Chapter 1- No More Replikas (09.03.07)

As Odd shot the generator of the last supercomputer, he reflected that this was the last Replika supercomputer. The supercomputer in the Amazons was destroyed, and so was the one in New Mexico. The others had been destroyed, too. Without his precious Replikas, XANA couldn’t exist anymore. And that’s what made Odd whoop in success. “Yes! Let everyone bow down to Odd, the supreme destroyer of the final Replika!”

Ulrich and Yumi were looking out from the Skid anchored to the green tower. The tarantulas outside vanished. William looked at the disappearing Ice Replika in dismay, shouted “Super Smoke!”, and vanished into the Digital Sea with a wisp.

 

“Great job, Aelita and Odd!” called Ulrich, even though they couldn’t hear him.

 

“I’m bringing you guys back in,” Jeremie said to Aelita and Odd. A moment later, they vanished, reappearing in the Skid. Odd was grinning from ear to ear.

 

---

 

An electric current passed over the virtual bubble. From the Skid’s standpoint about 100 meters away, Aelita could see the bubble was about to give way.

 

The bubble finally exploded into a thousand binary interfaces. XANA’s final Replika was destroyed.

 

“Thank you, thank you,” Odd said, mimicking a bow, “because you all know that it was me that destroyed the last XANA supercomputer.”

 

Everyone rolled their eyes. “Aelita, did Odd really do that?” Yumi asked, reproachful.

 

“Unfortunately, yes,” Aelita replied. Yumi, Ulrich, and Jeremie groaned.

 

“What?” Odd inquired innocently. “Are you guys just jealous that you weren’t the one that destroyed the final Replika?”

 

“Frankly, Odd,” Jeremie said, “we’re just unhappy because we’re going to have to listen to you brag about your victory for weeks.”

 

“What, me? Brag? Never!” Odd grinned.

 

---

 

At the cafeteria, everyone was sitting down but Odd. He had gone to get fourths, because he thought he deserved it, being the destroyer of over half of the Replikas.

 

“So, guys,” asked Yumi, smiling, “what do you want to do with all this free time, now that XANA is gone for good?”

 

“I’m probably going to study more,” Aelita said.

 

“Spend more time with my family,” was Yumi’s reply.

 

“I’m going to eat more!” Odd said, grinning as he sat down, his plate laden with a mound of fourth helpings.

 

“You need to study more, Odd,” Ulrich said, rolling his eyes. “Have you seen your last science test score?”

 

Jeremie shifted uneasily in his chair. “Guys, I’m not sure XANA is really gone.”

 

Everyone turned. “What?” Ulrich asked. “All of his Replikas are gone. There isn’t anywhere that he can exist…except…” The realization hit him like a bowling ball in his face. “Does that mean we have to turn of the Lyoko supercomputer?”

 

“Well, yes,” Aelita replied. “No matter how XANA was defeated, we would have always had to turn it off.”

 

 “But…” Odd stumbled, “that means all of your father’s hard work will go to waste.”

 

“It’s the only way we can really defeat XANA,” Jeremie said. “But I feel the same way as all of you.”

 

“Do you guys want to stay at my father’s room?” Ulrich asked. “He’s our last class of the day. I was going to, anyway.”

 

“Sure,” everyone said.

 

“We can ask his advice on what to do,” Yumi said for all of them.

 

“Guys, I hate to be a party pooper,” Odd said, “but there’s another thing we have to do before we shut down the supercomputer.”

 

“What, Odd?” Jeremie asked, surprised.

 

Odd looked around, and then said, in a carrying whisper, “We have to bring back William.”

 

Everyone turned to where William’s clone was sitting a few tables away, alone. It had been rather convincing these last few weeks, but it was no match for the real one.

 

“We owe it to him,” Aelita murmured.

 

“Why?” Ulrich asked. “It wasn’t our fault that XANA took control of him.”

 

“It’s our fault for not bringing him back sooner,” Jeremie said. “And whether we like it or not, it’s the right thing to do.” Everyone knew Jeremie was right.

 

---

 

The last bell rang. All the students started piling out of the science room. All of them, but four.

 

“Hey, dad,” Aelita and Ulrich said, walking up. They gave him a hug.

 

“Mr. Hopper,” Jeremie asked, “what was that last equation? I didn’t get it.”

 

“Save it, Einstein,” Odd said, turning to Franz. “There’s something else on our minds.”

 

Franz put on an inquiring gaze. “Did you destroy the last Replika?”

