Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

"ENERGY FIELD!"

"SUPER SMOKE!"

Aelita and William wasted no time getting into their single combat, with Aelita firing one of her two energy fields at William as he charged forward. However, William was no slouch and readily used his newfound powers to avoid damage. Being XANA's general had its perks, and William's Super Smoke ability was perhaps the biggest advantage he held in combat over the others.

William devolved into a cloud of smoke which trailed along the icy floor. Aelita fired another energy field into the smoke, which had no effect. William emerged from behind Aelita and tried to kick her in the back, intending to knock her towards the Digital Sea.

However, Aelita was not caught off-guard, and promptly grabbed ahold of Williams leg with one hand before using her other hand to punch him in the face, something William did not anticipate. Never had Aelita actually tried to just throw hands with him, and the punch caught him off-guard so much that he fell to the ground.

The shock didn't last long though, as William swiftly leapt to his feet and dodged another energy field that Aelita tried to hit him with while he was down. He punched her in the gut so hard that she gasped and doubled over, nearly losing her footing altogether.

"Clever trick." He commented. "But it's not enough."

Then he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, squeezing tightly. The wounded Aelita choked in the grasp of XANA's general. She struggled to focus on creating her energy fields and slapped at his face instead, even trying to poke his eyes.

The XANA logo on William's forehead flashed as he enveloped black smoke onto Aelita, suspending her in a paralyzed state and allowing William a certain parameter of paralysis over her. He moved towards the Digital Sea, carrying the suspended Aelita with him as she screamed in protest.

"NO!"

"Yes."

William's blunt mockery came as Aelita screamed even louder and clenched her fists, struggling like an animal to escape her binds as death drew close.

"This is the end!" William boasted. "For you and all of your friends!"

"Not today!" Aelita shouted before closing her eyes and emitting a soft and angelic sound from her throat. Her Creativity was recognized immediately, William remembering when Aelita used it to break free of his smoke for the first and only time. He slowed his movement to the Digital Sea and smiled, keeping hand pointed at her.

"You're going to need some new tricks, princess." William told her as he stopped and clenched his fist, trying to tighten his hold over her. "You're not escaping me again."

But despite his boast, William struggled to contain her. His entire arm began to shake from the strain of keeping Aelita suspended, and his face contorted as if he were in pain. It took all of William's focus to restrain her, meaning he had to slow down to nearly a complete halt.

Aelita, meanwhile, refused to stop her soft and melodic prayer. William took increasingly slower steps towards the Digital Sea, but Aelita's melodic voice got even louder and he had to stop moving altogether just to maintain the smoke.

A growl of frustration built in William's throat. Though it was likely he could tire Aelita out by continuing their struggle, spending hours hunting his target down just to be unable to move her when he was so close to victory was infuriating and started to cloud his judgement.

Finally, XANA's general had enough. Refusing to tolerate any further delay, William opted to abandon his attempt to tighten the hold and tried to simply rush to the Digital Sea, only for Aelita to finally break out of his smoke and immediately hit him with an energy field.

In addition to surprises, William was at the disadvantage of having to hold back. If he devirtualized Aelita, he could not toss her into the Digital Sea to lure out her father. This had not proved a problem until now, having always overwhelmed Aelita on his own despite holding back.

In one such instant of restraint, William launched a low powered energy slash from his blade at Aelita, who quickly leapt to the side. Even though he needed Aelita alive and one slash from his claymore would devirtualize her, the weapon was far from useless. If he could exhaust Aelita, he could wrap her up in black smoke for good and freely toss her into the Digital Sea.

Next William threw his massive weapon directly at Aelita, who used an energy line to reduce the impact, though she fell back a few feet towards the Digital Sea. Once again, William turned himself into black smoke and manifested in front of the downed Aelita before trying to grab her neck again with his free hand.

"And don't forget that a good defense is the best offense!"

Quickly recalling Yumi's training in the heat of battle, this particular line inspired her to create another energy line. As William made to throat-grab her, Aelita raised up her energy line so that William's hand was caught in it and pink energy was sent coursing through his veins. William screamed in shock and backed away, snarling at her.

"That clever enough?" Aelita quipped as she got up.

"You are losing too many life points, William." XANA again chided as he whispered to the increasingly frustrated William.

I will not fail you again, my master. William promised, before raising his claymore to block more incoming energy fields.

As Aelita launched them, she ran away from William and towards the Tower, attempting to quickly enter it.

"SUPER SMOKE!"

William, after blocking the energy fields, quickly evaporated and manifested himself between the Tower and Aelita. The second that William finished manifesting, however, a prepared Aelita promptly punched William in the throat. Though this didn't hurt as much in the virtual world, it still left William gasping for breath. Wasting no time, Aelita shoved her knee into his stomach before grabbing him by the hair and ramming her knee directly into his face.

William hit the floor with a shout of pain, dropping his claymore. Had she not done this before, Aelita would have stepped on the weapon, but William would just call it back to trip Aelita. So instead, Aelita kicked it away and hit him with yet another energy field. Thinking him stunned, Aelita raised up her hands, planning to conjure up another large energy field to finish him off.

But to her surprise, William refused to stop attacking. He stood up even as the painful energy was still washing over him and grit his teeth. Barely a second after Aelita started gathering energy, William sent an uppercut that knocked her to the ground. It was as if the mere concept of failing here, when Aelita was completely alone, was the final humiliation that XANA's general would not stand for.

