I don't own Harry Potter or Code Lyoko

Final Round

"You swear not to give away the secret?" asked Yumi as they stood in the scanner room.

"I swear it."

"Good answer William. Now for the final step. The scanner. We're going to record a virtual image of you in the supercomputer," said Jeremy as a scanner opened. "That will make you immune to the return to the past and make you one of us."

"Well you ready? You scared?" asked Ulrich.

"Of course he's ready," said Harry as he rolled his eyes. "And, no, he's not scared."

"Me? No, why? What about you, were you scared the first time?" asked William.

"No!"

"Oh yeah, right," said Odd.

"I'm telling you, I wasn't scared!"

"Oh, sorry, I guess I mixed you up with another Ulrich Stern!" said Odd. Harry sniggered.

"He was scared alright."

"Stop arguing," said Sissi as she shook her head.

"You can still change your mind," said Yumi as William stepped into the scanner.

"You kidding?" asked William.

"He won't change his mind," said Sissi.

"Scanner William." His avatar was created. "Welcome to the club, William!"

"Well tell us, how do you feel now?" asked Odd.

"Ready to take on Xana and his monsters! And I just can't wait to see what I look like on Lyoko!" William said eagerly.

"Get real! Xana is much more dangerous and devious than you can imagine!" warned Yumi.

"Plus, before you can put up a decent fight on Lyoko, it's going to take time. A lotta time," said Ulrich.

"At first you'd better just hang back to check things out. And try to learn!" suggested Aelita.

"And be careful," said Sissi.

"And please do what we ask you to," requested Harry. "There are some things even I run from. Things that could potentially cause the end of the world if they got me."

"Ok, ok. Chill. I'm not the type to steal the show."

"You sure?" asked Harry as they looked at him.

Factory

"I really hope Xana doesn't go on the attack tomorrow," said Odd as they strolled out of the elevator. "I'm signed up for the inter-academy skateboard championship! And I'm going to win it too!"

"You're not someone who likes to steal the show either," said a laughing Yumi.

"It's good to have goals," said Sissi.

"Odd is right! Because in life, you should always aim for the top," said William.

"Why not?" asked Ulrich. "That way when you fall back down, you crash a lot harder!"

"That's a point," said Sissi.

"Try your best Odd," said Harry. "That's all we can ask."

The next day

"Thanks for coming with me, Ulrich!" said Odd as he strapped his helmet and other protective gear up.

"Well somebody's gotta pick you up and dust you off every time you faceplant! I mean, what are friends for, Odd?" asked Ulrich.

"Good afternoon everyone. Kadic academy is happy to welcome you today to this grand skateboard championships," said Jim. "I'm sure all of you will knock us out with all of your ollies, your nollies, your kick-flips and grinds."

"Wow, incredible! You're really up on your skateboarding, Jim," said an impressed Ulrich.

"Yep, I sure am! Actually I was a roller derby champion way back in the 70s!" said Jim.

"Oh, what a shame that you'd rather not talk about it," said Ulrich.

"Actually I'd be glad to, but uh I uh…don't have the time!"

"As usual," said Sissi as she sat down. The competition started when Jim blew his whistle. Eventually it was Odd's turn. He did superb tricks on his skateboard and finished by stopping in the middle of the ramp.

"And there you go! The perfect combination of exceptional skills and incredible elegance! In a word: classy!"

Sam suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hey, Odd! Great run out there!" she said. Odd was incredibly surprised and fell on his backside.

"S-S-S-Sam?! …how are you?" he asked in surprise.

"Not bad!"

"Now that was real class," said Ulrich as Sissi helped Odd up.

Harry's and Jeremy's Dorm

The computer came up positive.

"It works!"

"Of course it does," said Harry. "I helped."

"With this program, we should be able to find your father Aelita," said Jeremy. "Stop inflating your ego Harry."

The boy pouted.

"Let's go check it out at the factory," said Aelita.

"And this is the room of our man of the hour, Jeremy Belpois!" said Milly as Tamiya filmed it. Milly knocked on the door. Jeremy opened it and looks at the girl confusedly.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" asked Jeremy.

"You're kidding! Don't tell us you forgot!" exclaimed Milly.

