The Return’s files looked completely normal to Jeremie as he searched through them. Everything seemed to be in place and nothing appeared to be missing. But Jeremie was certain XANA had somehow corrupted the files; and he was going to find out just what it was.

Behind him he heard William slowly get to his feet. Jeremie turned in his chair to face Ulrich, who was already getting ready for the battle that was certain to ensue.

"Can you handle him?" he asked.

Ulrich waved his hand carelessly. "Yeah sure. No problem. Look after Yumi."

Jeremie turned to the girl who he was referring, expecting to hear her protest Ulrich’s order and insist that she was capable of looking after herself. To his surprise she said nothing and instead took a step closer to the supercalculator.

She must realize how serious this is, Jeremie mused. "Right." he said in reply to Ulrich. Turning back to the monitor, he glanced a moment to see Odd and Aelita’s progress.

"Odd, Aelita, how are you doing?"

"Well…actually it’s pretty quiet." Odd replied as he and Aelita continued to make their way toward the tower.

Aelita scanned the neighboring paths as Odd guided the vehicle through the wooded sector. Nothing in sight. Then again, they just had a large battle…

"I think I’ve found something!" Jeremie suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Aelita asked, having no clue what he what he was searching through.

"The return…I think I found the file that XANA corrupted!" he replied, almost sounding relieved.

"Great!" Aelita replied. "Now we just have to get to the activated tower."

"Good luck!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Relief surged through Jeremie like he had never felt before. Everything was almost all right again. Now, he just had to pick out the individual file and fix it.

Suddenly a loud thud was heard behind him. Jeremie spun around and saw Ulrich laying limp against the wall beside him. Ulrich didn’t get to his feet this time, however. This time he was out cold.

Jeremie gritted his teeth as he glanced at the monitor. He was so close to finding the file, but hadn’t determined which of the remaining three it was and with William drawing closer to Yumi, he realized he didn’t have time to search. He had to decide which one he was going to have the super computer fix and set up the data for the return trip. If he chose the wrong file to "fix", they all could be in worse shape then they were now. He wasn’t exactly sure how, but it was XANA’s doing. Anything could happen.

Suddenly everything made sense to Jeremie. It was as if a curtain was lifted from his face. XANA had altered the return’s files just before the attack on Yumi. He had merely injured her so that Jeremie would launch a return trip thus carrying out the first part of his evil plot. Then later, once he had the chance to get a hold of the helpless Yumi, he took her to the factory to act as though he was going to kill her, forcing one of the others to come to her rescue, preventing that person from going to Lyoko. Then XANA knew that the two of them would head to the control room where Jeremie would be working on the return files. There, in the small enclosure XANA would strike again, this time getting rid of the third person leaving only Jeremie and Yumi - two easy targets. Knowing Jeremie would be in the predicament that he was in now, XANA would sabotage one file and mess up something in the past, causing major troubles for the rest of them. What those were, Jeremie wasn’t yet sure of nor did he want to find out.

He saw William get closer and closer to Yumi and knew that he had to do exactly what XANA had planned.

He glanced nervously at the three remaining files. He was certain XANA had meant to stop him long before he had narrowed it down to three, but there was still a good chance Jeremie would choose the wrong file. Time was running out.

He clicked the second one to run the automatic repair program before leaping out of his chair and grabbing Yumi by the arm. Dragging her behind him, he ran to the elevator praying that he had chose correctly.

But, when it came to luck, Jeremie had always had the short end of the deal.

*~*~*~*~*

Odd was beginning to believe that they would no longer have any more battles to fight and that they had already defeated all of XANA’s monsters. It seemed that way…after all, no more of XANA’s mechanical minions had made their appearance as of late.

But he had no idea that his overseer had just fled for his - and Yumi’s - lives and could no longer help them. He wasn’t even thinking of the possibility despite the fact that it happened quite often. That was why he was so surprised when a laser blast shot him in the shoulder, throwing him off balance on the Overboard.

However, his cat-like agility allowed him to quickly regain the lost balance and straighten out. Glancing around wildly, he was shocked to see a Tarantula a few steps away from him.

"What the -?! Thanks for the warning Jeremie!" Odd shot, annoyed that the boy had not warned them about the danger.

No reply.

"Jeremie? Jeremie?! Are you there?!" Aelita asked, worriedly.

Still no response.

"Great!" Odd sighed sarcastically. "Now where has he disappeared to?"

"Something’s wrong." Aelita replied after dodging another blast. "We have to get to the tower fast!"

"Just a little something to take care of first." Odd commented as he raised his arm, aiming at the moving monster. "Laser arrow!"

The Tarantula swung around as Odd’s arrow missed it’s target and hit the monster’s back. Annoyed, it sat back on two legs and raised the other two into the air and returned fire, only more rapidly than Odd could match.

That did not mean, however, that he wasn’t able to avoid the blasts. Of course that didn’t mean he dodged them all either. As he prepared to fire back, one of the lasers hit him in the right wrist.