The pink-haired princess coughed and shook her head before she noticed William attempting to kick her while she was down. Aelita pushed his foot back and rose to her feet, delivering a vicious right hook that snapped William's head to the side. Rolling her shoulders and taking a boxing stance, Aelita readied herself for hand-to-hand combat, flashing William a little sweet smile that only infuriated him even more.

William lunged forward and threw several punches at Aelita, though with reckless abandon. Aelita quickly slapped his fist away on the last attempt and shifted closer, jabbing William in the face. His head lowered and gave him up-close proximity to Aelita. She stared him in the Eye (the one on his forehead) before uppercutting him. He staggered back, but Aelita granted him no reprieve, attempting to sweep his legs out from under him.

Just before her legs hit, William jumped over the attack and spun around, smashing his elbow into her face. She screamed, holding her hands to her face. If that were in the real world, the impact would've broken her nose. Whatever force Aelita's blows had, William offered more.

Mere fists weren't enough to down XANA's general, a lesson learned when a hard punch to Aelita's side had the pink-haired girl gritting her teeth and staggering back. She tried hitting him, and he grabbed her fist before punching her hard in the chest. She quickly lost ground from William's solid advance and strength. Aelita desperately tried to ready another energy field before a kick to the gut sent her to the ground.

Thinking Aelita had enough, William gathered up black smoke and readied to paralyze her once more. Just as the smoke was ready, Aelita lashed her foot up and kicked William in the leg. Staggered, he fell on one knee and his smoke went in a completely different direction. Aelita quickly brought her leg up again and kicked William directly in the face, knocking him down once more.

William snarled as they both got up. He wrapped his arm around Aelita's neck and put her into a headlock, certain that this would restrain Aelita all he needed. The General barely had time to start gathering up smoke before Aelita grabbed ahold of the arm crossing her chest and flipped William over her shoulder, finding that this feat was easier to accomplish on Lyoko than in the real world. William landed with a thud on the ground.

Climbing atop XANA's fallen general, Aelita gripped William's throat tightly and bashed his head against the icy floor. As she did so, her hands glowed with pink energy and began to burn William's throat. The pink-haired princess bared her teeth and snarled at him. It was almost as if Aelita had become a wild animal, out to slaughter her prey. A sharp contrast to the past few hours.

William used one hand to call back his claymore, the blunt end of which struck Aelita in the back. She screamed and fell off of William. Both opponents went on all fours, coughing or groaning. Aelita rubbing her head and seeing stars, while William was coughing as his throat agonized from Aelita's energy.

Despite his pain, William recovered first. He grabbed Aelita by the shoulders and attempted to envelop her in black smoke, only for Aelita to quickly rear her head back and headbutt William in the face. William cried out, his focus completely destroyed, before Aelita fired a point-blank range energy field that sent William flying against and then directly into the Tower. Aelita knelt down, taking the opportunity to catch her breath and clear her very much aching head.

As energetic and determined as Aelita seemed to be, her exhaustion was a reminder that the Guardian of Lyoko was giving this fight everything she had. Aelita poured all of her energy and training to triumph against the strongest of XANA's pawns. Nonetheless, for all the boost she got from her anger and resolve, Aelita couldn't keep it up forever. She took deep breaths as she saw stars, waiting with dread for the battle to continue.

Inside the Tower, William snarled in frustration and slammed his fist against the floor. It felt embarrassing and infuriating to suddenly have this much trouble when Aelita was completely alone. But it was also shocking. She had fought back sometimes, true, but never to this extent. The mission looked increasingly hopeless; he was the last obstacle Aelita had to deactivating the Tower, and he was almost out of life points too.

"Once again..." XANA whispered in his general's head, making no effort to hide its distain. "You disappoint me, boy."

"I'm so close, master..." William panted. "I just need a bit more time to-" before he felt his head ringing and a glow overtaking his body.

"You have tired her out. That is enough.  Assuming direct control."

Aelita was soon back on her feet and had two energy fields ready for when William exited the tower, though her legs were shaking from the strain of standing up. If she wanted to remain standing, she'd have to finish William quickly.

However, what exited the Tower was not William, but a black-clad demon with the XANA logo on its forehead and cold dark eyes. Aelita thought of him as a black hole, his darkness came to swallow the light of both Lyoko and Earth under nothing remained. A locust, come to devour all in its path, starting with Aelita and her father.

The Avatar of XANA held out a hand and called the claymore back to it. He strolled out towards Aelita until he was a few feet away, easily blocking her energy fields with the claymore.

"As you humans say, when you want a job right, you have to do it yourself."

Aelita waved a hand over her star-shaped bracelet and activated her Angel Wings.

"Guardian of Lyoko." He raised the claymore up and pointed it up at Aelita, saying "It is long past time you learned what becomes of those who dare to cross me."

"Cross you?!" Aelita growled as she flew above the Avatar of XANA. "I'll kill you!"

Aelita faced an enemy she never had, so the aerial advantage was the first priority for her. Besides, it was good to relieve her aching legs. She flew high up, though not to the point where she would hit the minefield around her. She then launched an energy field that hit XANA dead on.

To her shock, however, XANA did not fall to his knees or even stumble. He simply stood there as the pink energy washed over him. Every organism on Lyoko, monster or not, had a pained reaction to her energy fields without question. The Avatar twitched a slight bit, but it just stood there as if a needle poked him.

"I have restored all the life points that you took from William...and added far more." XANA calmly explained. "Every advantage that you think you have, you do not."

"I still have the high ground!" Aelita pointed out, knowing XANA couldn't toss her into the Digital Sea if he couldn't reach her.

"Clever plan..."

XANA snaped the Avatar's fingers and two black clad wings sprouted from its shoulder blades.

"...Let me ruin that for you."

