As I slumbered and slept the night away in my Kadic Academy room, people were going frantic back at home, incapable of finding my recent location in the Dimensional Rift. I could tell, even while I was not in Amaria. But I had to do this. I need some answers, and the Dimensional Protection Unit is not telling me anything at all…
“He’s missing?! How could you have possibly lost him, Nicole?! He’s the Aelitatrix bearer! He’s tracked wherever he goes!”, Zack exclaimed loudly. The computer avatar appeared in front of him, shaking her head in confusion to Zack. “Sorry, Zack. Allen has gotten wiser than what we expected of him. He’s completely blocked off all connections between us and the Aelitatrix. I think something must’ve rattled him during his last trip.”, the lynx replied before vanishing, returning to within the supercomputer. Zack crossed his arms and sighed softly. He knew something was definitely bothering Allen, ever since his encounter with the US President a couple of months ago. Still, the more he tried to figure out what the trouble could be, only more questions arose and there were no answers in sight. What could it be? What could possibly be troubling a guy like Allen? Could the work be getting the best of him? No, that couldn’t be it. But then what could it be? Zack just shook his head as he walked upstairs, putting his full attention on to finding Allen first and asking questions later.
Meanwhile, back at Kadic…
I yawned loudly as I sat up in my bed, sniffling slightly. “That was a great nap. Could’ve done without the dust though. This calls for a bit of spring cleaning! Trixie, I need a feather duster.”, I stated. “One feather duster, coming right up.”, Trixie replied, releasing a feather duster from her confines. I immediately removed it and zipped around the room quickly, dusting the entire room. I sneezed loudly as a small tuft of dust landed on my nose. “Shows I haven’t been here in a while. When was my last time here?”, I asked Trixie. “Timeline shows that it was during the time you were running from the DPU due to that false charge Arufunu caused. That was a year ago here.”, Trixie stated. I frowned softly as I remembered that day: my friends and loved ones doubting me due to Arufunu’s deception. I am quite glad I will never have to deal with such a thing again. I returned the feather duster to Trixie and stated, “I think I will go and take a shower. Hopefully, I won’t run into anyone I know. Not yet, at least.” I walked over to a nearby closet and got some bathing supplies and quickly slipped out of my room and headed to the showers. I sighed softly as I undressed myself and fiddled with the knobs, setting the water to the perfect temperature, immediately stepping underneath the water and allowing it to wash my troubles away. I looked to my right and saw Yami leaning against the wall and said, “You can tell what is on my mind, can’t you?” Yami nodded when I said that. ‘This Living Paradox thing seems to be troubling you. It’s been on your mind ever since you awoke from your coma. Why does it trouble you so, Allen?’, he asked.
I shook my head as I continued to wash myself and said, “I don’t understand it myself. Ever since my encounter with the Doctor, my sense of worry has only skyrocketed over the Living Paradox. Then there is that journal that the Doctor gave me and that blue equine I keep seeing. It feels like I should know more about both of them, but it’s like my own mind is fighting against me.” Yami frowned and stated, ‘Well, the first thing you need to do is read that book like that equine said to do. It may come in handy and solve a few of your questions. That is why we came here, after all: to get some peace and quiet while you read.’ I nodded in agreement then flinched when I heard the shower door open and heard footsteps of someone else walking into the room. ‘Oh no, bad! Someone else in here! I can’t be seen right now!’, I thought to myself. “XANA definitely is up to something big. Three attacks in one solid day, that’s definitely different for him!”, a voice rang out, an all too familiar voice at that. ‘Oh no, that’s Odd!’, I thought, looking over at Yami. “Keep your voice down, Odd. Someone else is in here with us. Besides, you know what Jeremie said: whatever XANA has planned, we’ll figure it out and put a stop to him.”, another voice stated. “Yeah, I know that, Ulrich. But you have to agree that you are just a bit concerned. XANA’s never done anything like this before, and it has me worried.”, Odd replied. Ulrich sighed as he walked over to the closet and said, “I know, Odd. I’m worried too. But let’s talk about this somewhere else. Walls have ears, ya know?” Odd nodded and then gasped as he noticed something in the closet. “Hey, Ulrich, check it out. Isn’t that the Millennium Puzzle sitting there?”, Odd said, pointing at the odd object that was sitting among a bundle of clothes. Ulrich’s eyes widened when he reached into the closet and picked up another object along with the Puzzle: the Aelitatrix. “What are these doing here? Isn’t Allen supposed to still be in a coma?”, Ulrich stated. Odd nodded, then the two looked over to the active shower and said, “Allen, is that you in there?” I looked over to Yami and said, ‘What do I do, partner? I can’t just sneak out of here!’ Yami shook his head and said, ‘You need to let them know. Perhaps they can keep the fact that you are here a secret.’
