I wrote this chapter extra long. Usually I would take up less. I would like some reviews please. I would like to know what you think about my story so far.
Chapter 3: Claw-like Nails
Odd's POV
This was all crazy. Aliens from another planet here on Earth. Coohool, I never thought I would see one this close. And I thought that it would be a sad trip to Lyoko to say good bye. I know it is hard for Aelita but this is amazing. And this planet, Xohan, sounds interesting. Especially the evolution thing in that planet. Does that mean that there are more different people? I won't deny that I threw the bag of chips at Leiah waiting to see snake-like tongues but seeing Korran was enough.
We were on the bridge in front of the factory. The breeze was nice here. Hunter seemed to be happy to see the green again. He even took a deep breath. I wouldn't have because of the stench of the water that was under us. The water may seem clear but it sure didn't smell clean.
Leiah put her hand on her stomach and closed her eyes shut. "Urgh, this is the third one," she mumbled under her breath. She took a deep breath.
"Third what?" Korran asked. He was all over her watching her every move. She seemed to be about to give birth. How could she fit into the scanner? She wasn't that fat but still the scanners aren't that much big.
"Nothing, I'm fine," she responded recovering from the moment.
"Love, you are not fine, I can see that you are in no conditions of being on foot. You are nine months, ready to give birth," he insisted.
"I'm fine, you know me," she replied. She looked at me and I looked away towards the water under us.
Yumi seemed to be staring at her too. Awkward, for some reason that look in Yumi's face brought me to think of how she would look of she were pregnant. Worse, how Ulrich would be with her knowing that she would be carrying his son... Now that I remember they never said if they were a couple or not. They left that hanging on the same thread.
William turned around and said, "I'll head over to school. See you guys later," he walked away and went into the sewers. He didn't seemed convinced of these people from te stars. I kind of realized I felt sorry for him. It was obvious that he was afraid of going back to Xana's command.
"Leiah," I said her name. She looked at me with confusion. "That name is too of a princess on Star Wars. It's a movie I saw," I kind of linked her to the fact she was from some other planet with the movie.
She smiled at me. "Interesting, I was a princess myself on my planet." Korran flinched at her words for some reason. I processed the information pretty fast.
"What?" I nearly gasped.
Yumi and Ulrich both turned their attention with a, "Huh?"
"I was princess of a valley in Xohan. First class, but I was kicked out when I fell pregnant of Korran. Since then I've been living with him, as third class," she explained with a smile. She stroke Korran's cheek.
"Wait, so you are high class?" Yumi asked.
"Was," she corrected. "I never liked the high class anyway. Too many people without emotions." I noticed she had black hair and deep brown eyes. She was a head smaller than Korran. How did she end up with a beast like him?
Aelita and Jeremy arrived with Angelo and Hunter. "Its all worked out," Jeremy said. "I will start making papers of you guys. We can't go on telling everyone you are aliens. And I will do my best to get you on our school."
"Great," Korran said.
"With exception of you Korran," Angelo said. "You seem too old like for the school. Plus the fur won't help and your nails will also give you away."
Korran sighed and nodded. "I understand," he replied obviously hurt. For a second I remembered him saying he was third class. What grade of education did he have?
"I will stay with you then," Leiah said.
"No," Korran shook his head. "Go you. I'm sure you will be safer."
"We will have problems with her, Jeremy," Yumi said. "I doubt the principal will let a pregnant girl into the school and even if she gave birth before she still would have a problem there."
Aelita nodded. "We will have to work that out. She is the only doubt."
Jeremy said, "Angelo and Hunter will be brothers. Both my cousins and Ulrich, Leiah will pass as your cousin. I don't think there will be a problem with that."
"I hope there isn't," Ulrich said. Guess Aelita was my only cousin then. Cool, we got to have aliens on our school.
"Should we shut down Lyoko?" Aelita asked Angelo.
"Better not," he said. "If Lexia attacks then we will need to have a way to fight her. The multi-agent system won't reach this far in the net. Just as Xana."
"But we beat Xana," I assured him. The multi-agent system destroyed all the monsters and every replika.
Angelo shook his head. "With a multi-agent system you cannot delete him. I saw how it worked on that other member of your group. It got to free him completely but if he still was tainted then that means that Xana is still alive. You have to find his birth tower."
"Can you explain this of birth tower?" Yumi demanded. Even I was lost here.
"There is a bug on the return to the past program. This bug is constantly sending more into Lyoko every time a return to the past is launched. When there are many and they concentrate on a tower the corrupted data starts a program. It morphs into a virus and that's where this Xana and Lexia start. But everything starts in a same tower," he explained. "That tower is tainted with bugs. It becomes a magnet and then it attracts all the bugs from the return to the past. That is why the virus gains energy and becomes a form of artificial intelligence. The only way to destroy that virus is to implant the system right into it. In other words, deactivate the tower with the multi-agent sistem." Well at least he explained a bit clearer than Jeremy. "In other words. You only weakened Xana."