 

“Yeah, we did,” Yumi said, entering the room. “But there’s something else.”

 

“You need to turn off the supercomputer, don’t you?” Franz guessed. “And you’re afraid all of my work will go to waste?”

 

Ulrich stared. “But how did you know?”

 

Franz’s features seemed to droop. “Ulrich, it was obvious, considering that XANA can still exist in the supercomputer. But it’s my fault that all of you have been risking your lives on Lyoko.”

 

Everyone started. “Why?” Jeremie asked.

 

Franz sighed. “It was my fault for creating XANA in the first place.”

 

Aelita patted him on the back. “It wasn’t your fault. You could have never known that your AI would turn rogue against all of humankind.”

 

Franz shook his head. “It was my fault for creating something so dangerous. That’s why the Secret Service came after us, Aelita. All because of me.”

 

“Mr. Hopper,” Odd said, stepping forward, “we’ve been risking our lives on Lyoko because we’ve been willing to. And because it was the right thing to do. And besides, you make mistakes, you solve them, you learn from them, you move on.” Odd grinned. “I do that all the time.”

 

Ulrich nearly fainted. “Does anyone have a tape recorder? I’ve never heard Odd admitting he’s made a mistake before.”

 

“In any case,” Jeremie said, cutting in, “I’d think we’d better wait to shut the supercomputer down. There could be a Replika that we don’t know about yet. Unwittingly cutting off our only way to get to it isn’t very smart.”

 

Franz ruffled his hair. “Very good, Jeremie. I’m glad I mentored you.”

 

“So, we’re just going to wait?” Yumi asked. “Leaving the supercomputer on could let XANA do something nasty.”

 

“We all see it that way, Yumi,” Aelita replied. “But there’s no other way.”

 

“We should just run a check of the supercomputer every day,” Ulrich said.

 

“I would volunteer to do it for you,” Franz said, “but I have to teach.”

 

“I’ll go,” Jeremie said. “I can go everyday at lunch. In fact, I'll head over right now.”

 

“The usual?” Yumi asked.

 

Jeremie nodded. “I’ll call you guys if there are any developments.”

Chapter 2- The Last Mission (09.06.07)

It had been a week since they had destroyed the last Replika. Jeremie entered the factory, rode the elevator down and stepped into the computer lab. As he got into his chair, he immediately knew something was wrong.

On the screen, a Super Scan window was activated, indicating an activated tower, but not on Lyoko. Another window displayed the results of a program Jeremie had activated a few days ago.

 

“Ugh,” Jeremie said. “So, XANA, your last attack is creating another Replika? It won’t be anything we can’t handle, and you know it.”

 

---

 

In the cafeteria, Odd was getting third helpings again.

 

“Will he ever stop eating?” asked Aelita.

 

“I highly doubt it,” Yumi replied. “And he’s still as scrawny as a beanpole, apparently to his metabolism. Even Yolanda calls him ‘scrawny’.”

 

“With reason,” Ulrich said. “But since you’re not his roommate, you don’t know what exits his body every night.”

 

“Hey guys,” Odd said, sitting down, and emitting a loud fart. He quickly turned red.

 

“See what I mean?” Ulrich said, cracking up with Aelita and Yumi.

 

Odd, still red-faced, stood up and held up the whoopee cushion he had sat on. “Ulrich, you’re low, but I never expected it to come down to this.”

 

Suddenly, something started beeping. Aelita quickly reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone. “Jeremie?”

 

“Activated tower,” came the voice. “And guess what? It’s in another Replika!”

 

“XANA created another Replika?” Aelita asked. “But why?”

 

“I don’t know, but he’s got to have a reason for it,” Jeremie replied. “In any case, come down to the factory ASAP. The sooner we stop XANA, the better.”

 

“Okay,” Aelita responded. She turned to the others. “Activated tower, in a new Replika.”

 

“I know I’ve said this more than once,” Ulrich said, “but it’ll be our final mission! Again.”

 

Yumi raised an eyebrow. “But why would XANA bother doing something over?”

 

“It’s definitely not to save the world,” Odd answered. “Far from it.”

