I don't own Harry Potter or Code Lyoko

Ultimatum take two

Harry banged his head against the wall.

"I'm missing something. Something big."

"Relax Harry," said Jeremy as he turned to him. "I know you blame yourself but working nonstop on freeing William won't do you any good."

"I could say the same about you," said Harry. "I think I'll go get a breath of fresh air though. It's a good thing it's Sunday."

"See you."

Harry passed Odd in the doorway.

"What's up with him?" asked Odd. "He looks like a zombie."

"He's working too hard," said Jeremy. "You know he blames himself for William's current condition."

"I think he needs a bit of cheering up," said Odd. "I have to go make plans! And find Ulrich!"

Ulrich

Ulrich kissed Yumi. "I'm kinda glad there isn't a Xana attack today."

"It's certainly peaceful."

"ULRICH!" Odd ran over.

"There goes the peaceful part."

"Harry needs to relax," said Odd as he stopped next to him. "Is there something that he likes to do that will get his mind off William?"

Ulrich frowned. "I'm not sure. Once he gets something in his head, it's rather hard to get him to stop thinking about it."

Outside

Harry walked into the woods and slid down a tree.

"Why can't I figure out how to free William? Programs are easy for me but this is so hard…" He grabbed his head. "Stop thinking like that. We'll free him. I know we will."

"Hello Harry."

Harry glanced at the clone.

"Hello William. How are you?"

"I am a polymorphic clone. I do not feel."

"Never mind." Harry sighed. "Why are you here?"

"It is something William would do if he were here."

"William? The real William?"

"I am the real William."

Harry facepalmed. "The other William."

"Of course."

Harry frowned. "The other William would come to talk to me?"

"He likes you. He finds you funny."

"Me? Funny? He must have a strange definition of funny. Will you sit down? It's hurting my neck looking up at you."

"Where else would you be looking?" asked the clone sat down next to him and they talked for a few hours.

Lunch Room

"Where's Harry?" asked Sissi as she sat down.

"He went to get away from everything for a while," said Jeremy. "He's getting worked up about William's condition."

"He knows that we don't blame him," said Ulrich. "So why is he worrying?"

"He knows that but he blames himself," said Jeremy. "He thinks he should have been able to save him."

"He does have a bit of a hero complex," said Aelita.

"There's nothing wrong about that," said Odd as he leant back. "He wants to help people."

Later

Harry walked into his dorm to find Odd looking at an old sketch pad of his.

"What are you doing Odd?"

"Uh, nothing." Odd made to hide the sketch pad but harry grabbed his hand. "Ok, you got me. I didn't know that you could draw."

Harry took the sketch pad away from him and returned it to its place. "I do it for my games Odd."

The computer beeped.

"What now?" Harry grabbed his head. "Xana's attacking."

There was a knock on the door and Harry closed the window with the activated tower on it. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Delmas with a police officer.

"Harry, I need you to come with me. Something's happened."

Harry turned to Odd. "Tell the others, alright?"

Odd nodded.

"Ok."

He followed the principal to his office as Odd ran to find their friends.

Principal's office

"What?"

"We got a call saying for you to give yourself up to something called the Scyphozoa before midnight or everyone in the school will die," said the officer. "As such, we had to get involved. Do you know anything?"

Harry stiffened. He had two choices. Tell the police about Lyoko and Xana or let everyone die.

"You have to let me go."

The officer sighed. "Looks like we'll have to take him in for his own safety. We'll send someone down to evacuate the school."

"He's a good kid," said Delmas as the officer guided Harry out of the office. "I don't know anything about him having any enemies."

"You wouldn't," yelled Harry. "You keep forgetting."

Odd

Odd panted as he found his friends.

"What's up Odd?" asked Aelita.

"Xana… attacking. Harry taken… by the police," Odd panted out. They looked at each other.

"Looks like we need to go," said Jeremy. The made towards the manhole but stopped when they saw the wall of electricity. "Oh Xana."

"Make for the boiler room," said Yumi. They ran into the room and stopped when they saw the door. It was electrified too. "We're trapped."

"Looks like we'll have to get Harry to help," said Ulrich. They ran outside again but stopped when they saw Harry being forced into a police car. "Oh no."

