“Energy field!”

Two pink blasts came in my direction. I prayed that they’d both hit me, but no…he blocked one blast with my sword while the other destroyed the Tarantula that stood at my side. I swore but I knew that he was getting very irritated. Guess he expected this to be an easy defeat; he wasn’t expecting Jeremie to program them new outfits…nor was I.

He watched as Aelita, with her beautiful new wings, flew away from out of his reach.
Haha, I smirked at him. Looks like it wasn’t going to be as easy as you thought!

“Shut up boy!” he hissed demonically. “Or I’ll really make you suffer.”

How? I questioned. There’s nothing more you can do to me.

But he didn’t answer. Instead he let out a low chortle which made me feel uneasy.

What are you planning!? I “shouted”. No response.

I watched as Aelita destroyed another Tarantula.

“Well done!” Yumi shouted to her. I had to agree…even if I couldn’t say it.

XANA growled in anger as Aelita landed on the platform and walked into the tower. I cheered. They had done it!

Looks like you’ll have to come up with a new plan, I taunted. But, then again, they’ll just bring you down again.

“Shut up boy!” he hissed again. “Or I’ll make sure you suffer.”

You already told me that, XANA, I replied. And I’ll ask again, What more can you do to me?

“You’re right,” he admitted. “I can do nothing more to you. But I can do something to her.”

I looked out only to realize that he was looking down at Yumi who had her back turned to us. I panicked. He couldn’t…

Before I realized what was happening, I felt us falling to the ground. We landed hard but I couldn’t feel anything. I heard a small gasp come from Yumi as she spun around to see the source of the sound. I felt him force a sneer onto my face.

Leave her alone!

“But why? This will be so much fun? Come on William, you wanted to prove to her just how strong you were when you first came to Lyoko. Why not show her now?”

You monster! If you lay one finger on her I’ll -

“You’ll what? What are you going to do about it?”

I remained silent. What was I going to do? I looked through to Yumi. A mix of shock and fear meshed together on her face. I never saw such a look there…not on Yumi. It was very unsettling for me and I felt my heart began to ache.

Run Yumi! I shouted to dead air. What was I thinking? She couldn’t hear the real me.

Instead she just stared at me in silent shock. She made no sound nor did she make any move to get away.

Why doesn’t she fight? I asked myself. Then I remembered that both of her weapons, her fans, had been lost in battle with the Tarantulas. She had no way to fight.

I felt my feet begin to walk forward, toward her. I tried with all my strength to stop myself, but I couldn’t.

“Foolish boy!”

Suddenly, he stopped my body. I didn’t understand…there was still at least six feet of space between me and Yumi. What was he doing?

My question was quickly answered. I felt my weight shift and before I could think about struggling against him, he pulled out my sword and leveled it at her neck. She began to back away but didn’t get far. Her foot slipped toward the edge. She looked back and my heart felt as though it was about to burst.

“Jeremie!” she cried out. “William’s trying to push me into the Digital Sea!”

My heart sank and I heard XANA’s evil sneer. She said William…she blamed me for doing this to her!

She never said XANA.

No Yumi! I tried to shout. I’m not doing it. XANA is! Please Yumi!

“See boy? You are completely evil in her eyes.”

*~*~*~*~*

I was frozen; I couldn’t move. I’ve never been afraid of XANA before, but I found my insides quivering. If I fell now, there’d be no one to save me. I’d fallen into the Digital Sea before…I had no desire to go back.

“Yumi, I’ll bring you back in!” I heard Jeremie say and I sighed in relief. Too bad the feeling didn’t last…

“Oh no! It’s not working!” I heard him say in a panicked tone. Now I knew I was in big trouble.

“What do you expect?” Odd’s reply came. “Everything’s breaking up!”

“That’s bad news,” I heard Ulrich say.

He’s not kidding! I thought to myself as William’s sword was leveled at my throat. Odd said something in reply, but I couldn’t hear what was said. He must have been too far away from the computer.

