"You know, you guys are so lucky." David said on the comms with Jeremie's class on the other line. "While you guys get to take a weekend-long camping trip, those of us in Yumi's class have to stay and take tests."

"And how exactly is that supposed to make you jealous? You never seemed like the type to go camping." Hitomi said on a third line.

"We'd love to sneak you guys on, but we've got a lucky dog already." Simon said.

"Well, if XANA ever did launch an attack we'll be here at least." Noel added.

"Sorry, Dave, but that's what you get for moving up a grade." Odd said before he bumped into Jim.

"If you did well on your exams, you'd be moving up a grade too, Della Robbia. You'd also remember me telling you to store the suitcase." Jim said.

"But you said carry-on luggage was okay, and look, I'm carrying it, Jim." Odd said.

"Well… I guess that's true…" Jim said before spotting a familiar trio with a bicycle and lots of bags. "Sissi, what's all of this?"

"It's my baggage, Jim." Sissi said.

"You were told to only pack what was strictly necessary. Now hurry and get all of that junk back to your room!" Vector said.

"But Vector, I need my hairdryer!" Sissi said. "(If only so I can bring Rotom along.)" she thought to herself.

"Now listen, Elizabeth. This is a camping trip, and it's only for two days. Your bicycle too, should be left at home." Mrs. Hertz told her.

"Oh, then should I tell my father that sport activities are being discouraged?" Sissi asked.

"Oh… Well, alright, you may bring your bicycle." Mrs. Hertz sighed. "But make it quick."

"Well, the tests are about to start. Stay safe out there, you hear?" Kokoro asked on the comm line.

"No promises, Kokoro." Kazuma said jokingly as the kids finished packing and took their seats. Soon, the bus doors closed, and the weekend trip began with the bus heading out.

"Settle down, everyone." Raine said as she handed out the tests. "For this exam, all you need is a sharpened pencil and your own logic and concentration.

"Heh. What we wouldn't give to be you." Sachiko said to the William Clone. "As a computer program, a math test should be a piece of cake."

"This isn't a piece of cake, it's a piece of paper." the William Clone said, looking proud of himself.

"Or…maybe not." Sachiko said.

"I must say, I'm rather enthusiastic to be on this trip." Double D said as he and Mark were sitting behind Odd and Ulrich. "The last time Ed, Eddy, and I went camping, it was…less than enjoyable."

"It's the belly button eater!" Ed said.

"Ed, pipe down, will ya? You don't want to scare these guys." Eddy said.

"Plus, you don't want to gross them out. These aren't elementary schoolers." Mark said as he peered over his seat. "Say guys, when we get to camp, what should we - Odd!"

The reason for Mark's outburst was Odd's bag, which had Kiwi's head poking out of it.

"Hey, keep it down Marky!" Odd whispered. "I don't want anyone to find Kiwi!"

"Why is he here?" Mark asked, now whispering as well. "You know you'll get in trouble if he's caught."

"Well I couldn't leave him cooped up in my room all weekend. He needs fresh air too, and someone's got to take care of him." Odd whispered.

"You are aware that we have friends who would have been happy and capable of taking care of him for the duration of the trip, yes?" Double D asked quietly.

"...Great, now you tell me." Odd said as Kiwi started barking. "Shh! Quite Kiwi, you'll let them know you're here!"

"Well, well… Someone looks pretty guilty. What have you got in there?" Jim asked, having heard the commotion and walked over.

"Oh, in there? Just a few things I need on the…" Odd started before Kiwi jumped out of the bags and into Odd's arms. "Oh… imagine that, it's, uh… the stray dog Al's been taking care of for the past week! It must've followed her onto the bus without anyone noticing!"

"If she was taking care of him, why does he have a collar marked 'Della Robbia'?" Jim asked.

"Uh… it's a typo?" Odd suggested weakly.

"Don't try to shift the blame here. All animals are forbidden on school grounds. No exceptions." Jim said.

"Then it's a good thing we're not on school grounds, isn't it?" Odd laughed nervously.

"Don't try to be a wise guy with me, Della Robbia. You've been caught red-handed." Jim said. "As soon as we get back, you have a meeting with the principal."

"Aw man…" Odd groaned. "Well anyway, sorry for trying to pin the blame on you, Al."

"It's cool." Al said.

