just that I never know what I'm gonna find whenever I come here." Said Odd
"That goes double for me." I said
"Triple!" exclaimed McKenna
"Quadruple!" exclaimed Matt
"Come with me guys, the activated tower is this way." Said Aelita
"Okay, let's go and check it out." Said Odd
After running for a while, we came to a three-way fork in the road, which way to go? Right.
"That way." Said Aelita
"Talk about interception." Said Odd
"Usually Kankrelats move in groups of five." Said Aelita
"And the welcoming committee is here." I said sarcastically
"And the committee is at full strength." Said Odd
"Hello Roachers, now which one of you wants to be first?" asked Odd
I guess I forgot to mention, we also nicknamed the Kankrelats Roachers.
"Let's see how they like my power." Said Matt as he activated his magnetism
"And I don't think they'll like the side of fans." I said after two of the Kankrelats were stuck together
"Hey, would you cool it, huh Odd? Your mission is to protect Aelita, remember?" asked Jeremy
"You want to trade places Jeremy?" asked Odd
"Odd, you've used up four of your ten arrows!" exclaimed Jeremy
"Here comes three more!" exclaimed Odd
"Let's try some of this!" I exclaimed after I activated my telekinesis, and hit a Roacher head-on
"Jeremy, we're starting to get a little lonely out here!" exclaimed Odd
"Okay guys, Yumi is on her way, as for Ulrich, let's just say he's fast asleep." Said Jeremy
"He is? That must be tough, I mean without his earplugs." Said Odd
"Nice joke Odd!" exclaimed McKenna
"Guys, figure out a way to slow down those Roachers, you way ahead of Yumi!" exclaimed Jeremy
"You mean like this?" asked Matt after he activated his power
"You guys take care of the tower, I'll take care of the Roachers!" exclaimed Odd
"You got it!" I exclaimed
"Jeremy, I just had a Psychic Vision, I saw Yumi fall into the digital void!" exclaimed Odd
And I'll make sure that doesn't happen.
"Uh-oh." Said Matt
"Jeremy?" asked Aelita
"I saw it, Yumi is on her way to help you, give me a visual." Said Jeremy
We all ran around, hoping to draw the Megatank's attention and it work, McKenna was devirtualized, and so was Matt, not good. While the Megatank was charging its final attack, I pushed the Megatank into the Digital Void, but I didn't have enough time to slide my Fairy Gem into place.
"Jeremy! I'm slipping, I can't hold on for much longer!" I exclaimed
"Aelita's inside the tower!" exclaimed Jeremy
"Naomi! Grab my hand!" exclaimed Yumi
"I'm trying!" I exclaimed
It was too late, I began to fall. I didn't know how long I was falling, but when I hit the water, everything went black. I felt like I was floating in mid-air.
"Natalie…Natalie…" called a voice
Who's calling me?
"Natalie." Said a male voice, I knew all too well
"Daddy?" I asked
"Natalie, I'm so glad you're okay." Said my father
"Where am I? Why are you here?" I asked
"Natalie, I don't have much time. Listen carefully, XANA will try everything to get you, he's the one who brought you, McKenna, and your friend Matt here to this world." Said my father
"But why? What does XANA want with us?" I asked
"He is after you because, you do know how Code Lyoko ends, do you?" asked my father
"Of course I know! XANA's destroyed, and everything goes back to normal." I said
"XANA wants to make sure that doesn't happen, that's why he activated the Dimension Transporter device, find the keys, stop XANA, and be careful my little rose." Said my father
"Daddy, wait! Where do I find the dimension keys?" I exclaimed
"Just look in your heart, the answer will be there." Said my father
"Dad! Wait!" I exclaimed
Next thing I knew, I was on the hard-cold floor of the factory.
"What happened?" I asked
"You fell into the Digital Void." Explained Matt
"Oh, I guess that fall did a number to me." I said
"Welcome back to Earth Naomi." Said McKenna
"Glad to be back!" I exclaimed with a smile
I knew that father had managed to contact me, and now I knew that he knew that I was okay, and I'm glad. Sure, I might be homesick, but at least I have my friends by my side!
And we're done people! Please review and the results are in! It's a tie… but I accept all reviews including anonymous! See you soon Lyoko Warriors!
