Yumi's phone rings late at night as she's asleep. She picks it up while her eyes are closed. "Uh huh?"
"Yumi, it's Jeremy." She narrows her eyes in annoyance at the urgency in his voice. It could only mean one thing. "We need you to come to the factory right now. The super scan has just picked up an attack from XANA."
Jeremy localizes the tower while he's in his room, fully dressed. "And this one looks like big trouble."
There's not one, but five different towers activated. "Why?"
"Because believe it or not, there are FIVE activated towers!"
The boarders reach the factory as the elevator opens. Amy yawns as she stretches. She had been up working on a new piece of art, and hadn't gotten a chance to sleep yet.
"I've got a bad feeling about this one," Jeremy comments in worry. He couldn't help but feel that something was off. XANA wouldn't activate five towers at the same time without attacking them, but he also didn't want to take the chance of waiting to find out what his plan is.
"Oh relax, Einstein. We'll take out your five towers in no time."
Yumi slides down the rope, landing safely. "I got here as quickly as I could."
Ulrich smiles a bit and they enter the elevator, descending down to the lab. Amy rubs her eyes to keep herself up. Odd rubs her back as he could tell how tired she was. She worked hard on her new project, and he would know. He helped her out.
The elevator doors slowly open, and they're surprised to see that someone else beat them here. He types away at the computer. Jeremy glances at Odd, who just shrugs in confusion.
"Ah, there you are," A man turns around. He has gray hair, a black beard, glasses, a white lab coat, and an orange sweater. "I've been expecting you."
They all glance at each other, wondering just who he is and how he got into the lab.
"That XANA. Blocks the door, leaves the window wide open." He makes all the activated towers deactivate with no problem whatsoever. Jeremy walks up to him.
"Uh, but, but I mean...what-what are you doing here?" He narrows his eyes in annoyance. Not only did he infiltrate the factory, but he's using Jeremy's computer! He could be implanting a virus or bugging up a program.
"I'm deactivating the towers," The man says simply.
"Without going to Lyoko?" Jeremy asks in surprise. He didn't even know how to do that.
"Of course." Aelita and Jeremy look back to the others.
"But, uh, who are you?" Aelita asks slowly. He turns to her, staring.
"What? Haven't you understood yet? I'm Franz Hopper."
Aelita gasps at the name they've heard for so long. And yet somehow, here he is...alive! "I'm the one who created Lyoko. And XANA too. But then I lost control of it. In the very beginning, it was a program that I designed to counter a military project, based on a multi-agent system."
"Well, what about me?" Aelita gestures to herself. If he created Lyoko, how did she come to be?
"I created you, to be the guardian of Lyoko. But I never though I'd see you one day in flesh and blood."
She smiles gratefully, glad to have some answers. "But then where have you been for these last few years?" Ulrich asks skeptically. It's a little hard to believe that a man such as Franz Hopper would simply allow XANA to run free. He'd know if XANA was still online, and he has been for over a year now.
"Well, let's say I was a kind of...prisoner who finally managed to escape."
Yumi gasps at the word prisoner. "What now, then?"
"We've got to destroy XANA once and for all."
"We'd love to, but XANA's given Aelita a bug. If we switch the Supercomputer off, then Aelita switches off too."
"And Ames too," Odd calls out, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "She has connections that prove she's connected to Lyoko too. But we don't know how or why."
"Hm. I'm afraid I don't have the answers myself. I've never heard of you," Franz looks down at Amy, who frowns at the lack of answers for her. "But we'll find the antivirus, you'll see."
"Sure," Jeremy says slowly. "But how?"
Franz Hopper places a hand on his shoulder. "Well, that, young man is why I came. I'm here to help."
"Hmm," Jeremy smiles in relief.
"Are you sure you don't know anything about me?" Amy asks sadly. "You had a picture of me from when I was born. You have to know something!"
"I'm sorry for the confusion, but you must have me mistaken with someone else."
"He's very fatherly," Aelita says to Jeremy. They've left Franz to do the work. "Actually, in a way, he is my father. He's the one who created me."
"That's true. I adore my own dad, but he's sure no genius," Jeremy chuckles at the memories of his dad trying to work a computer like he has. "This Franz Hopper is a real live genius! I feel bad that he doesn't seem to know Amy, though...weird. I thought for sure he'd remember her, since her photo was at the Hermitage."
