I know it's been a while since I updated and I apologize (again). I hope this chapter makes up for it. I'll try to have the next one up within a week (no guarantees).

(Macas P.O.V.)

After Odd left to get some food, I left with Yumi and Ulrich. We walked along aimlessly talking. Ulrich was, of course, holding Yumi's hand, and Yumi was, of course, snuggling close to Ulrich. I find the whole thing somewhat ridiculous, but I'm not the one to say so. I don't remember ever having a crush, or anything like that. Being so obsessed over a girl… just seems kind of like a waste of time. But of course, that's my opinion. Ulrich obviously thinks differently. I don't think girls are a waste of time but… I don't know. I suppose when I find the right girl, I'll understand. I just hope I don't go as loopy, head-over-heels, obsessed like Ulrich and Jeremie do.

As we walk along, I remember some little tiny thing. I do that, I remember obscure little facts like this.

"What was the real reason you two got together? You said before it was some little thing, but it had to do with Lyoko, didn't it?" I ask, they both blush.

That's a yes.

"Uh… yah. But it's not really important." Yumi says. I do some quick thinking and make a connection.

"Let me guess, you guys were talking about me, right?" They don't respond. "You guys make this too easy. Let me see how close I can get. After that soccer game, and I said I remembered the trips into the past, you guys ran off to the factory. Then you had a big fight whether or not to tell me about Lyoko. Ulrich already knew about my childhood, so he said you can trust me. You guys tried to get him to tell you about me, he got mad and ran off. Yumi went to go apologize, or something like that." They look at me, astonished.

"You hit the nail right on the head! How did you come up with that?"

"Oh, pretty simple. You said it had to do with Lyoko, and didn't respond when I asked if it had to do with me. So in other words, it was about Lyoko and me. You two had to get in a fight somehow, so Yumi could apologize, because you told me that before. The timing was kind of perfect for a fight over whether or not to tell me about Lyoko. So I figured Ulrich knew about me, you guys wanted to, so he left because he promised to keep it a secret."

"Wow. You figured that all out yourself in a matter of minutes?"

"Yah. It was pretty simple, just stringing facts together."

"You're one amazing guy Macas." Yumi says.

"Thanks. But don't let Ulrich hear you say that, he might get the wrong impression." I smile and Yumi blushes.

"Macas, why haven't you ever had a girlfriend? I mean, it's not like girls have rejected you, right?" Ulrich asks me.

"Nah, I just haven't found a girl that I like enough to date. Excluding Yumi and Aelita because they're taken."

"So… if I wasn't taken, would you date me?" Yumi asks. I'm startled by her response, but think about it.

"I don't know. If you weren't dating Ulrich… and I knew that Ulrich didn't want to date you… you know, that's a very good question. I would seriously consider it."

"Aww, you're so sweet." Yumi says, and I blush.

"Woah! Macas blushed!" Yumi and Ulrich say at the same time.

"So? I'm human you know."

"That is the first time I've seen you blush!" Ulrich says.

"In all this time, you have never blushed!" Yumi says.

"Okay, so I don't blush very often, is that a crime?" I ask almost sarcastically. Ulrich begins to respond, but I stop him. I thought I heard something. A small, faint noise, so faint it's not possible to tell what kind of sound it is. I look over at the science building and see small flashes of light. I walk over, Yumi and Ulrich follow silently. I kneel down to the wall next to the building. Next to the ground, on the outside, the science building has power outlets. And three of them are crackling with visible amounts of black energy.

"Macas! Get away from those!" Yumi yells, but it's too late. In the blink of an eye, one of Xana's ghost assembles itself from the energy within three outlets, and tries to possess me. I fight hard to keep my consciousness, my sense of self. Pain is erupting throughout every cell in my body, making it hard to stay conscious. I fight harder.

After a couple of minutes, the pain begins to subside. I'm winning the battle, turning the tide. Xana's ghost is losing. Soon, it's gone, I managed to stop it. I open my eyes to see the ghost floating above us. Yumi and Ulrich are looking at me with concern.

"Watch out…." I manage to say, but too late. The ghost flies down and buries itself in Yumi. Yumi immediately falls to the ground as if dead.

"Yumi!" I sit up and look at her as Ulrich runs over to her. As soon as I can, I stand up and look over her. She's thrashing around on the ground as if she's having a seizure.

"Yumi! Fight it Yumi!" Ulrich is yelling. Even though it's Saturday, there are still people in the courtyard. By now, a large crowd has gathered around us. As suddenly as it began, Yumi stops. She just falls limp.

"Ulrich, Xana wasn't trying to possess her… he's trying to kill her!" I say as I realize it. Ulrich looks up at me in shock. Tears come to his eyes, but he wipes them away furiously.

"No! I won't let you die Yumi, not now. I need you!" He yells. I quickly pull out my cell phone and dial Odd's number.

"Hello?"

"Odd, Xana attack. Yumi was the target. Bring Aelita to the factory quickly." I say and hang up. The large crowd of people that gathered is looking at Ulrich and Yumi. Xana is obviously attacking Yumi's inner body, she hasn't moved. I touch Ulrich's shoulder.

"Ulrich, the only way to save Yumi is to deactivate the tower on Lyoko. Let's go." He stands up. He wobbles a little bit, I think he might be a little bit delirious.

"Okay…." He says quietly.

