We open to the school as Leonis looked over the scrolls that he had found using the map.

"So...what's the verdict?" Rainbow asked.

"Seems Flux was true to his word. These are the genuine Smash scrolls." Leonis said.

"So this is all of them?" Mari asked.

"Counting the one your group turned in….yes, this appears to be all of them." Leonis said.

"Incredible, so you will be able to summon alternate versions of famous warriors including myself. You've already summoned Marth, correct?" Roy asked

"They aren't alternate versions. They're the genuine articles." Leonis said.

"I wasn't talking about the scrolls. I'm talking about the people summoned from them." Roy said.

"So was I." Leonis said.

"Is it alright if I see one for a sec?" Simon asked.

"You want me to summon one right now?" Leonis asked.

"That's not what I meant. I only want to check the symbols etched into one of them." Simon said.

"Of course. Help yourself." Leonis said.

"Okay, while these guys go at it, I've got news for everyone. Thanks to the batch of data we got from Sector 5, we believe we might be able to decrypt Franz Hopper's diary." Miu said.

"That is excellent news, Miu. We may be able to find the answer on how to cure Aelita." Camilla said.

"There's just one problem. I'll need to activate a tower to run the decryption program." Miu said.

"Yeah, and if you guys remember, it didn't go so well last time. XANA hates it when we play with his toys." Francisca said.

"Yeah, we just have to guard the activated tower from his monsters till you finish the program, right?" Kagura asked.

"It's not just his monsters we need to worry about. FreezeMan is still out there." David said.

"Yeah, and we still don't know what he's after, and how it concerns Aelita. What is his end goal?" Ty said.

"At this point, I'm probably givin up. He's tried to give Aelita to the Scyphozoa multiple times, and he's made a deal with XANA… but his end game isn't clear at all." Connor said.

"You guys give up way too easily. It's obvious what he's after." David said.

"Yeah, I know what he wants. He wants Aelita sacrificed so he can revive Seven of the Most dangerous Digimon in the world. The Seven Great Demon Lords." Hope said.

"That's right. His alliance with XANA is just a means to an end." David said.

"But why resurrect them? Isn't one of them Beelko's brother, Beelzemon?" Al asked.

"Right on the money. But I'll leave the reason why to Hope, since he was actually involved in that battle." David said.

"I don't wanna reveal too much. You guys are gonna find out who was behind it all, but let me just say this. There's no way to stop this from happening, because this is the Redux." Hope said.

"But haven't we pretty much made alternate choices since we got here that was different from the original?" Saki asked.

"Yes, but these changes are only minor. They only affect events in the Redux timeline." David said.

"So wait, are you saying we should let Aelita be sacrificed, Hope?" Aluche asked.

"Even if we destroy FreezeMan and stop him from resurrecting the Demon Lords, Aelita will still die for a moment and XANA will escape the supercomputer. That at least, won't change." David said. "I know, because I was in the redux of the events afterward."

"But I'm not saying we should let it happen. In fact, we're gonna give it all we've got to make sure this redux finishes strong." Hope said. "Aelita will still release the Demon Lords in the end… but that doesn't mean we can't make it hard for FreezeMan."

"If I remember correctly, there were three things needed in the ritual." David said.

"What were they?" Ruenheid asked.

"One, a great evil has to be unleashed, which XANA can account for. Two, a human sacrifice, which is where Aelita would fit. And three, someone devoid of feeling and compassion. I think we all know who fits that." David said.

"FreezeMan himself." Roy said.

"Exactly. So, if FreezeMan is destroyed completely, the requirements wouldn't be fulfilled." David said.

"Right. If we take it him out, the ritual is basically a failure." Aya said.

"But… That would also mean that Hope would never have been involved in the coming events." David said.

"You mean he would cease to exist?" Kor asked.

"No, he'd still be alive, but he would have no initiative to ally with Jexi in the first place." David said. "If so, it would be as though the events afterward would never have happened."

"Isn't this just a redux? I thought you said these things didn't affect the main timeline." Saki said.

"You're right. They don't. I'm just considering a certain what-if." David said. "To the main timeline, these reduxes are basically what-if scenarios."

"Right. So the choices we make in the redux timeline is like a butterfly effect in a way, right?" Kor asked.

"Exactly." David said.

"Besides all this, have any of you seen Ace these past few days?" Simon asked.