 

~~~

 

“We’ve left Lyoko, Jeremie. Where’s this new Replika?” Aelita drummed her fingers on the joysticks, waiting for Jeremie’s reply.

 

“Let’s see…” Jeremie traced the coordinates from the Super Scan. “Sixty degrees north/northwest. The Hub you have to take is at 2 o’clock.”

 

“Okay,” Aelita said, seeing the Hub and steering toward it. “Activating turbo crop.”

 

“Do you think this is really our last mission?” Odd asked.

 

“Well, there are other things we have to do,” Ulrich said. “Like rematerialize William.”

 

“Yeah,” Yumi said, surprised that Ulrich had been the one to bring it up, “but ignoring XANA over William would be taking a major risk.”

 

“How so?” Aelita asked.

 

“Well, giving XANA time to function could lead to something very bad.” Yumi was trying to figure out if she wanted William back, with all his arrogance and self-centeredness that she had been blind to for so long.

 

“That’s true,” Jeremie said, “but remember that we can’t just leave William under control of the AI that’s about to go down. I mean, we promised.”

 

“We promised to bring him back ‘someday’,” Ulrich argued. “Maybe that someday has come. This might be the last chance we’ll get.”

 

“We’ll bring him back right after we destroy the Replika,” Aelita said. “I promise.”

 

---

 

The Replika entrance gate loomed a few meters in front of them. Aelita took a deep breathe, thinking of the possibility that this could be their last mission.

 

“Jeremie, wait, don’t type in the code,” Ulrich said. Jeremie paused, confused.

 

“What if…you know, it’s a trap?” Ulrich asked. “What if XANA is trying to trap us or something?”

 

“Even if it is a trap, Ulrich,” Jeremie said patiently, “I can rematerialize you in a second. I’ve really boosted the materialization program from the time when it took a few minutes to rematerialize you.”

 

“Even if it is a trap,” Odd said, “there hasn’t been one we haven’t been able to crack!”

 

The others were doubtful. Sure, they had wormed out of just about every attack XANA had thrown at them, but XANA learned from his mistakes. He had never repeated an attack yet.

 

---

 

In the sky, unknown to everyone, a huge black specter was forming.

Chapter 3- What Are We Doing Here? (09.06.07)

The Skid rose out of the Digital Sea. Above them loomed a Forest Sector, with the trees suspended in mid-air.

“Hmm…” Jeremie checked the holomap, and then his screen. “This is a true Replika of Lyoko. It has every sector like Lyoko does. It’s really weird.”

 

“Well, all you have to do, Einstein, is Translate us,” Ulrich said, “so we can shut down the supercomputer hosting the Replika.”

 

“The problem is, Ulrich,” Jeremie replied, “that the activated tower that allowed me to locate the Replika just deactivated itself. It’s really suspicious. I’ll Translate you, but please hurry. I have a strong feeling that it’s a trap.”

 

“No sweat, Einstein,” Odd said.

 

“Okay,” Jeremie said, refocusing on the situation. “Aelita, anchor the Skid to a tower. There’s one at five o’clock. Then I’ll translate you and Ulrich.”

 

“Okay.” Aelita steered the Skid toward the tower. As soon as they were close enough, Aelita activated the Digital Key. Purple sparks attached the Skid to the tower. “Skid anchored.”

 

“Activating tower…” Jeremie pushed the enter key. “Now.” The tower glowed green. And…Translation.” Aelita and Ulrich disappeared from inside the Skid.

 

“Okay, Odd and Yumi,” Jeremie said, “I’ll teleport you out.” Odd and Yumi reappeared in front of the tower.

 

A window popped up on Jeremie’s screen, locating Ulrich and Aelita on the Earth. It finally brought back the results. Jeremie adjusted his glasses. “Uh oh.”

 

“Something wrong, Jeremie?” asked Yumi.

 

“Yeah,” Jeremie said, double-checking the results. “I think there’s a bug in the Translation program. Ulrich and Aelita were supposed to be Translated to the host supercomputer, but instead they-”

 

A noise broke Jeremie off. The door blocking the elevator unlocked and opened. Jeremie gasped.

 

A confused-looking, Translated Ulrich and Aelita stood in the elevator. Aelita froze in shock. Ulrich turned to Aelita and said, “See? I thought this place looked too familiar.”

Chapter 4- Analysis (09.06.07)

In the science building, a man with graying hair and round-rimmed glasses sat at his desk working. His cell phone started to ring. “Hello?”

“Franz?” came the harried voice.

 

“Jeremie?” Franz said, surprised. “Is there a problem at the factory?”

 