"We're filming you for a whole day for our special edition of the Kadic Herald: "A Day in the Life of Jeremy Belpois"!" explained Tamiya.

"You are? …I did forget, completely! Sorry but I'm really busy."

"That's great," said Milly. "We can film the Kadic academy valedictorian in one of his busy days."

"Me and Harry will go test the program," said Aelita.

"Looks like I'm all yours."

Gym

"It's good to see you Sam but aren't you meant to be living on the coast?" asked Odd.

"I am but I signed up for the competition. I'm here for the day."

"Samantha Knight."

"Stay here."

"How weird is that to run into her?" asked a blushing Odd. "I'd almost forgotten how cool, and how pretty she is!"

"And how you're really in love!" said Ulrich

"Come on! Can't you like somebody without being in love?" asked a still blushing Odd.

"Sure, I can! But you're totally in love, good buddy.

Sissi giggled as she listened in.

Lab

"Oh no."

Xana was attacking the core of Lyoko.

"Now of all times?" asked Harry.

Kadic

"For breakfast, do you like juice or milk?" asked Milly.

"Hot chocolate."

"Eggs or toast?"

"Cereal."

"Butter or jam?"

"Maple syrup. Uh, honestly, are you sure your readers care about this stuff?" asked Jeremy.

"Look Jeremy, I'm the reporter and I know what our readers want to read!"

His phone rang.

"Aelita?"

"Xana's attacking the core of Lyoko," said Aelita.

"Ok. Tell the others. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"So you're the reporter? What does that make me, then?" asked Tamiya. "Jeremy's right, you know, those are stupid questions!"

"If you have better ones, what's stopping you from asking them, huh?!"

"You are, ok?!"

"Um, ladies…! I have an idea! We can do this interview later on, after you two have finished fighting with one another!" interrupted Jeremy.

"You're staying here until you finish answering my fascinating questions!"

Gym

"Oh that Odd…he's so…so…" said Sam as they watched the boy skateboard.

"He's quite good at this," said Sissi.

"So messy! You wouldn't believe what his room looks like!" said Ulrich.

"It's your room too Ulrich," pointed out Sissi.

"He's like me. My room's a permanent disaster zone!"

"Seems you two were made for each other…" Ulrich muttered as his phone rang. "Aelita? No problems. I'll tell Odd and we'll be right there."

"Ulrich Stern! Someone here would like to see you," said Delmas as he walked over. "Hello Sissi."

"Hello, Ulrich."

"Dad?!" asked a surprised Ulrich. "But…"

Lab

Aelita called Yumi.

"Yumi, emergency. Xana's attacking the core of Lyoko."

"Oh no, not today," moaned Yumi. "My parents are gone and I have to look after my brother. Ok, calm down. I'll sneak out when he's not looking!"

"Dream on, sis'!" muttered Hiroki as he heard and leaned on the door.

Gym

"What are you doing here?" asked Ulrich.

"I'm worried about your grades, son. That's the reason I came. You and I have to talk."

"I'm sorry, but today…today's not a very good time…" said Ulrich.

"And I think the time is long overdue!"

"It's just that I…wasn't expecting to see you and…"

"And I wasn't expecting to receive a report card as bad as yours was! Come with me now. Mr Delmas was kind enough to lend us his office."

"I only went down a few marks! Sam? Can you give Odd a message from me?" asked Ulrich as he walked over.

"Yeah, sure."

"Tell him to get to he-knows-where right away."

"Ok."

Lab

Aelita called William.

"Yes. Aelita?"

"Xana's attacking."

"Cool. Be right there."

"It's not cool," interrupted Harry. "It's very bad. Very very bad."

Gym

"Wow! Now this is what I call fun! Hey, where did Ulrich go, Sam?" asked Odd as he sat down next to Sam.

"I don't know!"

"He didn't say anything?"

"No…" lied Sam.

"Ok! Then tell me, how was I?"

"Wow, you really rock!"

"Xana's attacking," said Sissi. Odd ignored her.

Yumi.

"Come on Hiroki, do me a favour," pleaded Yumi. "Let me go and don't say anything to Mum and Dad, I'll make it up to you, I promise!"

"You'll make it up to me how?"