I sighed softly as I nodded in agreement and wrapped a towel across my hips, then immediately walked out of the shower as I said, “Hi guys. It’s good to see you again.”
As I dried myself off, Odd & Ulrich couldn’t hold their excitement to see me again. However, their excitement was short-lived when we returned to my room…
“What do you mean, you don’t want to see Jeremie and the others? They’d be happy to see that you are back!”, Odd exclaimed. I sighed as I sat down on my bed and said, “As much as I would love to see the other Lyoko Warriors, I cannot afford to be distracted at the moment. This whole ‘Living Paradox’ debacle is definitely following me, and this book holds the key to why it is following me.” I placed a hand on the black book the Doctor gave me on my last venture and winced as I heard a loud yell in my head. Odd & Ulrich looked at each other as I said, “Sorry guys, but I need someplace private to read this. I also need you two to not let Aelita and the others know I am here. I am begging you here, guys.” Ulrich patted my shoulder and said, “No worries, Allen. We understand your problem.” I smiled as I heard the two Kadic students’ phones go off, both of them immediately taking a look at a message. “XANA trouble?”, I asked. The two of them nodded as I said, “Very well then, go. I’m going to head off to a place where I am certain I won’t get bothered.”
With that, the three of us went our separate ways. As Ulrich and Odd sped to the Factory in the secret sewer passage, I ran out into the park outside of the Academy to find myself at the Hermitage, Franz Hopper’s old home…
‘Alright, this place shall be perfect.’, I said as I walked up to the front door, cracking it open to see the preserved rooms where Franz and Aelita used to call home. I walked up the flight of stairs and inhaled deeply as I walked into Aelita’s childhood room and sat down on the bed gently. I cleared my throat as I pulled the book out from underneath my arms and cracked it open, noticing something right away. “This is….impossible! This is my handwriting!”, I said out loud. ‘So you noticed that right away, huh? The Doctor did say that, while you were slow on many things, noticing small details like that were your best gift of all.’, a voice said in my ear. I looked to my left and saw the strange stallion sitting next to me again. “You. This is your journal. How is it that you have my handwriting?”, I asked. The stallion shook his head and said, ‘Keep reading. All the answers will come to you in time.’ I blinked as he vanished before my eyes, then shrugged as I continued to read the book quietly.
As the minutes passed, I learned more than I thought I could’ve ever learned in a classroom. The book entailed the stallion’s, who was named Prodigy Skyfire within the journal, entire life story. It shared a few happy moments, a lot of sad ones, and some that were tough to read without shedding a few tears. The few parts of story that stood out the most, however, were the ones that scared me the most…
“The Living Paradox was following you too?”, I asked as I saw Prodigy reform on the other side of the room, leaning on a wall. ‘Those three words followed my daughter, the Doctor, Derpy and I as we traveled amongst time and space within that whimsical TARDIS. It was my goal to find the truth behind my cutie mark as well to find out exactly what The Living Paradox was. Unfortunately…’, Prodigy said as I chimed in and said, “You didn’t get the chance to. You never got to write the last entry of your journal, and the next thing you know, you are having conversations with me, albeit small ones.” Prodigy frowned as he said, ‘All of my travels only to wake up here with even more questions. Who am I? Why am I who I am? What does my cutie mark stand for? Perhaps those answers will never come.’ I sighed softly as I heard a low creak of the lowest floorboard on the stairs as Yami said, ‘Someone’s here, Allen! Be on your guard!’
Meanwhile, over at the Factory….
“Uh, Jeremie? We got ourselves a problem here!”, Aelita said as she destroyed a Kankrelot with a orb blast. “You telling me!? Yumi can’t find the Specter anywhere on the campus! William, Ulrich, Odd! How are things holding up on your end?”, Jeremie asked as he continuously typed at the supercomputer’s keyboard. “Not so well, Einstein! XANA isn’t letting us near the tower whatsoever, and he keeps throwing more and more enemies our way to boot!”, Odd stated as he shot down three Wasps as Ulrich cut down a couple of Krabs. “Whatever XANA is up to, it’s definitely big. Can you get in touch with Yumi and tell her to hurry up and find that Specter?!”, William stated as he destroyed a MegaTank. “You heard that, Yumi? Hurry it up!”, Jeremie said as he readjusted his glasses. “I’m doing my best, Jeremie! I lost the Specter in the park! Why would XANA send it out here? The only thing that is out in this section of the park is the Hermitage.”
