Code Lyoko: The Rewrite

[matt0044]

Author's note: After nearly a whole year, my Cartoon X-over fanfic based on Code Lyoko has arrived in its final version. I finally figured out a good story to write.


Before you read the first chapter, there are certain things that you must keep in mind so please read the following:

1. Do NOT worry about familiarity. If you find that you don't recognize some (if not all) of the characters use for this fanmake, then do NOT worry and at least read the first chapter. The characters are NOT exactly the same as their original counterparts so you can pretend that they are different characters that are being introduced to you for the first time like you do with any book. Same goes for those who never heard of or seen Code Lyoko. You might like it.

2. Unlike other fanmake fics that are heavily based on their source material, this one adapts the stories of Code Lyoko and alters them to suit the characters. That also includes the characters' personalities and dialogue. Not to mention that I write it like a novel and NOT like a movie script and/or screenplay. You'll see what I mean when you read the first chapter.

3. The characters are from kids cartoons like Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat, Arthur and Angelina Ballerina (Don't judge me). If you don't like them, then don't worry. You can still try to enjoy the story.


The point is that everything that I mentioned up above are things that you need not to worry about. Just read the first chapter and whether you love or hate it is up to you.

With that out of the way, please enjoy Code Lyoko: The Rewrite.

Code Lyoko: The Rewrite by matt0044.

Cast of Characters.

Team Lyoko

Sagwa Miao as Aelita Schaeffer

Dongwa Miao (Sagwa) as Ulrich Stern

Sheegwa Miao (Sagwa) as Yumi Ishiyama

Arthur Read as Jeremie Belpois

Angelina Mouseling (Angelina Ballerina)

Alice Nimbletoes (Angelina Ballerina) as Odd Della Robbia

Professor D.R. (Arthur) as Franz Hopper/Waldo Schaeffer

Villians

XANA (Code Lyoko)

Shao Fung "Mama" Miao (Sagwa)/Violet

Win Bao "Baba" Miao (Sagwa)/Grey

Lic Lic (Sagwa) as William Dunbar

Secondary Characters

Jet Black (Cowboy Bebop) as Jean Pierre Delmas

Spike Spiegal (Cowboy Bebop) as Jim Morales

Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV (Cowboy Bebop) as Susanne Hertz

Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) as Yolanda Perraudin

Priscilla and Penelope Pinkpaws (Angelina Ballerina) as Elizabeth "Sissi" Delmas

Sammy Watts (Angelina Ballerina) as Herb Pichon

Dora Winfred "D.W." Read (Arthur) as Milly Solovieff

Nadine (Arthur) as Tamiya Diop

Credits.

Stories and plot adapted from the French cartoon, Code Lyoko, created by Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain in association with Anti-Films, Moonscoop, Taffy Productions, France 3 and Canal J.

Characters based on the works of Amy Tan, Marc Brown, Katharine Holabird and Hajime Yatate.

Written by Matthieu "Matt" Rankis.

Opening Theme Song: A World Without Danger by Noam Kaniel.

Ending Theme Song: Break Away by The Subdigitals.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or any of the characters used in this fanfic (except for original characters).

Chapter 1: Fraidy Cats.

"So what do you guys think of our future home?" Win Bao Miao asked his family with a confident smile on his face and a gleeful tone of voice. "Pretty neat, if I do say so myself."

His wife, Shao Fung, was anxiously struggling to find the right words to say. "Well, dear," she finally said with an unsure tone of voice, "it's certainly looks nice but don't you think it's a bit much. I'm no real-estate agent but I don't think we need to live in such an enormous building like this factory. And are you sure that it's safe inside there?" Then again, we may not have much choice in the matter, she thought to herself. It's either this or back to the alleyways of Nowhere City for us. It's not like we can go up to the mayor and ask him to help us find suitable home.

Shao Fung was correct. The Miao family consisted of five Chinese Siamese Cats, two parents and three kittens, each of whom could communicate with humans as well as other cats by speaking their languages perfectly with thanks to their genetically enhanced intelligence. They arrived in Nowhere City, Kansas from their old hometown in China via airplane two weeks prior to now to start a new, independent life in America like human families. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy looking for a place they could call "home" as the cats were keeping their high intellect a secret from the humans so as not to attract unwanted attention. They couldn't ask for food, they couldn't ask for water and they couldn't ask for a home to live in without speaking English.

For the last two weeks, the Miao family lived in the alleyways of Nowhere City as they constantly searched for an unoccupied building that could house them. They stole food and water from stores as they tried their best not to get caught, prevented humans from taking either of them away for their own and did everything they could to survive and help each other out. For a while, it seemed that the new, independent life that they dreamed about would never come to fruition so long as they kept their secret.

But just when they were about to give up hope, Win Bao, or rather Baba as his kittens called him, was taking a stroll on the riverbank when he discovered an old, abandoned car factory that was built on an artificial island in the Kansas River. After further inspection of the interior, he decided that the building would become the Miao family's brand new home. As soon as he had told his wife and three kittens that he had found a new home on the very next day, they were so happy and excited that they followed the father cat straight to the factory and kissed the Nowhere City alleyways goodbye, for good they hoped. The five Chinese Siamese cat were now on a yellow suspension bridge wide enough for only one truck that connected the factory with the mainland and were looking through the open doorway.