"Well why didn't you do it?" Ulrich inquired.
"The tower isn't even on the world," Hunter said. "Well, it was, once, but Lexia moved it to another place on the net when she gained access to the sea."
"Is that possible?" Jeremy asked.
Angelo nodded, "She made a replika and made that the only tower."
"What about the system that ties the tower to the virtual world?" Aelita asked. I knew well about that system. It was the one that let you go from one area to another through the towers.
"She broke it," Korran said. "She activated a few towers and set her tower elsewhere. To our surprise we located that tower on a super computer near ours. The only problam was that we couldn't get ourselves there on our virtual form because there were no more towers on the replika and there was too much radiation outside to go on foot and the gravity was affected when the planet blew up. Half of it is a camp of asteroids. But they all stay close because of the gravity. It's not much but they stay like our planet's moons. It seemed Lexia had it all planned out."
"Urgh," Leiah sighed. "Okay, this isn't normal."
"Where is the hospital?" Korran demanded looking at all of us.
Leiah gasped. "Oh, I, I think it's the baby. I think he's coming," she said. Everyone was surprised by her words. Had the pain been contractions?
"I'll go get help," Aelita said and pulled me along. Jeremy stayed back with the others. "Odd, come up with something. We need help from the nurse at school." The nurse? What was I going to say?
"What?" I asked. "Are you crazy? Do you think she's going to listen to me?"
"It is her or one of the nurses in the hospital," she said as we went down the stairs. "She is the most trustful we know and we can't risk much with Korran there. You now that he doesn't look that much human."
"Well that isn't my problem," I said. I had no idea of what to say to her. What if I blew it all up?
Aelita stopped and turned to me. "Listen, Odd, you do as I say or you will be in big trouble with everyone of us," she snapped. Her finger inches from my nose.
"Okay, okay," I held up my hands in surrender. I took my skateboard and we started down the sewers. We stopped under the exit towards the campus. I was the first one out. I helped Aelita and we covered the entrance. Aelita ran full speed. For being a girl she really out ran me this time.
I caught up with her when we got to the building where the enfermery was. We stormed in not even caring if there was someone else on the office or behind the door. Lucky us the nurse was alone.
She looked up at us with concern, "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"We have a problem," Aelita said through gasps.
The nurse stood up from her seat. "What do you mean?" she asked now worried.
"We found a girl. She's pregnant and about to give birth. We need your help," I beamed.
Her eyes grew wide with surprise. "Well why didn't you call an ambulance?"
"Because we have a mayor problem," I replied not knowing what I would say after. I was actually thinking about Korran. That guy couldn't go out. At least not without gloves and big sneakers. The fur wasn't that much of a problem.
"What is that problem?" she seemed more concerned now.
"No time, please help us," Aelita said saving me from an awkward explination that I did not have.
"Okay, where is this girl?" the nurse asked taking a few things with her on a bag.
"Follow us," Aelita took her arm and practically dragged her out. We ran towards the factory as fast as we could. To my surprise the nurse didn't seem tired at all until we got to the bridge. Ulrich was there. He looked surprised to see the nurse there. We walked the rest of the way.
Nurse's POV
As soon as I entered the factory I spotted the pregnant girl on the floor. How wouldn't I see her if everyone was concentrated on her? I saw two kids that I have never seen before and another person on the shadows that I couldn't make out but he sure was older than the others. I looked at the pregnant girl. She looked my way. You could see the fighting spirit she had on her eyes.
"How many months?" I asked Aelita as I kneed down.
"Nine," she responed from behind me.
I nodded, "I'll call the hospital. Who's the father?"
"I am," the person on the shadows said.
"Miss, I called you because we have a problem. We can't go to the hospital. I don't think you understand but..." Odd trailed off. I identified something hidden that they did not want me to know but they wanted me to help anyway.
I frowned in awareness of something here. "What is that situation? They do not have papers, do they?" I said. They probably came here from another country. I could see it on the clothing of the children. Either they were inmigrants or too poor to pay for the hospital. Where were their parents?
"They do not," Jeremy reassured my statement.
This was going to be difficult. I am medically prepared to guide her through the birth but this place wasn't the most appropiate one. This place was filthy.
"Maybe we could bring her to the school," I offered even if the principal would kick me out after that.
"That would be better," the person on the shadows said and stepped forward. I was he obviously hadn't shaved but his hair didn't seemed like if it hadn't been ever shaved. It was all the same lenght and too thin, blond and the way it was on his face...
He reached for the girl to gently pick her up. That was when I saw those razor sharp claws. I gasped and pulled back my distance. Definitely not human. I looked up at him. He was staring me with his human-like eyes. He looked human but those claw-like nails couldn't be of a human.
