Chapter 10: The Secret
Well guys, I know I promised this back in March, but life got the better of me. I say better late than never, but honestly, you're not here to see me ramble. You're here because you finally want to know what the heck's been going on since I last left you, so I'll skip the formalities and get on with it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. The rights belong to Moonscoop. I also do not own Sia and Rina, they belong to the wonderful D.J. Scales. Taios is also not my property, he is the property of infinitestories. Kayori is not my property either, she belongs to decode9. Caleb is not my property, he belongs to Detroid434. Peter is not my property either. He belongs to Lyokowarrior1994. And last, but not least! Dante is not my character either. He belongs to RoninS636.
I think I got everything… if not, I apologize and will edit this later. What has the world turned into these days? Don't answer that. We'll kick things off in Dante's POV.
Enjoy!
"Right, just got to make sure I don't get caught in a time warp field...could always figure out how to repair the...no, no, shouldn't bother with that old thing. Then again, I could just try and repair the dematerialization circuit. But that would require steady state micro welding." I muttered to myself, flipping switches and checking certain readings. It was then there was a knock at the door as I looked up from my work. "Who is it?"
"It's Naomi! I came to check in on Caleb!" Naomi's voice came through the doors.
"Right, give me a second." I flipped a switch, letting the two large doors that safeguarded the exterior TARDIS doors swing open. "Come in."
The doors then opened, Naomi jogging through the front doors into the control room to look around. "Is it just me, or did you redecorate since the last time I looked inside?" She asked with a hum.
"Yes, you like it?"
"Um… if it didn't feel like I was inside a hospital." Naomi grimaced.
"Oh, you don't mean that?" I said in a mock insulted tone, tapping the console board. "Besides, I've been wanting to give this one a go." I said, reading off another scale on the console. "Then again, it was between this or the wood paneling."
"I think I'll stick with sterile metal." Naomi added after a moment of thought. "Otherwise, didn't you nearly overheat the TARDIS trying to move it a few feet last time?"
"It didn't hurt to try. At the very least, those "high and mighty" Time Lords had the decency to leave me with some info." I flipped one more switch before motioning Naomi to follow me.
"Remind me to watch the Classic episodes then." Naomi muttered as she walked to match his pace. "How's Caleb, by the way?" She then asked.
"He's stable, no real changes. Can't really say anything else aside from that. Besides, the medbay is equipped with sensors that'll let me know if there are any changes." I said with some reassurance.
"It's been nearly a day. I'm worried that if more sectors fall, the worse this gets." Naomi said with worry in her voice. "All I can do is hope he'll wake up soon."
"Hopefully." I spoke as I stroked a finger across my chin. "In the meantime, don't you have to work on some history report? Speaking of school, you got a B minus on your literature report on The Hunchback of Notre Dame."
"Can't say I'm surprised. I know my way around math and music, but literature and writing are my weak spots." Naomi admitted. "Classics are even harder."
"Considering how...wonky certain translations are, plus the structure of older books, it's hard to see the whole thing without looking it up online or studying up on it for years."
"Or if you're like Odd, he wrote his report on whatever movie was adapted from the source." Naomi commented.
"That was his first mistake. Film adaptations of books tend to differ from each other severely."
"Don't I know it?" Naomi asked rhetorically as they stopped in front of the door leading to the med bay.
The door opened as we stepped inside to find Caleb fast asleep, hooked up to an IV, with a monitor nearby checking his vitals. Naomi smiled as she sat down next to him and held his hand. "Hey, sweetie. I know you'll be awake soon, but I just wanted to stop by and say hi." Naomi smiled warmly before kissing his forehead. "I love you. And I'll see you when you wake up." She added before getting up, and grabbing her messenger bag.
We walked back to the console room and walked out the TARDIS door, locking the door behind me before we could go on our way toward the boarding school. We barely got through the sewers when Naomi's watch began beeping, the pinkette skidding to a halt to check. "Oh, give me a break, XANA." Naomi scowled.
"What sector this time?" I asked, feeling my friends' mutual annoyance.
"Looks like the Ice Sector. I'll get the computer warmed up for Jeremy and the others. Sia and Rina should be on their way. It's far too early for this." Naomi groaned as she skated back toward the factory.