“Uh…yeah,” Jeremie replied. “We’re trying to shut down a new Replika, but Ulrich and Aelita got…well, to make a long story short, there was a bug. I think you need to see it for yourself to believe it. Can you come over to the factory?”

 

“Of course,” Franz said. “It’s Sunday. I’m not teaching any classes today.”

 

“Okay,” Jeremie said. “Thanks!” He hung up.

 

Franz hung up as well, and gathered his things, wondering what could possibly go wrong today.

 

---

 

Jeremie was typing away on the computer. Ulrich and Aelita were watching on either side of him.

 

A green exclamation point popped up on the screen. Jeremie sighed. “Well guys, it looks like there wasn’t a bug after all. The Translation program is working fine. I have no idea why you got Translated here.”

 

“Have you checked the algorithm rewriting our virtual forms that bypasses the virtual flake?” Aelita asked. “It’s possible that it bugged up that way.”

 

“I checked that already,” Jeremie said, sighing. “The only possible explanation is…well…it’s confusing, even to me.”

 

The door opened. Everyone turned. Franz stood in the doorway. He stared.

 

“Is this what you meant by a bug, Jeremie?” Franz asked. Jeremie nodded. Franz rubbed his head, trying to clear it. “Let’s see…there could have been an error in the-”

 

“Dad,” Aelita said, cutting him off, “there aren’t any bugs. That’s the problem.”

 

Franz was still for a moment, thinking. Then he answered, “Well, the only possible explanation is that the supercomputer hosting the new Replika is the Lyoko supercomputer.”

 

---

 

On the Replika, Yumi and Odd were sitting on their vehicles. Odd was trying to think of some way to stop being bored.

 

“Guys?” Jeremie’s voice said.

 

“Einstein, what’s up?” Odd asked. “What happened to Aelita and Ulrich?”

 

There was a pause. “We’re trying to figure that out. They got Translated here.”

 

Yumi stared. “What?”

 

“Yeah,” Jeremie said. “Franz is here, and we’re trying to work out what happened. Oh, and Odd?”

 

“Yeah, Einstein?” Odd asked.

 

“Megatanks, three o’clock.” An elliptical laser beam barely missed Odd.

 

“Well, at least it’s something to take my mind off of boredom,” Odd said. He jumped up, and rode toward the three incoming Megatanks on his Overboard alongside Yumi.

 

---

 

Franz finished the scan, and got the results back. Jeremie was watching on his left.

 

“Well,” Franz said, turning around, “I’ve traced the Replika’s host. It’s the Lyoko supercomputer.”

 

“What?” Aelita and Ulrich exclaimed.

 

“But that’s impossible!” Jeremie said. “I thought a supercomputer can only host one virtual world!”

 

“That’s correct,” Franz said with a long face. “Normally, the system will recognize the bug, and destroy the newer world. But XANA just activated a tower on the Replika, overwriting the system error to make the system recognize Lyoko as the world that will be terminated.”

 

Everyone gasped. “If Lyoko is destroyed,” Jeremie said, shocked, “then the scanners won’t have any link to the Network. The scanners are linked to the Network through Lyoko.”

 

Franz nodded.

 

“I never imagined that I would have ever wanted Jeremie to not be right,” Ulrich said.

 

“But if the scanners don’t have any link to the Network,” Aelita said, still thinking, “then our return to Earth will be impossible!”

 

“Can’t you re-link the scanners?” Ulrich asked.

 

Franz shook his head. “It’s nearly impossible. I linked the scanners to Lyoko with a highly secure algorithm. Not even I can modify it. And even if I could, it would take a few days. We don’t have that kind of time. Lyoko is set to be terminated in two hours.”

 

“Can’t we just destroy the Replika by shutting down the supercomputer?” Aelita asked. She instantly realized the answer to her question.

 

“Doing that will destroy Lyoko permanently,” Jeremie replied, “since Lyoko is set to be destroyed. And we won’t be able to bring it back. This is the one time Lyoko will be gone for good.”

 

A pop-up window displaying a red exclamation point appeared on the screen. Franz immediately sat down and started typing. He stopped and turned back around. “The references to all of your DNA sequence codes have just been deleted by XANA.”

 

“So it was a trap all along,” Ulrich said. “If XANA wants to keep us busy, then what does he have in store for us?”

 

Everyone sighed, knowing that if XANA could go this far, he wouldn’t just stop after eliminating the Lyoko Warriors. XANA would take every chance he had. And unfortunately, with the Lyoko Warriors occupied, there was no one to stop him.

Chapter 5- The Decoy (09.13.07-09.15.07)