Are you kidding me?!

Without another word, XANA flew upwards as an incredulous Aelita dashed to the left, readying an energy field in each hand.

Aelita launched energy field after energy field at the Avatar, while XANA frequently spewed black smoke at Aelita's position. Aelita noticed that the smoke looked much thicker and menacing than William's, surmising that breaking free from XANA's black smoke would be much harder than William's. In addition, XANA's reaction times were far faster than that of William, and he readily blocked or dodged all energy fields that Aelita threw at him.

As full of vengeance and rage Aelita was, she was smart enough to know when she was outmatched. If this kept going for much longer, her fatigue would set in, and XANA would immediately set about tossing her into the Digital Sea. She could try making another beeline for the Tower, but that too was far riskier with XANA himself than William. And the Avatar could just enter the Tower anyways.

Even despite it being the first time that the Avatar of XANA was ever used, XANA was quickly proving to be Aelita's superior in combat. Not only Aelita, but any Lyoko Warrior. Perhaps even all of them at once would struggle against the Avatar. The couple of times that Aelita did manage to hit the Avatar, it had almost no reaction, as if it was barely damaged at all.

"Do you feel the blood running cold on your skin?" XANA mercilessly asked. "The chills running up your spine as you realize that you cannot win? This place is your grave, and it will be your father's as well."

Aelita grit her teeth but refrained from unleashing her anger. It was clear that XANA's taunts had the purpose of getting her to make an impulsive move so he could take advantage.

"Why do you fight for someone who is already dead?" XANA dodged another energy field. "What hope is there for your father? There is none. He is but a speck in a sea of darkness that will swallow him whole."

She had to stay calm in this fight if she was going to triumph, but XANA's taunts had a scream of frustration building up in Aelita's throat. To make matters worse, she was starting to become tired, and if she lost her wings, XANA could easily swoop in and claim victory. Energy field after energy field failed to make any difference, nor did she have the time or space to try either a Clone of herself or Creativity.

"Welcome death. Do not fight it. Its embrace will be sweeter than you can imagine. I promise it will be sweeter than what the Men in Black received."

Aelita needed time to think, and if it meant keeping XANA talking, then she was more than happy to resort to that.

"What do you mean?" Aelita asked, pausing her movements but ready to dash again the moment XANA attacked. "You said you only crippled the organization, not completely destroyed it."

XANA stopped moving as well but didn't take the Avatar's eyes off Aelita. It appeared that the A.I. was in the need to talk, to confess maybe.

"I was talking about when I was first deployed by Franz Hopper, but then again I didn't mention the next time I checked on them, didn't I? Maybe that was because you threw a temper tantrum."

Aelita narrowed her eyes and a low growl emitted from her throat. "Just tell me what happened to the Men in Black."

"As you wish. It was only when I was free from Lyoko and gained access to the network, that I was able to spread my influence farther than ever before. No database was safe from my grasp, and that was when I decided to check on the Men in Black to see how they were doing since they failed to kill your father."

As Aelita put her mind to work on strategy, she couldn't shake the feeling of morbid curiosity, so she asked, "And did Project Carthage disband?"

"After the setback, the manager, Alexandar Griffin, pressured his employees to restart the project on the pain of death. Most complied and returned, while those who objected were either murdered or disappeared.  Alexandar even executed his some of his security team for failing to stop my initial attack.  Even though I was long focused on winning the war against you and your friends, I decided to take action against them when I had the free time. It was their fault that we are where we are today, after all."

"So, what did you do?"

"I tracked down and possessed the Labatory that Project Carthage and the Men in Black were operating at. This came after I waited until they were gathered in the same place, but it took a long time. An organization as top-level and secret as Project Carthage does not often do a full meeting. But when they did..."

XANA let out a dark chuckle, and Aelita felt a chill run up her spine as the A.I. spoke with emotion. Anger, excitement, jubilation, and resentment. This memory had evoked more emotion from him than anything before, perhaps even more than the encounter in XANA's virtual world of Earth.

"I savored their screams, their terror, and their agony as I locked down the building and slaughtered them all. I watched as they all tried to escape or fired their guns at what I assaulted them with. It was futile, but I savored every moment. I saved Alexandar  for last, just so he could watch everything he worked for perish first."

"How come we didn't see the Tower activate then?" Aelita questioned. "You can't do anything in the real world without one!"

"Do you remember the time when I activated a Tower simply to divert you from the Core of Lyoko, but then it turned out that you and Odd Della Robbia had gone to Sector Five by yourselves, and thus happened to see what was going on?"

It didn't take long to remember that. Aelita and Odd had launched an incursion into Sector Five to try and find data on her father, without telling Jeremie. When he caught them and had Aelita deactivate the Tower, nothing had happened in the real world. The Tower had just been a diversion so nobody would suspect anything was happening to the Core.

"That wasn't just to distract us from the Core, you used it to kill them all too!" 

"Correct. While the purpose as to distract you from the Core, I still made use of the Tower in a way that none of you would know what I was doing. You may have found and saved the Core, but I still accomplished my secondary objective. I do not activate a Tower just to do nothing with it."

"And even after that, you still didn't see anything on my mother?" Aelita sought to confirm.

"No. They never mentioned her again after the date of her disappearance. Alexandar had even wiped out all profiles and data on former members just to ensure nothing could be traced back to him. There was not even a speck of her in the data I found there before and after the massacre. All major governments launched investigations into the massacre but found nothing linking me. After all, my existence is unknown outside of you and your friends."