Naomi's POV
Once Odd, Sia, Rina, Taios and Ulrich got to the factory, we had to wait on Jeremy and Aelita. Normally, we didn't have to wait for her to get into Lyoko, but normally we had Caleb on standby. And since he's currently out of commission, we had to wait for her to finish up in history class before we could go to Lyoko. Though I definitely wasn't expecting them to show up with William!
"Okay, what's with the stowaway?" I asked, pointing at William.
"Took the words out of my mouth. Why are you hear, Mr. Dunbar?" Dante asked, examining the younger man before him.
"I guess he must've followed you guys." Jeremy answered, looking at all of us.
"Couldn't have been us. Dante and I were in the sewers when I got the alert." I defended.
"Sia and I were finishing some family business when you called. No way it was us either." Rina defended.
"So that leaves…" I began, glaring at Odd, Taios and Ulrich.
"Hey! What are you looking at us for?! Taios was with us too!" Odd protested.
"That won't save you, cause you're only digging your own grave at this point, Odd." Taios said with amusement as he crossed his arms.
"Not to interrupt your interesting conversation, but this place looks so cool! What do you guys do in here?" William asked excitedly.
"Why don't I clobber him?" Ulrich asked, punching his hand into his open palm.
"Yeah, try it, if you think you're good enough." William goaded as he crossed his arms.
"While I'd be able to do such, but I think we could put you to much better use." Dante said, stepping forward. "We're one woman short, so we need you to get Yumi for us."
"Come on, you think he knows why Yumi's not picking up her cell?!" Ulrich demanded angrily.
"As a matter of fact, I do." William smirked.
"Well, once he gets Yumi, Einstein can just launch a Return to the Past, and problem solved, easy peasy." Sia said with a smile.
"I wouldn't bet on that. I remember everything, and I'm great at holding a grudge." William said defiantly.
"Can we please kick him out and get to Lyoko already? He's giving me a headache." I grunted as I massaged my temples. Ping
"William, just go get her." Dante pointed at the elevator. "Everyone else, scanner room, now."
"Um, about that… do you mind sticking around in reality?" I asked Dante. "It's just, Caleb's gonna wake up soon, and I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing he has someone bringing him up to speed."
Dante looked like he wanted to argue at first, but conceded. "Fine. But first sign of anything going FUBAR, I'm hopping in the scanner."
"That's good enough for me." I smiled, going to the elevator to wait since William had taken it back up to the main level.
"I hope he's not gonna rat on us to the principal." Ulrich grimaced once the elevator began descending.
"That's not his style. And besides, this is an emergency, Ulrich. We need Yumi. We don't know what kind of dirty tricks XANA's preparing." Odd pointed out.
"Odd's right. Besides, just because we haven't heard any crazy news stories doesn't mean we're going to like what he's got planned." Sia pointed out.
Once the elevator arrived, we took it down to the scanner room, the scanners all open and ready for us to use. Sia, Rina, and Aelita stepped inside first, and once they did, the scanner doors closed.
"Transfer, Sia. Transfer, Rina. Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Sia. Transfer, Rina. Transfer, Aelita. Virtualization!" Jeremy called in over the intercoms, just before the scanners opened up once more and I stepped inside one of the scanners with Ulrich and Odd. "Transfer, Naomi. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Naomi. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. Virtualization!"
The normal flash of light blinded me as my atoms were deconstructed and digitized into the virtual world of Lyoko, all reforming into my virtual avatar in the Ice Sector before finally touching down. Taios quickly joined us a moment later, giving me the time to switch into my Avatar transformation.
"Here come your vehicles." Jeremy informed us moments before the Overboard, Overbike, Overglider, Override and the Overwind materialized in front of us and glided down to the ground. "The activated tower is in the northern edge of the sector. From where you are, you should be able to see its halo." Jeremy added.
We jumped onto our vehicles, Sia and Rina sharing the Override, Taios claiming the Overwind, Aelita sharing the Overboard with Odd, Ulrich on his Overbike, and with me on my trusty Overglider.
"Hey, how come you're always right, huh Einstein?" Odd asked rhetorically with the tower in sight.