Odd then immediately said, “The Hermitage? Why would he send the Specter there? There’s nothing in that place! Unless….Ulrich! Could it be possible that he went there?!” Ulrich’s eyes widened when Odd said that. Both of them knew why XANA was acting the way he was. “Jeremie! We have a problem, and it’s way bigger than any of us!”, Ulrich stated. “Fill us in, Ulrich! What’s going on?”, Aelita & Yumi said. “He told us not to say anything, but we know what X.A.N.A is after! It’s Allen, he’s back in this dimension!”, Ulrich exclaimed. “SAY WHAT?!”, Jeremie said rather loudly as he saw William get dematerialized. He tapped his earpiece and said, “Yumi, this is of the utmost importance! You’ve gotta get to Allen and get him away from that specter immediately!”
“Right. I’m on the way!”, Yumi said as she shut off her phone, running through the park towards the Hermitage. Faster and faster she ran, seeing the old house coming into view as she heard loud electrical snaps being heard from within. “Allen! Allen, are you in there?!”, Yumi yelled from outside as she ran through the gate to the front door.
Meanwhile, on the inside of the Hermitage….
I panted heavily as I dodged another bolt of lightning that got shot out of the hands of the Sissi lookalike. She laughed coldly as I saw the X.A.N.A insignia flash in her eyes over and over as she moved dangerously closer to me. I immediately backed up slightly as I made a break for the stairs, hearing my name being called from the front door. ‘Wait, was that who I think it was?’, I thought as I finally made it to the door. “Yumi, is that you? It is you, right?!”, I exclaimed as I saw the young Ishiyama child look back at me through the door. “Yes, it’s me! Are you alright!?”, Yumi said as she tried to open the door. “It’s no good, Yumi! X.A.N.A has all the doors locked, the Specter is driving me into a corner, and I can’t get out!”, I replied as I heard the stairs creak behind me. “Stay calm, Allen! I’ll find you a way out. Just stay alive!”, Yumi said as she ran away from the door. I turned behind me to see the Specter walking closer and closer and said, “Alright then, let’s dance.”, I said as I ran to another section of the house, the Specter following me quickly.
As I kept the Specter’s attention off of me, Yumi completely searched the house for any way out other than the ways X.A.N.A kept locked down. Luckily, she found one way that would suffice…
“Allen! There’s a hole in the roof on the left-hand side of the house! Try getting out through there!”, Yumi yelled from outside. My eyes widened when I realized that the room she was speaking of was Franz Hopper’s bedroom. I laughed as I looked at the Specter and said, “Sorry, X.A.N.A! You’re not going to catch me like you did last time! See ya!” After dodging a bolt of lightning, I ran past the Specter, up the stairs and up into Franz’ bedroom and right out of the hole. I landed next to Yumi and hugged her tightly and said, “Thanks for that, Yumi. It’s good to see you and all, but we have a tower to deactivate.” She nodded as the Specter hopped out of the hole of the roof and roared loudly. “Yeah, make that NOW. Let’s beat feet!”, I exclaimed as Yumi and I ran towards the factory. Faster and faster we ran, both of us keeping our full attention on the factory that was within our sights now. Yumi looked back as she saw the Specter quickly following us. She looked at me and said, “Allen, you go and help Ulrich and the others on Lyoko! I’ll take care of the Specter!” I looked at Yumi and asked, “Are you sure?” She nodded as I said, “Alright then. Good luck!” With that, I used my full speed to bolt away from Yumi and the incoming Specter, leaving the two behind as I found myself in front of the factory’s elevator. I pressed a few buttons as the doors closed behind me, the elevator lowering itself down to the lower floors. The doors opened again as I looked into the room with the Supercomputer, seeing Jeremie typing away at the keys furiously. “Allen, you’re ok! Thank goodness, the others need some help on Lyoko. You up to the task?”, Jeremie asked. “Hey, last time was just a bad nightmare. Send me to Lyoko, our friends need help.”, I said as I pressed another button on the elevator panel, the doors closing again as I was lowered further down in the factory.