"Don't worry, my dear," Baba responded confidently to Mama. "I explored the factory from top to bottom yesterday and I found no real dangers that could threaten us. Besides, we are cats, aren't we?" His feline body was covered by pure white fur with the gray Siamese cat markings all over his face, on his four paws and on his thin tail. He wore a blue Chinese cap on his head and a blue strip collar with a gold coin attached to it around his neck along his collarbone. He also spoke in a gruff yet kind-sounding voice and had a Chinese moustache of two strands of hair drooping down.

"I guess you're right," said Mama as she weighed her options. Big abandoned car factory or back to the filth-ridden alleyways of Nowhere City. After much considering, she made her final decision. "I guess I'll give this place a chance." She had pure white fur all over her feline body along with the gray Siamese cat markings on her four paws, on her bushy tail and above her eyes which looked like she put it on as make-up. She wore a large violet and white collar with a gold medallion attached to the end of it attached her neck. She also had an earring attached to each ear and another piece of jewelry on top of her head. Overall, her appearance made her look more like a queen's cat rather than a mother cat. She spook in a smooth yet young, feminine voice that was best suited for a mother cat her age.

The oldest and only male kitten of the three, Dongwa, spoke up to voice his opinion. "If you ask me, living here will certainly beat living in the alleyways," he said in a "whatever" tone of voice. "At the very least, we won't have to cram ourselves into a garbage can or dumpster when it starts raining so it's good enough for me now that we have a roof over our heads." His slender feline body was covered by pure white fur with the gray Siamese cat markings on his face, his four paws and his thin tail. He wore a blue-violet strip collar with a gold coin attached to it around his neck.

"Yeah!" the youngest kitten of the three, Sheegwa, said in an energetic tone of voice. "Not to mention that there's bound to be plenty of space to play games in and plenty of mice to eat. I don't know about you guys but I think I'm going to love this place." Her small feline body was also covered by pure white fur only without any gray Siamese cat markings as she hadn't developed them as such a young age. A handmade pink piece of cloth with a small purple flower printed on it that acted as her collar was tied around her neck with a tight knot. She also had a small, bushy tail.

"Thanks for your thoughts, Dongwa, Sheegwa," said Baba, still smiling confidently. He then turned his attention to the middle kitten of the Miao siblings who was squating on all fours between Dongwa and Sheegwa. "And what do you have to say about our new home, Sagwa?"

"M-me, Baba?" said a nervous Sagwa who wasn't sure as to what she wanted to say. "Well, it's very nice that we have a roof over our heads at long last, like Dongwa said, and it's very good that we have space to play in too, like Sheegwa said. However, to be perfectly honest, I'm pretty scared. It just looks so creepy like there's a ghost haunting it." She put on a pseudo-smile and laughed weakly. Sagwa's feline body was also covered by pure white fur with the gray Siamese cat markings all over her face, on her four paws and on her bushy tail. She wore a red and yellow collar that was shaped like an upside-down three-leaf clover around her neck.

"Gee, what else is new?" Dongwa snarked with sarcasm in his every word.

"It's not like I don't want to live here," Sagwa quickly added. "I know there's no such thing as ghosts. Besides, I'll probably get use to this place in a matter of days. I hope..." She had always been paranoid and scared of almost everything but never wanted to be a burden to anyone, especially not her family.

"It's okay, Sagwa," said Sheegwa cheerfully. "I'm sure you'll like this place once you've seen inside it."

"Easier said than done," sighed Dongwa, rolling his eyes.

"Now that's it's been decided," said Baba, "let's all take a look inside our new home."

The Miao family walked through the huge, wide open doorway into the factory and found themselves on a balcony supported by steel pillars several meters above a lower level. The place was immense, open and desolate. The walls were broken by footbridges and corridors while steel beams supported cranes and other abandoned machinery. The windows were large glass grids facing out on the river and much of their glass had been smashed with many of the remaining panes remaining opaque with dust. Nobody had set foot here for many years as the cats could clearly see. They also saw that the stairs down to the ground floor had collapsed over the years and all that remained of them now were just a few isolated metal steps that swung gently in midair.

Sagwa fearfully gulped when she looked down at the bottom floor due to her fear of heights. "Um, Baba," she asked in her usual nervous tone of voice, "how exactly are we going to get down there without getting killed?"

"Simple," said Baba. "Look ahead of you." He pointed to two robust cables that hung from big hooks set in the ceiling. They were suspended just a short distance beyond the end of the balcony and extended right down to the ground where they twisted snake-like into large coils. Sagwa hadn't considered the cables due to her fear of falling.

"You can't be serious," Sagwa said in a robotic tone of voice.

"I sure am," said Baba. He turned to Mama. "Are you ready, honey?"

"Only if you are, dear," giggled Mama. "One-"

"-two-" Baba continued.

"-three!" they said together as they both jumped to pounce off the balcony at the cables. Mama grabbed the one to her left while Baba grabbed the one to his right and they both swung and slid down to the bottom floor as they shouted, "Geronimo!" simultaneously. They then went on all fours and raise their head back up to their kittens on the balcony.