"Joke later. We have no idea what XANA's up to. The sooner that tower's taken care of, the better." Rina said seriously.
"She's right, Odd." Ulrich nodded.
"Alright, Einstein, we're on our way!" Taios exclaimed as we raced for the tower.
The drive toward the tower was peaceful, in a sense, but we all knew XANA wouldn't let us simply deactivate the tower. Going to Lyoko is risky enough with XANA destroying the sectors using Aelita, but the damage XANA could do is considerably worse if we all just sit by and let him do what he wants.
"Watch it. There are Kankrelats just behind you." Jeremy warned us.
"Is that it? I thought XANA was making it too easy." Taios smirked in amusement.
Too easy?! I think there's like one, two, three… uh… a lot of them!
"Want to take care of them?" I asked with a smile of my own.
"Thought you'd never ask." Taios grinned as he pulled up, flying over the Kankrelats just as Aelita destroyed one with an energy field.
"Do you know how many of them there are?" Aelita asked.
"Um… a big gang of them." Jeremy replied.
"Thanks. Nothing like precision!" Aelita said with a smile while Taios attacked the Kankrelats from behind using the Overwind's weapon systems.
"Why bother?" I asked, revving the Overglider to speed up before turning it around, letting it glide backward as I briefly let go to control the ice of the Ice Sector, creating spikes of ice to impale the Kankrelets before continuing to drive toward the tower.
While that managed to get rid of a big chunk of them, a few of the actually intelligent ones managed to avoid the fate of their comrades. I think I even saw two of them latch onto the Overbike before Ulrich smashed one against a wall of ice before it finally let go and it was destroyed in a burst of red pixels and monster parts while the other got the same treatment. Whatever's going on in reality, it better be worth the Return to the Past!
"Hey, is it just me, or did the Kankrelats multiply?" Taios asked as he pulled up next to me.
I took a glance over my shoulder, and my eyes widened in surprise! Oh, yikes! He's right!
"Aelita, climb aboard!" Ulrich called out.
She jumped over to sit at the back of the Overbike, now able to focus on eliminating the Kankrelats without having to fear about losing her balance and falling off the Overboard, with Rina using her Dark Magic Attacks on the Kankrelats before we finally made it into the clear. At least until the next wave shows up. At least, that's what I thought until Aelita jumped back onto the Overboard.
"You're closing in on it!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"Great! Tell that to the Kankrelats. They'll be overjoyed!" Odd exclaimed with some sarcasm in his voice as the third wave of monsters inched closer and closer.
"Guys, we'll go separate ways. Meet up on the other side." Ulrich suggested, pointing ahead.
"Great idea. Taios, take the tunnels with Odd. My Overglider's too bulky to fit inside anyway." I suggested.
"You got it." Taios nodded in agreement.
"We'll stick with you two then." Sia suggested with a nod.
"Got it." Odd said as we all went our separate ways as Ulrich, Sia, and I drove toward the tower using the ice bridge and Rina held on.
Using a combination of our attacks, the weapon systems on the Override and Overglider, and Ulrich's sword, the Kankrelats were as good as history, aside from the three Taios, Odd, and Aelita had to deal with. Just as we made it to the other side and within running distance of the tower, Ulrich jumped up from his bike to deal with two more Kankrelats while Odd and Taios had shot two out of the sky.
"Are you three okay?" Ulrich asked Odd, Taios, and Aelita.
"Sure, no problem." Odd answered casually.
Dante's POV
BEEP BEEP
I stirred awake as the book I was reading before nodding off fell off my face. I checked the console and screen to see what tripped the area sensors. Then again, I didn't know I had them turned on to begin with. Should do that more often. Otherwise, it seems the TARDIS was picking up what seemed to be primed explosives.
"Wait, what?" I doubletaked, checking to make sure I read the readings right.
Apparently, these devices were primed and were capable of doing structural damage. Not to mention they were strewn about the upper levels of the factory. The sensors showed the explosives were placed at points that strategically could bring down the entire factory if the explosives were powerful enough.
"Ugh… what's that sound?" Caleb asked groggily as he walked into the control room.