On the supercalculator, his virtual model flashed red and on his ID card, his life points went from 60 to 50. However, there was no one there to warn him. He could only guess on the amount of life points he had remaining.

"Aelita, get to the tower. I’ll hold him off." Odd commanded the girl that was still flying near him.

She glanced at him, then at the Tarantula almost as if she were sizing the monster up. Without a word, she turned the Overwing away from the danger and toward the activated tower as Odd stayed behind, keeping the monster away from her so that she could achieve her goal and save her friends.

Odd watched her go for a moment before turning his attention back to XANA’s monster. He desperately wished Ulrich was on Lyoko right now to help him out, but the fact was he was on his own…again.

Odd knew he could fight against XANA’s monsters unaided by either Ulrich or Yumi. He had already beaten 3 each of Kankrelots and Blocks, not to mention the Schyphizoa without significant point loss, but he was uneasy about that. He should be on his last few points now.

Must be getting better, he mused. The moment of egocentrism was cut short when another blast penetrated his defenses.

Down to 20 life points. Odd knew another hit would mean devirtualization. Shifting his weight so that he could obtain better aim, he momentary looked in the direction Aelita had left only to not see her.

I hope she’s not in any danger… he thought as he turned his attention back at the Tarantula. With a deep breath he fired....and missed. The Tarantula swung and fired.

Odd was immediately devirtualized.

Aelita glanced back only once to check on Odd’s progress. From what she could tell, he was making none. Knowing that he had to have had few life points left, she continued speeding over the path that lay out in front of her. She could see the activated tower not far off in the distance, but while she was closing in, she also had a long way to go.

*~*~*~*

Heart beating, and breath coming at a rapid pace, Yumi clutched tightly to Jeremie. He was her eyes now and the only one that could get both of them out of this situation. She knew that she had to have complete faith in him and trust that he knew what it was he was doing, even if he really didn’t.

Not a word was uttered between them as they sat there, hidden in the shadows of some metal object. She could feel the coldness radiate toward her, causing her to shiver, and her muscles began to cramp from kneeling in the same position without moving. But she made no protest. Jeremie did what he could under the pressing circumstances and she appreciated it.

Abruptly she heard the sound of footfalls. She moved her arm a tad, just enough to alert Jeremie. She could tell by his response that he had also heard the steps and she felt him press his hand down on her back. He wanted her to crouch down lower. She complied with the direction and felt him do the same. She tried to slow down her breathing which had since become erratic. Sweat trickled down from her forehead as she sat in the uncomfortable position, not knowing what to expect next.

The seconds felt as though they were hours as she kept still, listening as those steps drew closer, then faded off in the distance, and came back again. He knew they were in here somewhere, and soon he would run out of other places to look. William would surely find them then. Then what?

Yumi didn’t even want to think about that. As she repressed a shudder she realized that this was how Jeremie must have felt all those other times he fell victim to XANA’s attacks while the rest of them were on Lyoko. She made a mental note: next time Jeremie tells us to ‘hurry up’, super-sprint Aelita to the tower.

Provided, of course, that there was a next time.

William’s footsteps came closer to their hideout than they had before. This time, however, he didn’t turn away. Yumi held her breath in suspense. He was just behind them. Would he peek over the metal barrier between them?

She heard Jeremie shout. XANA saw them. Yumi felt herself being pulled by Jeremie away from their once-safe hiding place. The stiffness in her legs caused Yumi problems. She stumbled, but Jeremie refused to let her fall to the ground. Hoisting her back to her feet, he continued running. Yumi followed, trusting that he wasn’t going to something dangerous. Her life was in his hands now and she knew he knew it. Now she just had to trust that they’d get out of this mess alive.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Jeremie kept glancing over his shoulder to see how far away William was. To his dismay, every time he looked back, William was drawing closer and closer to them. He knew that they - or more specifically he - wouldn’t be able to hold out at this pace much longer. He prayed that Aelita was already in the tower…that’s really all he could do.

If it was just him, he might have been able to manage something that could have bought him more time, but he was also safeguarding Yumi. Her life was in his hands, and that was nothing he could just shake away. He realized how the others must have felt while fighting on Lyoko, knowing that so many lives rested in the palm of their hands.

"Come on." he urged Yumi as she again stumbled. He was determined not to let her fall. She regained her footing and kept pace with Jeremie. He knew that had she had her sight, she’d be the one dragging him.

Jeremie glanced back once again only to find that William was nowhere in sight. Surprised and worried he turned back in front of him just in time to see William land directly in their path. With a startled yelp, Jeremie stopped dead in his tracks. Yumi, not anticipating the sudden stop, plowed into the back of Jeremie. Not noticing, Jeremie turned and fled in the opposite direction.

The turn was so sudden that this time Yumi fell. William was on top of them in moments. Jeremie tried to help her back to her feet but by this time it was too late. William backhanded Jeremie who flew a few feet away from Yumi. Standing between them, William glanced at each before his gaze finally rested on one of them. A yelp of agony quickly followed.

"Jeremie?!"

*~*~*~*