Jeremie smiled softly as he said, “Ulrich, Odd, Aelita! Don’t worry, back-up is coming. And this back-up is certainly a doozy!”
As the doors of the elevator opened again, I found myself standing in front of the three Scanners once again….
‘Well then, here we are again.’, Yami said to me as he materialized beside me. I nodded as I replied, “Yeah, it feels like yesterday when that incident occurred. Even now, the thought of another Arufunu being created is definitely terrifying. But, that’s only going to hold me back. Aelita and the others need help, and I am definitely going to give them my all in this fight.” Yami nodded as Jeremie’s voice rang out over the intercom and said, “You ready, Allen? Everything’s prepared.” I sighed deeply as I stepped into the Scanner and said, “Ready, Einstein. Let’s kick things to the next level!” Jeremie smiled as he said, “Very well then! Transfer: Allen! Scanner: Allen! VIRTUALIZATION!”
With that, a bright light enveloped me, and with that, I vanished to the virtual world of Lyoko. A few minutes later, I materialized in the air…
“Ouch!”, I exclaimed as I landed on my butt, groaning slightly. “Ugh, shows I haven’t done this in a while. Alright, Jeremie. Which way do I head?”, I asked. “Due north, and make it quick!”, Jeremie exclaimed. I nodded as I closed my eyes, the Millennium Puzzle glowing slightly as Yami and I swapped places with each other. “Alright then, let’s be off!”, Yami said as he bolted down the path in front of him quickly. “Here, take this. You may find it useful!”, Jeremie said as a metallic pole materialized in front of me. “Sweet, a polearm! This’ll do just fine, Jeremie!”, Yami exclaimed as he saw the horde of monsters in front of him. “Get out of my way!!”, the Saiyan exclaimed as he went into the horde, taking out monsters left and right. Faster and faster he moved until he finally found himself in the middle of the horde where Aelita and the others were. “Guys, I made it!”, Yami exclaimed. “And good timing too! Ow!”, Ulrich exclaimed as he got hit with a fatal blow, dematerializing in front of me. “Jeremie, I’m low on arrows! Can you restock me?”, Odd asked frantically as he shot down three Megatanks. “On the way, Odd! In the meantime, think you can get Aelitat to the tower, Allen?”
Yami looked at the crowd of monsters in front of the tower and said, “That’s not going to be an easy feat, Jeremie. But, I am not a quitter. We’ll definitely get there. What about Yumi? How is she faring?” Jeremie typed a few keys on the keyboard as he saw Yumi fighting the Specter, now being joined by Ulrich on the camera feed. “She’s ok! She has Ulrich with her. Worry about the tower more than her right now, Allen!”, Jeremie said. Yami nodded as he looked at Odd and asked, “Hey, how many of these monsters can you take out at once?” Odd looked at his paws as they were reloaded with arrows and said, “Now that I have more arrows, at least 0.” Yami frowned as he said, “Alright then, we’re just gonna have to force our way through this. Aelita!” Aelita looked over at me as she destroyed a Wasp with one of her energy blasts and said, “Yeah?” Yami grinned as he fired an energy blast at the crowd of monsters of him and said, “RUN!” Aelita nodded as she ran in front of Yami as he said, “Let’s go, Odd! Give it everything you got to clear a path!”
“Right!”, Odd exclaimed as the two of us followed Aelita quickly, destroying more and more monsters as they tried to swarm around us. Faster and faster we moved, life points depleting with each step we took. It only took a matter of minutes before Odd became the first to be defeated. “Odd!”, Aelita exclaimed. “We can’t worry about him, Aelita! Keep moving, we’re almost there!”, Yami exclaimed. Aelita nodded as she continued to take out more and more monsters. The closer the tower got, the more monsters there seemed to be, but it certainly was not slowing us down. A few minutes passed, the two of us were surrounded by monsters on all sides, each of them preparing to fire their attacks. “What do we do now, Allen?”, Aelita asked with a worried tone. ‘She’s right, partner! There’s no way out of this!’, I exclaimed to Yami, materializing beside him. ‘I know, I know! But, X.A.N.A made a huge mistake and it’s going to cost him!’, Yami replied back to me. ‘What mistake?’, I asked. “This!”, Yami exclaimed as he picked Aelita up, tossing her over the monsters over to the tower, watching her land inside. “Yes! He got her inside!”, Jeremie exclaimed.