I couldn’t help but whimper as William toyed with me. He raised the tip of his sword, forcing my head to rise up. I was straining to keep my neck from being sliced…and he seemed to be enjoying that; he seemed to take pleasure in my agony. Suddenly without any warning, he lowered his sword. I didn’t understand. What was he going to do?

My answer was quickly answered as he strode toward me. He stopped walking when there was only half a foot between us. Too close for my comfort! I felt my body shy away but there wasn’t far I could go.

Our eyes locked. Those dark eyes hid something behind them. I was baffled. Something was different about them at that moment compared to a few seconds earlier. It was almost as if he were no longer the same person.

William? I questioned to myself.

He raised his hand toward my face. I wanted to move but something kept me still. Perhaps it was shock. Perhaps it was fear. Or perhaps it was something totally different. A felt a single finger touch my temple. He slowly, but softly dragged it down my cheek and under my nose. What is going on!? I broke eye contract with him. What was XANA thinking?

He kept going in a jagged line to my other cheek and finally rested his entire hand on the side of my face underneath my hair. I regained eye contact but I pushed his hand away from my face. At that moment I began to understand. William was not XANA…the real William was still inside somewhere!

It took less than a second to realize my mistake; that I shouldn’t have pushed him away. I saw a cloud come across his face and instantly William’s face contoured back into one of pure hate and evil.

XANA was back and I was in trouble. I felt his rough hands push hard against my abdomen.

The next feeling I had was that of falling backward. Instinctively, I reached out to grab something to steady myself. I grabbed William’s arm but it didn’t work.

I felt myself - along with a XANAfied William - falling toward the Digital Sea.

*~*~*~*

I knew that I had to find a way to convince her that I was not the one doing this to her. I had to let her know that I was still here way deep down underneath XANA’s influence. And I had to do it now!

But how?

I wracked my mind trying to think of a way until I realized that there was none…at least, none while I was still under XANA’s control. I began to struggle against him.

“What do you think you’re doing boy?” he hissed.

I’m going to show her that I’m still here! I spat back.

He laughed but it wasn’t as cocky as before. “Go ahead and try!”

I will.

And I did. With every ounce of mental strength I could muster, I shoved him out of the way. Determination pumped through me. I was going to show her that I wasn’t who she thought I was and I was going to make sure she knew that it was really me; the true William who was doing it.

I struggled hard as my body stood there, sword still in hand, raised at Yumi’s throat.

Get away from her!

I gave a last, hard mental shove to XANA and realized immediately that I had done it. I knew that I wouldn’t be free for long…I had to do something now.

With a sigh-like sound, I lowered my sword and strode toward Yumi confidently. She had to know it was me!

But I quickly realized that that wasn’t the case. She shied away, trying to get away from me but had no where to go. I tried to tell her I was sorry but nothing would come out of my mouth. XANA was already regaining control.

I set all my concentration on the frightened girl before me. Yumi, please. I love you. But the words never came. Instead I raised my hand to her face and let one finger softly touch her temple - but in dismay I realized that XANA had already begun to regain control on my senses. I couldn’t feel her at all.

My finger traced her face, hoping to feel something. But no. I couldn’t. If I hadn’t been able to see with my eyes, I would have never known I was that close to her.

Leave me alone!

“Foolish child. I will control you. I already do.”

Not quite yet.

I put my hand on the side of her face. The urge to feel her lips against mine came on strong but before I could even lean forward to attempt it, her hand pushed my arm away.

XANA sneered. “You see. She doesn’t know that it’s you. She sees you as evil. She doesn’t see us as two separate beings.”

He was right. She saw no difference. I withdrew from her and XANA used that brief moment of self-doubt to his advantage. He regained control of my body without much struggle from me. I was ashamed that I had given in so quickly…especially when I saw a brief flicker of recognition flash in Yumi’s dark eyes. She knew! My hopes soared. She realized that XANA and I weren’t the same person!

But my hopes were quickly dashed into tiny pieces when I saw my arm shoved her hard in the abdomen. She lost her balance and began falling backward. She reached out to try to stop herself from falling and grabbed my hand.