"No, I haven't. Then again, he said it himself he wouldn't attend, so we rarely see him anyway." David said. "The only times we see him is when we virtualize to Lyoko."

"Yeah...it's strange. Wonder where he is? Come to think of it, I haven't seen Ming today either." Jexi said.

"Do you think they're okay?" Liliana asked.

"Yeah. Ming met the member of the Olympos XII that was hiding here. Maybe it has something to do with that. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing too major." David said.

"Why do I get the feeling that's not true?" Zexi asked.

Meanwhile in the woods, Odd had headed in there. "Strange. The text said she would meet me here." Odd said.

"I'm afraid I have mislead you." A voice said as Odd saw FreezeMan rising from the bushes. "See...I've come for you." He said before Ming jumped down as she kicked him in the face. "You again."

"I had a feeling you'd resort to this. You're the only one left." Ming said. "Odd, go! I've got this guy!" She shouted as Odd ran. "I'm onto you. You're gonna try to bring Aelita to Lyoko, set her to the Scyphozoa, and watch as she dies...all to resurrect the Demon Lords."

"W-what? How did you know about that? I've not shared that plan with anyone." FreezeMan said.

"Sad to say, your plan...has already failed." Ming said.

"Not yet it hasn't. Ice Stage!" FreezeMan said as the ground froze instantly. "I simply need to get rid of you." FreezeMan said.

"It won't stop with just me. Soon, someone will stop you." Ming said.

"So what? All of you organic beings...you all must be eradicated in order for machines to flourish." FreezeMan said.

"Another extremist, it seems. Even if your ritual does succeed, the Demon Lords won't last long. Of that, I can assure you." Ming said.

"Hmm… I see. So you're from a different timeline, that's how you were aware of such an event." FreezeMan said.

"Guess we both can't walk away from this now. We have no choice but to fight to the death." Ming said.

"Yes...very true." FreezeMan said as he zoomed at Ming and uppercut her.

"He's fast." Ming thought.

"On normal ground, I'm as slow as any human, but on ice...I can move my quickest." FreezeMan said.

"Heh. I know a friend of mine that would say the same thing. His ice powers are unlike anything you would believe." Ming said as she fired multiple daggers at FreezeMan.

"Ice Shield." FreezeMan said encasing himself in ice as the daggers hit, making it shatter as he lunged at Ming. "I will freeze you where you stand! Freeze Cracker!" he said firing a ball of ice at her that exploded just as she brought out a shield and protected against it.

"I'd like to see you try." Ming said as she swung a chain with blades spinning around her.

"Ice Fall." FreezeMan said as icicles formed in the air as each of them fell one by one.

"Damn it." she said dodging them one by one as they threw off her balance. "This isn't good. If I don't finish this quick, he's gonna end up killing me. I gotta finish this with an all out assault." she thought.

"Ice Tower!" FreezeMan said rising several towers as he sent them moving towards her.

"There's no going back for you this time!" Ming said entering her awakened state as she fired multiple weapons as they broke through the towers and hit FreezeMan multiple times as he stood there smoking and sparking.

"You...foolish organic. I cannot be broken so easily." FreezeMan said.

"Take this!" Ming said as she took out a sword and split him down the middle before dealing multiple slashes, chopping him to bits before taking out a blaster. "It's over!" She shouted as she fired only for time to stop for her. "Huh?"

A small hooded figure stood behind her as it slowly approached the diced remains of FreezeMan. "My my. It seems FreezeMan has lost. As fun as it would be seeing him diced into bits, I'm afraid I still require his services." He said waving his hand as the pieces vanished.

"Who...or what are you?" Ming asked.

"A servant to the demons." he said before vanishing as Ming was unfrozen.

"What...what the hell just happened?" Ming pondered.

Back on the Sunny…

"Okay...we were able to get the data we needed from the tower. Now we can read the diary." Miu said.

"Indeed. Miu, would you do the honors?" Camilla asked.

"Alright. Here goes." Miu said as she launched the program.

"Alright, Franz Hopper. Lets see if we can use your knowledge to help save your daughter." Hope said.

"Don't spoil, Hope." Miu said.

"Daughter? But...that's impossible. If he had a daughter on Lyoko, I would have known." Aelita said.

"There is another theory. Aelita...you're his daughter." Hope said as Aelita stood there in shock.