"Yeah...but she'll be okay. She's got us," Aelita stands up. "That's it for me. I'm gonna go to bed and break up her date with Odd."
"Okay," Jeremy snickers at the thought, "Good night."
"Good night, Jeremy," She says back, closing the door. He turns to his computer.
The next morning, his phone rings as he fell asleep at his computer—again. He lifts his head and answers it. Luckily, it's not class time yet.
"Jeremy? It's me."
"Franz?" He asks, still kind of out of it.
"No, Michael, your father. You know why I'm calling?"
His friends quietly open the door, Odd giggling. "Happy birthday, big guy."
He hears something and turns around. "Happy Birthday, Einstein!" The five cheer to him. They laugh and he turns away, glancing up at the ceiling. He forgot about his birthday. With all the craziness with XANA, the virus, and now Franz Hopper, it completely slipped his mind.
"By the way, your mother is worried about you. You should call us more often."
The others congratulate him. "Now, have you thought about that school for gifted children?" Aelita kisses him near his ear. "Jeremy?"
"Um. Yeah, sure. Okay, Dad. Sure. Uh, listen, I have to go. My friends just came in. Talk to you soon."
He smiles and hangs up. That school was the last thing on his mind. If he left, who would ensure that his friends go to Lyoko to fight XANA? That's why he tries to avoid the subject as much as possible with his parents. With XANA, the antivirus, and his friends, he had no time to call. As much as he wanted to, XANA was never going to stop.
"Here," Odd holds out a present for him. "A present."
Jeremy smiles up at them. "What are you waiting for? Go on, open it," Ulrich encourages and he does so, Odd giggling.
"Wow!" He says in awe at the drawing of him and his friends. Odd and Amy are holding their dogs, Ulrich has his hand on a smiling Jeremy's shoulder, Aelita is giggling, and Yumi has her arm around Aelita's shoulder. "It's great!"
"Yeah! And Ames and I drew it from memory," Odd smiles, crossing his arms proudly.
"That's why I was so tired. We stayed up to finish it," Amy grins at him. "Too bad I don't have any paint."
"So you can imagine how much effort it took for Odd," Ulrich jokes, the others giggling.
"Thanks, everyone," Jeremy says gratefully. "Hey, how about going over to the factory now? I can't wait to see Franz again."
They nod at his request as they wonder what else he had in store for them. Aelita smiles at the thought of seeing her father again. Yesterday, she didn't even know if she had a family, but now she knows another part of her life.
"You use the scanners to virtualize human beings?" Franz asks in surprise. Amy raises an eyebrow in confusion. It sounds like he's never used the scanners on himself...she wonders why he never considered it.
"Well, yes. It's the only way we could find to deactivate towers on Lyoko," Jeremy explains.
"The virtualization process was not ready for that yet. It's a very dangerous procedure with serious side effects."
"Such as?" Yumi wonders, knowing fully well that nothing had happened...besides feeling the effects of being devirtualized, there was nothing to suggest anything else.
"Cell degeneration."
Jeremy glances at the girls. As in, their cells could be damaged? Why is he learning about this just now?
Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd are scanned for any symptoms. Amy has already been scanned, shown to be perfectly fine. "Odd seems okay. Ulrich too. But, Yumi..." Yumi's ID card beeps.
"No! It can't be!" Jeremy cries out in horror, covering his mouth. He looks to Aelita.
"I can't believe it," Yumi tries not to cry. "What a nightmare."
"Nice one, Einstein. Dr. Shrank transplants animals into human beings, but compared to you, he's small-time!" Odd retorts to Jeremy.
"I...I-I couldn't have known, I..." He had no idea what to say. All this time, and they never knew... "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" Ulrich asks in disbelief and anger. "Well, that's not gonna help cure Yumi."
"Yumi, I..." Jeremy couldn't say anything because he knew it wouldn't help matters; there's nothing he could do. Yumi stands up.
"Leave me alone, Jeremy. I need to be by myself. You coming, Ulrich?"
Jeremy watches her as Ulrich gives him an angry look. Aelita looks at Jeremy, who hangs his head.
At dinner time, the tension is still in the air as Jeremy slowly picks up a meatball. "I'm sure there's a way to cure Yumi."