"I am not human if that is what you want to know," he said. "Neither is she. But she is more human than I am," he assured.
I took a deep breath. My hand was shaking and my heart was pounding on my chest. What was this beast? How? Were the other kids human or were they not?
My eyes fell on the girl that was on the floor. She was looking at me with fear now. Pleading for mercy with her sight. She looked defenceless. Harmless. I then noticed that they were more human that I saw on them.
"Get me towels, hurry," I ordered. Ulrich, Odd and Jeremy hurried up. I was going to need help. "Aelita, Yumi, I need your help here. Please, if I ask you to do something you do. If you do not then I won't be able to do much."
"We understand," Yumi replied.
"You," I said to the beast. "Your name?"
"Korran," he responded.
I nodded. "Korran. I need you to hold her hand," I said. He held the girl's hand, genlty. I noticed how gentle he was with her as if she were fragile.
"Will she be okay?" the boy dressed in black asked.
I nodded. "If everything goes as I plan. But it will be difficult having her birth here." I looked through my things. Thankfully I had everything I needed. I turned to the strangers and picked up all of my courage to make my question. "Excuse me if I ask, what are you?"
William's POV
I was on my room. I did not trust those beings that said came from another planet. Probably another trick of Xana. I did not want to fall back slave of that damn virus. I was so stupid that first time I went to Lyoko. I should have heard Aelita and maybe Xana would have really been defeated. At least I was free from him now but that didn't mean I could not fall back again.
There were footsteps on the hall and I knew only a few people that ran on the halls. They all belonged to the same friend group. I opened the door and saw Jeremy, Ulrich and Odd running.
"Hey," I called. Odd stopped and looked back at me. "Something wrong?" I leaned against the door frame.
"We need towels," he said obviously in a hurry.
I walked down the hall to a door that I knew was the closet. I opened. "They keep towels on a closet. I always use from here," I said.
He turned to the others. "Hey, there are towels there, lots of them," Odd said. He took a big back. Jeremy took and also Ulrich. I looked into the almost empty closet. I shrugged. Probably they have something important to dry. That big? Or that wet?
I decided I would go towards them but it was lunch time now. I walked down the stairs and out to the campus. As soon as I got to the cafeteria Sissy was over me. "Hey William, where are your friends?" she asked.
"Ulrich is probably with Yumi on a kissing session somewhere in the campus. Jeremy probably with Aelita. Odd, beats me," I replied knowing that I hadn't gotten any of them right but I knew that Sissy was furious by the first one. "Whats wrong Elizabeth? You look feverish."
"Name's Sissy!" she pushed her way pass me.
The cafeteria wasn't that full. I took a tray. The food here was never that good but at least it wasn't as the last school I had been in. That really was gross. I took my tray to an empty table and sat down. Weird, Odd normally was one of the first ones here. Were they on the factory? Why would they need the towels for?
I ate my food slowly. I didn't care what they were doing. I caught a few girls staring at me. They would just look away and blush if I gave them a smirk. If I looked they would start laughing and talking with each other. If I did nothing and pretended I hadn't seen them they would continue to stare. I didn't mind. I knew those eyes anywhere. I always used them to identify great dates.
I dumped my tray when I finished and walked out into the campus. Where to now? I got the feeling something would happen pretty soon. What if there was an attack? What if the others were in danger?
The sewers were quiet when I got there. I took a skateboard that was left and started down the track. This was the fastest way towards the factory but I won't deny that I wish I could make my sprint here like I did on Lyoko. That really was fast.
The end of the rolling came into view. The water was calm here. I went up the ladder and walked down towards the factory. I heard someone scream, "Argh." I ran towards the factory.
"Success," the school's nurse said. Holding a baby wrapped on towels. I noticed the baby had small claw-like nails like Korran. "He came in late," the nurse smiled and passed the child towards his parents.
There was a buzzing sound. Jeremy opened his backpack and took out the laptop. Ulrich and Odd were on the shadows with the other two boys from space.
"There's a tower activated," Jeremy announced.
"Let's go, I said and took a rope. I slided down to the floor. Jeremy was still looking at his laptop.
"This isn't Xana," Jeremy frowned. "There's another code."
Angelo walked towards Jeremy. He took a look at the monitor. "Lexia, lets go."
"I'll stay here with Leiah," Korran said. Angelo nodded.
"No time," Ulrich said and came down. Odd followed and then the others. Aelita came but Yumi stayed with the nurse. We went down to the scanner room. Six for Lyoko. Great, can't wait for a good fight. Last one wasn't fair. Three against one.
We descended.
Clifthanger, sorry, I just thought this chapter was getting a bit too long to I left it there. I will update as soon as I can. Reviews are more than welcome.
PS. I don't know what name to put the baby or if it will be boy or girl. I would like your oppinion. Depending on the votes will be my decision.
