In the dimension, Timmy Turner had finally arrived and the first person he saw was Amie. She saw him and immediately hugged him. Timmy returned it as she started to cry on his shoulder. Timmy felt the tears on his neck as he softly smiled. He thought that he was gonna be the first one to cry. They broke from there hug. They were worried about Luigi but they had other business to attend to.
Timmy stated, "Am, you don't have to do this."
Amie pulled away from Timmy and replied, "I have to, its destiny. That's why I was able to do the spell with you guys two years ago. Somehow, we're connected by our souls."
"Wait, what," Timmy asked, surprised.
Amie looked confused now as she asked, "Didn't Clockwork tell you that?"
"No, I figured out that we were connected but not by our souls," Timmy answered, completely freaked out.
Amie looked into those blue eyes of his. She stated, her voice barely a whisper, "We are, Timmy. We are."
Timmy was in shock. He and Amie…connected by their souls…? He stammered, "A-Am, this is all impossible, isn't it?"
Amie shrugged as she stated, "I don't really know what to tell you, sport. If Clockwork didn't tell you, there either must be more to this or something is going to happen soon."
At that moment, Ricky came into a safe dimension. Timmy saw her dad and hid under the bed.
Amie laughed at this and stated, "Timmy, relax. Dad knows."
Timmy peeked out of his hiding place.
Ricky turned to his daughter and asked, "What's Timmy doing here anyhow?"
Timmy got out from underneath the bed and answered, "Well, I came here because your daughter and I have a bit of a problem called Nibiru."
"Nibiru," Ricky repeated, "I thought this has something to do with Michael."
"It does, the villains are probably using Nibiru as a cover to take over the world," Amie explained.
Timmy added, "And that's why they framed the crew. We have to get a move on before he recruits the Deceptions or the Saiyans."
Amie shook her head and commented, "Sport, I think that this is just gonna be a magical battle and they won't get involved with something that gives them no energy and they can't control."
Timmy nodded in agreement as Ricky was really proud of his daughter. He was rather impressed about his daughter's leadership.
Amie stated, "Now, before we head to the cartoon world, I wanna check on Vox and then I want you to see the new Kids Network Studios."
"Sure," Timmy replied.
With that, the two of them headed out as a flash hit Ricky like a ton of bricks...
Ricky gasped in horror.
"Dad? What is it?" Amie asked.
Ricky answered, "Amie, does the name Madelyn Whyte ring any bells with you?"
"No why," Amie questioned.
That's when Ricky grimaced.
Timmy perked up at this and asked, "Mr. Kuhn, what is it?"
Ricky looked at Timmy and answered, "Timmy, someone else might've been our Chosen One."
Amie groaned as she asked Timmy, "Timmy, does anything my dad saw have anything to do with the cross times?"
"I'm afraid so, Am," Timmy answered, as he nodded.
Ricky perked up at this and asked, "What are cross times exactly anyhow?"
Timmy explained, "Well, they are all possibilities. A different way things could've turned out differently. Like if I found the Omnitrix instead of Ben."
That's when a flash hit Amie. She gasped, that didn't happen! Amie gasped as she grabbed her heart and fainted in much shock.
"Am," Timmy asked, worried.
"Dolly," Ricky asked, also worried.
Timmy went over to his sister and his soul connection, leaning over her.
"Amie," he asked, swiping the hair out of her face.
"Amie," Ricky also called, bit more worried than Timmy. That's when he saw that Amie was out cold.
...
A few hours later, Amie opened her eyes and she saw Tim holding her, looking worried.
"Tim," she whispered, her heart beating fast from just seeing him.
"Sh sh sh," Tim stated, ever so softly, "It's okay, I'm here."
"What happened," she asked, a bit out of it still.
"You passed out according to your dad," Tim answered, holding her close. Amie's blush grew more as he asked, "Wanna tell me what you saw?"
Amie nodded and told him everything.
…
On the island, Cortex was alone with his niece, Nina. Both of them were reflecting on years past. Cortex looked at his Goth niece and smiled. Nina did the same when she looked her ex-evil uncle.
Nina asked him, "What are you thinking about Uncle Neo?"
"Mostly about the years past," Cortex answered, truthfully, "I only wish that I didn't listen to my grandfather back then. Perhaps we won't be in the mess we are in now."
"You don't know that," Nina pointed out.
That's when a flash hit her.