They watched the car drive out of the school and the electricity cover the entrance. Everyone in the school walked out.

"We have to find a way out," said Aelita.

"How do you suggest we do that?" asked Sissi. "Harry is the one with all the abilities that allow him to get around."

Some of the younger students stated to cry.

"Our only hope is Harry," said Jeremy.

"We're never going to throw that party," moaned Odd.

Harry

Harry was pushed into a holding cell and the door beeped as it locked.

"Hey, kid, I don't know what you've done but you're not getting out of there easily," said the officer through the door. "It's a prototype door that locks electronically and can only be opened by one of our handprints. You can try to figure out how it works but you can't do much without a computer. Call us when you have had time to think things over."

As soon as the officer left, Harry examined the door. "There has to be a way out. I need to stop Xana."

He looked round the cell.

"Everything's bolted down and the window has no cracks in that I could use to slip out using super smoke. I couldn't break it without showing off any of my powers though I could use the return to the past after the tower was deactivated. The lighting casts no shadows that I could use." He turned back to the door and sighed before sitting down on the bed. "I can't escape."

He closed his eyes and fell asleep. He dreamed about the last time he had faced William before jolting up. "Of course. If I work out how to use it on command, I'll be able to get out. When have I used it though? It's an override code. Of course. When I hacked Jeremy's computer. What did I do then? Code…"

He strained his memory. "Code Harry. Really? That's the code? Better try it. It also needs my DNA…"

He pressed his hand to the scanner, thought the activation code and removed his hand. The words appeared on the scanner and the door opened. "It works…"

Harry glanced at his watch. Eleven at night. "Oh no…"

The guard stared as Harry walked out of the door then pulled out his radio. "We have an escaped prisoner. It's the boy in the holding cell. Yes sir."

He stopped Harry advancing. "You have to go back into the cell. The officer that brought you here is coming down to speak to you about opening the door and what your decision is."

"I can't."

Harry turned into smoke and slipped out the corridor as the officer ran down. He stared at it then turned to the guard.

"Report."

"He said that he can't then he turned into smoke. How can he do that sir?"

"That's not possible. Humans can't just turn into other substances out of the blue." The officer pulled out his radio. "Track the boy's mobile. We need to bring him in for questioning."

Kadic

"My parents are going to be so worried," said Yumi as they sat in Harry's and Jeremy's room.

"They'll understand," said Sissi as she comforted Yumi. "You couldn't get out."

"What is Harry doing?" asked Odd. "I thought he'd have deactivated the tower by now."

"Sorry, I had to escape prison," said Harry as he reformed from the smoke. "We'll need to do a return to the past."

Ulrich hugged Harry. "Good to see you again."

"Don't we have a job to do? We have…" Harry checked his watch. "Fifty minutes before the deadline to deactivate the tower and launch a return trip."

Harry held out his hands. Everyone smiled and linked hands. Harry pulled them into a shadow.

Lab

"That's way better than the transporter," said Odd as they reappeared.

"Ok, get down to the scanners," said Jeremy as he sat down in the chair. "The tower is in the mountains. Oh great. How did Xana manage this one?"

"What's the problem?" asked Aelita.

"Everyone except Harry is blocked," Jeremy turned to Harry. "Do you think you could fix it?"

Harry shook his head. "Not before the deadline Xana gave me. I have to submit myself to the Scyphozoa before midnight."

"Looks like it has to be a solo mission," said Aelita.

Harry nodded slowly. "If I go to Lyoko, Xana might not kill everyone."

He called the elevator and stepped inside. "Transfer me Jeremy. We don't have a choice."

Jeremy nodded as the doors closed and the elevator went down.

"I'm ready Jeremy."

"Transfer Harry. Scanner. Virtualisation."

Lyoko

Harry dropped to the ground and looked around then glanced down at his outfit.

"It's going to take a while to get used to the yin yang symbol... Where's the tower Jeremy?"

"It's at thirty degrees north."

Harry started to run then paused. "It's quiet."

"So?" asked Ulrich. "That's a good thing."

"It makes me uneasy."

"Watch out! Behind you!" yelled Jeremy as William's icon appeared behind Harry. The boy knocked Harry over and pressed him to the ground. Harry turned to smoke, reformed and kicked William in the stomach. William stumbled back and Harry nearly lost his balance.