Odd dodged another laser shot. The Megatank closed shut, and then rolled toward him like a bowling ball. He shifted his weight quickly from foot to foot. Just as the Megatank was a few meters away, Odd jumped out of the way. The Megatank tumbled into the Digital Sea.

“How’s it on your side, Odd?” said Jeremie’s voice.

 

“Okay, kind of,” Odd replied, with a glance at Yumi still fighting her Megatank. “We’re two Megatanks down, so it shouldn’t be that hard.”

 

“We’re going to send Ulrich and Aelita back to you guys,” Jeremie said. “There wasn’t a bug. XANA is using the Lyoko supercomputer as his host supercomputer for the Replika. Lyoko is set to be destroyed in two hours because of an activated tower, and the scanners, and me, will lose the connection to you through the Network.”

 

Yumi finally destroyed the Megatank. Odd froze, half of the way to help Yumi, who lost her balance in shock. “There isn’t any back door out of this?” Yumi asked.

 

“Unfortunately, nothing but the obvious,” came Franz’s voice, “to us and XANA. We have to deactivate the tower.”

 

“We’re going to Detranslate Ulrich and Aelita back to you,” Jeremie said. “And we’re still working to restore your DNA sequence codes. XANA has destroyed them.”

 

Ulrich and Aelita reappeared beside Yumi and Odd. “Jeremie, isn’t it kind of weird that XANA didn’t do anything to stop us from getting Detranslated back to Earth?” Ulrich asked.

 

“No, it isn’t,” Jeremie replied. “XANA let you get back to Lyoko because if you don’t succeed in deactivating the tower, all of you will be eternally virtualized. And if you’re devirtualized…”

 

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Ulrich said. “So we just have to deactivate the tower?”

 

“Yep. And in the meantime, Franz and I will work to repair your DNA sequence codes. So by the time you deactivate the tower, we can safely launch a Return to the Past to restore Lyoko and get out of this mess.”

 

The Overbike appeared, along with a restored Overwing and Overboard. “Odd and Aelita, go and deactivate the tower. Ulrich and Yumi, stay and protect the Skid. The tower is just northeast of your position.”

 

“Got it, Einstein!” Odd called, jumping on the Overboard. Aelita jumped on behind him, and they flew away.

 

---

 

Another red exclamation point appeared on the screen. “Ugh,” Jeremie said. “Nothing works. Franz, is there anything else we can try?” There was a pause. “Franz?”

 

Jeremie turned. Franz was rubbing his head in thought. “There isn’t. That’s the problem. Unless…”

 

“Unless what?” Jeremie asked.

 

Franz opened his eyes. “Unless the activated tower had something to do with the…” Franz’s eyes widened. “Of course. Of course. The activated tower must have overwritten the system error.”

“Uh…Franz…we already know that,” Jeremie replied, wondering if Franz was losing it.

 

“No, you misunderstood me,” Franz said. “The activated tower, regardless what the attack is, must draw power from the supercomputer. That could be the reason why the system error was overwritten. And the opposite could work, so that means…”

 

Jeremie’s eyes widened. “So if we activate a tower on Lyoko, then we can overwrite the error?”

 

Franz shrugged. “It’s an idea. I’m not sure if it will work.”

 

Jeremie immediately started typing. “It’s work a shot.”

 

---

 

As Odd and Aelita flew across the Forest, Aelita spotted a tower. She glanced at it, but as she was turning away, she immediately snapped her head back to it in shock. “Jeremie, are there any other activated towers on the Replika?”

 

The response didn’t come immediately. “Huh? Another activated tower? Why? You’re not near the activated tower yet.”

 

Odd looked at where Aelita was pointing. He gaped. “Einstein, we have a problem here.”

 

---

 

Jeremie quickly ran the Super Scan. The window refocused after a few seconds, displaying a tower glowing red. But in the top right corner was the number 41.

 

Jeremie and Franz gasped. “Odd, it looks like Aelita was right,” Jeremie said. “All the towers on the Replika are activated.”

 

“This definitely cannot be good,” was Aelita’s shocked reply.

 

---

 

Jeremie pressed the Enter key. “Okay, let’s see if activating a Lyoko tower will work.”

 

A Super Scan window appeared, indicating the activated tower on Lyoko.

 

Jeremie immediately began typing. “Now, let’s see…system log…errors…” Jeremie gasped.

 

Franz sighed. “XANA must have known that we would try this. It looks like he activated a script to speed up Lyoko’s destruction if we tried to activate a tower on Lyoko.”

 

Jeremie groaned. “Well, this time XANA’s really got us. Aelita, PLEASE hurry up!”

 