"Dongwa, Sheegwa," Baba called up to them, "You two slide on down now."

"Well, here goes nothing," said Dongwa as he got into his pouncing position in the direction of the right cable. With his head near the ground and his tail high in the air, he was ready to take the big leap. "Ready, Sheegwa?"

"I'm ready, brother!" said Sheegwa. She was in the same pouncing position as Dongwa with her aim at the left cable and was ready to leap as well. "Let's do it!"

Sagwa's protests went unheard as her big brother and little sister each leaped at a cable to grab hold and slide on down to the bottom floor together. Once they reached the bottom floor, Dongwa and Sheegwa went on all fours and went over to their parents.

"Not bad for first timers," said Baba before turning back up to Sagwa on the balcony. "You're up, Sagwa!"

Sagwa fearfully gulped a second time. "B-but I'm too scared of falling," she whimpered like a sad puppy. "What if the cable snaps? Isn't there another way down?"

"Not that I know of," said Baba. "Besides, if you fall, then we'll catch you. You don't need to worry, Sagwa."

"Well, I guess I'll have to do it then," said Sagwa. With her tiny heart beating like insanity, she assumed her pouncing position as an angry look of determination formed on her face. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this, She repeated mentally. A second later, she leaped from the balcony at the left cable and grabbed hold of it to swing and slide on down to the bottom floor as she screamed like a maniac. Once she reached the bottom floor, she went on all fours and took in four deep breaths. "Well, that wasn't so bad," she then said as if it was nothing. She put her right paw on the back of her head as she pseudo-smiled.

Dongwa groaned at how his sister tried to brush off her fear while Sheegwa giggled as she found it amusing.

"Now that we're all here," said Baba, "let's get down to exploring. We'll split into two groups." He looked directly at Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa. "You three will explore this floor together while your mother and I check out the upper floor." He then pointed to the old factory elevator behind him and Mama. "We'll all meet up at this elevator when we've finished exploring."

"Your father and I trust that you will look out each other and keep out of danger if you come across it," said Mama. "Especially you, Dongwa. You're the oldest so we hope that you'll be responsible enough to make sure your sisters stay safe."

"I know, I know," Dongwa said with a sigh in his voice. He wasn't too thrilled about being his sisters' babysitter for the umpteenth time. He would have to deal with Sagwa's paranoia and Sheegwa's foolishness at the same time. He kept his complaints to himself, however.

"Thanks for your trust, Mama," said Sagwa, happily. "But you don't need to lump all three of us together. I may be scared but I'm smart enough to stay out of danger and look after myself. I'll be just-" Before she could finish speaking, an old, rusty pipe fell from the balcony to the lower floor not too far away from the Miaos. The sound caught the family of five cats completely off guard and scared Sagwa the most. She yelped, hugged Dongwa and held onto her brother like a dog humping its master's leg as she buried her face into his chest. "I take it all back! I'll stick with the group!"

Dongwa frustratedly sighed. They hadn't started exploring and Sagwa was already acting scared as usual. Sheegwa giggled once again at her big sister's actions.

"I think we'll be off now," said Sheegwa after she was done laughing. "Let's go, guys." She turned around and began to head down the hall at a regular pace.

"Once Sagwa gets off of me," said Dongwa in a frustrated tone of voice. He unhinged Sagwa's forearms from around himself with his own two forearms and moved away from Sagwa. "Now we can go." He then followed Sheegwa down the hall.

When Sagwa realized she was clinging to nobody and who she was clinging to, she stopped whimpering and shivering and blushed bright red from embarrassment. She then saw that her siblings were walking down the hall away from her. "Hey, wait for me!" she called to them as she ran to catch up with them.

"I think I'm starting to have second thoughts about those three being together without us," said Mama to her husband in a worried tone of voice.

"Why's that?" Baba responded inquisitively.

"I'm afraid that Dongwa might do something rash," said Mama. "You know how frustrated he can get at times. Especially with Sagwa."

"No need to fret, my dear," said Baba. "This is just to make sure that they can get use to the place on their own. As for Dongwa, I'm sure that he's mature enough to handle his feelings. He is our son after all. Not to mention that it's the first time in two weeks since we've been alone with each other."

Mama began to get the picture. "Wanna do it behind the lift?" she asked seductively with a sly facial expression.

"Fine by me," Baba answered with an equally sly look on his face.

As the two adult cats went behind the old factory elevator to spend some "alone time" together, Mama's worries were beginning come true. Ever since Sagwa's "incident" from when she was younger traumatized her and made her paranoid of almost everything that seemed scary to her, the young Chinese Siamese cat had became more dependent on her parents and her big brother for protection. This was a pain in the tail for Dongwa as he had to look after Sagwa as well as Sheegwa whenever the family went out. He could hardly find the time to spend time with his own friends and even when he could, he had to take his sisters along, causing embarrassment for himself due to Sagwa's fears. Sheegwa, on the other hand, was braver than Sagwa so she wasn't much of a hassle aside from her foolishness which irritated Dongwa.