"I, uh…look…wh…want me to give you my Discman?"

"No!"

"Ugh…I'll…I'll find you the entire saga of Surfer Zombie!"

"Johnny just lent it to me."

"…I'll…I'll do all your homework for a month!"

"Including my math homework?"

"Yes!"

"Huh, interesting…but no!"

Lab

"If Xana's monsters destroy the sphere, Lyoko is gone for good," explained Aelita to William. "Without Lyoko, we don't have a way to fight Xana."

"I read you. Loud and clear. What are we waiting for?"

"For the others," said Harry.

"They can meet up with us later. Let's not waste time. That's the reason you called me, right?"

"The more people, the better," said Harry. "You don't understand."

"Understand what?" asked William.

"Xana is dangerous and so is sector five. It changes. There's a monster called the Scyphozoa. Xana uses it to possess people."

"That won't happen to me," said William confidently.

"You can't be certain of that. You can't see the future."

Jeremy

"Mycology is a very complicated science. It's the branch of botany that deals with all forms of fungi. There are several thousand species, and they range in form from a single cell, to a mass body of branch filamentous hyphae that often produce specialised fruiting bodies. The kingdom includes yeasts, moulds, smuts, and mushrooms," explained Jeremy.

"That's what you call an interesting question?" asked Milly of Tamiya.

"My question was fine, it's the answer that's a bore!"

Jeremy's phone rang and he picked up. "Yes, Aelita?"

"I'm sorry, but I've decided to take back control of this interview!" exclaimed Milly.

"Well sure, that's just typical! As soon as I'm the one to ask a question you get all bent out of shape!" pointed out Tamiya.

"Completely untrue!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"William's right Aelita. Saving Lyoko is top priority. I'll get there as fast as I can to transfer the others."

"Don't drag your feet. Come on, let's go."

"Yes!" exclaimed William.

"Uh, ladies, I need to go to the toilet. You weren't planning on filming me in the bathroom?" asked Jeremy as he smiled.

Lab

"I started up the virtualisation program to bring us directly into sector five," said Aelita. "We only have a few seconds to get to the scanner room."

"Let's go."

Kadic

"How long were you planning to shoot this door?" asked Milly.

"It's interesting to know how long the really good students use the bathroom, right?"

"Wrong!"

Jeremy slipped out the window and ran to the sewers.

Scanners

The three stood in the scanners.

"Ready William?" asked Harry.

"You bet," said William as the doors closed and they were sent to Lyoko.

Lyoko

The three landed on their feet. William looked around then at his sword.

"Wow. That's some classy gear." He looked at the other two's empty hands. "What, no weapons? Do you fight with your bare hands? What's your superpowers?"

"This is not a game," said an annoyed Aelita. Harry rolled his eyes. "We have a mission to complete."

"And I need to talk to Uncle about rebuilding Lyoko," said Harry as he ran behind William at top speed. "And William, don't assume that we don't have any weapons or super powers. We just don't need them at the moment. Ours are not as obvious as yours."

"Ok, so where are the monsters?" asked William as he stiffened and looked behind him.

"We need to hit a key," said Harry. "We'll probably run into some when we find it."

"This is ten thousand times better than Galactic Battle," said William as he recovered. They ran through the entrance.

"The key's over there," said Harry as he pointed at it. William ran at it but the room changed and creepers turned up.

"Wow. A movie set! And Creepy crawlies," said William as Harry threw shuriken at them. "Aelita, you get the key. Leave some for me! GERONIMO!"

He ran at them after nearly dropping his sword and defeated a Creeper in one hit. Aelita shook her head.

"Wow! I can't believe it! I am the man!" cheered William. Harry eyed the sword.

"That's a powerful sword. Aelita, get the key." He pointed at it then took care of the rest of the Creepers. Aelita ran towards it.

"Hey, I thought I asked you to leave some for me," complained William. "And how come you get super speed?"

"I ignored you and it came with the avatar. And you need to be more careful. Uncle! Are you here Franz?" Aelita hit the mechanism and a wall formed between them and her. "Huh?"

"Aelita? Where are the others?" asked Jeremy.

"How would I know? They're not in the lab?"

"No."

