Recap:
"Nara, what's this about?" Odd asked, looking at me.
"Odd, the thing is—"
But before I could answer him, I was hit in the back by a laser. I was knocked off balance, and I fell over the side of the ridge.
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This is not how I wanted to go out, I thought to myself as I fell over the edge. Just as I thought that I would never return to Earth, my right arm jerked, and I was no longer falling. I looked up, confused at first, and then I saw the face of my rescuer.
"Need a hand?" Odd asked smiling at me.
"I wouldn't say 'no'," I returned the smile. He pulled hard on my hand and lifted me back onto the ledge. Once I was safely returned to solid ground, I leaned over Odd and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thanks," I said.
He just sat there, bright red showing on his face. I smiled and blushed too, "Maybe we should help the others, Odd," he still just stood there. "Um," I said starting to get uncomfortable. Maybe he doesn't feel the same way, I thought. "Sorry, I--"
Before I could finish, Odd quickly kissed me on the lips, "Don't be," he smiled. I did too.
Scratch that last thought, I smiled to myself.
"Come on," he said, "let's go kick some Flying Manta butt."
An energy ball appeared in my hand, "Ready when you are." As one of the Mantas came at me, I threw the energy ball as hard as I could towards it, "Think fast!" I cried. It hit the mark on the back of the manta and it shattered. I looked over my shoulder to see that Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi had destroyed the other mantas.
"Are you almost done, Aelita?" Ulrich asked.
"Yes. You can take over again, Jeremy," she said as the programs on the screen disappeared.
"Okay. Here are your vehicles," he said as each one appeared in front of its rider. With a thought, my board appeared in front of me. "The Northern Tunnel is open," he said.
Everyone hopped on their rides and we traveled out of the sector.
(F.F. Back on Earth)
I was already with Jeremy when the others stepped out of the elevator. Jeremy was muttering to himself while typing furiously at the keyboard. After a long while of fiddling with my hair, he finally seemed finished.
"One more code and…THAT'S IT! I've finally found the anti-virus!" he shouted. Oww…ears, I whined to myself, seeing as I was standing only a foot away from him.
"That's great, Jeremy!" Aelita said, running over to him and hugging him.
"Aelita, get to the scanner room, and we'll get the anti-virus into you," he said to her, a large smile still beaming on his face.
(F.F. few minutes later)
"I'm ready, Jeremy," Aelita said from the scanner room.
"Okay. You can step into the scanner now, Aelita," Jeremy told her.
Once Aelita was in the scanner, Jeremy started typing at the keyboard again. Before hitting the key that would start the process, he hesitated for a short moment, but then he jammed his index finger into it as hard as he could.
We all waited in silence as we waited for the process to be completed. The suspense is killing me, I thought sarcastically to myself.
"Okay, it's done. Aelita, can you hear me?" Jeremy asked.
"Loud and clear," she answered. I smiled, knowing that this must be great for them to hear, but in the back of my mind, something made me think this wasn't for the best.
We all climbed into the elevator and headed down to the level where the supercomputer was, picking up Aelita on the way.
When we stepped into the room, I couldn't suppress the shiver that went up my spine, luckily no one noticed. The supercomputer slowly began to rise from the floor, and this time my shiver didn't go unnoticed. Odd protectively put his arm around my shoulders, and I was suddenly very glad that I had such a good friend.
Once the supercomputer had completely risen from the floor, Jeremy started to walk over to it. "X.A.N.A., you gave us a lot of grief, but thanks to you, we met Aelita and Nara. From now on, you won't be bothering us, or anyone else, ever again. Goodbye, X.A.N.A.," Jeremy's hand went to touch the handle, and then he grasped it.
His last words rang through my mind, as if they were trying to give me one last warning. Goodbye, X.A.N.A.…goodbye, X.A.N.A.…goodbye, X.A.N.A.…
He was about to pull it down when it finally occurred to me what was happening.
"Stop!" I yelled.
I ran over to Jeremy and pulled his hand away, "You can't do this! We can't destroy Lyoko! Not now! Not yet!" I half sobbed.
"What's wrong, Nara?" Jeremy asked, bewildered. "Don't you want to get rid of X.A.N.A.?"
"Yes, I do, but…" my voice trailed off. I might as well tell them, I sighed to myself.
Odd came over to me and pulled me into a hug, "What's wrong, Nara? You can tell us." I pulled away from him.