"We don't even know exactly what's wrong with her," Odd glares at him.
"I'll work it out, I promise I will."
"I think you've done enough damage as it is," Ulrich speaks up. Odd glances at Amy, who's quiet. He could tell she didn't know who to believe; Franz or Jeremy. The evidence is clear, but to be mad at Jeremy...he didn't know the side effects, and he also didn't look up on them.
"What do you mean by that? Everything's been my fault right from the start?!"
"You're the brains in this outfit, Einstein," Ulrich reminds him. Jeremy simply stands up and leaves, Aelita giving the boys a look of disapproval.
"You know, Ulrich, if it weren't for the scanners, I wouldn't be here!" She walks off, Odd's hand on his cheek.
"This is so messed up," Amy sighs to herself, a hand on her forehead. Did it matter that Jeremy didn't know? Maybe. Was it his fault? No. She just wanted everyone to get along. Right now, the tension is just like with her parents, and it was proving to be too much to handle...
She stands up, deciding to go to her room. She needed to find out what she could do...but one thought came to mind.
Funny how this all started when Franz Hopper came into the picture...
Mr. Ishiyama takes a bite out of his noodles, slurping them. Yumi just stares into her bowl. She didn't feel like eating.
"Yumi, are you okay?" Mrs. Ishiyama notices how silent she is.
"I'm...not very hungry tonight," Yumi smiles weakly. She couldn't even tell her parents about this...
Hiroki laughs at her. "Oh, Ulrich, I looove you!" He teases, Mrs. Ishiyama giving him a look.
"Hiroki!"
She stands up, walking off. "I'm going to bed."
Mrs. Ishiyama sighs slowly. "That's it, then. We're in the thick of it now."
"Of what?" Mr. Ishiyama asks in confusion.
"A teenage crisis."
Jeremy stays up, the photo near his computer. He couldn't sleep, not when it's his fault that Yumi is in fatal condition...
Amy and Aelita stare up at the ceiling, hearing an owl. First she gets little sleep because of Jeremy's birthday, and now this whole conflict with Jeremy...
Odd and Ulrich couldn't sleep either. Kiwi snores on Odd's bed.
Yumi's phone rings and she glances at it. She picks it up. "Hello?"
"Yumi, it's Franz." She silently wondered how he got her number, but that wasn't important right now. "I have some good news. Tell the others and meet me first thing tomorrow at the factory."
"Okay, we'll be there."
He hangs up with her.
The next morning, they arrive at the lab. "I now know how to program the antivirus," He says as soon as they step in. "Which will free Aelita. All I need now is the data from Sector Five."
"Great!" Aelita says in relief, as Jeremy stands by with his arms crossed. "We'll go and get it, then."
The others smile at something good happening. "I thought the scanners were too dangerous to use," Jeremy walks up to him, having his doubts.
"If we wanna get to Sector Five, then we have no choice."
"It'll be our final mission!" Odd declares, Amy smiling weakly.
"Okay, then what am I supposed to do?" Jeremy wonders as he had the feeling Franz has been in that chair ever since they met him. Even Jeremy takes breaks.
"If I were you, stay out of the way," Franz replies with hostility.
"It's not fair!" Jeremy points at him accusingly. "Everyone blames me for everything. And after all, we all turned the supercomputer back on together!"
"Perhaps," Franz turns to him as no one says anything. "But you were the one who played the Sorcerer's Apprentice. You're the one who put your friends' lives at risk, and you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!" He turns back to the computer.
"Fine," Nothing he could say would change the fact that Yumi was still in trouble. He knew that. If they weren't going to listen, then what was the point? "I get it." He storms off to the elevator.
"Jeremy," Aelita runs after him, but he closes the door before she can get through. She turns back to the others, who have their arms crossed. She could tell they were still angry.
"Right. Shall we?"
Odd and Ulrich smile.
Jeremy stares at the photo he got for his birthday. They were friends, how could they turn on him like that? He turns to his phone and dials someone.
"Hello?" Michael Belpois answers.
"Dad, it's me."
"Jeremy?" He's surprised to hear his son's voice.
"You know that school for gifted children that you were talking about?"
"Yes?"