This became increasingly frustrating for Sagwa as well. Not only was she the object of ridicule among the other cats of the Miaos' old hometown but she felt bad for relying on big brother for protection so much and for being a big burden on others. She would try doing things that scared her such as staying home alone but to no avail as she would always get scared no matter how many times she tried. After giving up her futile efforts, she resorted back to Dongwa for protection. But though she was dependent once more, she would often try handling things on her own to try lessening the burden she put on her big brother and her parents. It wasn't easy but the last thing she wasn't to do was to act like a total baby at her age.

When Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa stepped into the machinery area which lead from the factory hall, they stopped to take a look around it. There was a conveyor belt on each side of the room which lead from and lead to a machine. There were spare car parts laying around the area from when the factory closed. There were also other machines such as the mechanical, robotic hand attached to a rail on the ceiling and the other robotic hands alongside the conveyor belt that were obviously meant to handle car parts. The area was partially lit thanks to the sunlight shining through the dirty window.

Sheegwa was so amazed that she nearly walked off on her own until Dongwa pulled her back by her tail. "Hey!" she protested. "Paws off my tail."

"Sorry but Mama told us to stick together," Dongwa apologized. "You're too young to go off on your own."

"I wasn't intending on going far from here," Sheegwa replied. "I just wanted to check out the machines."

"Let's not and say we did," said Sagwa, nervous as usual. "I don't think they're safe." The partial darkness and silence of the room was nerve-wracking enough for her.

"Of course, they're safe," said Dongwa, fed up with Sagwa's paranoia. "They're inactive. Let me show you." He headed towards one of the machines when he stepped on something paper-like. He looked down to see that he stepped on a white paper-thin tarp that was big enough to completely cover himself. A devious look formed on his face as an idea flew into his brain. What the heck? I'm sick and tired enough as it is. Might as well take advantage of this well-timed chance. He changed his devious face to that of a distress look and turned around to seem as if he saw something behind Sagwa and Sheegwa. "Oh no! Look at that! Behind you two!" He pointed to behind Sagwa and Sheegwa.

Sagwa and Sheegwa instantly turned around to see what was coming for them but they saw nothing. They look left and right and look as hard as they could but they could not find anything that wasn't there. Finally, they gave up and turned back around to their brother when they saw a cat-sized ghost which shouted, "Boo!" Sheegwa was surprised for a few second while Sagwa screamed out of fear and grabbed her little sister to hold her up against the ghost, as if to ward it off.

"Sagwa, it's okay," Sheegwa said to her cowardly big sister. "It's just Dongwa with that white tarp over him." She may had been young and foolish but she knew better than to fall for such a cheap trick. "Now put me down!"

"Oh, sorry," said Sagwa, placing Sheegwa on the floor. She put on her usual pseudo-smile. "It was just a little reflex. Think nothing of it." Inside, she was cursing her paranoia with the most vial words she could think of. She felt so embarrassed.

Dongwa, on the other hand, was laughing loudly at his sister's reaction as he was flat on his back, trying to hold his stomach. He felt no remorse for his actions as, in return, he received amusement that he never felt in a long time. "You should've seen your eyes, Sagwa!" Dongwa said through the laughter. "They were as big as dinner plates! I can't believe that I never thought of doing this before!" Slowly but surely, he began to get up on all fours as his laughter began to die down.

During Dongwa's laughter, Sagwa's embarrassment began to turn to absolute anger. She couldn't believe that her own older brother had just played such a immature prank on her, especially when he knew how fearful she was. That's it! Sagwa realized that Dongwa had taken advantage of her fears for a cheap laugh. As Dongwa picked himself up, Sagwa walked up to him slowly with a mad look on her face and anger boiling inside her as she drew her right set of retractable claws. When she got close enough to her big brother, Sagwa raised her right forearm and slapped Dongwa's left cheek while her claws on that paw scratched him at the same time. Sheegwa's tiny heart skipped a beat when she saw the whole thing.
Dongwa groaned from the painfully slap/scratch that Sagwa had given him. "What the heck was that for?" he asked in his own anger.

"What do you think, you insensitive jerk!" Sagwa asked with her voice full of spite as she gritted her teeth. "That was for taking advantage of me for your own amusement!"

"Oh, come on!" rebutted Dongwa. "I was sick and tired of putting up with you and your stupid fears! You! Sagwa, the Cowardly Cat who can never grow a backbone to save her life! Well, I'm done! I'm not going to be your babysitter anymore, little sister."

"You think I like being scared?" said Sagwa as her voice grew more and more angry with every word. "You think I like constantly being scared and being a burden to others? Well, I have news for you, brother of mine, I hate it! Why do you think I insisted that we not stick together to Mama? Why do you think I agreed to explore this wretched factory with my family? I wish I wasn't so paranoid of everything but I can help it. I just can't help it."

"Then why don't you just grow up and stop being such a Fraidy Cat, you coward!" Dongwa replied loudly and spitefully. He turned around to face his back to Sagwa and crossed his forearms. "And if can't do that, then you can forget about turning to me for help."

Sagwa turned around from her brother as well. "Fine," she said as her anger had calmed down. "I can take a hint to see that I'm not wanted here." She then proceeded to head out of the machinery area with her eyes closed and her nose high in the air.

"But Sagwa, wait!" Sheegwa said after being fearfully silent during Sagwa and Dongwa's cat fight. "Mama told us that we have to-"

"Like I care!" Sagwa interrupted her little sister as she walked back towards the hallway to sulk. Sheegwa was left with nothing to reply.