A screech echoed and Harry paled. "We have to go."

A Scyphozoa floated into the room.

"What's the jellyfish?" asked William as Harry started to back away, dragging William with him. William struggled but Harry kept his grip. "Stop that. I want to fight. I'm not scared of any jellyfish."

"Not this monster," said Harry as the jellyfish like monster approached and he glanced behind them. "It's the Scyphozoa. Remember what I said about it? Whatever it wants, it's not a good thing. It's also one of the tings I run from. Oh great. No shadows."

"What do shadows have to do with anything?" asked a confused William. "And why would Xana want to possess you?"

"Get out of there!" yelled Jeremy.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?! I can travel through shadows and Xana wants me for my powers and an override code that I don't know how to use. If I get possessed, it's pretty much the end of the world as we know it." Harry noticed William's face and heard Jeremy's instructions to Aelita. He tried to pull William towards the door but he resisted.

"You go Harry. Let me take care of this. I want to fight it and if what you say is true, it's better if it gets me than if it gets you."

"Come on William! As long as I have a strong will, he won't possess me though he has done it before. Most of the time I think my way out or the others separate us. I'd rather not get captured though as it's kinda hard to resist and Xana uses my body for his own goals when I'm under his control. Xana sounds so reasonable though. Hey Aelita!"

The girl had just run in.

"This is really serious, isn't it?" asked William.

"You think? Of course, it's serious! We're talking about end of the world as we know it serious!"

William paled as he realised exactly what was at stake. The Scyphozoa reached for Harry but William pushed him out of the way and got taken instead.

"William!"

Harry stood up from where he had skidded and threw a shuriken at it. It dropped William who stood up with hunched shoulders before looking at Harry with the eye of Xana.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry William." William sent an energy wave at Aelita who was immediately devirtualised. "Jeremy, please tell me I have back up."

"I'm just about to call them. What happened?"

"William pushed me put of the way of the Scyphozoa but he got caught." Harry blocked a blow from William. "You're stronger than this William. I know you are."

The Xanafied boy paused and then ran off.

"Now where is he going?" muttered Harry. "The core..."

"I'm sending Odd, Sissi, Ulrich and Yumi to help. That's once they get here of course."

Kadic

"Your grades are getting worse."

"I just can't seem to concentrate," said Ulrich as an excuse. "Harry tries to help."

"Why can't you concentrate?"

"Well, you remember when you were my age…"

"Yes! At your age, I had straight As! And I was preparing my college application! I'm especially concerned about your friends, Ulrich. I don't think they're a very good influence on you!"

"Huh?! How would you know?" asked Ulrich. "You don't know my friends! You don't even know me, in fact! We haven't spoken for a year! I don't hear you complaining about them being Harry's friends."

"That doesn't mean I don't know what is best for you! Harry has excellent grades so what he does apart from studying isn't a concern."

"Oh yeah?! And what's the best for me?!"

"That you show respect for your work! Need I remind you that I'm the one paying, and you're costing me a small fortune! Harry understands that."

"You mean that he pays some of his fee," muttered Ulrich as his phone rang and he picked up. "Yes, Jeremy? Be right there. I've gotta go."

"I'm not finished speaking to you!"

"Well I've finished listening," retorted Ulrich as he walked out. His dad sighed.

"I do love you. I just want the best..."

Yumi

"Take one more step and I'll tell Dad everything," said Hiroki as Yumi's phone rang.

"Well what a coincidence, it's Dad! Go on and tell him!" Hiroki snatched the phone from his sister.

"Daddy! Yumi wants to…oh…hey, that's not Dad, it's Jeremy!"

Yumi had already left.

Gym

"Odd, what are you doing? You're not in the lab?" asked Ulrich over the phone.

"Why should I be in the lab?" asked Odd. "I'm at the finals."

"Didn't Sam tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Sam did a trick as Odd ended the call. "I'd like to see you top that."

"Sam, why didn't you give me Ulrich's message?" asked Odd. "It was really important!"

"Important? Oh…I'm sorry, I just…I just really wanted you to stay. We're so lucky to be together again, even if for day, and I'm leaving tonight."

"I know how you feel Sam, but…there's something I have to do."