"I wanna go." He was sure in his decision. If his friends wanted Franz, they could have him. "Can you come and get me?"
"When?"
"As soon as possible." They wouldn't miss him if he left.
"Okay. I'll be there tomorrow."
"Oh, right." He should've known that it takes a while for his father to come here. Not only that, but he'll still have to see his friends around again. "Alright then." He hangs up, staring down at the phone.
He just hoped that they would be alright...
Franz gets to work on virtualizing the others. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."
They virtualize right into Sector Five. "Hey, we've arrived directly into Sector Five," Ulrich comments in shock.
"Of course. It was a direct access. The transport is a little...outdated."
"Cool!" Odd replies as they're still spinning. Yumi turns around to the wall as it opens. Amy lands behind him, feeling that something was off...
Jeremy holds his head as he remembers what Franz said. It was all he could think about.
"And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!"
"Franz Hopper's diary," He murmurs to himself as he remembers finding the briefcase. It was a huge lead back then...but unless Franz secretly put video cameras everywhere, there was really no way he could've known about his destroyed files. "But how could he know the diary was destroyed?"
He opens his closet, taking out the briefcase.
"Maybe we'll find out more about the mysterious owner of the Hermitage," Yumi spoke as Jeremy inserted a DVD into his laptop.
"And maybe he knows something about me," Amy murmured in thought.
"Everything is encrypted. I have to decode it."
Jeremy opens up the briefcase. "And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!"
He inspects a CD to see the XANA symbol on the back. "How could Franz Hopper know that?" He hasn't left the lab all this time to search for the diary if it was that important to him, and no one told him that they even had his diary...
"XANA took control of you," Aelita explained to his shock.
"He destroyed all of Franz Hopper's CDs," Ulrich closed his eyes. "Apparently he had a problem with his notes."
Jeremy gasps as there's only one way he could know. "And you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!"
"XANA!" He was the only one that destroyed it, and besides them, the only other person who knew about the destroyed CDs.
His friends are in trouble...!
"The countdown has begun. Clean up, and I'll send Aelita over."
"Alright," Ulrich calls out as they run down the hall.
Jeremy rushes over to the factory, laptop in hand. He opens the cover and looks down. He really hoped that his friends weren't in danger.
The four come to a stop, gasping. "Franz, I don't mind cleaning up, but we're gonna need some industrial strength detergent," Odd says as they're looking to at least a dozen Creepers.
"No problem. I programmed you some new weapons."
"Uh, I don't see what's new about this," Odd replies as they look over themselves. They just have their regular weapons. Odd fires as the Creepers were about to attack, his Laser Arrow flying and destroying another one. He cheers as a third one is destroyed. "Moving darts!"
A Creeper fires and he dodges out of the way. He fires again and it soars to a Creeper above them. It zips past Odd and hits two more Creepers behind him.
Jeremy runs across the bridge, panting.
Ulrich's sword glows and he swings it, an energy slash hitting two Creepers. They fall to the ground as they explode. "Yeah! Wow..." He looks at his sword in awe.
Yumi throws her fan and it flies around, cutting three Creepers. She reaches up and catches it.
Amy's wings appear and she flies into the air, shouting in surprise. "Huh? My wings!" The tip of her spear suddenly glows and her Sapphire Arrows appear, firing at two Creepers and destroying them. "No waaay, my powers are back!"
Ulrich swings his sword again, getting rid of a Creeper in front of him. He looks up at the ceiling.
"There's the key!"
"I'll get it!" Amy calls out, flying past Ulrich. Odd fires his arrows as Yumi lands in front of him. She throws her fans, destroying two Creepers. They come back to her.
"Amy, how you doing?" She turns to the fairy. Amy flies over the two Creepers guarding the key.
"It's going great," She swings her spear and Heat Wave appears, the Creepers bursting and turning into balls of fire. She looks in surprise as the fire balls fly around and destroy two more Creepers. She's never been able to do that before with this attack...
She flies up to the key and presses it. She lands as the door opens to her left.
"Well done, Amelia."
Jeremy pushes the button to get to the lab.
The opposite door closes as the Creepers fire. Yumi looks at her nails as she dodges the lasers without a care. "Alright."
Odd lands next to her and fires into the air. The arrow flies and comes back to hit the Creepers from behind. "It's almost too easy. I want more Creepers!"