"That wasn't very nice of you, Dongwa," said Sheegwa, feeling a little angry at her big brother as well.

"Who gives a rat's tail?" said Dongwa, carelessly. "Come on. We have a factory to explore."

As Dongwa and Sheegwa went through the machinery area, Dongwa began to have second thoughts about his words towards Sagwa until dismissed those thoughts. Why should I protect such a coward? After all, she said that she could take of herself.

To Be Continued in Chapter 2: Discoveries

And there you have it, folks! Chapter one is done! I can't believe that it nearly took me a whole year to write this out. Thank you for being patient.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this fic in progress. Please be constructive.

 

[matt0044]

Author's Note: Welcome back! Did you miss us already? This is a shorter chapter but it's super important so read every word.
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Chapter 2: Discoveries.

Unbelievable! Sagwa mentally sulked with rage as she walked through the factory's large hallway. To think that big bully's my big brother. It's bad enough that he embarrassed me for his own amusement but it's worse thanks to his big mouth. In all her life, the young Chinese Siamese cat had never felt so angry, humiliated or hurt like she was now. It was as if the anger that she and Dongwa held in for the last few years was finally being unleashed after all that time.

Secretly, Sagwa was starting to feel a bit guilty for giving Dongwa such a hard slap/scratch to the face. While he did make her look like a fool for fun, it was her paranoia and clinging to him that drove him to act rash in the first place. Like her big brother said, he was sick and tired of being her babysitter so perhaps he pulled the prank to relieve his frustration. Dongwa had never been the cheeriest whenever he had to look after Sagwa or Sheegwa. Still, it was wrong of him to take me for granted when he knew about my paranoia, she thought as she pushed her sentimental thoughts and feelings out of her head. I'll never forgive that jerk in a million years.

As she neared the old factory lift, Sagwa saw her parents stepping from behind the big metal box with smiles on their faces. I better cool down, she thought. As much as she wanted to tell on her big brother and have her mother and father comfort her, she didn't want to spoil her parents' fun. The factory was going to be the Miao family's new home after all and Mama and Baba seemed to be happy because of that. So Sagwa took a deep breath and counted to ten in Chinese to calm her nerves. All better now, she thought with a little more cheerfulness as she ran towards her parents. "Mama! Baba! How was your exploration?"

Mama giggled like she was a little kitten again. "Let's just say that it was better than what I expected," she said.

"We explored everywhere," said Baba, smiling brighter than usual. "You could also say that we haven't felt this happy in years." He then laughed a little along with his wife as if they just gotten married all over again.

"Huh?" Sagwa managed to say in slight confusion. "What's so funny?"

"It's nothing, Sagwa," said Mama as her laughter died down along with Baba's. "By the way, where's Dongwa and Sheegwa?"

"Oh, them?" said Sagwa in surprise. She was hoping that those two wouldn't come up. She then put on a pseudo-smile to hide her true feelings. "They're still taking a look around the place." They can fall down a hole for all I care, she thought spitefully in a tiny burst of anger. She dared not speak it out loud at the moment. "But enough about them," she said in an attempt to change the subject. She looked around and her eyes fell on the old factory lift. "Can you tell me what this is, Baba? You called it an elevator, I think."

"I did," said Baba. "This elevator is what humans used to transport themselves as well as cargo down to lower level beneath this factory."

"Is it safe?" asked Sagwa.

"Of course," said Baba. "It obviously hasn't got any power to run on and it's not like it's going to eat us."

"I didn't mean it like that," Sagwa giggled playfully.

"But if you're that concerned, then go in it and see for yourself," said Mama. "You can't be afraid of everything."

"I guess I'll take a look," said Sagwa. "I am pretty curious right now." She stepped into the old factory lift to check it out for herself. Just then, a big black fly flew onto the young cat's tiny pink nose. Instinctively, Sagwa swatted the fly away from her nose and the insect flew towards the lift's control box, landing on the lower red push-button. With her feline instincts acting up, Sagwa went over to the control box with a mad-but-determined look on her face and pounced upward towards the fly on the lower red button. I gotcha now! she thought viciously as she leaped through the air. The fly then flew away before Sagwa hit her face on the red button it was previously on and landed butt-first on the lift's floor.

"Sagwa, are you okay?" asked Mama in a concerned tone of voice.

"Ask my butt, not me," Sagwa groaned when she and her parents heard something. She looked up to see the lift's security grate sliding down quickly as an old motor began to whirl, meaning that the elevator still had power to run on.

"Sagwa, get out of there!" Baba yelled to his daughter.

Sagwa tried to get up and walk out in time, despite her aching bottom, but it was too late. The security grate stopped and had now sealed Sagwa inside the lift. Oh man, what's next? As if to answer her question, the old factory lift began to descend down the shaft very quickly. I just had to ask, didn't I? Sagwa was terrified of what was going on and wondering if she had committed a serious error. She now knew what the American saying "curiosity killed the cat" really meant. Then, after over ten nerve-wracking seconds, the lift ceased moving and Sagwa breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the wall to her right rise up to reveal a vault-like door. "Great, now what?" she asked nobody in particular with a hint of frustration in her voice as she headed over to the vault-like door.