XANA shook the Avatar's head and readied his black smoke. "It was out of respect for lasting this long that I chose to give you that information, and it was out of respect for my creator that I slaughtered the humans who took his wife and your mother. Now, you will die, knowing that your entire race will follow."

Aelita gritted her teeth, but the conversation had given her time to think. If direct combat wouldn't work, then she looked around at the environment, Aelita noticed how tightly gathered that the Mantas' mines surrounding them were. A single explosion could set off a chain reaction that blew up the minefield and anything inside. The two Mantas that set them up watched their master battle at a considerable distance away, perhaps anticipating such a reaction. That gave Aelita an idea.

She flew closer to the minefield, daring XANA to follow her. The Avatar launched more black smoke; Aelita blocked with her energy line which, unlike with William's smoke, immediately dissipated. Some of the smoke was able to collide with Aelita, though not enough to completely paralyze her.

"Welcome death. Do not fight it. Its embrace will be sweeter than you can imagine."

Aelita gasped and lowered her head as well as her wings, as if disoriented.

"I am a flawless program, and you are only human."

Seizing its chance, XANA lunged forward to grab her by the neck, only for Aelita to flap her wings to the side and fire another energy field, using the momentum to strike XANA in the chest and send its Avatar directly into the minefield. The Avatar of XANA collided with a single mine, which primed and prepared to explode.

Immediately understanding the implications, XANA attempted to leave only for Aelita's foot to come rushing into his face and kick him right back inside. Mine after mine exploded next to XANA, the sheer force of those blows repeatedly sending it's Avatar colliding into more mines. Even a single mine explosion was enough to annihilate a regular Lyoko Warrior at the appropriate range, and XANA suffered explosion after explosion.

But whenever XANA attempted to activate his Super Smoke, just to try and escape from the minefield, another mine detonation was always there to interrupt him. Around halfway through, XANA lost his grip on its claymore, which landed on more mines and was destroyed. Dozens upon dozens of mines exploded near the Avatar of XANA before finally, one last explosion sent it plummeting into the icy floor below.

As the rest of the mines exploded around them, Aelita landed and approached XANA, who was propped on one knee taking heavy breathes, his wings destroyed. The Avatar of XANA was truly a living testament to the word "durability" to have not been devirtualized by now. Seeing her enemy unarmed and on the brink of death, Aelita pointed her hand at XANA.

It's over. Aelita thought as she readied an energy field-

Only for XANA to howl in rage and punch Aelita hard in the stomach, so hard that she was sent flying all the way to the edge of the battlefield, right above the Digital Sea. Aelita coughed and struggled to compose herself as the Avatar of XANA stomped towards her, each stomp leaving cracks on the icy floor. Even without a weapon, XANA would not stop until its enemy was dead. The Avatar stumbled a few times on the way, the mines clearly having done severe damage to its Avatar.

Seeing XANA's approach, Aelita clasped her hands together and formed a wall of thick ice around her using Creativity. So thick that it was not transparent, meaning XANA had no view on the other side. The fact that it did not have a claymore did not deter the Avatar in the slightest, as it simply punched through the Ice and tore it apart with his bare hands. Never since that day in the virtual world had XANA been so infuriated. Because of obstacles that his own monsters created, XANA was on the brink of losing the battle.

"I am not your pawn! You will never possess me or use me ever again!"

XANA heard Aelita shouting in defiance behind the ice wall, but he paid no mind to it and continued tearing at the ice.

"So many have suffered at your hands!" Aelita roared. "All because you can't accept being the coward that you are!"

XANA snarled and threw another punch that broke directly through the Ice. It wasn't long now before he would completely break through.

"Everything you have called us has always been you, XANA! Despite all his flaws, my father is ten times the man you are!"

XANA's throat burned in anger as he threw one last punch that completely shattered the ice wall surrounding his enemy. He stepped forward, only to see that Aelita had used the intervening time to prepare the largest energy field she had ever created.

"NOW, FALL!"

Aelita poured every ounce of hatred she carried for XANA into her this energy field, screaming until her throat was raw as she unleashed it upon her tormentor.

With his claymore gone, XANA tried to draw upon his Super Smoke, only to realize that the mines had burned through far too many of his life points and energy to do so.

"NO!"

XANA could do nothing but scream as its Avatar (and William's body) was obliterated by the depths of Aelita's rage, devolving in a stream of black smoke that automatically retreated into the Digital Sea.

"Yes."

Aelita's blunt mockery was followed by her falling on all fours.

It was tiring enough to prepare and launch a single huge energy field. It was another thing to launch two huge energy fields, but launching three in one day drained so much of Aelita's energy that she felt like passing out.

But Aelita refused to stay down, instead crawling back towards the Tower until she was able to stand. She refused to celebrate what she had just done until the mission was complete. She still had a Tower to deactivate. To save her friends, Aelita fought through her exhaustion even as her vision became dizzy and disoriented. Frequently gasping for breath, Aelita held a hand to her stomach as she walked.

As Aelita neared the Tower, she noticed that the two Mantas watching the battle were moved into action by the destruction of their master's Avatar. Just as they started to fire, Aelita collided with the Tower's surface and phased into it. The Mantas circled the Tower, emitting mournful cries of defeat.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!"

XANA-Aelita had finally brought the four Lyoko Warriors to the abandoned Hermitage under the pretense of making her announcement. Heading up to one of the bedrooms, XANA-Aelita heard her counterpart's friends making jokes and laughing all the way. It would make it all the sweeter when she tore their laughter from their throats.

"So," Jeremie started, his voice shimmering with anticipation. "What have you got for us, Aelita?"