"Rats, I can't believe I got that question wrong." Leonora said. "Yu Jin is not gonna be happy if I end up failing…"

"Calm down, Leonora. Try to relax. Next test is Language. That shouldn't be a problem for you." Kokoro said.

David pinged the crew on the Galaxy King.

"Yeah, David?" A2 asked.

"Hey, I want to ask a favor. Do you guys think you can check things out on Lyoko while we take our exams? I know Jeremie is gonna be worried about XANA attacking while he and Aelita are gone." David said.

"Sure, we can do that." 9S said.

"Great. We'll meet up at the factory as soon as we finish." David said.

"Consider it done, David." Elisabeth said.

After several hours of driving, the bus had arrived at its destination: a lake with a small island in the middle of it. The group disembarked the bus as Mrs. Hertz stood on the shore, facing the island.

"Here we are!" Mrs. Hertz declared, spreading her arms out. "This will be our home and laboratory for the weekend! An unspoiled haven for all lovers of flora! In short, an ecosystem unequaled in the region."

"You have to be kidding! That tiny island is where we're staying?!" G-Aqua sputtered.

"If you think that's small, just wait until you see the rubber dinghies." Mrs. Hertz said.

One hilarious, yet uneventful rowing session later…

"Alright kids, make sure you pitch your tents down firmly." Jim addressed the students. "Otherwise, one gust of wind and poof! Down it comes. Reminds me of when I was living in a teepee down in New Mexico."

"Jim, this isn't the time for one of your stories." Mrs. Hertz scolded the PE teacher.

"You don't know what you're missing, Suzanne." Jim said. "Anyway, make sure you read the instructions that come with your tents before you start. That way, you don't end up the creek without a paddle, so to speak."

"Hmm…Hey, Odd, know how to pitch a tent?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah." Odd said.

"Great, then could you…" Ulrich said as Odd walked deep into the woods.

"Just be sure to follow the instructions!" Odd called out.

"Yeah…he was never gonna be much help." Izuku said as the students started pitching their tents.

"I sure hope David and the others are having a good time on the homefront." Petra said. "They're gonna be all alone in the factory if XANA attacks."

"Relax, Petra. We have the crew in the Galaxy King to help out if need be." Ross said.

"Of all the times…" Yumi said as they saw a tower activating right before their eyes on the Supercomputer.

"And at the Ice Sector too. Guess that means another round with Mr. Freeze…Man. Man, that pun was awful." David said.

"We can't deactivate it without Aelita, though. We'll have to keep William and FreezeMan busy until she gets here." Sachiko said.

"Yeah. Hopefully Aelita can find her own way here." Gray said.

"Jeremie said he has an unfinished program that strengthens the Skid's shields that he was unable to implement before he left, didn't he?" Sachiko asked.

"If you know how to apply it, I suggest you do it fast." Tails said, showing images of the Scyphozoa approaching Sector 5.

"Him again?" Sachiko asked.

"It's trying to drain the Skid's data." Tails said.

"So that's his game, activating a tower in the Ice Region and having the Scyphozoa attack the Skid." Ash said.

"If the Scyphozoa is appearing, then that could mean Skeith could show up too…" Sachiko said. "I'll send some of you in first. Once I implement the program, I'll go in myself via delayed virtualization."

"Alright, we'll leave it to you then." A2 said.

"I hope the others are doing okay." Connie said.

"Eh, they're on an island in the middle of a lake, what's the worst thing XANA could do?" Amethyst asked.

"Did you really just ask that?" Saki asked.

"This is awful!" Sunset said as they saw a black sludge surrounding the island as lightning shot out of it.

"When XANA goes out, he really means it." Pit said. "Why would he…"

"The Skid! He's keeping us trapped while he attacks the Skid!" Double D realized.

"Someone like Sachiko, Tails or Hermit should be able to implement the program I made. The real problem is without Aelita, the tower can't get deactivated." Jeremie said.

"Then we have to find a way to get her to the factory." Francisca said.

"Yeah… we just need a good idea." Luffy said as he stood there as one of the bolts hit him without him moving.

"Wait a second. Luffy is immune to electricity! That's it!" Francisca said.

They soon stood near the edge as Aelita grabbed onto Luffy as he stepped back.

"Just remember, you need to clear the lake." Petra said.

"Got it." Luffy said.