"Even more important than hanging out with me?"

"Unfortunately yes."

They looked into each other's eyes. Sissi looked at the two.

"Is it to do with you know what?"

"The next contestant is Odd Della Robbia. Odd?"

The two had gone.

Lyoko

Harry ran after William once he had turned invisible. He watched as he climbed up to the level of the core and Creepers appear around it.

"I don't believe it," said Jeremy as he looked at the screen.

"Ready."

The Creepers charged up their lasers.

"William!"

He glanced down, seeing nothing before returning to his task.

"Fire!" He sent an energy wave at the core along with the laser fire. The first layer blew. Harry gritted his teeth and started to use creativity once he had climbed up and turned visible. A thick layer formed around the core. William looked at it and then looked at Harry again.

"Destroy it."

The Creepers worked on destroying the barrier as William slowly walked over to Harry who pulled out his sword. William smiled slightly.

"It's over Harry... You will become like me. It's only a matter of time."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

They clashed. William looked amused.

"Use your full strength Harry."

"You know why I don't. I don't want to hurt you William. There's still a chance of freeing you and I don't want power. I just want as normal a life as possible."

"Xana does. He can gain that through you. You will usher in a new age. You can never have a normal life."

Harry winced. "Xana just wants my override code so he can take over the world, right?"

William smiled as he pressed down harder. "As well as the powers you contain. You will join me."

"Not going to happen." Harry slipped out from under his blade.

Lab

"Get to the scanners," Jeremy said as soon as the door opened. "Harry can't last on his own against William forever. Not if Xana is controlling him."

"What happened?" asked Ulrich.

"I'll tell you on the way down."

Lyoko

"Harry, Odd, Sissi, Ulrich and Yumi are on their way," said Jeremy.

Harry didn't respond because he was busy blocking William's sword with his again. William chuckled as Harry tried to kick him and miss only to regain his balance a split second later. Ulrich, Sissi, Odd and Yumi appeared and looked up at the two.

"William! Harry!"

"He doesn't look happy to see us," said Odd as William looked down at them like they were beneath him. He then threw his sword down and followed it. William walked to his sword and picked it up. Harry followed.

"He looks like dad when he got my report card. He thinks my grades have been slipping," said Ulrich. "I guess they have been though."

Harry glanced at them.

"I think it was because he wanted me to be on my own without backup and I suggest you deal with the Creepers. That barrier won't last forever. I'll deal with William here. Or try to anyway. I don't want to hurt him."

They nodded and started to climb up as Sissi attacked William. Ulrich paused.

"Do your best Harry."

William looked confused as he dodged.

Lab

Jeremy ran a program.

"Isn't that the program I started a while ago?" asked Aelita.

"It is. It's unbelievable! We found Franz Hopper!

"Run the rematerialization program. Hurry."

"I just hope we have enough time for it to complete."

Lyoko

William disengaged and attempted to send the energy wave at them. Harry knocked him which sent the wave too high and Sissi shot him. Harry winced as the wave hit Odd as he jumped to the next step and he devirtualised. William then stabbed Sissi who disappeared. Harry stared at the spot that she had occupied.

"Sissi! I know you're in there somewhere William. You don't have to follow Xana's orders."

William ignored him and jumped up behind Ulrich. Harry knocked him out of the way again but William's sword managed to cut Ulrich, devirtualising him. Harry glared and attempted to stab William who blocked it with his sword and kicked him.

Harry staggered back. William slammed him into the wall and he slumped to the floor unconscious. William looked at him and a smile flickered over his face.

"Stay there." William then attacked Yumi who had defeated several Creepers by that point as Harry woke back up. Several shuriken went his way but he blocked them before smiling at Harry who shivered. William stabbed Yumi.

"Yumi! Oh great, now it's just me, the Creepers and William," Harry muttered as he glanced at the barrier. He threw shuriken and William was hit by a ton of shuriken as they multiplied. "That's not going to last much longer... time to get serious."

"Glad to hear it."

He went to high speed and stabbed all the Creepers before running in front of William who had walked to the ledge in front of the core.

"You're going to lose. This place will be destroyed as Xana wants. Join me. It is your only hope for survival."

