Chapter 8: The Plot Thickens

A/N: I know! I know! I've been gone since forever. Please don't hate me! I've been extremely busy! I'm sorry! I'll try to update sooner but seriously I'm soooooo sorry! It's just that I lost all motivation for the story. So now when I was starting my new story Wai Momi, I gained a new motivation and now I am continuing with my story! I'll try to continue to update soon.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, we have to make an unneeded detour since we already know that the Code Lyoko characters do not belong to me. Other than that the only thing that's mine is the plot and our darling friends Simone, Jasmine, Nicky, James, and Alex.

Previously: All over Lyoko in the Desert, Ice, Mountain, and Forest sectors they all had the same reactions: wow. Meanwhile, unknown to all Simone had her own plan. She knew that Jeremy was only going to get in the way so she gave him specific instructions to not alert the others to what she was doing and to give her directions to the core. Little did Jeremy know, he was leading Simone to her demise.

While everyone was busy with the missions on Lyoko, a lone figure just arrived in the core of Lyoko. That person was Simone Johnson. As Simone stepped out of the Transporter Orb, she looked up as she said aloud to Jeremy. "Okay, lead the way. Once I'm there, tell me where the key is."

With that said, the duo followed that course of action. Jeremy led her through the maze into the core of Lyoko where the key was. Once she entered the central room she noticed the layout. This time there were several large blocks sticking up from the ground and along the walls. To the left of her she saw that there were several stairs. At the top of the stairs, there was a door that was open. Also, along the wall there were several ledges. Just like the steps, those ledges also held open doors as well. As she entered the room, from out of the doors crawled out several "tarantulas".

Looking around she heard Jeremy quickly tell her that the key was in the uppermost corner of the room. As she started to run, she unsheathed her swords. Once she began moving, all the tarantulas began an open season, firing at her every step. Luckily with her swords, she was able to deflect most of the blasts and send them back at the tarantulas. There were a few times where she literally had to dive and roll herself back into a running position because she was to late to repel the blast.

As Jeremy sat in the lab he put his hands over his eyes. He was so nervous for Simone. No one ever lasted for long in the core and her part of the mission was essential. She could not be killed on Lyoko. So as he slowly opened his eyes he noticed that she was arriving closer to the key. As he watched the screen through one open eye, he noticed that Simone disappeared for a split second. His eyes widened as he looked around the screen. She could not have lost all her life points because her card was still up and had 80% of her lifeline left. But as quickly as she had disappeared off the screen, she reappeared. But the surprising thing was that there were no more tarantulas around and she had reached the key.

Seeing that, Jeremy asked Simone, "How did you do that?"

Smirking at Jeremy's remark, Simone replied, "I'll explain later for now just lead me to the Celestial Dome so I can access the computer there."

Listening to Simone's command, he directed her to the Elevator. From there she was able to get to the dome area. As she approached the computer she told Jeremy that she would be sending information to him and that he was to delete everything. Using Franz Hopper's keys, she was able to connect her mind to the computer and figure out which things needed to be deleted.

Meanwhile, in the lab, Jeremy continued to receive new programs that popped up on his computer. Some of the programs that showed up had no meaning to him, while others he found were the hardwiring to the monsters on Lyoko, the sectors, and even the core of Lyoko. As he continued to delete the new pop-ups, he quickly checked over to the rest of the group members. Seeing that they were all on their way to the way towers he knew that he could concentrate the majority of his efforts on Simone.

As Simone continued to send the systems files to Jeremy, she heard a buzz in her head. Knowing immediately it was Jeremy, she heard the question, he and most of the younger group members, had probably wanted to know since she, James, and Alex had mentioned the secret between her and Franz Hopper. "Simone, I have a question, how do you know how to do all of this stuff?"

Knowing that she had to give her words extremely carefully so that Jeremy would get what she was implying she answered, "You don't know? Well I suppose you wouldn't. Only 12 people know about Lyoko, myself included and only 4 probably now 8, know that I own Franz Hopper's keys."

As she said those words all she could hear was silence. Meanwhile, Jeremy stared at the computer shocked. He never knew what had happened to Franz Hopper's keys. He had always assumed that they were given to Aelita. He never imagined that someone entirely different would be the holder of them. While Simone continued to work, she asked Jeremy if he was alright and to let her know when the Manta nest burst. Shaking himself out of his shocked state he replied that the nest would break in about a minute.

Counting her time limit, Simone worked for the next 45 seconds as hard as she could. Just as she was finishing Jeremy gave the alert. Smiling to herself Simone thought 'right on time' as she punched in a 2, followed by two 6's, another 2, and finally a 9. As she finished the code the mantas all disintegrated in an instant.

Jeremy looked surprised at the screen. He never knew that there was such a simple way to get rid of the mantas. As he was staring at the screen a box popped up asking if he wanted to delete all memory. He immediately told Simone about the newest pop-up. Sighing to herself, Simone knew that it was finally time.

Simone responded to Jeremy's question with, "Yes you want to do that; but first you'll need the signals from the others. Also, wait for them to leave Lyoko. Meanwhile, I have something to do. By the way, I need you to do two things, first pass on some messages and then send me an Overbike. First, tell Alex not to yell at me. Next, tell Yumi and Jazz that I still want my money from the bet. Also, tell Yumi to stop complaining and to kiss Ulrich already she's giving Jazz and I a headache. Finally, tell James I love him, and that I promise to make it back to him."

Hearing that final goodbye message, Jeremy told Simone, "Okay now you're scaring me. I have a feeling you're going to do something un-Simone-ish."

As the Overbike materialized in front of her she hopped on and said, "I'm about to take on XANA and NAXA for good."

A/N: Dun, dun, duuunnn! Simone's going to take on XANA AND NAXA is she powerful enough to do it? What's going to happen to her? Well find out! I'll try to update again soon. Since I'm writing Wai Momi, I want to update both stories at once. So until next time…

~bookluver321!