"I expected you earlier." William eyed Harry's outfit. "Remove the symbols on your chest and shoulders, replace them with Xana's symbol and keep the black..."

"Sorry for the delay," said Harry as he stood up. "Had to bust myself out of prison. Are you seriously designing me a new outfit?"

"You're here now. That's all that matters."

Harry started to back away as smoke curled in William's hand.

"Get out of there Harry!"

"Gotcha Jeremy!"

The smoke shot out of William's hand and Harry dodged. William frowned.

"Xana has activated another tower."

"And why are you telling me this?" asked Harry as he continued to back away. "You know I'll just deactivate it."

"You have a choice. Your friends or the school or you can join me and Xana would let everyone go."

Harry closed his eyes. "That's not much of a choice and Xana would just use me to enslave everyone. I wonder…. Jeremy! Where's the nearest neutral tower?"

"West. Why?"

"I have a plan. What is Xana doing to you?"

"Uh, I think he's trying to kill us with smoke. Whatever you plan to do, hurry up!"

"What are you doing Harry?" asked William. "Those are your choices."

"I'm creating option d."

Harry turned to smoke again and shot west. William glared and ran along the path like a maniac. The ninja reformed and entered the tower. He rose to the second platform.

"I hope this works."

He pressed his hand to the screen.

Harry

Code

Harry

The tower glowed orange. William stared at it then blinked.

The screen then showed everything about the tower. Harry started to work.

Lab

"I hope Harry hurries," said Yumi as the smoke curled around their feet. "The smoke's rising."

"Another tower…." said Sissi as the Superscan turned up with the tower Harry was working on. Smoke slipped out of the computer and collected the smoke together. "That was his plan. Activate a tower and collect the smoke."

Jeremy typed away at the terminal. "I don't believe this. The same tower is also protecting the students."

"That's not possible," said Aelita. "One tower can only affect one thing at a time."

"So Harry has done the impossible," said Odd. "As usual."

"Harry has a habit of doing that," said Ulrich.

"My boyfriend is awesome," said Sissi.

Lyoko

Harry walked out the tower then looked at it.

"Orange. Why is it always orange?" Two clones appeared as Harry used triplicate. "Don't let anyone deactivate this tower."

"Gotcha boss!"

Harry ran off to the other towers and skidded to a halt. He looked around. Someone was watching. William observed him from the mountain.

"You worked out how to use it." He frowned as Harry wildly looked around. "Can you sense my presence?"

Harry looked up. Their eyes met.

"Deactivate it if you can. I know you can place it under Xana's control. Jeremy, how long go I have left before the deadline?"

"About thirty minutes."

William stood up from his crouching position and jumped down to face him.

"You worked out how to use it. That makes this more interesting."

"What is he talking about?" asked Ulrich. "You worked out how to use what?"

"My override code. It's how I escaped from a cell that is electronically locked and requires a police officer's hand print to open. I just overrode it. As I said William, try to control that tower."

William glared as Harry ran past him.

"Manta."

The requested monster turned up and he jumped on. He guided it after Harry. Harry glanced at him.

"You can't escape me Harry."

Harry threw a shuriken at the manta and it blew up. William pointed his sword down as he fell and levitated back up. Harry had gone by the time he reached the path. He growled.

"Where are the other monsters?" muttered Harry as he looked around the virtual landscape. "I would have expected Xana to try to delay me."

"Don't look at me. This is probably part of Xana's plan though."

Lab

Jeremy sighed.

"I hate this waiting," complained Ulrich. "I should be fighting alongside Harry, not hanging around here while Harry takes the risks."

"There's nothing we can do," said Aelita as she leant against the wall. "We can't get to Lyoko so Harry has to do it alone."

"Harry left the tower working on that," said Jeremy. "He used all the power available on that tower."

"Police! Raise your hands above your hands! Step away from the computer!"

They did that.

"Where is Harry Stern?" asked the officer from before. "His mobile signal led here before disappearing off the map."

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," said Yumi. "Even I don't believe it sometimes."

"Harry, get a move on," ordered Jeremy. "The police are here."

"I hear you."

"Tell me what this place is and why you haven't told anyone."

"That's kinda a long story," said Sissi.