I heard XANA yelp in surprise as, while she was falling, she pulled us down with her. Her terrified yell sliced through my brain.

Yumi!

I tried to shout out to her, but it only came out as a basic yell. I knew that I personally was in no danger but she was a different story. As soon as she hit those waves, she would be gone forever.

And it was all my fault.

I could do nothing but watch helplessly as she fell closer and closer to the sea.

“Get one last look at your beloved William.” XANA scoffed evilly. “Because in a few seconds, you’ll never see her again.”

Yumi!

Suddenly, I heard a noise. Glancing up I only had a chance to see a flash of purple before I realized that Yumi was no longer falling. I glanced up and snickered in triumph. Thank you Odd!

“You didn’t think I’d let you down did ya?” I heard Odd ask.

Too bad XANA. Looks like you underestimated them…again.

The demonic entity growled in anger and frustration as we disappeared into the virtual waves of the Digital Sea.

*~*~*~*

For the second time that day - and the eighth-ish time total - I felt the fear of the Digital Sea strangle me. But unlike most of the previous times, this time there was no one there to help me.

Or so I believed.

Just when I thought I was a goner, Odd flew in and saved the day. As I was falling, I heard his Overboard sailing through Lyoko’s skies. I didn’t even have time to turn when I felt my body slam into the vehicle. I felt Odd shift his weight so that we didn’t topple over. With a smirk he turned to me.

“You didn’t think I’d let you down did ya?” he asked.

I couldn’t respond. I glanced back down and watched as William continued to plummet toward the Digital Sea. Moments later he disappeared into the waves.

It could have been me! The thought flew around in my brain as Odd sped away from the scene. If he had been even one second later, I wouldn’t be here now.

The thought gave way to William. He was really there…the real William that is. He was not completely evil but somehow I knew that it may not last. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before XANA took complete control of him. Then what would happen?

“Hey, how do you like my new outfit?”

I heard the question but didn’t really comprehend what Odd was talking about. I glanced at him to make it seem as though I was paying attention even though I wasn’t.

“Yeah that’s what I think too.”

He sped away back toward the tower. As he hovered over the plateau, I shakily got off his vehicle.

“Yumi! Are you alright?” came Jeremie’s concerned voice.

“Uh huh.” I muttered a reply, but I wasn’t sure myself whether it was true or not.

I felt Odd’s eyes on me and turned toward him.

“You sure? You seem a bit…uh, dazed.” He raised a blonde eyebrow. “Did William do something to you?”

“Pushed me in the Sea.” I replied annoyed. I wasn’t about to tell him what happened.

He let out an exasperated sigh. “Besides that.”

“Yumi? Odd? What are you two yammering about?” Ulrich’s voice asked. It was apparent that he wasn’t liking Odd’s questions one bit. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t either.

“Nothing!” I replied, looking pointedly at Odd.

Just at that moment, Aelita made her way out of the tower. She looked at Odd and giggled. “What are you doing here? Nice outfit!”

Odd folded his arms but said nothing in reply. I then felt her eyes wander over to me. I knew she knew something was bothering me but she didn’t ask. She’d save that for later when the boys weren’t around. I’d probably tell her everything. She’d understand more than they would…especially Ulrich.

“Ok, I’m launching a return to the past. Get ready!” Jeremie announced. “Return to the past now!”

Almost immediately after I felt myself being both transported back in time while being devirtualized. I hated the feeling but it was over quickly and I was back in the factory with the others. Ulrich looked directly at me, wanting to know exactly what happened on Lyoko but I just looked away.

I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t tell them that I didn’t think William was evil. I could just hear what they would say…

“He destroyed Lyoko!”

“He kidnapped and nearly killed Aelita”

“He took control of Jeremie’s clone…and tried to kill the real Jeremie!”

“He tried got the clone to attack Odd and Ulrich!”

“He just tried to kill you!”

They wouldn’t understand. Jeremie would just come up with some explanation that in my fear, I only thought I saw what I saw. But I know exactly what I saw.

William’s still here.