"On three." Ulrich said, standing in the cover of the rock with Yumi.

Yumi nodded in agreement, and Ulrich began his countdown:

"One..."

Lasers continued to bat ter the bolder, its shape degrading slowly with every hit.

"Two..."

The invisible beasts were relentless in their nearly inescapable volley, their precision deadlier as their strength has been gradually growing over the last few months.

"Three!"

Ulrich made a mad-dash out into the danger zone, skillfully dodging lasers, flinching slightly when one flew centimeters in front of his face.

"Triplicate!" He yelled, his singular body sprouting off into two other forms, his original standing between them. They all began blocking, both swords at the ready to deflect every shot directed at them.

"Now, Yumi!" Ulrich yelled, signaling phase two of his plan. Yumi ran out as fast as she could, quickly making her way behind three Ulrich's.

"Ready to rush?" He asked, looking back at her for only a moment.

"Let's do it." Yumi said, equipping her fans and preparing to run.

"Go!" Ulrich yelled, each of his clones moving out to the left and right side respectively, using Supersprint towards the invisible creatures.

Yumi ran, her fans serving as shields from the onslaught on shots, Ulrich running a bit ahead of her to block shots from the front.

Each of his clones arrived at a source of fire, swinging violently across the seemingly open area, revealing the beasts just moments before their hits destroyed them.

Only an instant later, a hidden Megatank fired out a circle of energy at such an angle to hit both Ulrich clones, destroying both of them.

Now all that remained was Ulrich, Yumi, an invisible Megatank and an activated tower.

"Yumi, head for the tower, I'll search for the monster."

"Okay, be carful." She replied, running off ahead of him towards the tower as he ran around, armed with both his swords extended at his sides.

—

"I think we'll be safe over here." Jeremy said, still helping Aelita with her leg.

A dripping sound echoed through the sewer, a strong odor lingering in the air. Jeremy opened a door in a side alley of the sewers, helping Aelita enter.

The room was small, housing nothing but a bear wooden shelf, a dim light dangling from the ceiling.

"We should be able to hide in here until they deactivate the tower." Jeremy said, helping Aelita prop herself against the back wall, allowing her to rest after their long walk.

"But how will they deactivate the tower without me?" Aelita asked, Jeremy joining her against the wall.

"Over the last couple of weeks, Franz and I have been working on a program that would allow us to send code: Lyoko into a tower to deactivate it through anyone, which will allow us to deactivate towers just by having anyone touch them." Jeremy explained.

Aelita looked at the door, a faint knock shaking it slightly. As she was about to turn to Jeremy to see his response, the door shook violently against its frame, breaking down in seconds to reveal an unknown X.A.N.A. possessed woman.

The woman stared into Aelita's eyes for a moment, beginning to step foreword into the room.

Jeremy jumped to his feet, now standing between the woman and Aelita. His legs shook and a bead of sweat ran down his neck.

"X.A.N.A., you can't hurt her, I won't let you!" Jeremy declared, his voice confident and forceful. He stretched his arms out on both sides, further showing his stance to protect Aelita.

The woman looked at Jeremy, saying in a deep and frightening voice: "Step aside, NOW!"

Jeremy stood steadfast, his position unmoved, something X.A.N.A. wouldn't stand for.

The woman stretched out her right arm, and fired off a massively powerful beam of electricity at the blond.

Waves of heat and pain ran through Jeremy's body, the pain setting off every single nerve in his body, but he didn't move, his position stayed unchanged, still guarding his princess.

The woman lowered her arm, thin clouds of smoke coming from Jeremy's clothes visible in the faint light. She stepped foreword until she stood mere inches from him, Jeremy's body twitching in sheer agony.

She grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and violently thrusted him aside, his body slamming into the concrete wall.

He lie there, barely able to keep his eyes open. He watches as the woman approaches Aelita, and begins to charge a massive ball of lighting, Aelita squirming in an attempt to stand with her bad leg, but ultimately failing.

