A\N: Whoops! This took a little bit longer than expected to update. Sorry guys. It's the end of the semester, and my final year of college so things are a bit crazy right now. But here's the next chapter. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed and favorited this story (as well as my profile in general!) You guys have no idea how much that means to me! ^_^
As soon as the words left his mouth, William dived into his supersmoke racing in Yumi's direction. XANA was right. The choice had to be made and he wasn't about to make the wrong one. A moment of terror flashed through Yumi's eyes as she attempted to duck away from his attack. She hadn't realized at that moment that she was not his intended target. Had he actually been after her, it would have failed, but William had someone else in mind for the attack.
William appeared out of the supersmoke in time to run into the XANA-William clone, his sword in hand. The evil clone fell to the ground with the unexpected attack as William's sword rested behind his neck. He put his foot on him, holding him down for a second as he turned to face the completely stunned Yumi.
"Yumi, run to the tower, quick!"
It seemed as though William's order stunned her for a bit longer but after a second of standing there in stunned silence, Yumi turned and ran in the direction of the tower. William gritted his teeth and turned back to his clone; the one that had almost convinced him to turn against his friends. He wasn't going to let that happen again. However, before he turned all the way around, the clone's fist met his face and sent him flying through the air. William groaned as he landed hard on his back, his sword falling out of arm's reach. No wonder Yumi had lost so many life points…even digital he realized that there was still a slight bout of pain that went along with it. He had to give it to XANA…he had one heck of a right hook! Not a word was spoken as, while William laid there a moment stunned, XANA walked up to him and pointed his sword at William's throat. The silence was eerie as XANA looked down at him, the stunned look replaced by that evil and vile smirk. The clone shook his head slightly and looked up in the direction Yumi had run off. William knew that look; the look that said that XANA had more important matters to deal with at the current moment, but he would be back to take care of William when he could.
Too bad that wasn't going to happen. William saw his evil clone take a few steps away from before using his supersmoke to race toward Yumi. The girl wouldn't stand a chance at running away from him. His supersmoke power made him far too fast to outrun. But William had the same power and he could stop himself. That's what he was going to do. With a groan, William got to his feet.
I'm not going to make this same mistake again. I'm going to help her and I'm going to show her that they didn't make a mistake giving me a second chance.
He took a couple of steps much like his evil clone had seconds before. Within moments, he turned to smoke himself and raced off in the direction his clone and Yumi had gone in. It wouldn't be too hard to find them; Yumi wouldn't get far and his clone could not outrun him either. William had mastered his power in a way that XANA wouldn't have even dreamed – he was out of practice in a way and William was going to use that fact to his advantage. And he was right. Within moments he saw XANA-William's smoke trail on Yumi's heels and caught up to it with ease. Though he was keeping his eye on XANA-William, William took a second to glance at Yumi to see her glance back at the two of them. Panic and fear still resided on her face as she continue to run. Had this been some Krabe or even a Megatank, William knew she wouldn't be as worried. But this was a manifestation of XANA himself and far more powerful. If they failed this mission XANA would get the codes from Ulrich and Aelita and even Yumi herself. Then he would be at full power; and William didn't even want to think about what would happen then.
They were so close to Yumi now that they were just about able to touch her. A quick swipe of XANA-William's sword would devirtualize Yumi in no time. William had to stop it. She needed to get to that tower. Besides, he kind of owed that much to her. Then he saw it. There was a quick veer from XANA-William toward his smoke trail. He reacted and immediately veered toward his clone himself. XANA was getting ready to emerge and do just what William predicted. He couldn't have that. He had to stop him.
It was as if he were looking in the mirror as he emerged from out of his supersmoke; a dark, tainted one. He saw himself – his XANAfied self - emerge simultaneously. The smirk that had resided on his face earlier was, for a brief second, full of surprise. He hadn't expected William to gain on him, had he? With so much forward momentum going and so little space between them, the two Williams couldn't help but crash into one another. The impact, William found, was so hard that both of them literally bounced off one another and flew backward on their backs. Even though Jeremie said nothing, he couldn't help but wonder just how many life points he had just lost with that move. But William didn't care – he just wanted this clone to get out of there and never return.
He gritted his teeth as he landed and glanced over at Yumi to see how far away from the tower she was. There was still quite a distance he realized and she had stopped to see what was going on. Before he could tell her to run, she turned on her heels and continued to do so. She would need just a bit more time before she could get there and William was prepared to give her that time. As quickly as he could manage, he grabbed his sword and got to his feet. He focused on the evil clone in front of him with a look on his face that mocked William. In his head he could hear the voice again, whispering things into his mind.
You failed. You chose them over yourself. You are now knowingly letting them deceive you. You're a fool, and you will never be able to stop me. You will fail. She'll never get to that tower.
He was sick of the voice casting doubts into his mind. It was going to end. He wouldn't listen to it anymore; he was tired of it. Yumi was right; he was stronger than that voice and he wasn't going to let it cast doubts within him any longer.