Lyoko

Harry entered the first tower and rose to the second platform.

Harry

Code

Lyoko

He jumped down and exited the tower to immediately bump into William. William smiled and grabbed him, pinning him to his chest. Harry struggled against William grip but William just tightened it.

"William, if you don't let me go, the police will take me away and lock me up."

William closed his eyes. "Xana wants you. They can't get to you if you're here."

"I know. I don't want to stop fighting you. The police could force Jeremy to materialise me then lock us up and use the supercomputer for their own uses. Is that what Xana wants?"

Harry turned to smoke and slipped out of William's grasp. He headed to the remaining active tower and froze.

"Fish Head. Of course."

The monster advanced on him. Harry glanced around and sighed as various assorted monsters blocked the path behind him. William arrived and walked up behind him.

"You really don't want me to deactivate this tower, do you Xana?"

"You have to choose which side you're on." William grabbed his shoulders and started to massage them. Harry sighed and started to relax. "You know who I am just as I know you. We can work together flawlessly."

"I know that. It means that we can fight each other and know how the other would react."

"You know why I want you to join me."

"You consider me a friend. William, I have to deactivate the tower though. We'll all go to prison for hiding the existence of the supercomputer. You won't be able to throw Aelita into the digital sea so Franz Hopper won't come out of hiding so you won't be able to destroy him." Harry forced himself out of William's grip.

"You could stay with me."

Harry sighed as the Scyphozoa drifted closer.

"William, controlling me can't compete all of Xana goals. Aelita needs to be within easy reach if you want Franz Hopper. I won't work anymore. I can walk on the digital sea and I can potentially pass through it like you can."

"Franz Hopper would come out to free you from Xana clutches." William forced him closer to the Scyphozoa. Harry glanced at it and dug his feet in. "You know what happens then."

"But you can't count on that."

William closed his eyes and let go. "Xana agrees. Go and deactivate the tower."

Harry's eyes widened and he spun around. "You mean that?"

"We won't attack."

The Scyphozoa drifted away. Harry smiled faintly and ran to the tower before pausing outside. "Thank you. Next time, don't involve the police."

William jumped off the edge of the path into the digital sea. Harry entered the tower and rose to the second platform.

Harry

Code

Lyoko

The files flew down the inside of the tower.

Lab

"And that is everything," said Jeremy as he finished explaining.

"Do you honestly expect us to believe that?" asked the officer. "A virtual world? A computer program that wants to take over the world?"

"Of course we don't," said Sissi.

"I can show you some proof." Jeremy walked over to the terminal and connected to Lyoko. "Harry?"

"Good to hear you again Jeremy. I just deactivated the last tower. Do I need to deactivate the one I activated?"

"Might as well." Jeremy checked the computer. "You have to if we want to jump back in time."

"I don't believe this," said the officer. "How could this remain hidden?"

"You'll find out soon."

Lyoko

Harry exited the tower and travelled through the shadows to his clones.

"Hello boss."

"You can go now. Xana's not going to attack it."

He entered the tower and went to the interface.

Harry

Code

Lyoko

Lab

"Well, that's that," said Jeremy as Harry deactivated the tower.

"You will come with us."

The group shared looks.

"That's an order."

Jeremy typed away like a person possessed.

"Return to the past now!"

Earlier

"Well, at least everyone is safe," said Jeremy as their day repeated.

"There is that." Harry stared at the wall, lost in thought. "William let me deactivate the tower."

Jeremy frowned. "That's odd. Xana forced you to Lyoko then let you go free?"

"I think he didn't have a choice. His plan backfired because the police turned up at the lab."

"Oh, Odd wanted to see you in his room."

Odd's and Ulrich's dorm

"SURPRISE!"

"What's this about?" asked Harry as he stared at Odd like he was a total stranger. "It's not my birthday and I don't know about anything else that would need a party…."

"It's to make you relax," said Odd as he pulled the boy into the room. "You've been working too hard on freeing William."

"And we just wanted to get you to enjoy yourself," said Sissi as she pecked him on the cheek. Harry pulled her into a hug.

"Can we eat now?" asked Odd. Everyone sighed and looked at him like he was an annoying pest. "What?"

"You're a walking stomach Odd."

"I know."