"Don't worry, Odd. It's not over yet. I've got more surprises in store for you," 'Franz' says as he prepares the virtualization process. "Aelita, are you ready for virtualization?"
"Yes," She tells him as the doors open behind her. She turns around, gasping sharply as Jeremy appears. He shushes her and she gives a look of confusion as to what he's doing.
"Here we go. Transfer Aelita. Scanner. Virtualization."
He taps enter and Aelita lands in the desert sector instead of Sector Five. "Yumi?" She looks around for her friends, but doesn't see them. "Ulrich? Odd? Amy?"
She's standing on a lone platform, with no way to get out. "Franz, I'm not in Sector Five. What's going on?"
The doors open as a frowning Jeremy stands there. "Everything's under control," He assures her, turning around to the boy. "Jeremy. What are you doing here?"
"I just came to see how you're managing...XANA!"
The symbol is shown on his glasses as he glares at Jeremy. He steps forward to defend himself, but XANA Franz shoots electricity at him. Jeremy is knocked into the wall.
"You're very clever, Jeremy. But you're too late." He makes sure Jeremy won't move before turning back to the screen. Jeremy sits up as Franz starts modifying a program.
The four run into another room with Creepers, one behind them. "Hey, wanna make this a contest? Whoever gets the most wins." Odd prepares his claw as Amy rolls her eyes in amusement, flying above them. He prepares to fire...but his arrows don't budge. "Huh?" It was like they were jammed.
Ulrich, Yumi, and Amy pull out their weapons, but they suddenly disappear from their hands. "What's going on?"
Amy's wings devirtualize and she glances back at them. "What?" She then falls, screaming.
"Ames!" Odd jumps forward and catches her, using his claws to slide to a stop on the platform.
"Franz?" Yumi wonders in concern, a Creeper hitting Ulrich in the stomach. Odd climbs back up, putting Amy on the ground.
"You okay?" He asks Amy gently and she nods. He turns to Yumi. "Something's wrong."
A Creeper fires at Odd, who backflips over and barely lands on a platform. He balances himself, backflipping onto his feet. "Let's get outta here!"
The others jump down to him as the Creepers attack. Odd runs on all fours as Ulrich passes him.
"I get the feeling we've been double-crossed," Yumi tells them as Ulrich jumps up to the open wall. Amy, Yumi, and Odd follow, Odd saluting to the Creepers.
"Bye!"
He runs through the door, but the Creepers follow after them. "Now your friends are in a little trouble," XANA Franz says to Jeremy, who has gotten up. "I've fixed things so that they can never rematerialize! No more life points and it's bye bye. And now, for the grand finale."
Aelita turns around to see the Scyphozoa heading straight for her. She backs away to the edge, kicking a small rock. It falls into the Digital Sea. She turns back to the jellyfish.
"What now?" Ulrich asks as they run into another room.
"Well, there's only one thing to do. Franz, we need help!" Odd calls out for him.
"No, not Franz. XANA," Yumi says as they're looking at an activated tower in Sector Five.
"Huh? This must be the surprise," Odd comments and Amy grunts in realization.
"And without Aelita, Franz can do whatever he wants now. What do we do?"
Two lasers from Creepers fire at them from behind. They duck out of the way.
The Scyphozoa has captured Aelita and it seems to be all over for the heroes.
Jeremy stands up, gasping as XANA Franz looks at the heroes' life points.
Odd ducks a projectile aimed at him. He looks up at the Creeper, staring at his right hand. Since he can't aim laser arrows...
Maybe it was time to change fighting skills.
The Creeper growls at him as Odd moves around like he's in a boxing match. He punches the air and a bell rings. Odd ducks from another laser as he gets closer. The Creeper just stares at him, wondering what he's doing. It roars and fires, but Odd ducks his head. He then punches the Creeper in the face. He punches it again and again, punching his fists together. He then rolls his fists, knocking the Creeper in the face. Odd holds its head and slams his own against it. He waves at the Creeper when it's disoriented, lifting its head up.
Odd rolls his fist and punches the Creeper again. The monster's head stays up in the air. "Hello? Had enough?" Odd looks over him. He imitates the Creeper's stance. Amy giggles at him, clapping at his moves.