Leaning against a wall, "Aelita" was about to start speaking when she heard XANA outright screaming in her head. XANA had never screamed before, and that could only mean the unthinkable had happened: despite all the obstacles that XANA had prepared for her, including personally manifesting on Lyoko, Aelita had overcome it all and entered the Tower, ready to deactivate it. At once, "Aelita" dispensed with the pleasantries.

"Aelita" turned to Jeremie and walked until she was directly in front of him.

"Oh Jeremie..."

In full view of the Lyoko Warriors, the eyes of "Aelita" flashed with the XANA logo and her lips twisted to form an evil grin.

"Aelita is taking a little swim on Lyoko right now."

Jeremie gasped as Aelita's evil twin grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against a wall, his glasses falling to the floor.

Aelita, the very picture of exhaustion, slowly stumbled to the center of the platform and reared her head up, beginning to levitate up the activated Tower.

"JEREMIE!"

Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich cried out his name at the same time as this evil twin of their close friend grabbed their leader and began to strangle him with only one hand. They dove forwards, grabbing XANA-Aelita and trying to pull her off. The Clone laughed at their efforts and channeled electricity, now simultaneously choking and electrocuting the young genius.

Aelita performed a backflip in the air as she levitated.

"NO!" "GET OFF OF HIM!" "STOP!"

The other three Lyoko Warriors screamed in protest. Odd picked up a chair and smashed it against XANA-Aelita, with no effect. The Clone was no longer messing around or holding back as it did with Aelita, making full use of its invulnerability. Jeremie wailed in agony as electricity surged through his body, much to the horror of his friends.

Aelita reached the second platform and walked up to the control panel in its middle, putting her hand on it as the word "Aelita" appeared on the screen.

Yumi and Odd whacked the Clone with more furniture, which also had no effect. XANA-Aelita grinned as Jeremie's eyes began to turn white as a result from the sustained electrocution and shock. Ulrich kicked Aelita's evil twin in the head as hard as he could, to which the Clone laughed even harder and then used her free hand to electrocute Ulrich, sending the Lyoko Samurai flying.

Aelita eagerly watched as the word "Code" appeared on the control panel.

XANA-Aelita charged her other hand with electricity and raised it to punch Jeremie in the face. Such an empowered punch was certain to make a bloody hole in Jeremie's head. Yumi and Odd grabbed her arm, trying desperately to keep her from harming their leader. Ulrich, his hair a mess, rose up and joined his comrades in attempting to restrain XANA-Aelita. The shock began to envelop them too, but the three Lyoko Warriors refused to let go despite their increasing pain.

It was futile, and XANA-Aelita reared her fist back.

Finally, the word "Lyoko" was added to the control panel, spelling out "Code: Lyoko"

Suddenly, the XANA logo vanished from the eyes of Aelita's evil twin. All flow of electricity stopped and her grip on Jeremie ceased. XANA-Aelita reared her head towards the ceiling and let out an ear-piercing shriek of defeat and anger. The Clone's human shape evaporated, and it returned into its specter form, which floated up into the ceiling and faded away into nothingness.

Immediately, Ulrich, Odd and Yumi gathered towards Jeremie and checked on his condition. He painfully groaned on the floor and picked up his glasses, the experience having been quite similar to when the possessed Nicholas tried choking and electrocuting him to death. Once he regained enough function, he cried out:

"A-AELITA!"

"Tower deactivated..." Aelita said, watching the screens fall. She then lowered herself to the first platform and promptly collapsed in its center, closing her eyes as she lost consciousness.

She had done it. She had defeated every single obstacle in her path and completed her mission. She had taken revenge on the Scyphozoa, defeated William in single combat, destroyed her evil twin, and sent XANA himself screaming away in defeat. With her Clone gone, the others would soon realize what had happened and no doubt come rushing into the Factory. All Aelita had to do now was wait inside the Tower for them to arrive.

Aelita's slumber lasted until she heard a mysterious sound coming from outside of the Tower. For some reason, it jolted her awake. It didn't sound like the Mantas, yet Aelita couldn't shake the familiar feeling of it. With the Scyphozoa, William and XANA all gone, there was no danger of being forced into the Digital Sea. Even if the two Mantas were still there, they couldn't just push her in. Even if they could, Aelita would just devirtualize herself or use her wings.

And so, exiting the Tower to investigate, she saw the two Mantas circling above the Tower. Aelita stared at them, and they stared at her back until they noticed the strange sound Aelita heard and turned towards the Digital Sea.

Out of the corner of her eye, Aelita made out a shining light. It was as if it was calling out to her.

Aelita turned to see a familiar brightly lit bubble emerging from the sea and resting upon the surface of the ice, cautiously staying at the platform's very edge. It was mostly blue, with a pink exterior.

Daddy...

The Mantas and Aelita beheld what was none other than Franz Hopper himself. She noticed the Mantas turning towards each other as if in conversation over whether to attack. The Creator of Lyoko, meanwhile, did not move from the edge of the platform, ready to dive back in and retreat at once if need be.

Seeing this, an enraged Aelita sprouted her Angel Wings and readily flew between her father and the monsters. She had no idea why her father was here now, but she questioned nothing. Despite all her fatigue, Aelita swooped like an angel as she took her position, feeling so alight with power and rage that she felt like she could cut them in two with just the force of her fury alone.

"LEAVE MY FATHER ALONE!"

The Mantas did not fire their lasers as they stood in a standoff. Soon, however, the Mantas bowed before Aelita in a gesture of respect. Aelita had only seen this once before, when the Lyoko Warriors and XANA had worked together to stop the out-of-control Marabounta program. But unlike then, this gesture was made solely for Aelita herself, not for all of the Lyoko Warriors. Then the monsters turned and flew away.

