William ran into the entrance room. He took a look at the situation in front of him and groaned.
Three Mantas flew around the Skid, attacking it, while four more Creepers stood on the platform and fired at the Skid.
William summoned his sword in a line of white smoke. “Jeremie, Franz, I can’t promise the best.”
“Do what you can,” Franz replied. “I’ll tell Aelita to transfer power to the Skid’s shields.”
“Ready to rumble, guys?” William called, running toward the monsters. The Creepers and a Manta turned toward him and started firing.
---
Aelita and Ulrich ran into the Center of the Network. The interfaces immediately reappeared. Aelita quickly started moving and touching windows on the screen. “Jeremie, Franz, I’m ready.”
“Okay, Aelita,” Jeremie said. “But before you start collaborating the multi-agent system, can you transfer some power to the Skid? William’s outmatched, and he may not do well.”
“Okay,” Aelita replied. She quickly pressed a window. Another interface appeared about a meter behind the one in front of Aelita, showing a model of the Skid and a progress bar quickly filling itself, showing the power transfer to the Skid.
“Thanks, Aelita,” Franz replied. “I’m sending the program over to you.”
A window opened on the interface. Aelita quickly moved it around the screen. “Program received,” she called, pressing other windows, “and collaboration activated. It should take about ten minutes.”
Suddenly a window with a red exclamation point appeared on the screen. Franz and Jeremie frowned, as Franz started typing. “Aelita, there’s an error. We need some data from a Replika to completely collaborate the multi-agent system to the Network.”
“Should I go and get it?” Aelita asked.
“No,” Franz said. “We need you there to oversee the collaboration. The collaboration can still continue without the data, but it won’t be complete until we install it. I’ll send William and Odd to get the data. Can you find the closest Replika to your position?”
Aelita quickly moved the windows to the side and opened up a new one. A map of the Network appeared. She quickly scanned the map and selected a small circle. “I’ve located it,” Aelita replied. “It’s a Replika of the Ice Sector not far from here. I’m sending its coordinates to you.”
“Thanks, Aelita,” Jeremie replied.
---
“Shield!”
In the room of Xana’s Core, Odd summoned his shield and blocked the shots from the Creepers firing at him. Close to him, Yumi blocked and acrobatically dodged shots with her fans.
“How’s it coming, guys?” called Jeremie.
“Great, actually,” Odd said, firing arrows. “Our guests are about as welcoming as an angry swarm of bees.”
“Odd and Yumi,” Franz said, “we need one of you to accompany William to a Replika. We need to collect some data to complete the multi-agent system.”
Odd glanced at Yumi. “Do you want to go?”
After a few moments, Yumi shook her head. “No. You can go. I’ll stay here.”
Odd shrugged. “Okay. Franz, Jeremie, I’m going.”
“Okay,” Jeremie said. “Head back to the Skidbladnir; you’re piloting.”
Odd turned and ran out of the room. Yumi made a short glance before resuming battling the Creepers.
Suddenly, a thick line of purplish black smoke rose into the room from the depths below. Yumi looked up, and gasped to see it reform into a figure.
The figure of the Xana-William summoned his sword, smirking. “Remember me?”
---
In a tower on the Ice Sector Replika, Odd pressed his hand to the interface. “Franz, Jeremie,” he called, “the data has been loaded.”
“Good,” Franz replied. “Get back into the Skidbladnir with William and get back to Xana’s Core. Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi still need your help.”
Suddenly, a hulking red figure appeared on the radar screen. Franz and Jeremie gasped. “The Kolossus!” shouted Jeremie.
Indeed, the lava-themed, golem-type monster was walking toward the Skidbladnir.
William looked up from his fight with a Tarantula and gasped. “Jeremie, Franz, what do we do? He can destroy the Skidbladnir in an instant!”
“We know,” Franz said, very worried. “I’ll embark you into the Skidbladnir right now. Try to pilot the Skidbladnir away from the Kolossus. Odd will join you.”
As Odd ran out of the tower, William disappeared in blue sparks. He reappeared at the controls of the Skid in the cockpit.
“Okay,” William said, gripping the joysticks. The Kolossus was only a few steps away. “Let’s go.” William pulled the joysticks backward.
Nothing happened.
William frowned. “Jeremie, Franz, what’s going on? The Skidbladnir isn’t moving!”
“I’ll check it out,” Franz said. A window opened, and his eyes widened. “Xana has bugged up the Skidbladnir! He put an implant into the Skidbladnir with the Scyphozoa yesterday when the Scyphozoa attacked the Skid! All the power levels are down, including the shield!”
“Is there anything we can do?” Odd called, running toward the Kolossus, firing arrows in vain.
“No,” gasped Jeremie. “It’s all over for the Skid.”
“NO!” shouted William, as the Kolossus drew back his mighty sword arm. It was too late.
The Kolossus swung at the Skid like it was a baseball. William grabbed the sides of the cockpit for support as the Skidbladnir was thrown backwards. It slid over the plateau, and stopped on the edge before tumbling into the Digital Sea.
“William!” shouted Odd.
The Skidbladnir erupted in a huge, smoke explosion as it burst apart upon reentering the Digital Sea.
