The tower loomed right in front of her. She was close enough that she could see the markings on it…and the Megatank that was guarding it.

Aelita grunted in annoyance. She didn’t know where Odd was or if he was even still on Lyoko. She knew that she had to fend for herself this time.

The Megatank spotted her and fired. With a grim, but determined face, Aelita expertly maneuvered the Overwing out of danger. A plan began to form in her mind. All she needed to do was hit it in the eye. But she had no weapon.

Or did she?

She glanced down at the Overwing and a smile sprang to her lips. In order to pull it off, however, she had to time it just right.

The Megatank fired again. As soon as the beam went back in, Aelita sped straight toward the monster. It would take it a while to prepare it’s laser again, giving Aelita the perfect opportunity to pull her plan off.

She was closing in. Faster and faster. The laser was closer to being charged. Aelita could afford no mistakes.

At the last possible second she could, she jumped off the vehicle. She rolled end over end a couple of times before finally stopping. She glanced up just in time to see the Overwing collide with the Megatank, it’s bottom striking the monster right in the mark. Instantly the thing exploded.

Now she was free and clear and wasted no time running toward the tower. She could only pray that it wasn’t too late.

Yumi could hear Jeremie’s cries of pain. Crawling on her hands and knees, she tried to make her way over to him, but a sharp kick in the ribs prevented her from moving any closer. Her breath left her in a hiss. Despite the fact that she couldn’t see him, Yumi felt herself glare intensely at William. It was really all she could do. The cries continued.

She couldn’t take it any longer. Regardless of whether William saw her or not, she struggled to her feet, the big-sister instinct she had toward the boy genius beginning to take over her actions. Before she even knew what it was that she was doing, she launched herself at William and was surprised when she felt her hands over his face. Part of her ached inside. She was attacking a friend.

Yet this friend, at the moment, could kill her and the others and never receive a scratch from any of her attacks. Regardless of who it was, she just couldn’t stand by and allow him to kill off any of her friends. Jeremie held a certain place in her heart. He was like the perfect younger brother to her, the one she could talk to when she was having doubts about herself, about XANA…about Ulrich. She couldn’t just sit idly by and allow him to continue in this agony. Not while she was there anyway.

"Run!" she urged the boy.

"I’m not leaving you." he said stubbornly, but weakly. Yumi knew that if XANA attacked him again, he wouldn’t hold out much longer.

Hands gripped her upper arms enough to bruise them. She winced as William pulled her off of him. The next feeling she had was of flying through the air. That is until her back slammed into some hard, metal object behind her. This time all the air contained in her lungs was expelled. She wheezed as she sat there for a moment, dazed. Jeremie let out another cry of pain.

Aelita, please hurry!

The wall of the tower gave way as soon as Aelita put her hands through. The rest of her body followed as she passed into the tower. Walking into the center of the first platform, she could only hope that Jeremie, Yumi, and Ulrich were alright as she leaned her head back and floated up toward the second platform.

Jeremie felt only agony. Agony that he was unable to free himself from. He glanced over at Yumi’s dazed figure just in time to see her body become surrounded by the blue electricity he found himself in. She cried out.

"Yumi…" he could only mutter as he felt himself beginning to slip out of consciousness.

Landing on the second platform, Aelita strode over to the center where an interface immediately popped up. She reached out and set her hand on the interface. The thing recognized her instantly and her name flashed on the screen for a few seconds. AELITA…

Yumi struggled to keep awake. Jeremie’s cries had begun to subside and she feared he was on the verge of death. Or he already was dead.

She felt a lump rise in her throat. No, he was fine. Aelita had to be deactivating the tower now and at any moment now XANA’s attack would stop.

But the electricity just kept coming.

Aelita’s name disappeared off the interface. CODE:

The windows that had been activated each began to close down.

"Tower, deactivated." Aelita announced as she took a step back from the interface. She watched as all the windows finished shutting down.

William’s eyes returned to normal and he collapsed to the ground. Yumi and Jeremie also fell and laid there for a moment, dazed.

"Jeremie?" Yumi asked, making sure he was alright. She received no answer and instead heard labored breathing. On her hands and knees she crawled toward the sound and finally stumbled on his limp figure. He breath was shallow…he was nearly dead. "Please tell me you launched a return…" she said gravely even though she knew that he couldn’t hear her.

A white light sprung up from the bottom of the tower. Aelita was the first to feel the effects as it engulfed her, then all of Lyoko, Odd, the lab, Ulrich, the factory, Yumi and Jeremie, and the entire city. As time was being reversed Odd frantically prayed that Ulrich, Jeremie, and Yumi were all alright.

After the blinding light passed, Yumi, Jeremie, and the others found themselves back in time nearly a week back. Jeremie looked around apprehensively, wondering if he had chose the right file. Everything looked normal…apparentally he had chosen correctly. Jeremie sighed in relief. No one said as word and the only sounds that could be heard was the sound of random chattering from other children that stood nearby. Odd was the first one to break the silence.

"Great!" he whined as he realized how far the return had put them. "We’re going to have to relive a week?!"

Nobody paid the slightest attention to his comment. Yumi turned her head toward each of them before she stopped at Ulrich. "Nice to see you again, Ulrich." she said with a smile.

"Y-you can see me?" Ulrich exclaimed, almost breathless. Yumi nodded and laughed. "That’s great!"

Before he realized what he was doing, he threw his arms around her neck and hugged her. Yumi was at first shocked at this sudden show of happiness, but she had to admit, she didn’t mind it. As if realizing what it was he had done, Ulrich let go and backed away, his face crimson. Yumi felt a twinge of disappointment that the embrace had been cut off so quickly, but she refused to show it. Her face, however, told another story. It was a shade lighter than Ulrich's, but the others could tell that they were both delighted by what Ulrich had done.

"Don’t worry Odd." Jeremie commented after seeing Ulrich and Yumi's reaction. "I have the feeling that it’s going to be quite different this time."

Meanwhile, Sissi had made her way to Ulrich. "Oh Ulrich!" she called out in a sing-song manner.

"Oh great." Ulrich muttered under his breath as his face returned to normal. "What do you want?"

"Ulrich guess what?"

Odd piped up before any answer could be made. "The Subsonics are playing in town this weekend and you have 2 front row tickets."

A shocked look came across Sissi’s face. "But, how did you know that?"

"I have my ways."

This time it was Ulrich’s turn to speak up. "No, Sissi, I will not go with you."

"What?!" Sissi exclaimed incredulously. "Why…?!"

"I have my reasons." he replied as he turned to Yumi and smiled. Yumi continued to blush but smiled back.

"Erg!" Sissi growled.

"Hey, Sissi, why don’t you ask Herb? I’m sure he’d be delighted." Aelita suggested with a small laugh.

Sissi’s face grew red as she stormed away. Odd glanced over at Ulrich and Yumi who were once again beat red before finally turning to Jeremie. "You know, Jeremie, I think you’re right." he said with a sly smile. "This week is definitely not going to be the same."

THE END