“We’re almost at the tower,” Aelita replied.

 

Suddenly, a radar window appeared, showing a ton of red dots moving in on Aelita and Odd. Another radar window appeared showing a solid blue dot moving toward the Skid, Ulrich and Yumi, along with five other dots.

 

“Just when I was about to say that things couldn’t get any worse,” Jeremie said.

 

---

 

Ulrich and Yumi quickly got back onto their vehicles. In front of them, five Krabes and a line of smoke raced toward them.

 

“I’ll handle William,” Ulrich responded to Yumi’s unasked question. Yumi nodded, and the pair of them sped toward the incoming group of XANA’s warriors.

 

---

 

“Ouch!”

 

“Odd!”

 

Odd fell off of the Overboard onto the path below him. The Manta that had shot him hovered over him. Aelita quickly turned back around to Odd.

 

Odd stood up and started running toward the tower. “Go on!” he shouted to Aelita. Aelita turned the Overboard around and continued toward the tower.

 

“Einstein,” Odd said, irked, “a heads-up next time would be nice.”

 

“Sorry, Odd,” came the reply. “We’re trying unsuccessfully to overwrite the system error. But the main reason XANA can overwrite it, and not us, is because he activated every single tower on the Replika. We can’t top that.”

 

“So what are you trying to do?” Odd dodged another laser shot and shot a laser arrow at the Manta tailing Aelita. It missed.

 

“We’re trying to overwrite it manually. But it’s useless. The only way to overwrite it is to deactivate every single tower, and by that time Lyoko will be gone for good, along with your only way back to Earth.”

 

Before Aelita could respond the Overboard started fizzing. It had been hit by the Manta. Aelita landed with a thump on the path. “I thought we had two hours, Jeremie!” Aelita exclaimed, standing up. Odd finally caught up with her.

 

“Activating a tower on Lyoko sprang a trap set by XANA,” Franz responded. “We now have 45 minutes.

 

Aelita and Odd groaned. “That’s a tower every minute!” Aelita exclaimed. “I can’t go that fast!”

 

“And that’s why we’re working to tweak the error slightly. If we can reset the supercomputer while the Replika is set to be destroyed instead of Lyoko, we can beat XANA.”

 

Another laser shot that barely missed them shook Aelita and Odd out of their thoughts. They started running toward the tower once more. Suddenly Aelita stopped. “But if the Replika will be destroyed, then shouldn’t we head back to the Skid so that we can get out of the Replika?”

 

“We’re trying to alter the algorithm, but so far there’s nothing,” Jeremie replied. “Just in case we don’t succeed, go and deactivate the tower. The tower in front of you was the first activated tower on the Replika, so it may have some significance.”

 

Odd turned around. “Go, Aelita,” he said, “I’ll cover you.” He began shooting at the Mantas. Aelita nodded and ran toward the tower.

 

---

 

Yumi blocked another laser with her fan. They were three Krabes down, but William was making things a lot harder. Ulrich was fighting him to her right, leaving her to fight the remaining two Krabes.

 

Yumi jumped up and threw her fans. They met their marks, and the Krabes exploded.

 

“Yumi, Ulrich?”

 

Yumi caught her fans and looked up. “Yes, Jeremie?”

 

“We need you to pilot the Skid over to Aelita and Odd,” Jeremie said. “We’re trying to destroy the Replika, so we need all of you in the Skid, pronto.”

 

Ulrich finally devirtualized William by throwing his sabers at him. “But how can you destroy the Replika without destroying Lyoko first?”

 

“Jeremie and I are trying to alter the algorithm of the program XANA is using to keep the system error overwritten,” came his father’s voice. “But we may not be able to do it. We only have 45 minutes, thanks to a trap XANA set for us when we activated a tower on Lyoko.”

 

“Ulrich, you’re piloting,” Jeremie said, hitting the Enter key. Yumi and Ulrich instantly reappeared in the Skid, Ulrich in the cockpit.

 

“Aelita and Odd are northwest of you,” Franz said.

 

“Got it,” Ulrich said, taking a grip on the joysticks. “We’re on our way.” Ulrich pushed a few buttons, deanchoring the Skid from the tower. Ulrich pushed the joysticks forward, and the Skid zoomed away.

 

---

 

Aelita entered the code. The interfaces lining the sides of the tower sped down. “Tower deactivated.”

 

Aelita ran out of the tower. Odd was fighting down the last Manta. “Come on, Maria, just a little closer…” He finally hit the XANA eye. “Yes!”

 

“Odd? Aelita?” Franz’s voice said. “Ulrich and Yumi are coming with the Skid. We need you in it as soon as they arrive. We found the solution. Jeremie is going to restart the supercomputer.”

 