"Good, you're awake. And that sound happened to be the TARDIS picking up the signals of primes explosives."
"WHAT?!" Caleb asked in surprise. "Then what am I doing standing here?!" He demanded, about to rush out the doors if it wasn't for me grabbing his shoulder to stop him from doing something drastic.
"Don't go rushing out there. Whoever set those explosives more than likely has a remote trigger, so don't go blundering in head first."
"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Caleb demanded.
"For the moment, nothing. Until the primer is dealt with, we can't do anything."
"And what if he decides that now that he's done, Jeremy and the others who've been devirtualized are open season?!"
"They can deal with whoever XANA has used to plant those bombs." I said, my voice remaining steady and serious.
"I can't just sit here while Naomi and Aelita are in trouble!" Caleb snapped. "If someone you loved was in trouble… if your sister was in danger… would you sit and do nothing?!" He demanded passionately.
"Of course not!" I yelled, before letting out a sigh. "It's just that sometimes there's nothing one can do. We go out there, we'll tip XANA's hand and we all go up. We stay in here and wait for the right moment, then we'll be able to help."
Caleb sighed as he sat down, digging into his pockets to pull out his cell phone to call Jeremy. "Jeremy, hey, it's me. Yeah, I woke up a little while ago." He explained to the genius of the group. "Wait, what?! Yumi's stuck on the bridge fighting with William against someone possessed by XANA?!" He exclaimed in surprise. "Uh-huh. Okay. I'll give her a hand." He added once he hung up the phone.
My expression turned hard as I stared at the console before flipping a switch letting the two large safeguarded doors swing open. "Let's go." I said before heading out, Caleb following behind.
Naomi's POV
The drive to the tower was quiet, no more Kankrelats, finally, but we had two Bloks guarding the tower, the only obstacle to stop us from stopping XANA's attack. We pulled up to a stop a fair distance away from the Bloks.
"Go on, I'll take care of them." Ulrich announced, but quickly got devirtualized by the Blok's ring of fire attack.
"He was saying?" I asked rhetorically as I flew out of the Blok's firing range.
"Hey, blame the Bloks for their hit and run tactics." Taios pointed out, barely dodging the next attack in time.
"Guys, you gotta get the job done, now." Jeremy reminded us.
"No kidding, we do? I thought we'd do it after tea time." Odd joked as he flew through the rings of fire.
"Not the time for jokes!" I exclaimed, pressing my fists together to block off the two Bloks with walls of ice so Odd could safely drop off Aelita.
"Jeremy, Aelita's in the tower now. We're finishing up here!" Sia exclaimed as she raced in, using her speed to dodge fire rings while Odd tricked the other Blok into freezing its friend.
I waited for Odd to fire a laser arrow to destroy the Blok that was left unfrozen, but in the process, Odd was devirtualized. Knowing the other Blok wouldn't be unfreezing itself anytime soon, I manipulated the ice in my Avatar transformation to destroy the Blok. Now here's hoping we made it in time.
Dante's POV
Caleb and I climbed up to the ropes to get to the bridge… though seriously, there had to be an easier way than climbing the ropes in an emergency. Grappling equipment could easily solve this dilemma without the rope burn. We managed to climb up, in time to see Yumi hanging off the bridge with William hanging on for dear life.
"Yumi!" Caleb called out, getting the possessed foreman's attention.
I charged forward, football tackling the possessed demoman to the side before reaching down to help the two up. I looked over when I felt the man's shadow over me, but before he could attack, he let out some kind of distorted scream, falling backward as if shoved by an unseen force, and was rendered unconscious. With that out of the way, I helped Yumi and William back onto solid ground, Yumi walking over to her phone as it rang.
"Jeremy, nice going. You guys did it just in time." Yumi answered.
"Everything good on your side?" Jeremy asked, his voice barely audible over the speaker.
"We're good. But it was a close call. Good thing Caleb and Dante were here." Yumi said with relief.
"Hey, what happened just now?" William asked in confusion.
"We'd tell you, but honestly it'd be a waste of our breath explaining when you're going to forget anyway, so…" Caleb hummed.
"There's still the matter of the explosives left." I pointed out.
"Wait, explosives?!" Yumi asked in shock.