"Alright, c'mon, over the lake, let's see the old jump, let's go!" Eddy said.

"Yeah…" Luffy said as he grabbed the far tree. "Gum Gum…Rocket!" he called out as he was sent rocketing into the sky with Aelita.

"And they are outta here!" Eddy said. "Now all we gotta do is wait and last against the-"

*ZAP*

"Zappity-Zap-Zap!" Ed said as Eddy was singed and coughed up a bit of smoke.

"Yeah…that." Eddy repeated plainly.

Meanwhile, on Lyoko…

"Seems these fools know not how to keep to themselves." FreezeMan said as he sent freeze wave after wave at them.

"Yeah…they're stubborn and stupid like that." William said.

"Human stubbornness…a useless concept." FreezeMan said.

"I wouldn't count us out just yet. Stubbornness is humanity's greatest asset." David said. "I'm sure XANA knows stubbornness all too well."

"Honestly…the world will go on just fine without you organics." FreezeMan said.

"That's what you said last time we met…before you got a case of backstabbing." David said.

"Yet here I am, still in one piece, serving a being who knows of humanity's uselessness." FreezeMan said.

"Something's wrong… He sounds like a puppet." Leonora said.

"XANA… I don't know how, but I don't see any light in FreezeMan's eyes anymore." David said.

"Well, he was still deadset on serving those Great Demon Lord guys once I brought him back, so I just took the liberty of deleting some of the more…annoying aspects of his personality." William said. "He's still got parts of his original personality and memories in there, he's just more agreeable when it comes to helping me out."

"Even if those memories involve his comrades?" David asked.

"Oh…that one is a driver." William smirked.

"It matters not what was deleted. Emotions are useless for robots. However, I still have not forgotten that your friends were what brought an end to my former comrades." FreezeMan said.

"Yeah, that's right… I am willing to admit that." David said. "But… If I know my sources… It might not be the case for long."

"I will not be bought with your false promises!" FreezeMan said as icicles started erupting from the ground.

"Whoa… That really got something out of him, that's for sure." David said. "Well, well… Seems like there's still a bit of a spark in there, after all."

"What was…" FreezeMan said before a fist came and landed a punch right on him.

"What the…" William said.

"Hey guys!" a voice called out as they saw Luffy and Aelita standing there. "Did we miss the fun?"

"Nope. In fact, you're just in time!" Sachiko said.

"Rotten organic." FreezeMan growled as part of his face was cracked.

"Whoa! It's the freezer man!" Luffy said.

"Eh… Close enough." David said. "But…now he seems really mad."

"He's not the only one." William growled. "Take them out!" he ordered a couple of Krabs.

"You know better than this, William. I can tell. You swore on it that you would help fight XANA." Kokoro said.

"I…I swore to…" William said as he saw visions of his memories fly by. "Ugh! No! I won't be left… I am not that person anymore!" he said.

"I know the William we know is still in there somewhere. And no matter what, or how long it takes…we will get him back." Kokoro said.

"Same goes to you…FreezeMan. We'll get that light back in your eyes again, no matter how long it takes." David said.

"Spare me your pity, organic!" FreezeMan snarled. "I have no need for it!"

"This is… this is getting too illogical." William said shakily. "We need to… to think of something else. Super Smoke!" he called, turning into smoke that picked up FreezeMan and retreated into the Digital Sea.

"What was that all about?" Mayumi asked.

"For a moment there… We thought we saw the real William come back." David said.

"He must not be totally absorbed by XANA yet." Sachiko said.

"As for FreezeMan… Well, jury's still out on him." David said.

"Well, he is just a robot." Tails said. "He wasn't really warm when we fought him the first time ourselves."

"But… Even robots are capable of emotions. That's something we have learned for ourselves for quite some time now." Leonora said.

"Yeah, and something tells me that FreezeMan may have started developing them." Pearl spoke. "As of now…he's denying the possibility that a machine can even have feelings."

"Guess we'll just have to keep on throwing it in his face until he can't deny it anymore." Undyne said. "Now how about we take care of that tower?"

"Right, you're up Aelita." 9S said.

She entered the tower and soon deactivated it.

"Okay…now…launching the RTTP." 9S said.

"Hopefully today will go better…especially since we know what's on our tests now." Mayumi said.

"Yeah…best part of this function." Sachiko said.