The Specter had charged it's power for seconds, but to Aelita, it felt like hours, days even. Her thoughts drifted away from the danger she was currently in and onto other matters.

'I so easily fell into X.A.N.A.'s trap... I was so ready to accept that this, thing, was my father that I believed it without question.' Her stare with the Specter remained unbroken, not even blinking through this test of fear and resolve.

The Specter grunted loudly, his body shaking violently as a shield of energy surrounded him, glowing a bright purple that rose to the Specter's now whirling hair, a strong air pull forming around it.

Aelita's firm stance was now cracking, her body shaking under fear, but her spirit remained untouched by the increasing danger. The Specter was now fully charged, the most powerful Specter X.A.N.A. had ever created.

A single tear fell down Aelita's soft cheek, realizing that her days were at an end. 'This is it...' She thought, shaking more fervently now, her eyes closed tightly shut. '... Goodbye...'

Unnoticed by the two in the room, the elevator doors slid open to reveal a man standing inside, his face covered in wounds ranging from cuts and bruises to burns and broken bones.

"X.A.N.A.!" He yelled, the Specter turning to face him. "Get away from my daughter!"

Aelita opened her eyes, spying the man standing in the elevator. "Father...?"

She was correct: Franz was the man standing in the elevator.

Franz charged as quickly as his wounded legs would carry him, tackling the Specter to the ground. The identical enemies rolled on the ground, one taking the dominant position no longer than the other.

Franz pushed the Specter off of him, placing the two fighters at separate sides of the make-shift arena.

"Daddy, I'll help you!" Aelita said, beginning to run towards her father.

"No, Aelita, stay back! It's too dangerous!" Franz yelled in response, causing him to turn away, an opening the Specter wouldn't overlook.

"YAAHHHH!" The Specter yelled at full volume, charging at Franz at full speed, slamming the middle-aged man into the scanner behind him, leaving a large dent behind.

"Daddy!" Aelita yelled, ripping a large section of firm, metal wire near where she was standing. She ran towards the Specter which was now on top of her father, charging a line of glowing purple electricity between its hands, moving them nearer to Hopper's face.

"HYYAAAA!" Aelita yelled, swinging the cable as hard as she could at the Specter, knocking it to the ground with a loud 'THUD', a massive sound to match its massive strength. It was now on the ground a few feet from Franz, phasing in and out as it was attempting to recover from the hit.

"Aelita, get back. I'll finish this." Franz said, getting back onto his feet and walking over to the Specter. He sat on top of it, reaching ahead of it to grab an electric cable connected to the scanners. Separating it, he was able to create a flow of electricity between them.

"X.A.N.A...", He said, coughing between his words, his side and back in a great deal of pain, "Game over."

He moved the cables so that one was on each side of the Specter's head, causing a large electrical current to flow through it.

"RAAAAHHHH!" The Specter erupted in "pain" as the electricity ran through it, overwhelming it. The Specter's form moved violently around its center position, eventually fading into nothingness, but its yell lingered seconds after it disappeared.

The scanner room was now calm, the only sounds were coming from the sparks hitting the ground from multiple places in the room. Ulrich, Yumi, William and Odd were all still passed out, and Franz was left shaking, the cables still clenched forcefully in his hands.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Aelita asked, waking over to her injured father. She placed her hand on his back as he began to stand, gradually helping him up and allowing him to use her as support.

"Yes, my dear, I am fine. Your friends will be okay as long as we can get them back to the real world as quickly as possible." Franz looked down at his daughter, her eyes looking back into his. "My little girl has grown up so much. I'm very proud of you, Aelita."

Aelita's eyes began to well up with tears, his words hitting her to the emotional core. "I'm so happy to see you, daddy. I thought you were gone forever."

Franz tried to handle his own weight, but his legs just wouldn't allow it. He wrapped his arms around his daughter, embracing her in a deep and loving hug. "I know, darling. I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I had to work to keep X.A.N.A. at bay, or I might have lost you."

They stayed embraced around each other for nearly a minute, every second healing Aelita's scars of loss and pain.

Franz moved back a little, ending the lasting hug. "If you can help me get to the supercomputer, I can materialize all of us back to earth."

"What about the Skid?" Aelita asked, wiping the final tears from her eyes.

"I can aid Jeremy in auto-piloting the Skid back to its dock when we return." He responded, his daughter nodding, beginning to help her father to the elevator.

"Where were you this whole time?" Aelita asked as they stood in the rising elevator.

Franz looked over at her, his voice seeming tired and weak. "Well, if you mean this whole time since we last saw each other, I implanted myself inside X.A.N.A., knowing my resilient little brain-child would find a way to survive. After I separated from him, I created this place, an exact replica of where I spent so much of my life..." He trailed off for a second, looking deeply ahead of himself. "From there, I did everything in my power to help you and your friends defeat X.A.N.A., whether you noticed it or not. And if you mean where was I during your "exchange" with the ghost back there, I was trapped by it, beaten greatly before, and X.A.N.A. would have surely killed my had you and your friends not shown up and distracted him."

Aelita looked at her father with confusion. "But, even if the Specter had killed you here, how would that actually... "kill"... you?"

The elevator doors opened, and the two of them walked over to the computer.

"Well, when I made this place, I created it to be exactly like earth, down to the smallest detail. If I were to die here, I would actually die... Looking back, it wasn't a good choice on my part, I just longed so greatly to see earth, to see home again, I had to make this place as close as it could get."

Aelita helped her father to the chair, allowing him to slowly let go of her and use the chair to hold him.

"Now then," Franz said, typing rapidly at the keyboard. "prepare to be materialized, my dear."

Wow, I am so happy with how this episode turned out, and honestly cried writing this chapter. I have been informed by someone that I haven't given this episode a name yet, so I feel like now is as good a time as any to do so. How about, "Masquerade". Yeah, that sounds about right. I would also like to wish Knux27 a very happy birthday (1 day late sadly). He has been a key part of development and revision since day one, and I wish him luck in his future planned writings. Don't forget to review!