"That explains the logo. This guy works for Explobat." William said calmly.
"Explobat?" Yumi asked in confusion.
"If I'm not mistaken, this guy's with a company that specializes in building demolition. I'll bet he came here fully equipped to blow your factory sky high. Ba-boom." William added.
"Did you hear what William just said?" Yumi asked in shock.
"Yeah, but relax, Yumi. I'll launch the Return to the Past, and the explosives will disappear along with William's memory." Jeremy reassured her. "Oh, no! The Scyphozoas!" Jeremy exclaimed in surprise.
I silently cursed. "Tell Jeremy I'm on my way to the scanner room, you guys handle disarming the bombs." I broke out into a run towards the elevator.
"Hey! Wait up!" Caleb called out.
"I'm coming too!" Yumi exclaimed. "William, make sure you can disable the bomb!" Yumi called back.
Waiting for the elevator was a drag, but when it returned, Taios, Ulrich, Sia, Rina, and Odd were all inside. Guess that explains why Aelita and Naomi got captured.
"Good luck guys." Ulrich said as Yumi pressed the button.
"You too, guys. Find that dumb bomb so our factory doesn't go up in smoke." Yumi said with a grim determined voice.
Once the elevator went down, we were spat out into the scanner room, with Yumi, Caleb, and I claiming a scanner.
"Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Caleb. Transfer, Dante. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Caleb. Scanner, Dante. VIRTUALIZATION!" Jeremy called out.
That wasn't something I was going to get used to. The feeling of my atoms scattering and reforming into a virtual world. Then again, it's the cousin equivalent of being on a transporter or demat platform. But as we landed, we watched the two overgrown jellyfish release Aelita and Naomi.
"It's okay, Jeremy. The Scyphozoas have just released Naomi and Aelita." Yumi informed Jeremy.
"But they're headed for the Way Tower. If they make it, I'll be in another coma!" Caleb grimaced.
"That's what you're worried about?" Yumi asked with a look.
"Focus guys! Jeremy, get the vehicles going, I'll head them off." I pulled a baton from the back of my waist and held it forward as the light cycle formed around me, gunning the throttle as I went to intercept the girls.
The only problem with that plan quickly showed up. A goddamn Megatank. It kept firing lasers at us when we tried to get close, and when we tried to attack, it closed its goddamn shell! It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that it was following Naomi and Aelita, who followed them into an icy labyrinth!
"Guys, you have to get past that Megatank!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"What do you think we're doing?!" Caleb demanded. "They're almost to the Way Tower. If we don't stop them here, we're one Sector closer to XANA winning!"
"I got an idea. I'll draw its fire. You two use the walls to get to Aelita and Naomi!" Yumi called out.
"Got it!" I floored the cycle as we separated away from the ball of death.
Using the walls, we managed to drive around it, quickly catching up to Naomi and Aelita, the two of them using Naomi's Overglider to make it to the tower.
"Sorry guys." Caleb apologized, unsheathing his sword and threw it at them, lodging itself into Naomi's Overglider as it exploded and threw them both off.
I stood up as the cycle deformed and flicking the baton, I equipped a lightsword and my identity disc off my back. Naomi growled, then extended her hand, and I immediately recognized she was attempting to Bloodbend. Which was a little impressive considering this was a virtual world. I threw the disc, as she dodged it, distracting her as I charged with sword in hand. She quickly dodged, and attempted to blow me back using Firebending, but I managed to slice through the flames using my Light Sword. I grabbed the Identity Disc as it returned to me, hurling it at Naomi as it devirtualized Naomi. Now that she was out of the way, I turned to Aelita, and saw her throwing her energy fields at Caleb, whom was dodging the best he could, with his sword absorbing a couple of her attacks. I joined the fray, slicing through her energy fields and throwing my disc at her. My disc only nicked her shoulder, but it wasn't enough to devirtualize her. Just as she charged up two more Energy Fields, a pair of fans arced between me and Caleb, slicing through Aelita and devirtualizing her. I looked back to see Yumi, her hands outstretched as her fans returned to her. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. We saved the factory, for sure now.