"That doesn't stop me trying to save it," retorted Harry as he threw shuriken at him. William blocked and threw him into the wall again. He walked over and placed a foot on his chest to keep him in place. "And I don't want to be Xana's slave. He's not your master either. There's always a choice and there is a way of surviving. I can always devirtualise."

"You have no choice. Just accept it as it is your fate." A Scyphozoa entered the room and started to rise to their level as William placed the tip of his sword on Harry's chest. He bent down and raised Harry's chin so their eyes met. Harry resisted him. "It doesn't hurt. There's no way out of this for you. It's so easy. You won't need to worry about anything. You could rule over countries."

"I don't want to rule. And of course it's easy. You think I don't know that?" Harry flinched as a stream of memories hit him. "Uncle Franz... get out of here!"

"What?"

Harry smiled. "There is a way out. And Lyoko will rise from the ashes." He slipped out from under William's foot using William's shadow and moved towards William's sword. William moved his sword out of the way and grabbed his arms. Harry shot him. William let go and fell to the floor.

"What does it take to devirtualise you?" The Scyphozoa placed three tentacles on his head as it wrapped more around him. Harry whimpered as he struggled. Eventually he calmed down as Xana started to influence him more as he worked his way into Harry's head.

"That's it," said William as he stood up and watched. "Just submit. Deep down, you want this to happen."

The Scyphozoa dropped Harry so it could retry. Harry pulled out his sword and tried to stab himself. William knocked it out of his hand. Harry pulled out a shuriken and threw it. It circled round and hit William's sword as he placed it in front of Harry. The Scyphozoa picked Harry up as Jeremy attempted to bring him back to Earth. It didn't work.

"Harry! Oh no."

Harry focused. His sword lifted up and zoomed towards him. William caught it.

"Stop trying to devirtualise. You can't escape."

Harry disappeared.

"Next time, make sure that it's actually me you're trying to possess," called the real Harry as he stabbed himself. William stared then growled.

"No! Rebuild Lyoko Harry. We will meet again. I know you can hear me. You will be my brother in arms and we'll serve Xana together."

Scanners

Harry collapsed as soon as the door opened.

"Harry!"

Yumi and Ulrich picked him up and carried him to the lab.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Ulrich as soon as they laid him down. Sissi stroked his face.

"Just before he came back," said Jeremy. "He was gaining something. Probably memories from Franz. He's done it before but with less detail. This is his body adapting to it. Or the return trip was really rough. Or Xana was trying something."

"He's so brave. Facing William on his own," murmured Sissi.

"The last time Franz did that, Harry didn't fall unconscious," said Ulrich as he remembered the events that led Aelita to becoming human.

"Last time, he wasn't gaining full memories. Or there were less memories."

Harry's eyes fluttered open.

"How are you?" asked Odd.

"Well, I have a massive headache but other than that, I'm fine. I heard William though even when I was on Earth, unconscious and he was on Lyoko. He wanted me to rebuild Lyoko."

"Why did you try to devirtualise him Jeremy?" asked Yumi. "Harry was our only hope of stopping Xana."

"And now we have no way to fight Xana," said Jeremy. "I know. But there was a problem with letting Harry stay on Lyoko."

"William gave me to Fish Head. I don't think he did so out of his own free will though. I mean, he pushed me out of the way the first time. Hang on. He didn't. William's Xanafied." Everyone looked at him. "Coming back to Earth was the only way out. Sorry about letting you get devirtualised. What I don't get is why the Scyphozoa let me go when it was so close to placing me under Xana's control."

"I think Harry's trying to cope with what happened," said Ulrich as everyone looked at him. "He did just go through a friend trying to detain him for Xana and having a sword through his chest."

"It's ok," said Odd as Sissi kissed Harry. "You tried to stop him."

Harry sighed in contentment.

"What is it?" asked Jeremy. "There's something you're not telling us. Has it got something to do with what you told William?"

"What did he tell William?" asked Yumi.

"He said that Lyoko would rise from the ashes," explained Jeremy.

"Franz gave me the memories of how he programmed Lyoko."

"That means..." Jeremy trailed off as the barrier Harry made was destroyed.

"I can reprogram Lyoko. And a lot quicker than he did. Xana knows that."