For the first time since she was brought to Lyoko so many years ago, Aelita was alone with her father. Not a decoy, not a specter of him, but the true Franz Hopper. Here in the flesh, so to speak. She blinked rapidly, as if wanting to make sure that this was no dream, and yet the orb that was her father kept floating there, unflinching.

It's really him...after all this time...

Aelita checked to make sure XANA wasn't attempting a sneak attack of any kind. Once she was sure they were safe, Aelita deactivated her Angel Wings and walked towards the brightly lit bubble until she was directly in front of it.

She brought up a hand but paused, asking "May I touch you?"

The orb nudged forward and Aelita made physical contact with her father.

"My daughter."

Aelita gasped, hearing the voice of Franz Hopper as soon as her hand was on the orb. It took a moment for this to sink in, that she would not only see, but actually talk to her father. Her voice choked with boundless joy when she managed to speak.

"D-daddy...y-you're actually here." Aelita sniffled, quickly being overcome with emotion. "It's r-really you..."

"It is. I promise you; it is no trick." Franz Hopper said. "I am sorry that I could not come sooner. But being out here in the open, even for even a minute, risks losing everything."

Aelita wrapped her arms for a full-scale hug around the bubble that was her father. He leaned her head against the orb so that there was no space between them, so that Aelita could feel the hope that she had so gallantly fought for all this time.

"Don't apologize, daddy. I understand. But I'm here. If XANA wants you, he will have to go through me, because you are my father. I will not let him have you. Not while I have any breath in my body."

The light on Hopper's orb shined in response to his daughter's words. "I am so proud of you, Aelita. When we hid out here on Lyoko, I could never have imagined you all grown up like this. I have been watching you for a long time, Aelita. From the depths of the network. Watching you grow and evolve."

"I have so many questions." Aelita softly said. "And so little time. But...what have you been up to all this time? And why are you here now?"

"Looking for a way to destroy XANA." Franz Hopper explained. "I can't say too much while XANA is watching, but I can say that I have made substantial progress. As for why I am here, it is because of what you did. You have fought today for love, not just for your friends, but for me. It is more than I deserve."

Aelita shook her head in vehement denial. "No. You may have made mistakes, horrible ones, in your pursuit to destroy Project Carthage, but I believe in you, Daddy. I fight for the joy of humanity. Most especially you, but not only you. Without Jeremie and the others, I would have fallen long ago to XANA."

"I wanted to see you, if only for a minute. You have more than earned it. You say that you fight for love, but so do I. For you. And I wanted you to feel it too, even if I cannot assume my human form."

"The fact that you came out of your way to comfort me, even with the risks involved, just proves what we already know: You are a good man, Waldo Schaeffer."

"It has been...a long time, since I have heard that name." The old genius admitted. "But to feel my daughter and see the grown woman she has become? I am happy, just as your mother would be."

The creator of Lyoko paused momentarily, prompting Aelita to ask. "Daddy...what was mother like?"

The light on Hopper's orb shined even more, emotions coming to light that he hadn't felt for so long. It had been over a decade since he had the chance to talk about his wife to literally anyone. He would not deny himself that chance, especially not when his daughter wanted to know.

"She was a childhood friend of mine. She was so smart, beautiful, and always knew what to say. You look so much like her when we were younger, Aelita. She was so kind and brave. I wish Anthea were here too, she would be as proud as am, if not more."

Aelita tightened her embrace, as if she wanted to physically enter her hands into the orb. The reminder of her missing mother only served to increase her love and respect for her father even more. Had the nature of the virtual world let her, Aelita would have shed the tears of joy she so badly wanted to.

"Do you think maybe..."

"I know what you're going to ask." Hopper interrupted "Just as XANA said, I do not know where Anthea could be, and since the Men in Black were slaughtered by him, there is no realistic path to knowing for sure. I have tried...but nothing ever came up in my searches. I too believe she is long gone."

It pained him to have to tell Aelita this, but the old genius knew that they both needed to be focused on the fight against XANA. He had indeed tried navigating the network for anything about Anthea Schaeffer, but no leads on her whereabouts were ever found. It was only the love for his daughter that had kept him going, driving him to focus. The bleaker Aelita's hopes became for her mother, though, the less bleak they became for her father.

"Daddy..." Aelita started. "I know you need to leave soon, but I want you to promise something. Promise that you will come back to me. That this won't be the last time we see each other. That we will defeat XANA. That we will survive."

"Oh...Aelita..."

"Maybe we can even return you to Earth one day. Get you your own materialization program." Aelita hopefully suggested. "We were close to doing that right before Lyoko was destroyed. Then I can feel the warmth of a parent and you can feel..."

As Aelita chattered on, Hopper listened with sadness. Lyoko's creator knew his chances of survival were low, at best. He had long accepted that his return to Earth would never happen, fully intending to give his life to destroy XANA if necessary. It was his creation and his responsibility.

Franz would have told her this, if it wasn't for the starlight and hope he saw in her eyes. If he didn't make this promise, the old genius quickly surmised, Aelita would be emotionally imbalanced. It was bad enough to have to admit that Aelita would never see her mother again, but telling her about his low to no chance of survival had the potential of driving her over the edge. So instead, he compromised.

"I promise that I will never stop fighting to come back to you, Aelita. To win against XANA and save humanity from his misguided judgement."

It was the best that Hopper could do without lying to her or making a promise he could not keep. He saw Aelita swallow down her tears, and he sought to keep her confidence stable with hope and purpose. Nonetheless, Hopper had his own regrets and he took the opportunity to voice them. He likely would never get another chance to even if he and his daughter met again.