"Oh, come on! Please? I swear I won't tell anyone!" William promised once we were all revirtualized and gathered in the Supercomputer room.
"He really does deserve to be one of us. And besides, we could use another soldier." Odd pointed out.
"And he's already proven how much he can help." Aelita pointed out.
"Well then, let's vote. If everybody votes yes, then William can officially become a member of our club." Jeremy proposed.
Papers and pencils were passed out, everyone writing down their decision. When Jeremy got to the last three slips, he held them in his hands.
"Too bad, William. There are three 'no's'." Jeremy informed him.
"You're the big losers. I was kind of expecting this might happen. Some guys just can't handle being jealous." William sulked as he entered the elevator and pressed the button to go up.
"Well, then, what do you suppose we should do now?" Ulrich felt the need to ask.
"What do you think? A Return to the Past." Jeremy said, inputting the program into the computer as we were all surrounded by the white time bubble that brought us back twenty-four hours.
Naomi's POV
I sighed as I put my pen to paper, looking at the blank sheet of my diary before I finally figured out what to write.
'Dear Diary,
Sorry for not writing so long. XANA has been attacking much more frequently now and it's made it difficult to put my thoughts to paper. We stopped him from destroying the Ice Sector, but it's only a matter of time until all that's between him and true freedom is Sector 5 itself. And I know how he'll do it. It's why I voted against inducting William as a Lyoko Warrior. I know his fate. I know what will happen. All I can do at this point is stop him from receiving that fate.
Naomi'
As I put my diary away, I heard the door unlock, and I turned to see Kayori walking in.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked her.
"Um… there's something I need to show you." She admitted to me.
"Okay?" I asked in confusion as she produced her diary from her bag.
"You know I know about XANA, but there's more to that." Kayori sighed.
"Kayori, if this is about you and Peter belonging to a different timeline-" I began to say.
"That's part of it. This should fill in the blanks, and maybe explain why I've acted weirdly around you. But I need you to promise me something. Promise me you won't tell the others. Can you do that?" Kayori asked me.
"Um… sure." I blinked in surprise, wondering just what exactly Kayori wanted to show me as she handed me her journal.
I opened the journal and started reading. It looks like everything was similar to what happened so far… except when Aelita died. And Taios… he was a program in her timeline? I couldn't help but cover my mouth with my hand as my eyes watered with tears. Once I finished, I looked up at her, and watched as she shifted nervously on her feet.
"Kayori… I know nothing I say can change what happened, and nothing I can do can make things right… but if there's anything, anything at all… let me know. I'm here for you." I smiled.
"Thanks. Honestly, I never thought I'd hear that from you. But it's nice… knowing that you have my back." Kayori smiled.
"Hey, as long as you're not a jerk to me, I'll always have my friend's backs." I chuckled.
"In that case, I think we need a do-over." Kayori smiled as I lifted my eyebrow in confusion. "Hi, my name's Kayori. I'm new here. Could you show me around?" She asked as she extended her hand.
I chuckled as I shook her hand, nodding in response. This doesn't change what happened in her time. This doesn't change what she went through was horrible. But… I hope this time ends up differently than what happened in her time.
And done! I know this is months overdue, and I apologize profusely for it, but here it is! Please don't forget to review and share!
Now, before I sign off, I'm going to do something a little different. As some of you know, I've been in college these past few years, and because of it, my updates have been few and sporadic. You also knew that I was in a relationship with Detroid434. Just recently, he and I broke up, and while the distance between us was a factor, today, I realized there was another reason to our breakup. I realized our relationship was abusive. Now, when you think of an abusive relationship, you'd look for physical proof, maybe some scratches, maybe bruises, but some people don't realize that some abusive relationships don't leave scars. I felt like I had to look over my shoulder even though we were miles apart, and that should have been a red flag. But I was more focused on being a good girlfriend that I didn't realize I was in this kind of relationship. It's not okay to feel like you're being backed into a corner. It's not okay to feel helpless around someone who should share your heart. It's not okay to feel like you should be pressured into giving up your life to please your significant other. If you or someone you know is in a relationship, and you feel like there is something wrong, do not feel afraid to speak up. There are people in your life who do care about you, even if you feel scared to say something. You are not alone.