The second shield layer went. Everyone looked at the screen.

Lyoko

William floated over to the exposed core with his sword pointing down. He stabbed it and yellow electricity went all over the place. The room started to destroy itself along with what remained of Lyoko.

Lab

Everyone watched as error signs appeared all over and windows closed.

"Did Franz get out?" asked Aelita.

"The program didn't have enough time to rematerialise him," said Jeremy. "It was so close. Franz is gone. Lyoko is gone as well but not for long. If what Harry says is true."

"I wanted to see my father again," Aelita said sadly. "He only ever truly interacted with Harry."

"What about William?" asked Ulrich. "Is he...?"

"I assume so," said Jeremy. Harry closed his eyes then snapped them open again.

"He's alive and well. Well, as well as he can be under Xana's control. He did say that we would meet again. I guess his situation is permanent until we find a way to free him. I owe him for knocking me out of the way. He's changed his outfit by the way. It's all black instead of that whitish grey."

"At least he's alive," said Sissi as she hugged Harry. "Don't worry Harry. You'll get him back."

"Lyoko's gone," said Ulrich. "How can he be still alive?"

"Xana I guess. I mean, the supercaculator is still running so the space where Lyoko was is still there. Xana will keep William alive to use him as a puppet against us when we rebuild Lyoko."

Lyoko

William floated in the void and in the fetal position, asleep. His eyes flickered open and the eye of Xana appeared on his chest as he straightened out.

Lab

"Huh?" was all Jeremy had to say as an email appeared.

"Who is it from?" asked Harry as Jeremy opened it.

"Franz Hopper. It has a copy of the core too. I guess he escaped to the Internet."

Everyone gasped.

"I'd better get to work." Harry exchanged seats with Jeremy and downloaded the core. "This might take the night. At least I don't have to reprogram the core. That's the hard bit."

"That's the hard bit?" asked Jeremy incredulously. Harry nodded. "You have a strange definition of hard Harry."

"With Lyoko gone, do you still have your powers?" asked Yumi. "And recreating Lyoko in a single night? Isn't that a bit high?"

"Although my powers were originally from my avatar, the copy I use on Earth doesn't rely on the computer," said Harry. "They now run off magic remember? That includes my super speed. I can move faster than anyone else. It doesn't matter if I lose a night of sleep."

He started to blur.

"What do we do with William when we get him back?" asked Yumi.

"We accept him back of course," said Odd. "He did save Harry by knocking him out of the way of the Scyphozoa even if Harry could have eventually gotten out on his own."

"I agree," said Aelita. "We would be worse off if Harry was the one taken. We would have no hope to fight him. The world would be at Xana's mercy."

"Sometimes I really hate being super powerful."

Ulrich and Jeremy agreed as well. Yumi thought about it and nodded. Sissi smiled.

"We have to remember that he'll be fighting against us while we find a way to free him," said Harry as the outline of sector five appeared. "Just remember to blame Xana, not William. He's not in full control, if he has any control at all. Xana still wants me though as William said I would join him. Though without Lyoko, I don't see how that would happen. It's like Xana is expecting me to recreate Lyoko. No, he is. Xana used William to tell me to rebuild it while I was unconscious. I did manage to hear the real William though. He was sorry about getting possessed."

"You'll get him back, right?" asked Yumi. "We know you won't join Xana. At least, not willingly. Unless something happened to make you go to him. And we need Lyoko to be recreated."

"Of course we will! It will take time but we'll get there. I'll just have to be even more careful from now on. William will stop at nothing short of killing me to get me on his team. He was pretty insistent that I submit myself to Xana. You'll have to be careful too Sissi. I wouldn't put it past Xana to use you against me."

Sissi kissed him again. "Of course. I like the world as it is. I don't want it destroyed. If I avoid being captured, that would help."

Everyone smiled and left, leaving Harry alone with the computer. His mind wandered to what William had said.

"Yes we will meet again. I will free you William. No one should be forced to do things against their will. Next time, it won't be so easy."

He frowned as he felt satisfaction from someone else.

"Please don't tell me I'm linked to William!"

"Join me..."

Harry shuddered.

"Gotta get that out of my head."