The Skid ground to a halt in front of the tower. “Teleport!” Ulrich said, pressing a button. Aelita and Odd disappeared. Ulrich also disappeared, reappearing in his NavSkid.

 

“Okay, Dad,” Aelita said, taking hold of the joysticks, “we’re ready!”

 

---

 

The door to the supercomputer room opened. Jeremie rushed our. “Franz, are they ready?”

 

“Yes, they are,” came Franz’s voice. “You can restart the supercomputer.”

 

A small panel opened at waist level. The power switch appeared. Jeremie grabbed it and pushed it down. After a minute, he pushed the switch back up.

 

“Good job, Jeremie,” Franz said. As Jeremie turned back to the elevator, the panel closed shut, and the supercomputer glowed as if nothing had happened.

 

---

 

The Forest Sector was disappearing. Aelita quickly put the Skid into a dive into the Digital Sea.

 

The Skid whooshed out of the Replika entrance gate just in time to see it explode behind them. Everyone cheered. “Great job, guys!” Franz said.

 

Suddenly a Super Scan window popped up. Yet again the number 41 was in the upper right hand corner. “Uh oh,” Franz said. With the only virtual world being Lyoko, the 41 activated towers could only be in one place.

 

The door opened. As Jeremie walked back into the lab, Franz turned to him. “We have a major problem.”

 

Jeremie took a look at the screen and retched. “The Replika had a single purpose,” Jeremie said, the realization making him stare in shock. “To block the main XANA attack. Going after the Replika gave XANA time to take his victory.” Franz nodded, unable to believe that XANA had finally won.

 

---

 

All of the towers on Lyoko glowed red. And the sky on Earth suddenly turned reddish black.

Chapter 6- Impossible (09.28.07) 

“What?”

“Einstein, you can’t be serious!”

 

“Unfortunately, Odd, I am.”

 

Aelita was shocked. After going through all that to destroy the Last Replika, they had found out that it was just a decoy. Now XANA had activated all the towers on Lyoko. And they could be sure that whatever he was planning, XANA would make use of all the power currently in his control.

 

“Einstein, do you have any idea what XANA’s planning?” Ulrich fidgeted, afraid of the answer.

 

“We don’t,” replied Franz. “But we can undoubtedly expect the worse.”

 

Suddenly a huge Bang! shook the Factory. Jeremie and Franz gripped the chair for support.

 

“What was that?” Jeremie said, readjusting his glasses.

 

Franz looked up at the roof. “I think we’d better go and find out.”

 

“Aelita,” Jeremie said, speaking into the microphone, “get back to Lyoko and start deactivating those towers.”

 

“But that’ll take forever!” said Odd.

 

“I know,” Jeremie said, “but at the moment, it’s our only hope. And you have to go back to Lyoko anyway. Franz and I are going to ground level to check something. I’ve set up a simple script so that the entrance gate will open when you activate the digital key. I've also materialized the vehicles. We should be back in a few minutes.”

 

“Okay,” Aelita said. “Be careful.”

 

Jeremie quickly took off the headset. Then he followed Franz into the elevator.

 

---

 

Aelita quickly laid her hand onto the pad. “Digital Key activated.”

 

The white beam shot out from the Skid, focusing on the circle with the eye of Lyoko upon it. The beam instantly disappeared. The gate slowly opened.

 

“I hope XANA isn’t going to give us a welcoming committee,” Odd said. “We seriously need to start deactivating those towers.”

 

Yumi sighed. “Odd, I wouldn’t like a welcoming committee either, but most likely there’ll be one. It’s the obvious move.”

 

The Skid rose out of the Digital Sea into the Forest Sector. Everyone gasped. “I didn’t think the committee would be that big,” Ulrich said.

 

Their vehicles were on a nearby plateau. But just beyond them stood a huge army of every single monster XANA had ever created.

 

Suddenly there was a loud splash behind them. Aelita quickly rotated the Skid. “Great,” she sighed.

 

Another huge army of the Digital Sea monsters made up of Kalamars, Rekins, and Kongres loomed in front of them. And right in the middle of them floated William, standing on his Black Manta.

 

---

 

The elevator door opened. Jeremie and Franz quickly climbed up to the bridge.

 

“I should have never created XANA or let him go rogue,” Franz said. “I hope we’ll be able to stop XANA this time, because I have a feeling that this time it’s going to be a lot harder.”

 