Sagwa looked at the strange door now with amazement. Who could have made all this? she asked herself. And what for? She was about to touch the vault-like door when she triggered a sensor and caused it to start opening up all of a sudden, making Sagwa back away out of fear and surprise. What's going on now? The door's locking mechanism began to unlocked itself and the door opened up into two halves, allowing Sagwa to see into a dark room. This is getting freaky, she thought fearfully. Unfortunately for the young cat, her curiosity as to what was happening was acting up in her mind. I might as well figure out where I am.

Throwing her dice blindly, Sagwa slowly and nervously stepped out of the old factory elevator into the cold, dark room. Oh man, it's really cold in here, she thought as her teeth chattered like toy dentures. Even my fur can't hold up against this. When she was a foot away from the doorway, she heard something and turned around to see the vault-like door closing up again. Just then, as if her sudden presence triggered something like a motion detector, the room began to lighten up. Sagwa turned around to see that the light was coming from an opened hole in the center of the room but that wasn't all that came from the hole. A great cylinder that was colored dark green and covered in strange yellow symbols, more akin to a modern art sculpture, rose upward from the hole along with its circular base that had the same color and symbols. It stopped rising and lights from the ceiling lit up the room, causing the place to heat up greatly.

Now it's getting warm, Sagwa thought. This is so bizarre. And yet, I'm not that scared. She looked ahead and saw that a frozen liquid was melting off the circular object at a very fast rate. The room's warm temperature seemed to be thawing it out and, in no time at all, the whole thing was dry as dirt.

Sagwa wanted to run away back to her parents as fast as she could and pretend like she never found this room for the rest of her life but she couldn't. Not just because of the closed vault-like door but because her curiosity had reached its peak at that point. Wanting to know exactly what was going on, she found herself moving towards the great circular object slowly but steadily and stopping upon reaching its circular base. She lifted her head up to see a handle sticking slightly out of the base directly above her. It must be some kind of machine, she assumed, thinking that the handle was the on/off switch for the machine. She then took a few steps back and got into her pouncing position. If I can activate this thing, then maybe I can get some answers," she thought with determination.


"I hope I don't come to regret this," Sagwa said with slight fear before she leaped up towards the handle, got hold of it with her two forepaws and pulled it down with her own weight as she fell back down a few inches to the metallic floor without hurting her bottom that much. "Ow!" she groaned. "Not again!" She then heard a whining noise that grew louder and louder with each second and saw the yellow symbols on the machine shining brighter than the sun itself. The young cat instinctively covered her eyes to prevent blindness as she cried out in terror.

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Meanwhile, Dongwa and Sheegwa had exited the machinery area and arrived in the turbine room via a stairway. Though Dongwa's anger and resentment at Sagwa had calmed down and were starting to be replaced by guilt for his recent actions, he still didn't forgive her little sister for hitting him so hard. Like I should apologize to a cat without a sense of humor, he thought spitefully. It was just a little harmless joke and she hits me as if she was Mama.

"Are you still thinking about your spat with Sagwa?" Sheegwa asked.

"Yeah," Dongwa angrily admitted. "What's it to you?"

"I just don't want you and Sagwa to hate each other," answered Sheegwa. She remembered that she and Sagwa also once had an argument that made them hate each other back in China, though it wasn't as harsh as Dongwa and Sagwa's recent fight. Luckily, they patched things up before things got out of hand.

"Well, it doesn't concern you!" snapped Dongwa. "If we hate each other, then that's that!" He calmed down a little. "Sorry but I'm not in the mood to talk about this. Besides, you're not my shrink."

"Okay," said Sheegwa. She was still worried but then decided to change the subject. She saw that the turbine room wasn't as long or big as the machinery area as the room ended at a closed door but was long enough to run at a great length. There were two inactive turbines on the wall nearby but that didn't concern Sheegwa. "I know! Let's have a race! You know, like back in China."

"Might as well," said Dongwa, now all calmed down. He got into his running position with his head near the ground and his tail high in the air along with Sheegwa. "On your mark,-"

"-get set,-" Sheegwa continued.

"GO!" they both shouted as they raced side by side towards the end of the room. The brother cat and the sister cat galloped like horses across the area until Sheegwa passed Dongwa and made it to the door as the winner of the race.

"Alright, I won!" cheered Sheegwa as she jumped in the air in delight and panted from running so fast.

"Alright already," panted Dongwa. "No need to rub it in." Though that was kinda fun. Guess this was just what I needed. "We better head back to Mama and Baba and tell them what we found."

"Yep, we're all done here," said Sheegwa as she placed her right paw on the door in a laid-back fashion when she felt the door slightly move due to the force she put on it. Upon further inspection, she and Dongwa noticed that the closed door actually slightly opened into a green-lit area. Sheegwa pushed the door to open it fully and found herself in a corridor illuminated by a green light.

Dongwa entered the area himself to see what they had discovered. "Where are we?" he asked Sheegwa.

"Baba never told us about this area," Sheegwa said when she saw a man-sized doorway at the far end of the corridor which was where the green light seemed to be coming from. "Where does that go?"