"I am sorry that XANA turned out the way he did. I should have put more safeguards in his programming prior to coming to Lyoko."

"Again, don't apologize." Aelita insisted. "I know you never intended things to go the way they did. But the important thing is that we are both here, breathing. Fighting against XANA. Here for each other. Despite everything, I am and always will be proud to have you as my father."

To know that his daughter still loved him despite all that had happened gave warmth to Waldo Schaeffer like nothing else could. To keep her safe was all he wanted; he did not care whether Aelita saw him as a madman who brought about humanity's doom, if only it kept her and the rest of the world safe from XANA. But to know that his daughter's love still shined bright despite everything made him the happiest he had been in all his life.

"I am proud of you too, Aelita. I love you, my daughter. You are my guiding light in a sea of darkness."

"I love you too, daddy." Aelita said as she steadied her steeled her resolve and focused on hope.

Then, she got the more difficult part of the conversation, asking "Do you have to leave now?"

"Yes. I am sorry, Aelita. To have come simply to leave. I just wanted to give you some of the happiness that you deserve."

"I forgive you." Aelita replied without hesitation. "Go, daddy. We will meet again, and when we do, we will destroy XANA."

With great reluctance, Aelita slowly withdrew her hand and watched as her father backed away and fell into the Digital Sea for safety. Forlorn, she stared at the Digital Sea with her head lowered. She slowly smiled, happy to have finally gotten to know her father even if it was for just a minute. She clung to the happiness that their reunion happened, rather than the depression from its end.

"AELITA! You're alive!"

Aelita lifted her head up, hearing Jeremie's voice.

"Jeremie!" She cried out. "You're here!"

"We just saw Franz Hopper leave! There was a Clone of you in the real world. It told us that you were in the Digital Sea and-"

"I know." Aelita interrupted. "I know. I have a lot to go over. Why don't you launch a Return to the Past? XANA bugged up the Superscan again and we should make sure that we undo any damage the Clone might have caused while I was gone."

Aelita subsequently heard Odd's voice shouting, "So that's why we never noticed anything was wrong! It pulled that old trick from the Ghost attack on us!"

"And speaking of a Return to the Past..." Jeremie explained. "On our way here, I got a call from Mr. Delmas. He's demanding to know where you are. He was raving about how Sissi suffered a breakdown in the bathroom because you, per I quote, 'Threatened to drown my daughter in her own blood'. It must've been the Clone, for sure."

"The principal has surely called the police by now." Aelita surmised. "All the more reason to launch a return in time."

Jeremie said, "You've got it." and began typing out the command. As he did so, Ulrich, standing nearby with the others, noticed something on the screen and pointed it out.

"Woah! Aelita literally just has a single life point left, by the way!"

Aelita was unsurprised by the declaration, given she had gotten what was essentially the biggest workout of her life on Lyoko. Still, she breathed a sigh of relief, hoping she wouldn't ever have to go through a scenario like that ever again.

"Return to the Past, now!"

It was only a couple seconds after hearing Jeremie's voice that Aelita found herself engulfed by a white light.

When time was reset 24 hours earlier, the Lyoko Warriors found themselves gathered by the park bench, all of them embracing Aelita in a tight hug as soon as the Return to the Past finished. Once they managed to stop themselves from accidentally squeezing her to death, Aelita sat down on the bench and went over the full events of her kidnapping and journey on Lyoko.

"So let me get this straight." Odd summarized. "In one day, you got kidnapped by your evil twin, managed to beat up said evil twin, played hide and seek on Lyoko with XANA for hours trying to find the Tower, killed the Scyphozoa, defeated William, destroyed an Avatar of XANA himself, and got to talk to your father again? And you did all of this completely on your own?"

"Pretty much, yep." Aelita casually replied.

"Okay, this beats my record of practically soloing that entire Replika. By far." Odd concluded. "Much as I hate to say it-Actually, no, I don't hate to say it at all. You're the greatest Lyoko Warrior ever!"

Seeing the braggart actually set aside his pride for once gave Aelita one of the brightest smiles she ever had. The others weren't that far behind.

"Using the environment to get the upper hand on XANA's avatar. Just like how I taught you." Yumi recalled. "You did great, Aelita!"

"Gotta give some credit to Einstein here, too." Ulrich pointed out "If he hadn't programmed that override, Aelita would've been dropped right onto the Digital Sea and died on the spot. That lockdown prevented the Clone from tampering with anything else too."

Aelita promptly gave Jeremie a pat on the head, making him blush.

"Though for all our sakes," Jeremie said. "I'm sorry we couldn't figure out what was going on. If it wasn't for that darn Clone..."

Aelita stood up, saying "It's okay, Jeremie. I fell for your Clone a while back after all.". She put her hand on Jeremie's shoulder to reassure him as she recounted how XANA had once sent a clone of Jeremie to impersonate him and enable the destruction of the Mountain Sector.

"I may be stronger now, but I'm not infallible. I don't think I've ever felt so exhausted after what I just accomplished today." Even in victory, Aelita was a humble person. No longer was she ashamed to admit her weaknesses. "If it hadn't been for all your training, I would have been dead so many times over."

"But I'm not afraid anymore." Aelita declared. "Not of XANA, any of his monsters, nobody. And thanks to you all, I'm ready. When we find a way to destroy XANA, I'll be there fighting alongside you all because I believe in myself. But I know what I'm fighting for."