‘Wow, that’s was ingenious, partner!’, I said in a happy tone. Yami grinned as he opened his arms wide as all the monsters shot us down. Before we finally dematerialized, Yami immediately said, “You lose again, X.A.N.A.”
Inside the Tower…
Aelita walked up to the control panel and placed her hand upon it, watching as her name flashed in front of her and the words CODE LYOKO appeared right after, the Tower immediately shutting down. Jeremie typed a few keys on his keyboard and immediately said, “Return To The Past NOW!” As time rewound, I sneezed loudly to find myself back in my room, hearing a knock at the door. I went to the door and opened it wide to see everyone smiling back at me. “Pardon the mess, I haven’t been here in a while.”, I said as I let everyone in. I closed the door behind me as Odd and Ulrich asked, “So, were you able to do what you wanted to do before this incident occurred, Allen?” I nodded my head and said, “Just a minute, you two. I want to verify something first.” Everyone looked at me with a confused look as I placed my hand in front of me, only for nothing to happen. I frowned and said, “I knew it. Yumi, remember how X.A.N.A had me locked in the Hermitage?”
“Yeah, I remember. I found that a bit odd since you have that weird weapon of yours that can unlock anything. What was it again? Oh right, the Keyblade.”, Yumi stated. I frowned when she said that and motioned to my hand, only for it to finally sink in. “Hey, it didn’t materialize!”, William exclaimed. “Bingo, I can’t summon it. Which means that even if I wanted to get out, I couldn’t have. I was a sitting duck. Which brings us to the subject at hand: this book.”, I said as I walked over to my desk and picked up a black journal. “This journal belongs to an equine named Prodigy Skyfire. According to him, he lives in a world full of multicolored equines and many other mystical creatures named Equestria, and….I think he has a strange tie to me somehow.”, I said. “Strange how?”, Aelita asked. I opened the book and said, “This book is not just his diary, it details his entire life to a specific point and there is three things which strike me as odd. One: the book ends with a date: June 25, 1007. However, the first date is Dec. 31, 1000. He was writing in this book for seven, almost eight years. I was in a coma for eight years. The second thing is the most terrifying: in his world, each pony has a thing called a cutie mark. It’s apparently some sort of brand that entails that pony’s personalities and talents. Prodigy’s cutie mark….was the Sacred Seal.”
“Wait, hold on a minute! The Sacred Seal, as in, The Sacred Seal of Amaria? THAT SEAL?”, Ulrich asked. I flipped the book to them and showed a drawing of the Sacred Seal to them all, the Seal being embroidered with question marks. “This was the very bane of his existence since he had no idea what this mark meant or who he was for that matter. He spent each day of his life trying to answer those questions. And the third thing….is this.”, I said, flipping a few pages for everyone to see something that shocked them even more: a Keyblade of a peculiar design. “Is that….a Keyblade?”, Jeremie said, readjusting his glasses on his nose. “Yes, and I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that this Keyblade is mine. I can’t explain why I feel like this, but I am positive on this: That’s MY Keyblade.”, I said. Everyone went silent when I said that. It was Aelita who finally broke that silence and said, “You’ve got to get to the bottom of this mystery immediately, Allen. This is way too bizarre to be just a coincidence, the timing is just way too close.” I nodded as the book glowed slightly, I gasped slightly as a bunch of memories flowed into my mind, memories that definitely were not mine. I coughed loudly as I finally came out of the surge of memories, breathing heavily as I heard Trixie say, “The pathway to Equestria has been discovered. Investigate this new world immediately, Allen!”
I frowned as Aelita said, “Always the busy guy, Allen. Go on, the multiverse is calling you.” I chuckled and said, “You’re right. I just wish I could stay a little longer.” Jeremie stood to his feet and said, “Don’t worry, you’re always welcome here. Just remember to think of us when you can, ok?” I nodded as Trixie glowed slightly as I said, “Well, I’m off. Make sure to make X.A.N.A hurt double for me, ok?” The Lyoko Warriors nodded in agreement as I flew up towards the ceiling of my room, ripping into the Dimensional Rift once again to a new location.
Leaving the Lyoko Warriors behind, I knew not what waited for me in this new universe. However, I do now that things are only starting to get heated up. The Living Paradox is definitely connected to me somehow, but what it is, I do not know that as of yet. Soon though, very soon….
To be continued…..