Suddenly they both froze in shock. Above them, a swirl of reddish black clouds completely covered the sky. Red XANA eyes were visible in a multitude of places.

 

And just in front of them, numerous specters were forming like a whirlpool of smoke. The amazing thing was that they were citizens of the city. Jeremie even recognized people from Kadic, including Sissi, Mr. Delmas, and Jim. And in every single eye flashed the eye of XANA. All the people of the world except for the Lyoko Warriors were part of XANA’s army.

 

“Oh yeah,” Jeremie said, taking a fighting stance alongside Franz. “A lot harder.”

Chapter 7- Victory (10.01.07)

"There is no possible way we can get through this, Aelita."

As Yumi spoke those words, she knew she was admitting defeat. Whatever attack XANA was carrying out, it was major. They knew that for sure. It had been ten minutes, and Jeremie and Franz hadn't responded. Yumi just hoped XANA had spared their lives.

 

The monsters were continually firing at the Skid. It was too dangerous to separate the NavSkids and take the monsters on individually, when the NavSkid's autonomy could be terminated with one blast.

 

"I'm hacking into the supercomputer's radar from the Skid," Aelita said, punching buttons. An interface popped up in front of her. The Lyoko radar. As she scanned through the different areas on Lyoko, she knew the situation was bad. Very bad.

 

---

 

Jeremie and Franz were thrown off the platform. They both landed with a sickening crunch on the Factory floor.

 

Jeremie got up, in a daze. "Franz?" he said, hastily adjusting his glasses.

 

XANA's Army formed around them, completely circling them with no escape.

 

---

 

"Guys, we've got at least ten monsters surrounding every tower," Aelita said. "And the towers seem to have the same shield the Skid is reinforced with. When XANA attacked the Skid with the Scyphozoa while we were at the lake, it must have not only took power from the Skid, but copied its designs and defenses as well."

 

The Skid was flying through the Forest Sector, fleeing the monsters. The Skid had already lost 50% of its power.

 

"XANA could have even copied the NavSkid design for William's Rorkal," Ulrich said, shaking his head, not believing the situation they were in. Just a week ago, they had believed XANA to have been annihilated, with his last Replika destroyed. Now, they were completely cornered, with no other place to go except the Network, when they needed to deactivate the towers on Lyoko to stop XANA once and for all.

 

"So what do we do?" Odd asked. "Do we stay here and fight with all we've got? Or do we admit defeat and flee into the Network?" He spoke the itching question that was on all of their minds.

 

Aelita shook her head. "I don't know. If we really are going to admit defeat, we should die fighting. But if there's some hope, even something completely miniscule, but that's possible, why should we sacrifice ourselves when there's hope?"

 

"Can we take a vote?" Yumi asked.

 

"Of course. All in favor of staying here and fighting, say 'ay'."

 

"Ay," Odd and Yumi said.

 

"Ugh," Ulrich said, "it’s a tie."

 

Aelita sighed. "Guys, the Skid only has 5% power left. It will be gone in less than a minute. Do you guys trust me?"

 

"We do, Aelita," Yumi replied.

 

"Of course, Princess," Odd said.

 

"Why wouldn’t I trust you?" Ulrich asked nervously. "Aelita, what exactly do you plan on doing?"

 

"As I said before, you have to trust me. If this doesn't go well-"

 

"Uh…Ulrich?" Yumi said.

 

"Yeah, Yumi?"

 

"I…have something to tell you."

 

"I…erm…have something too."

 

"If we don't get out of this, just know that I never stopped liking you. I still love you."

 

"I do too, Yumi."

 

"Aww, the two lovebirds finally made up."

 

"Shut up, Odd."

 

"Okay," Aelita said, punching a few buttons. "Are you guys ready?"

 

"We all are," the three responded.

 

"Here we go."

 

A huge explosion rocketed the spot where the Skid floated in the Lyoko sky, destroying all the monsters within a ten-meter radius.

 

The light cleared. Where the Skid had been, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

 

William, still on his Manta, shouted and cheered his victory. The monsters joined in in their strange forms of communication.

 

---

 

Franz and Jeremie were being electrocuted. After ten minutes, the Xanafied mass of people stopped. Jeremie and Franz dropped to the floor. Neither one moved.

 

One person went up to feel their pulses. The person felt absolutely none. She turned around, and addressing her fellow minions, shouted, "Victory!"

 

The Xanafied mass cheered.