William charged the clone who only smirked. It was going to end then and there but that smirk was disconcerting. William brought his sword down, intent on crashing it down on the clone's head and devirtualizing it. But, much like with Yumi earlier, XANA-William merely sidestepped the attack. With nothing to stop the force of the blade, William felt it pull him off balance and left him completely open. It was no surprise to him when XANA-William elbowed him, catching him in the rib cage, and sending him flying through the air. Again. He felt the sword go flying out of his grasp yet again as his side hit the ground hard before rolling over onto his stomach. Once more he felt a slight bit of pain. How many life points did he have left? Probably not many if the punch cost him fifty. That elbow had to have cut out another twenty at least.
He couldn't move. See? You failed. You're pathetic and useless even in combat. No wonder they didn't want you around in the first place. The voice again was invading his thoughts and he couldn't seem to push them out. No, he thought instead. I haven't failed. Not yet. Not while I'm on Lyoko. I will do everything I can to keep her safe. She may not return my feelings but she's still my friend and I will do everything I can to protect her.
William heard the slow, deliberate sound of footsteps behind him and knew that XANA-William was there. He would have to move unless he wanted to be devirtualized and he just couldn't let that happen. Yumi was strong and could defeat XANA, William knew that, but he didn't want to let her do that alone. He was going to be there for her. He was going to help her. He struggled to his hands and knees. Physically he was alright but mentally William realized just how exhausted he was and it was effecting his performance. But he had to stand. He just had to.
He felt XANA-William's foot on his back. Wiliam gritted his teeth as he tried to push the weight off of him, but it only came down harder. His arms and legs shook and quickly gave out and he face-planted back to the ground. Once more he tried to rise, but the weight held him down, unyielding. He wasn't going to get free. His head moved up so that he could see where Yumi was. She was closer to the tower but still far enough away. He just had to buy her a few more seconds, then she would be inside the tower. He just had to. But he couldn't reach his sword and he couldn't move. XANA could devirtualize him within a millisecond and still catch her, but he couldn't move. He was just far too exhausted.
The blow that he thought would end his time on Lyoko never came. Instead he felt the weight leave his back and, glancing up, he saw the familiar trail of XANA's supersmoke heading directly toward Yumi. With a sick feeling in his gut William realized that he was going to catch up to her before she could get into the tower. He had to do something and quickly. On his hands and knees he quickly reached for his sword and, without even bothering to stand, he himself used his power to turn himself into smoke and race toward Yumi and XANA.
The situation was bordering on desperate. He went as fast as his power was able to go but XANA had the lead on him. Would he be able to get to him in time? He had to…I just have to!
"You're our friend William…"
She was right there. He almost had him.
"My friend."
XANA-William moved past her and veered in front of her. William could hear Yumi's gasp and watched as she stopped dead in her tracks. XANA-William appeared in front of her, sword raised, ready to strike her. Yumi wouldn't even have time to grab her fans for defense. Almost there…
XANA-William was shouting, completely focused on Yumi, intent on destroying her. He wasn't paying attention as William appeared beside him and, using the same trick as before, used his speed and momentum to knock the imposter completely off balance. The evil clone fell away from Yumi and to the ground, his sword clattering away from him and out of reach. He was defenseless and there would not be a way to escape William this time. He had won.
No more. I'm sick of hearing your voice XANA. You're wrong. They accept me, they want me in their group…I'm their friend. They don't just want me in the group as backup. They see me as a friend and I see them as mine. We may have had a rocky start but it's only served to better all of us and strengthen our bond. And I won't let you convince me ever again otherwise. Goodbye, XANA. You can't hurt me anymore.
William brought up his sword and, in that moment of clarity and determination, swung tit, allowing an energy blast to come off of it. He hadn't been able to use that ability since his rescue from XANA's clutches, never of his own free will. Yet there it was, racing downward toward XANA who could only put his hand up in a pathetic attempt to try to block it. His attempt at shielding himself was futile of course and William heard his voice – XANA's voice – shout as he was devirtualized. The voice echoed a moment longer before it disappeared completely.
Then there was silence. For the first time since his possession his thoughts were normal. They were calm. And they weren't menacing. It was peaceful and William couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face. He was free.
"Glad you're back," he heard Yumi say behind him. Turning around he saw a smile on her own face. The pain wasn't there anymore when he looked at her. He could look at her and see their friendship, not a lost love. Would it always be that way? Probably not. He understood that. But for now he had won and he was going to celebrate his victory.
Then he realized that she still wasn't in the tower and they had their friends to save. He motioned toward the red tower. "Alright Yumi, it's time to finish the job."
He moved his body so that he was completely facing her and watched as she moved toward the tower. As she was walking, he couldn't help but glance back at where XANA was devirtualized. That voice. It was gone, but would it stay that way? Would it come back or was he finally free? He heard Yumi enter the tower and glanced back to watch her as she disappeared into its walls. Perhaps the voice would come back; in fact he was certain that it would, but even if it did he knew that he had friends to help him out. He could go to them and talk to them about it and he knew that they would listen. Maybe they wouldn't understand but they would be there anyway. They would help him fight his demons just like he helped them fight their own. They would be there for him and he would be there for them. Another smiled played on his face as he felt himself being broken apart, virtual bit by bit. Devirtualized and brought back to earth. For the first time since his rescue he felt accepted.
A\N: No, the story isn't completed yet. Though there are a couple more chapters that go beyond where the episode left off. Stay tuned for chapter 6! ^_^