"I'm starting to think that we should not be here," Dongwa said nervously. "I think we should go." Great, now I'm starting to act like Sagwa.

"Not until we see what's over there," Sheegwa said as she proceeded towards the empty doorway. She may had been the youngest but she wasn't scared like Sagwa. Her brave yet naive attitude made her into an adventurous kind of kitten who would always set out to settle her curiosity. This often got her and her siblings into trouble and Dongwa knew it well.

"Hey, wait for me!" Dongwa called out to his little sister. He ran up to catch up with Sheegwa so she would get into trouble.

The two Miao Sibling reached the end of the corridor and passed through the doorway when they found themselves on some sort of narrow platform that went across the great chamber like a steady circus tightrope. Below the platform, Dongwa and Sheegwa saw an imposing metallic apparatus that was studded with electrical wires and tubing that terminated in a massive hoop which hung in midair like a giant chandelier.

"How are we going to get down?" asked Sheegwa as she leaned over the platform along with Dongwa.

"Good question," Dongwa said when he suddenly leaned too far and began to lose his balance. He waved his arms to try and regain his balance but it was too late as he began to fall down to the floor. He quickly landed on his feet as he panted heavily. It's time like these that I'm glad to be a cat. I could've been killed.

"Dongwa, are you okay?" Sheegwa asked as she leaned too far as well and began to lose her balance. "Uh oh," was all she could say before she fell off the platform and landed on Dongwa's back, pushing the older cat down on his chest.

"Not anymore with thanks to you," Dongwa growled as he pushed Sheegwa off of his back so that he could tend to it. "Man, that hurt! You could've killed me, Sheegwa!"

"I didn't mean too," Sheegwa defended herself. "By the way, where are we now?"

Dongwa and Sheegwa looked around themselves at where they ended up. The walls of the great chamber were emitting the greenish light that they saw in the corridor and from the ceiling extended a mechanical arm that supported several extinguished monitor-screens and a keyboard. In front of the monitors was a comfortable armchair with a series of buttons built into its armrests and was supported by a metal rod attached to a track that went around a circle embedded in the floor. Dongwa and Sheegwa were amazed at their discovery.

"I don't know where we are," Dongwa attempted to say, "but I have I feeling that we won't want to know."

To Be Continued in Chapter 3: XANA Awakens.
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And Chapter two is up like that! Man, I'm good! Consider it as a post-Christmas gift.

 

[matt0044]

Chapter 3: XANA Awakens.

"I thought you said that this thing was inactive," Mama said angrily to her husband as the old factory lift carried them down the shaft. "Now Sagwa could be in danger for all we know."

"Well, excuse me for making a mistake!" Baba snapped back to his wife. "It's been years since anyone set foot or paw into this place so naturally I assumed that this elevator was out of order. You should be grateful the cables didn't snap." Recently, they were as happy as when they first got married but now, they were bickering like an old married couple.

"Save your explanation for later," replied Mama, folding her forearms and shutting her eyes in a stern manner. "We have to save our daughter." After the elevator stopped moving, Mama and Baba brought it back up only to not find Sagwa inside of it so the two married Chinese Siamese cats got into the lift to go down to wherever it took their first daughter.

At last, the lift stopped moving with a jolt and the wall to Mama and Baba's right rose up to reveal the vault-like door which then began to unlock itself and open up in half, revealing a bright, white light that made the two parents shut their eyes instinctively so they wouldn't go blind. When the light dimmed down, the two cats opened their eyes to see into the chamber and saw the blue and yellow circular machine in the center of the room. They were so amazed by the very thing that they nearly didn't notice Sagwa standing in front of it.

"There she is!" exclaimed Mama. "Sagwa!"

Sagwa's vision had finally cleared when she heard the voice of her mother. "Huh?" she said as she turned around to see her parents running up to her. Her smile beamed like a laser. "Mama! Baba!" She hugged Mama and then Baba. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"Neither did we," said Baba. "Were you scared?"

"Not really," answered Sagwa. "But this thing here did surprise me." She pointed to the machine behind her. "Baba, do you know what it is?"

Baba took a look at the machine along with Mama but couldn't make heads or tails out of it. "Honestly, Sagwa, I have no idea what it is. In fact, I never knew that this existed in the first place."

"By the way, what was that light?" asked Mama.

"I saw a handle on the machine and pulled it down on purpose," said Sagwa. "I thought it would answer my questions like on that TV show I once saw. You know how curious cats can get. I may be a fraidy cat and paranoid but I can make stupid decisions." She then realized what she just said. "Did I just call myself stupid?"

"In any case, we're glad that you're still alive," Baba said in relief. "Now we better get back up to the factory before something else happens."

With that, Sagwa and her parents headed back to the lift. Little could they know, they were being watched by someone, or rather something, via the security cameras that had been reactivated along with the machine. When they entered the old factory lift, the vault-like door immediately closed and locked itself and the right wall lowered in front of it. Then the lift began to go up the shaft with a jolt that surprised the three cats even further.

"I think I spoke too soon," said Baba in a worried tone of voice.

