Dr. James Wagner had proven himself to be a threatening force. Within his ranks is the presence of a revived XANA, who is contained within a body and thus is forced to take his orders. Then there is another AI, called KAT, whose origins are still largely unknown but still seems to be loyal to Wagner for unexplained reasons. After a tumultuous month of fending off his attacks, Jeremy had completed a new Skid. With it, the Lyoko Warriors are now on the offensive and can finally stop whatever plans Wagner was developing.

The new Skidbladnir Mk II was built with the idea of sieges in mind. The materialization program's resource management was further optimized from the previous Skid, allowing for three people to be materialized at a time. In addition, the new Nav Skids were equipped with laser blasters to accompany the torpedoes and whatever new threat James had lurking in the Digital Sea. A fifth Nav Skid was created to accommodate for the new member and was slightly modified so that it could dock at the bottom tip of the Skid which was the only location Jeremy could think of to place it.

The day of the Skidbladnir Mk II's maiden voyage was expected to be the start of a long campaign. With hundreds of Replikas across the Digital Sea, the Lyoko Warriors' best plan of action was to access the systems of the Replikas and to use their data to pinpoint the location of Dr. James Wagner. But what was expected to be a crowded ocean of giant orbs was only a spacious abyss. All that they could find after an hour of searching was just one Replika.

Just one. That was all there was. The whole situation was too simple for the Replika to not be a trap. Regardless of what this all meant, there would be no telling if they could find another. The Supercomputer's ability to chart the Digital Sea was too unreliable for now.

The Replika was based on the Ice Sector featured with its vast, flat plains. Finding a tower was no problem and the Skid was able to dock onto the tower uncontested. Only when they materialized their first three warriors onto the Replika's facility did they see their first signs of resistance.

The Lyoko Warriors were now stuck in a prolonged firefight with a security force led by Kat on the Replika, consisting of much of Lyoko's bestiary. While the Skid has taken a few shots, the teenage warriors have been able to keep them at bay. However, even though none of them have been devirtualized, they were still technically losing this fight. On the cold, mountainside laboratory that housed the Replika, William and Odd are the last ones to be materialized. If they get kicked back into the Replika, the battle is lost and who knows if James would allow another chance to happen.

William is duking it out with XANA in the facility's main lobby. XANA had been able to single-handedly take out every other Warrior but William gave Odd an opening for him to get past XANA and explore the rest of the facility while he holds XANA back. Now William can only hope that he can hold XANA off long enough for Odd to get anything useful out of this opportunity.

"No more hesitation," William thought, "This time I'll end you for good."

Odd had to rush through most of the facility like a lab mouse in a labyrinth. Despite being linked to the tower, Jeremy could not access a map of the facility, most likely due to Wagner's interference. The building itself was not anything confusing; the layout was standard, all things considered. But despite the normal appearance, all the hallways and rooms Odd passed through were empty, unkempt, and devoid of any presence. One would think this would make the job easier, but the conditions only made Odd more nervous. What if this is was a trap all along, just an empty building meant to distract us from something else.

"Odd. William. Can you hear me?" Jeremy spoke through the comms, "You won't believe what happened. Kat fell into the Digital Se-"

"Jeremy?" Odd cried, "What was that?"

No response came from Jeremy. Odd's line of communication was down. Did he hear that right? Kat fell into the Digital Sea. Did that mean Kat is gone? Does this mean that this is the only Replika James has and they have just broken one of his last lines of defense? Was the ominous threat that could wipe them out at any day only a facade?

"What would happen if I failed," Odd wondered, "Wagner would most likely launch an attack for killing his right-hand man, no doubt about that. How bad would he make that attack? How bad can he make it?"

Odd knew he had a limited amount of time before he returned to the Skid and his life points have been all but whittled away getting past XANA. If he took too long or if he took another hit, whether it be from a XANA in hot pursuit or a contraption of Wagner's creation, the mission is over. The ball would be back on Wagner's court and he could do anything with it. If this is all there is, then he needed to end it here and now. He would have to take out Wagner. He would have to kill him. He would have to kill Wagner.

Kill. That thought lingered within him. How did his life get to a point where he had to seriously think about killing a man? One month ago, he was expecting to live his school days like anyone else. When he and his friends thought that XANA came back the first time around, he would be lying to himself if he denied that a part of him was excited to back on Lyoko. But as the whole affair continued, everything felt more intense this time around. Jeremy seemed more tired than he was back when XANA was the main threat. William has been on edge since XANA came back. Ulrich and Yumi seemed to be handling the stress well enough but, knowing them, they could be just hiding it. Hopefully, at the very least, the two are not hiding the stress from each other. It doesn't seem that Urma really understands what she has gotten herself into. Even, Aelita, of all people, had snapped when Wagner called her dad an old fool. Odd could not, for the life of him, remember a moment when she got that mad, that furious, at XANA and XANA killed her father.

Even fighting monsters had become a chore.

Odd stopped for a moment. Down a turn in the hall, he saw a door that seemed to have extra security screening. Nothing but a desk and a plastic double door were there but there had to be something behind the door on the other side. If there is anything in this place, it's behind that door.

"How else was all this supposed to end?" Odd thought. "What else were we going to do when we got to Wagner? It wasn't like we could talk this out with him, he is clearly cemented in his ideals. How would someone like him be swayed by a group of teenagers? We couldn't give him to the authorities, we would have to reveal Lyoko to the world. How else can this all end?"

He turned the knob on the unlocked door and entered the dark room.

The space he entered appeared to be promising. The room was lit with monitors and the glow of a scanner. What was illuminated were empty microwave dishes and garbage littered about. Wagner was certainly living here. Just as Odd realized this when he heard a calm voice from his side.

"Hello, Od-"

"Laser Arrow!"