"And now we know what XANA's fighting for." Ulrich mused. "And it turns out he's just a massive hypocrite who refuses to see that he's become the very thing that he despises, even when Aelita spelled out the truth to his face. So much so that he'd rather kill literally everyone instead of facing the fact that he's in the wrong."

The others' reactions to the revelations that XANA's speech unveiled were similar to Aelita; expressions of disgust and contempt for the A.I were unanimous amongst the Lyoko Warriors, more so than ever before. But there was also fear, now knowing that XANA had not only succeeded in killing people, but had covered it up completely.

Even despite the fact that the Men in Black had effectively destroyed her family, Aelita could not help but feel disturbed by their fate. The description XANA gave emitted chills up Aelita's spine the more she thought about it. 

"Do you think he'll try the Avatar again?" Yumi wondered. "From what Aelita described it, it's by far the strongest enemy that any of us ever faced on Lyoko. And William himself is hard enough to deal with as it is."

Jeremie rubbed his chin and put his young genius to work. "I don't think so. XANA might have only gone ahead personally in its Avatar because Aelita was alone on Lyoko, and even though it wasn't XANA using its own body, being defeated directly probably took a lot out of him. Also, the Avatar of XANA doesn't seem to have the firepower to destroy the Skid, which is what he'll be focusing on. I think he won't try the Avatar again for a while and instead look for a way to stop us from destroying Replikas."

"Why do you think XANA chose William as it's Avatar?" Ulrich asked. "From the looks of it, he took over a body to manifest, so couldn't he just take a regular monster?"

"William is XANA's most powerful pawn." Aelita explained. "I think that because simply shooting or stabbing his Eye of XANA once wouldn't kill him, that makes him different than all of the other monsters. In theory, possessing a regular monster would make it much more powerful, but not remove its vulnerability. So, when we free William, XANA presumably can't use its Avatar anymore. But I think you're right Jeremie, unless my father comes out of hiding again for some reason, I don't think we'll seeing the Avatar anytime soon."

"What do you think your dad's planning?" Odd inquired. "The OG Einstein has got have something really clever up his sleeve if he's been working for this long to destroy XANA!"

After seeing Hopper's Lyoko form for the first time, Odd had come up that nickname for her father and asked Aelita for permission to use it, which she granted. She rather liked the comparison to Jeremie, both being geniuses and all.

"I don't know." Aelita answered. "But whatever it is, I'm sure he'll show us when it's ready. And when he does, XANA will likely intervene personally with William." Then she hopefully added "If he's still under XANA's control anyways."

"I think she's right" Jeremie pointed out. "Once enough time's passed for XANA to recover from its direct defeat, I could see him using William as it's Avatar again when Hopper comes out of hiding, unless he comes up with an alternative. A powerful one. Until he does, I'll keep scouring Hopper's notes. See if I can't get a clue on how he plans to finally destroy XANA and help him out."

"And if XANA does dare to show his ugly head again," Odd said with an excited voice, attempting to hype up the group. "This time he'll have to take on all of us, for we are Lyoko Warriors united! Give me an L! Give me a Y! Give me an O! Give me a K! Give me another O! And what does that spell!?"

Odd was about to shout, only for Jeremie to put a finger over his face in a "hush" expression. Odd looked around, getting the reminder that they were in a public area.

"That spells Lyoko Warriors" Odd quietly concluded.

Aelita give their hype man a smile before she turned to Jeremie and gently took the young genius' hands into hers.

"Jeremie." Aelita said slowly. "There's something else I want to do. By now, I've told everyone what happened right before we went to recover my memories. And now that I know joy, I want to say what I've wanted to say for so long. If you're ready."

Jeremie stared wide-eyed, his cheeks starting to blush. He glanced at the other Lyoko Warriors, seeing wordless encouragement in their eyes. Jeremie gave that same encouragement to Aelita, who swiftly began speaking.

"Even before I came to Earth, I've had these feelings for you. From the first day I came to Earth, though, that's when I began to realize how I really feel about you." Aelita explained. "I would never have known joy, happiness, glee, or even comfort without you Jeremie. And every day, we continue to fight for each other. So..."

"May I say it?" Aelita asked. After a short moment, Jeremie gave her a smile.

That beautiful smile. Aelita thought, waves of joy emitting her mind as she recalled every time he had smiled at her. Whenever she saw Jeremie like this, love and happiness filled her heart. That smile was all she needed.

There was no grand speech. No touching to prelude the moment. No nervousness or hesitation preluding what they said. Over two and a half years of war fought for her sake was all the buildup they needed. Jeremie and Aelita knew all along about they felt about each other.

"I love you, Jeremie."

"I love you too, Aelita."

And with that, Aelita and Jeremie shut their eyes and pressed their lips against each other. Their hearts exploding in their chests as a gentle warmth enveloped the both of them. It was a simple kiss and yet it was all they needed.

Odd, Yumi, Ulrich clapped and cheered for them. The class bell sounded nearby, but even this didn't interrupt them. Many passing students stopped walking to their classes to stare at the kissing couple. Yumi saw Milly and Tamiya, the two reporter girls of Kadic News, snap a photo of their kissing and writing it down on a clipboard. There was no doubt that word of this would spread, not that either cared.

As these sounds and feelings came over Aelita, she thought long and hard about this moment.

This. This is why we fight. To live life. To taste its experience to its fullest. To find love and happiness, no matter the sadness and struggle that awaits you on the way.

And it was worth it. It is all worth it.

XANA can never understand this, and that is why he will lose. I'll destroy him.

No. Not me. We will. Together.

We'll destroy you, you pathetic A.I.

You can never take me away from them.