"Odd, I tried to tell you this earlier, but this is as good a time as ever. This is how it happened…
---Flashback, 4 years ago---
"Hey, Nara!"
"Hi, Sam," I smiled at my twin.
"Let's go find Tim so we can go to Lyoko," she said pulling on my arm.
"Okay, okay. I think he's already at the factory. He said he was working on a new project," I said.
"Speaking of his projects, look what I found addressed to us in our room from a certain inventor we both know," she took out two pairs of sneakers.
"They're just sneakers," I pointed out, confused.
"They are now, but look," she put on one pair and touched the sides of them. Suddenly, wheels popped out of the soles of them.
"That's awesome! Tim makes the best stuff," I said, taking my pair from her and putting them on. "Let's go."
(F.F. at factory, 1st floor down [where Jeremy is usually)
"Okay, I only have one wristband finished right now, so who wants it?" Tim asked, holding his newly made blue and white wristband in his hand. Sam and I both raised our hands at the same time.
"Rock, paper, scissors, sudden death," Sam proposed, turning to me.
"Fine," I answered.
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
I had paper and she had rock.
"Ha! I win!" I said taking the wristband from Tim. "So, what does it do?"
"Just touch it with your hand, think where in Lyoko you want to go, and you'll be transported there," he answered. "Also, I discovered a new sector. On the display, it kinda looks like a sphere."
"Okay, so how do we get there?" Sam asked.
"I found a code for a transporter that we can get on from the Forest Region," he said heading to the elevator. "Nara, why don't you try out the wristband? Wait for us at the end of the sector."
"Okay," I answered as the elevator doors closed.
I touched the wristband and closed my eyes. I want to go to the end of the Forest Region, I thought. When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the factory, but I was in the Forest Region of Lyoko. Not only that, but I was at the end of the sector, a few steps away from the digital sea.
"Wow, that's accurate," I said aloud to myself. A few minutes passed, and then I saw Tim and Samantha approaching me.
"So, did it work?" Tim asked once he was close enough to yell.
"Yeah, I didn't have to walk one step," I answered.
"The transporter should be here about…" he paused shortly, and in that pause, a white orb with X.A.N.A.'s mark on it appeared, "now."
We stepped into it, and in no time we were in the new sector.
"Is it just me, or is everything spinning?" Sam asked as she looked around.
"Everything is spinning," I stated plainly. Soon, the spinning stopped, and the wall gradually opened until it formed a passage.
We ran to the end of the passage to find a vast, open room. Once we were all inside, walls slowly started to form around us. All too soon, they were too high to climb.
"It's a maze," Tim noted.
"Well, let's solve it," Sam yelled while running ahead. Tim ran to catch up with her, and I slowly brought up the rear. When I turned the corner, I saw Tim and Sam standing halfway up the corridor, and two figures coming up behind them.
"Tim! Sam! Behind you!" I screamed, but it was too late. Two squid-like creatures each grabbed my brother and sister. I noticed a third coming from behind me, but I severed its tentacles with a few energy blasts.
I started to run towards Tim and Sam, but suddenly, the existing walls shrank into the floor, and new walls began to rise. One of the walls came up between my siblings and me. I frantically tried to search for another way to get to them, but before I could go too far, I was hit by a couple of lasers and was de-virtualized.
Once I was back on Earth, I rushed to the computer screen. I saw that Tim and Samantha still had their life-points, but I couldn't locate them. They weren't in the new sector; they weren't in any of the sectors in Lyoko for that matter.
I returned to the sector many times, but each time I returned as a failure.
"Where are you bro? Where are you sis?" I cried.
---End Flashback---
"I guess it just took me a while to realize that shutting down X.A.N.A. would mean losing them forever," I leaned against Odd's chest for support and he put his arms around me.
"Wow, Nara, we didn't know," Yumi said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"I didn't expect you to," I replied weakly. "This is the first time I've told anyone about my past."
"Well, you can count on us," Ulrich said, coming to join what had turned into a hug fest.
"Count on you for what?" I asked puzzled.
"We're going to help you," Jeremy said while joining us.
"With?" I wanted them to continue.
"Finding your brother and sister," Aelita clarified for me.
"You don't have to get into this," I told them.
"Yes, we do. You're our friend, Nara. What are friends for?" Odd asked with a smile.
I returned his smile, "This."
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