Yumi flips over a laser, backflipping when another one is fired at her feet. She backflips over to Ulrich, turning to the monster again. It fires and hits Ulrich in the stomach. She flips over to it, kicking it in the head. She lands near him.
Amy flips over a laser, running up to a Creeper. She spins around, kicking the Creeper away from her and through the door.
The Creeper roars at Odd and he roars back. Rolling his eyes, it's time for round two. He points at the Creeper, egging it on as he waves his hand. The Creeper fires, Odd punching it again. He stares at the monster in the eye before kicking it. The Creeper rolls his head around and Odd taps his chest. The Creeper hits him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
Ulrich flips over and knocks it to the floor. He glances at Odd, chuckling. The Creeper fires and Ulrich narrowly misses, spinning and kicking it in the face. The Creeper falls off the platform.
"Ciao," Odd waves to it. The two boys look behind them to see three Creepers surrounding the girls. One of them fires at Amy, sending her flying into the tower.
"Amy!" Odd calls out.
Aelita is almost out of memory. XANA Franz glances to Jeremy, who is standing around doing nothing. "Admit you're defeated, Jeremy."
Jeremy just smirks. "No. Not this time."
XANA Franz narrows his eyes suspiciously. He turns back to Aelita as her memory is gone. She drops to the ground with a thump, struggling to breathe. The Scyphozoa seems to be bugging as it moves around.
"What's the meaning of this?" XANA Franz demands.
"A decoy," Jeremy reveals smugly. The real Aelita is still in the scanner room, monitoring her clone from Jeremy's laptop. She smiles at their plan working.
"Huh?! Nooooooo!" XANA Franz exclaims in shock, Jeremy chuckling. He growls at the boy before he slowly disappears. Jeremy stares at the specter leaving the lab.
"Wow."
He runs up to the chair once the specter is gone, jumping into the chair. He gets to work on helping his friends.
The Creepers crawl up to them. "I've often wondered how this would all end. Now I know," Yumi frowns at their situation. "This is it."
The Creepers all fire and they duck, not sure how much longer they'll last. Jeremy gasps at something and presses enter. As the monsters get closer, they all fire at once, hitting all three in the shoulder. Ulrich falls off the platform, devirtualizing.
"No! Ulrich!" Yumi cries out as they watch him disappear.
Amy rubs her head as she sits up, the center lighting up when her feet touches it. She starts floating to the top.
"What the...?"
"It can't be!" Odd says in dismay for Ulrich.
"Come on, don't be so pessimistic, Odd."
They gasp, looking up as they hear the voice. "Jeremy!" Yumi says in relief.
"Yes, I'm back. Come on, let's start over." He makes Yumi's fans reappear. She throws one, destroying a Creeper. Odd fires an arrow, getting rid of the other two.
"Heh heh heh. Nothing like my trusty old gear," Odd chuckles before he remembers something, glancing back at the tower. "But what's holding up Ames?"
"And what about Ulrich?" Yumi asks in concern, hoping that he's back in the scanner. They don't notice a Manta appearing right behind them.
"All's well. I managed to reprogram the materialization just in time."
Ulrich arrives in the scanner room, holding his shoulder. Aelita runs up to the boy, catching him. "He's home. Ready Aelita?"
"Yes Jeremy," Aelita walks up to the scanner, Ulrich taking a deep breath.
"All we have to do now is deactivate the tower. I'm sending you Aelita. Virtualization."
Aelita appears in the ice sector. She lands safely, hoping she's not too late.
The Manta hits Yumi in the back. The Creeper hits Odd in the stomach. Yumi throws her fan and destroys he Creeper.
"Aelita, I'm entering the code Scipio," Jeremy reports as the specter comes back.
Amy lands at the top pad, confused on what's going on. She would leave, but there's nothing to catch her and she doesn't have her wings. The interface pops up in front of her, surprising the fairy.
Aelita waits for the transporter and sees it arrive. It spins around and catches her, heading all the way to the center.
The specter enters Jeremy's ears. He can only sit there as it enters him. He falls to the ground, trying to catch his breath.
Aelita arrives in the Arena as the transporter leaves. The wall slowly spins and comes to a stop. She watches as the door opens.
Jeremy tries to get his breath back as it felt like the specter was slowly taking his life away. The elevator opens and Ulrich sees him struggling.