“No!” shouted Odd.
“It’s okay, Odd,” Jeremie said. “We managed to bring him back in time.”
Odd sighed with relief.
Back on Earth, in the room below the lab in the Factory, a scanner opened up. William emerged out of the steam, coughing and laying against the inside of the scanner for support.
“William, are you okay?” Jeremie called.
“I’m fine,” William said, slowly regaining his balance. “I’ll be up in a minute.” He slowly walked over to the elevator and pushed the red button. The elevator door closed.
---
Aelita blocked another shot with a dual Energy Field block. Mantas flew around her and Ulrich, firing and trying to devirtualize them.
“Aelita, how’s it coming?” came Jeremie’s voice.
“With the data, the process is almost done,” replied Aelita, dodging another shot and firing another Energy Field. “Give it a few minutes or so.”
“I sure hope so,” Jeremie said, “because this is your only chance. There isn’t any turning back from here.”
Aelita and Ulrich stopped. “What do you mean?” asked Ulrich.
“Xana destroyed the Skidbladnir,” Franz said. Aelita and Ulrich gasped, but Franz continued. “William was in the cockpit at the time, but we were able to materialize him safely.”
Suddenly, a radar window opened. It showed the Core Chamber, all the way back on Lyoko.
Jeremie groaned. “Oh no, Xana’s attacking the Core of Lyoko! He’s trying to destroy your only way back to Earth!”
“What do we do?” Ulrich said, blocking shots with his dual sabers. “There’s not much we can do. We can’t spare anyone else. Yumi is still back by Xana’s Core, and Aelita and I have our hands full!”
“There’s Odd,” Aelita said. She turned to the sky. “Jeremie, Daddy, where’s Odd?”
“He’s still back on the Ice Replika,” Franz replied. “There’s not much he can do.”
“Except…” Aelita thought. “If I arrange a cross-Network transfer through a tower, I can help Odd get back to Lyoko to defend the Core. It was never possible from the supercomputer, but it’s possible from here.”
“Good idea, Aelita,” Jeremie said.
Aelita quickly accessed the interface again, pushing and moving windows. The laser shots still landed around her, while Ulrich defended the both of them.
After a few moments, Aelita turned back to the fight. “It’s done.”
“Jeremie…we still need backups,” Ulrich said. “I don’t think Yumi’s having a very good time right now.”
“She’s fighting William’s clone,” Franz said, glancing in dismay at the radar screen.
Aelita nodded to Ulrich. “Go back to help her. I’ll be fine here.”
“But-” Ulrich started. “Aelita, no offense, but you don’t stand a chance alone against all of these Mantas!”
“I have another idea in mind,” Aelita said, glancing up at the sky. “Jeremie, I think it’s about time you came to the Network.”
There was silence on the other end. Jeremie finally sputtered. “But Aelita-me?” he stuttered. “I can’t fight, and you know it!”
“We need all the help we can get at the moment,” Aelita pleaded. “Please, just come this once. This is our last battle, most definitely, and we need all the help we can get!”
Jeremie finally sighed. “Okay.”
Franz nodded to him. “I can arrange a direct transfer to the Network. Go on.”
With one last glance, Jeremie walked into the elevator. When he reached the scanner room, he stepped into a scanner and closed his eyes, sighing. “Franz, I’m ready.”
“Okay,” Franz said, typing. “Transfer, Jeremie.”
The scanner door closed, and the humming started. A bright green ring rose up Jeremie’s body.
“Scanner, Jeremie.”
On the screen of the supercomputer, a green framework of a body loaded up.
“Virtualization!”
Jeremie’s card blinked.
---
Odd jumped up onto the last step in the Core of Lyoko Chamber Room. “Franz, I’m here.”
“Good,” Franz replied. “Try to protect the Core for as long as you can. Everything is going well in the Center of the Network.”
“Okay,” Odd said. “Bombs away!”
Two of the Mantas firing at the Core sounded their bird calls and flew down to face off against Odd. The Creepers continued firing at the Core.
---
A blue figure ran into the room.
Aelita and Ulrich turned and gasped.
Jeremie wore a Lyoko outfit rather similar to his PE outfit on Earth. His collar and his wrists were a dark navy blue, while the rest of his outfit was a light, tainted baby blue. His shoes were white, and his black glasses, now in the third dimension, sat in their usual place.
Ulrich burst out laughing.
“Thanks for the welcome, Ulrich,” Jeremie said, rolling his eyes.
“I’ll go over to help Yumi,” Ulrich said, still wheezing a little and walking out of the room.
Aelita raised an eyebrow in amusement.
“If you have to ask, Aelita…” Jeremie said, blushing, “yes, this is what my Lyoko outfit is.”
After a few moments, Aelita shrugged. “I’ve seen worse,” she said. “I suppose.” She quickly went back to blocking shots.
Jeremie dodged a few of the shots fired at him. “Power ring!” he shouted. A blue ring, edged in a light magenta-purple, formed around his wrist. He quickly released it at the Manta. It fizzed blue before exploding.
“Nice one,” Aelita said, winking. Jeremie smiled.