"Ulrich," I grab him by the shoulders and turn him around. He's crying quietly, tears rolling freely down his cheeks, "go now to Lyoko. I'll take Yumi to the infirmary and meet you there. The only way to save her is to go. Go!" I yell after he doesn't move. Finally, he takes off running. Faster than I have ever seen him before. I quickly pick up Yumi bridal style and carry her to the infirmary.

"Dorothy! Yumi collapsed!" I say when I see her. Dorothy takes her and sets her down on a bed.

"Her pulse is extremely rapid. That's not a good sign." Dorothy says. That's all I need to hear. I run out the door and take off for the tunnel in the park. Since Yumi won't be using it anytime soon, I take her skateboard. When I reach the end, Ulrich's board isn't leaning against the wall like usual. I look over, it's smashed against the dead end wall to my right. It looks like Ulrich didn't even stop, he just jumped off his skateboard and climbed up the ladder. I quickly ascend the ladder and run across the bridge. I enter the control room and see no one is there. Climbing in the chair, I see that Aelita had put on the automatic countdown for their virtualization. They are now in Lyoko, the ice sector.

"Hey guys, how's it look?" I ask through the ear-piece.

"Too quiet." Odd says. The holomap shows no monsters in sight.

"Okay, the tower is straight in front of you." I say. There's no need for me to go to Lyoko now, I might as well just stay here. Besides, with a pissed-off Ulrich down there, there's no way Xana could do much harm. But I can't help but wonder what's going on as Aelita enters the tower unharmed. There's no monsters in sight. No battle. But as soon as Aelita does enter, a large blue dot appears on my screen.

Jeremie….

"Macas, we have a problem." Odd says.

"Jeremie?"

"Yup. He says he just wants to talk to us." I hear Aelita say the tower has been deactivated, so I know Yumi is safe now. So I decide to wait, and hear what Jeremie has to say. I press a couple keys, opening the com-link for everything so I can hear Jeremie. I also de-virtualize Aelita. She appears beside me after a couple minutes, and Jeremie starts to talk.

"So, now that Aelita and Yumi are safe, I think we can talk now."

"What do you want Xana?" Ulrich's voice says.

"I want to make a deal."

"What's that?" Odd asks.

"Actually, I want the Chosen One to come down and hear it himself."

"Don't bother Macas, you don't have to come here. He has a trap planned." Ulrich says.

"Please, why would I need to set a trap? I am Xana, master of Lyoko. This isn't a brawl, it's a civilized war between two enemies."

"You don't have to come down Macas. It's okay if you don't."

"No Ulrich, this is my fight. I will come down." I pull of the ear-piece and hand it to Aelita.

"Can you virtualize me?" I ask.

"Of course." I head down to the scanners and step inside. I go through the whole process rather quickly, and I end up in the polar region landing in between Ulrich and Odd. I'm decked out in my usual attire, and man does it feel good.

"Okay Xana, what do you want?"

"Finally, what took you so long? Hasn't Jeremie figured out that shortcut yet?" Jeremie says, standing up again. He was lying against a rock, obviously bored.

"What shortcut?" Aelita asks.

"Check through the scanner program, there's a rather large shortcut that can cut the time in half. Jeez, I thought he would have figured it out by now."

"Cut to the chase Xana, what's the deal?" I ask, getting annoyed.

He made me come down for this?

"You really are impatient, you know that?"

"Yes I do. Now hurry up and tell me the deal, or else I'm leaving." Jeremie gives a sigh.

"I will give you back control of Jeremie, no strings attached, if Macas will willingly join me." Odd and Ulrich immediately refuse.

"No way Xana. Jeremie is no more important to us than Macas." Ulrich says.

"We would never sacrifice a teammate for another!" Odd says.

"Wait, why do you want me?" I ask. Xana just laughs.

"You know why. I know Aelita got that accidental glimpse into my private files. She knows about the prophecy that Franz Hopper made. Macas is the Chosen One. The one Franz Hopper prophesied would destroy me. I doubted that the old fool had any possible way of making a real prophecy, but this comes too close. Macas is the chosen one, I'm sure of it. So if the prophecy is true, he is the only one of you pitiful fools who stands a chance of beating me. If he will surrender himself to me, I will release Jeremie and never take control of any member of your group again."

"You cut a hard bargain Xana. And you know it." I say thoughtfully. I'm not going to make any decision for now.

"Well, fine than. You leave me no choice. If I couldn't make a rational bargain, I will have to force your hand." I do a double take.

"Say what?" I ask.

"Jeremie," Jeremie (Xana) says, "is expendable. I don't really need him. He was just a pawn for my purposes. Now that you apparently don't want him either, he is of no further purpose to me." With a smirk, Jeremie falls limp to the ground.

Okay, another chapter gone! That's only two left before the end. I think a lot of you will enjoy the next chapter, it's the climax of the story, the final showdown. And here's a small sample.

(Macas P.O.V)

"You lied Xana. You cheated." He grins at me, an evil grin.

"So? You can't do anything about it. You can't kill me, only Jeremie."

"Well, we just have to get Jeremie back some other way then."

"Yah right, like how? The absolute only way to free Jeremie is if he frees himself, which is impossible." Xana says.

"Oh, I think you underestimate Jeremie." I say and he just smirks at me again.

That is but a small sample of the chapter. I've made it a massive 2,800 words long, just for your enjoyment. (More updates could mean I might be persuaded to update sooner...) I hope you enjoyed this chapter and didn't hate the cliffhanger too much. So now, I leave with a quote:

"Whoever said nothing is impossible never tried slamming a revolving door."