"Jeremy?" He runs up to him. "What's going on, what can I do?"
"Jeremy," Aelita calls out. "I'm in the Core Zone."
"Aelita?" Ulrich asks, grabbing the microphone. He puts it on. "Deactivate the tower, hurry up."
Yumi looks up at the Manta as it flies past her. Aelita arrives, running past them. "Hurry! Jeremy's in trouble!"
She comes to a stop as she sees the gap between her and the tower.
Amy presses her hand against the interface as it felt like that's what she's supposed to do.
Amelia
"Huh?" She murmurs in confusion that the tower would recognize her name.
Jeremy chokes as Ulrich bends down to him. "Jeremy!"
The Manta flies by the tower, Aelita backing away.
Code
"Hang in there, please," Ulrich begs Jeremy as he's slowly losing his breath.
Lyoko
Jeremy takes a breath of air, suddenly fine. Ulrich steps back as the specter leaves Jeremy's ears and finally disappears.
"Don't worry, buddy," Ulrich smiles in relief. "Everything's okay now."
"Aelita, wait!" Yumi stops the elf, putting an arm in front of her. "Look!"
Odd and Aelita gasp as the tower deactivates. "The tower...deactivated itself?" Aelita asks slowly.
"No, it couldn't have," Odd shakes his head. "Because Amy's still in there..."
"Wait," Yumi steps up to them. "So you're saying Amy deactivated a tower? How is that even possible?"
The Manta flies right in front of the entrance. Amy jumps out, landing on the Manta. She then jumps onto the platform.
"What just happened?" She asks them.
"I was hoping you could tell us," Yumi replies, equally confused.
"Amy...you deactivated the tower?" Aelita asks slowly. "How?"
"It just...came to me," Amy looks down at her hand.
"Of course I'm not angry with you. What's more, I checked out your bio schematic during your rematerialization phase. There's no sign of alteration whatsoever," Jeremy explains to Yumi once they're back in his room.
"Oh, what a relief," Yumi smiles at him. "He really had me scared, that Franz Hopper."
"That false Franz Hopper," Jeremy holds up a finger. "The real one is still somewhere on Lyoko."
There's a knock on the door and they stare at it, wondering who that could be. Michael Belpois opens the door with a gentle smile.
"Dad!" Jeremy exclaims in shock. He forgot to tell his dad he wasn't leaving!
"Are you ready, son? Let's go."
"Wait," Jeremy stands up before anything serious happened. "Things have changed. Let me explain."
"Huh?" Odd asks in confusion. Jeremy shuts the door.
"You're sure you've thought it over?"
"Yes," Jeremy tells him. "I'm really sorry I made you come all the way out here for nothing."
"Don't you worry about it," He smiles, placing a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "And don't forget to give us a call from time to time."
"I promise," And this time, he means it. Michael smiles before he walks down the hall. Jeremy smiles in relief at how everything worked out. He turns back to his room, everyone staring at him.
"Hey, what's going on here? Where were you going?" Odd demands for an explanation.
"Nowhere," Jeremy lies with a smile. They were better off not knowing.
"Your father seems like a really nice guy," Aelita smiles at him.
"Yeah, I love him. He's great!"
"Like father, like son," Ulrich recites knowingly. Jeremy smiles and steps forward, showing them the framed drawing. They all laugh and he smiles, glad to have them back.
"Thank you for deactivating the tower, Aelita. I thought I was done for," Jeremy sighs slowly, rubbing his throat. The five glance at each other and then at him.
"Uh, well, uh..." Odd rubs his neck.
"It was...Amy actually who deactivated the tower," Aelita reveals and the girl smiles sheepishly.
"What? Really?" Jeremy asks in surprise, raising his eyebrows. "I thought only Aelita could deactivate them."
"I thought so too, but apparently, Sector Five is an exception," Amy rubs her chin.
"Wow...you deactivated a tower..." Jeremy murmurs, sitting down on his bed. "Do you know what this means? The fake Franz Hopper was lying; if you could deactivate a tower like Aelita, then he must know you!"
"Most likely he was, but Amy's not like Aelita," Ulrich points out.
"Right...I feel like we're so close to figuring this out," Jeremy stands up. "But eventually, we'll know the truth!"