Soon, the lift slowly came to a stop and the wall to the right rose up to reveal another vault-like door that was similar to the previous one. The vault-like door unlocked and opened itself to reveal a new room, the same room that Dongwa and Sheegwa had discovered in the meantime. Sagwa and her parents stepped into the chamber and saw Dongwa and Sheegwa nearby.

"Mama! Baba!" Sheegwa cried out happily when she saw her parents along with her big sister. "You're here!" She and Dongwa ran across the room over to meet up them.

"Dongwa, Sheegwa," Mama said in disbelief. "How on Earth did you end up here?"

"It was my fault," Sheegwa confessed with a pseudo-smile on her face. "I guess you could say that curiosity killed the cat. Heh Heh."

"Anyways, we're just glad to see you guys," said Dongwa. "I thought I'd be trapped here forever with my little sister." God knows I'd go crazy playing with her 24/7. "By the way, where exactly is 'here?'"

"We're below the factory, that I know for sure," Baba answered. "But what it is, that I have absolutely no clue on."

"If you ask me, I say we get back up to the factory and leave this place alone," said Sagwa.

"What's the matter, little sister?" Dongwa asked teasingly as he narrowed his eyes. "Scared already?"

"Why wouldn't I be, big brother?" retorted Sagwa. "There's a strange machine down below as well as here. It's amazing, yes, but the point is that we need to beware of anything here. Hence, we should leave this place immediately." She still had hard feelings toward Dongwa from their argument earlier.

"Whoa, whoa!" Baba interrupted. "Why all the hostility here, you two?"

"They had a bit of a spat while we were exploring the factory some time ago," Sheegwa informed her father and mother. "I'll spare you the details but I'll have you know that it was pretty harsh."

"'Harsh?'" said Mama in a worried tone of voice. She didn't like the sound of the word. Guess I was right to worry.

Before the Miao family could do anything else, the computer monitor turned on by itself as it made whirring and whining loading noises that got their attention. Suddenly, the CD drive began sparking electricity like it was short circuiting until a black slime-like substance oozed out of the drive. The Miao family watched in amazement and horror as the black substance formed into a male adult human dressed in a black suit with black sunglasses like a Secret Service agent. The man in black turned his head to his left to see Sagwa, Dongwa, Sheegwa, Mama and Baba.

All five of his targets were together. Perfect, he thought as he began to walk towards the cats. "Come with me if you want to live," said the man with Austrian accent and a robotic tone of voice similar to Arnold Swarchenegger. "Resist and I will be forced to harm you."

Mama and Baba got in front their kittens in order to protect them. The parent cats' fur stood up straight as they hissed and bared their fangs in order to threaten the man. The man, however, wasn't threatened in the slightest and pointed his two index fingers at each cat like handguns. The fingers started sparking with electricity as energy gathered in his fingertips.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," the man said without a shred of emotion in his voice or on his face as he unleashed the electricity from his finger at Mama and Baba who felt the electricity coarse through their bodies and screamed from the pain. The two cats passed out on the metallic floor as their limbs twitched from the electrical discharges in their bodies. The man picked their bodies up like rag dolls and put each of them over his shoulders. "Now, you three, do not move a muscle."

Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa were too frozen in fear to move a muscle. The sight of their parents being electrified horrified the three kittens, Sagwa especially. They did not want to meet with the same fate as their mother and father. The man in black then took Sagwa, who was heart was beating like insanity, and put her under his left armpit with a tight grip on her. He did the same with Dongwa and Sheegwa, putting them both under his right armpit with an equally tight grip. With all five cats of the Miao family in his possession, he made his way into the old factory lift and pressed the lower red push button once. The vault-like door closed and locked itself along with the right wall dropping down in front of it and the lift began its descent once more.

It was a mere four seconds until the lift stopped and opened up to a room neither one of the Miao Siblings had seen before. As the man entered and carried the cats into the room, Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa saw that the area was bright yellow and three man sized chambers that stood in a triangular position in the center. The chambers had large wires that came from the upper floor connected to each one. The kittens were each place in a chamber one-by-one by the man who didn't need to tell them not to run away as they got the idea the first time around. Mama and Baba's bodies were placed next to Sheegwa's chamber which was unsettling for the youngest kitten.

"XANA will be waiting for you on Lyoko," said the man before he went over to the wall where he climbed up a series of bars welded to said wall that acted as a ladder. He then opened a yellow trap door that allowed him to enter the computer monitor room and went over to sit in the computer chair, facing the four monitors. He then began to type rapidly as he activated multiple programs that had been saved onto the computer.

Down below, Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa were fearfully awaiting their fates when they heard the chambers making a whining sound that grew louder and louder. Suddenly, the doors of each chamber began to close one-by-one, surprising the kittens. First Sheegwa's, then Dongwa's and finally Sagwa's. Inside each chamber, a great gust of wind blew up, making it hard for the cats to keep their eyes open, as a white ring slowly circulated around each kitten. Before they knew it, a bright flash of light shone in each chamber and everything went completely black as the three Miao Siblings each lost consciousness.

To Be Continued in Chapter 4: Welcome To Lyoko.
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If you've read all the way to the end, then please post a review on how you like the story so far. Don't just read and not leave feedback. I want to know what you think of my story. Is it good? Is it bad? Come on, tell me!

Oh, and Happy New Year. I hope 2011 goes great for all of you.