…
-Flashback: 'Cortex Chaos'-
Uka-Uka was enraged. Stephen was Cortex...the always failing Dr. Neo Periwinkle Cortex. Uka-Uka had no idea that the ex-evil scientist was still alive, let alone had magical powers that only he could control. It was totally unbelievable.
Uka-Uka boomed, "I want Cortex here by tomorrow morning or else!"
Nina was lagging behind everyone else, her mind on her family. Her father was dead (yes, she still wasn't over that), her mother was still alive, and she had no idea where her uncle was.
'Uncle Neo,' Nina thought, sadly. She practically had to flinch when she thought of his name. She couldn't believe it... Granted, her and her uncle didn't have the best relationship in the world but he was the only father figure in her life. She never wanted to be evil. When she was around five years of age, she saw that her uncle had captured two bandicoots: the future saviors of N. Sanity Isle: Crash and Coco.
She showed kindness to them and because of that, her skin was died blue and her hands were changed into grappling hands. She clenched a fist, still not believing that her own uncle...her own flesh and blood...did that to her. Nina felt like hitting something hard but her heart instantly softened. Even though she was sent to the Academy of Evil, she did meet Gus there, who wanted his freedom just like her. Gus and Nina actually met in detention, right after Nina had returned the Evil Twins incident.
Nina got detention for cutting her classes and Gus got detention for being on time to his classes. Nina was also reflecting on when she was captured by Evil Crash. Her uncle not only called her his "daughter" but he had also offered to take her place in exchange for her freedom. Nina was touched at that. But then her thoughts turned to when N. Gin told her that Cortex was gone. She was in denial at first but when N. Brio and N. Trophy had confirmed it, she started to cry.
She was only 17 years old and she had lost the only family she had. Tears were rolling down Nina's face at that moment when she thought about it. Stephen noticed this and it tore his heart apart. Stephen thought, 'I can't believe that I can be so selfish. This is really tearing Nina apart. If I tell her the truth, it will shock her and she'll probably never speak to me again. But if I don't tell her, she'll be a wreck for a long time.' He questioned himself, 'What should I do?' Just then, a song popped into his head.
I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself
Cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did,
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way
To never let it get that far
As Stephen made a fist, he looked over at Nina, who was still crying. Granted, Nina never made the same mistakes he did but he caused her heart so much misery. 'No,' Stephen thought, 'I couldn't have done that. Could I?'
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid
Stephen observed Nina from afar as he saw that Nina did push a lot of people out of her life except for Gus after Cortex had 'disappeared'. 'Are you really playing it safe because of me,' Stephen thought, sadly.
I lose my way
And it's not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes
I'm forced to fake
A smile, a laugh every day of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with
'No,' Stephen thought, his fist clutched,'Nina's heart was always whole...wasn't it? She always cried in front of me...hasn't she? Was she really faking smiles for my sake?' That's when he started to cry. If he really knew Nina that well, he would know those answers and he wouldn't question all of that.
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid
'Is she really afraid,' Stephen thought, almost at his breaking point. Stephen turned towards Nina and saw that she had sat down on a rock. She was still crying and she did seem VERY afraid. Cortex never saw that kind of fear in her eyes before, Stephen or not.
I watched you die
I heard you cry every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry in the middle of the night
For the same darn thing
Stephen's heart literally skipped a beat.
Stephen went over to Nina as he asked, "Did you really hear your uncle crying at night in his sleep?"
Nina looked up and nodded, sadly. Nina answered, "He should've known better than to lean on me because he never thought of anyone else. He just saw his pain."
Stephen gulped as he noticed that she was quoting the song. He asked, "Do you cry in the middle of the night for the same darn thing?"
Nina looked up at Stephen, as the same song played in her head.
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt
Because of you
I try my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don't know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty
Because of you
I am afraid
Finally, she answered, "Yes."
Because of you
Because of you
-End of Flashback-
…
Nina gasped, as she snapped out of it. Cortex perked up at this and asked, "Nin, what's wrong?" She looked at her uncle and hugged him tightly. Cortex returned it, surprised. "Nina," he asked, stroking her hair, "What's the matter?"
Nina looked up at her uncle and answered, "When I was evil with you, I hated everything. I felt like I couldn't be free to just me. Now I know how you felt, Uncle Neo."
Cortex smiled as he held his niece close, so glad that they finally had understanding.
...
-Song by Kelly Clarkson: 'Because of You'-
...
Wishmaker1028: Chapter 18 is done! Please read and review! And always think outside of the box!