The woman cracked a smile as she prepared to fire, but this stared a fire in Jeremy's soul. His body was consumed with anger towards X.A.N.A., an overwhelming amount of energy and rage filling his body.

He picked himself up, bones cracking as he walked.

"X.A.N.A., don't you touch her!" He yelled, charging the unsuspecting woman, bringing her to the ground.

—

"Back off!" Odd yelled, standing on a table in the cafeteria, surrounded by a swarm of possessed people.

They all grabbed for him, some getting on the table, but he would punch them off or slap them with his spatula. Although this tactic worked in the beginning, his defense wouldn't last long, as he began to get overwhelmed.

—

William balanced on the metal beam, high in the inner-structure of the factory. The X.A.N.A. fied people below him began to climb up to his location, using their superhuman abilities to their advantage, jumping quickly and with extreme height.

William attempted to get to the other side of the beam, but lost his balance half way across, only holding on by the tips of his fingers.

'Come on, William, pull yourself up.' He thought, attempting to break into his reserve upper-body strength.

Suddenly, someone reached the beam he had just slipped in, standing there for a moment. The person smiled and placed their hands on the metal beam, sending a massive pulse of electricity through it, shocking William totally, causing him to slip.

He landed hard on his legs, remaining awake only due to the amount of pain he was in. A group of possessed people surrounded him, preparing to finish the job.

—

"I'm almost at the tower." Yumi said, sprinting the final stretch towards the tower. Ulrich had remained unsuccessful in his search, the Megatank not having fired since it's first shot.

As Yumi stood only a few feet away from the tower, her body was thrusted to the side, knocking her off the edge, only holding on with one hand. Behind her, a beam shot up from the Digital Sea, the invisible Megatank having committed suicide in an attempt to take her out.

"Ulrich!" She yelled, attracting his immediate attention.

Franz spoke franticly hrough his headset: "Ulrich, Yumi is about to fall off the side into the Sea, you have to save her quickly!"

Ulrich used his Supersprint to reach her, but in this instance, he ran faster than ever before, Yumi's life at stake.

As he reached out his arm to save her, her last finger slipped, her fall towards permanent devirtualization beginning. Ulrich jumped off the edge, grabbed both of her arms, and swung her back up, effectively trading places with her.

Yumi landed with a thud on the flat rock, the tower only feet away from her.

"Yumi, deactivate the tower now so I can save him!" Franz yelled, preparing both the return to the past and his experimental code: Lyoko program.

Yumi rushed for the tower, her arm outstretched as far as it would go. As her hand made contact, she felt an energy run through her. Suddenly, the tower changed from red to white, signaling it's deactivation.

Franz pressed enter on his keyboard, and a white, expansive ore began to engulf the factory, saving William moments from death.

It made its way to the sewer, taking Aelita and Jeremy back from their near-death situation. Finally, it reached Odd, saving him just as the mob began to drag him off the table.

Then, it engulfed the earth, and all past it.

—

Jeremy sat in his chair, the light of his computer illuminating his room in the night. A knock came upon his door, to which he replied: "Come in."

Aelita entered his room and flipped a switch, turning his room light on. Jeremy turned to face her, a smile forming on his face.

"Hey, Aelita." He said, standing up.

Aelita walked closer to him. "Jeremy, I wanted to thank you for protecting me back there." She looked down at her feet, then back up at him. "It was the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do."

Jeremy looked at Aelita for a moment, then he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. This nearly shocked Aelita, Jeremy never having made any romantic advances before.

"Thanks, Aelita, but it wasn't much. Just me protecting my princess." They both smiled and blushed for a moment.

"Don't ever worry," Jeremy said, his mind clearing to make way for his heart. "no matter what happens, be it X.A.N.A. or anything else, I'll always protect you, no matter what."

Aelita's smile grew, her heart warmed by his words. She tightened the embrace between them, between her and her Einstein, her protector.

Her love.

—
So, this was late. Like, really late. I had a few medical issues over the week which prevented me from writing, but it gave me plenty of time to think of this episodes ending, so I hope you like it! Remember to review!