"Hey guys, I think we have bigger problems than that thing." Odd said, the group collectively taking a step back at what they saw ahead of them. The massive divisions of robots all collectively took a step forward, an eerie noise echoing around the steel walls as their feet stomped against the floor.

"Everybody get out of here, now!" Ulrich yelled, turning towards the door with the others. They were mere inches from the door when it slammed shut before them. Yumi tried accessing it thought the panel located next to the door, but as soon as she hit a button the panel shot out red-hot sparks and quickly caught fire. The flames were limited to the control panel, but they stopped the Warriors from any attempt at getting the door open through conventional means.

"Jeremy, we need this door open, stat!" Ulrich said, slamming his hand against the slab of metal containing them inside this death-trap of a room.

"I'm trying, but X.A.N.A. is attacking the Supercomputer directly right now. Power is fluctuating so much I can hardly stay in communication with you." Jeremy said, attempting to re-route power through alternative means.

"Well, looks like we're on our own." Aelita said. She turned around to see the army of hundreds moving closer to the gang, a sense of panic taking over her thoughts. Even with this panic, a masterful idea popped into her head from seemingly nothing.

"Guys, I've got an idea that just might work." She said, gaining the attention of the others. "If I hold a concentrated energy field against the door for long enough, I may be able to heat it up enough to allow us to break through. I'll just need you guys to cover me until it's heated enough."

William nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan. We'll provide the cover, just make sure you don't take too long."

Aelita charged an energy field in each hand, then moved them closer to each other until they seemed to fuse into one massive bubble of energy. She moved her hands closer to the door until she couldn't get it any closer without energy field dissipating. The center of the metal door began to turn orange, a sign of its quick heating process which would quickly make it malleable.

"Okay everyone, brace yourselves." Ulrich said, drawing his twin blades. The massive hordes of robots collectively came to a stop, aiming their cannons directly at the gang of children. The Warriors created a half-circle around Aelita to protect her, Ulrich preparing to rapidly block shots with his blades, William using his sword of belittling size as a shield, Yumi preparing her fans for protection and Odd activating his humble yet strong shield ability.

A wave of light blue energy balls flew towards the Warriors at incredible spreads, many of the shots hitting the wall behind them, but most of the shots blocked directly by their defenses. This pattern continued a few more times before the gang was starting to suffer unneeded hits.

"Aelita, how much longer is it going to be?" Odd asked, sliding back a bit as his shield suffered multiple blows.

"Almost there..." She replied, the door now glowing bright red all around.

"We can't take much more!" William yelled, his sword vibrating violently from the barrage of shots he was taking. An unexpected shot hit him just outside his swords field of protection, causing him to fall back and drop his sword. From there he was an easy target, quickly eliminated by the robots' fire.

"William!" Ulrich yelled, moving closer to where he was to pick up the slack his friend had left behind, accidentally dooming him to the same fate after he became the target of the robots.

"I think I got it!" Aelita yelled, kicking the door to the ground. As she turned to watch her friends exit with her, she saw the bitter end of their defense. Odd's shield had taken all it could handle, breaking just before a wave of shots hit him directly in the chest.

Yumi, having the weakest form of defense and being all alone couldn't handle the attack from her aggressors, leading to her being hit in a few different places before she was sent back to Lyoko.

Aelita was all alone, so she ran as fast as she could out of the room and down the hall. She noticed a sign posted next to a door labeled 'Reactor Control Room'. She quickly entered, then heard Jeremy's voice from above.

"Aelita, if you can destroy the controls the reactor will explode, destroying this facility along with X.A.N.A.'s army."

Knowing she didn't have time on her side, she entered the room and began firing energy fields at everything in sight. She did this for under a minute before a few robots entered the room and hit her in the side with their energy balls, sending her out of the facility and back to the Skid.

—

"Aelita, you did it!" Jeremy cheered. "The reactor in the base is collapsing rapidly. I give it only a matter of minutes before that place is blown sky high."

The Warriors were all back in the Skid which was still attached to the tower in the Ice Sector Replika. They each let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Jeremy's words of success, having a full understanding of what might happen if those robots ever got out of that base.

Jeremy's happy attitude was quickly killed when he saw something peculiar on his screen.

"This can't be right..." Jeremy said, looking over the data flowing into the Supercomputer.

"What is it Jeremy?" Aelita asked, preparing to un-dock the Skid from the tower.

"X.A.N.A. is sending some strange information to the Supercomputer... It almost looks like he is re-writing my command controls." Jeremy replied, attempting to isolate his programs.

The Skid suddenly rose above the tower, disconnecting the bond between them.

"Jeremy, are you controlling the Skid?" Aelita asked.

"No, X.A.N.A. has taken full control of the computer systems. I can't do anything except watch what he does."

Unexpectedly, Aelita was devirtualized from Lyoko by X.A.N.A.

"Jeremy, what happened?" Yumi asked, sitting in her NavSkid.

"It appears X.A.N.A. just devirtualized Aelita. Try and hold on for the moment, I'm close to regaining control." Jeremy said, watching something interesting happen in the corner of the monitor. The camera in the manufacturing area of the factory showed the rectangular doorframe-like object lighting up as a blue film appeared in the middle as though it were a portal from one world to another you would see in a movie.

'This can't be good...' He thought, checking the reedings inside the Siberian lab to conclude his fears. 'X.A.N.A., how did I not see this coming from you.'

The elevator door opened to reveal Aelita standing inside. She walked over to Jeremy and watched as he examined the reedings he was getting.

"What's happening there?" Aelita asked, pointing to the camera view Jeremy had previously analyzed.

"I'm nearly certain X.A.N.A. has created a path from the base in Siberia to the lab through the two portals, one here and one there. He is going to use then to try and send his army here." The genius said, a sudden realization hitting him across the face like a bag of bricks.

"Franz... Is down there..." Jeremy whispered.

To Aelita it was certainly loud enough to hear, and as if it wasn't loud enough the first time, the thought echoed in her mind and in her heart until it was unbearable. The pink haired girl ran for the elevator and took it up to where her father was.

"Daddy?" She called as she walked around the manufacturing area of the factory.

"Daddy, are you there?"

*CLANG* *THUD*

Aelita turned as she heard a loud clang of metal to her right. She walked slowly towards it at first, but increased her pace as the noise grew louder. What she saw terrified her to her core: one of the robots had just come out of the portal and was standing over her father who lie on the ground, his glasses broken in more place than one, his nose bleeding.

The robot punched his stomach, causing his to release a violent cough as all the air escaped the man's lungs. His glasses fell to the floor, glass from the lenses scattered around the spot they landed on.

"Father!" Aelita yelled, instantly getting the attention of the robot. It turned its body towards her and began walking.

Franz lifted himself with what little strength he had to warn his daughter. "Aelita... *cough* get out of here... It's not safe..."

"No Daddy, I won't leave you!" Aelita said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I never want to leave your side!"

The machine came another step closer to Aelita before it smacked her across the face, sending her to the ground. It picked her up and threw her against the wall about a meter away from Franz, cracking the wall where her body had impacted.

The robot slowly walked back over to her and raised its left arm at her, charging its cannon for a final blow.

The shot fired out, but it didn't hit Aelita. The shot hit the ceiling above them, missing her entirely. The robots arm was redirected by Franz, who had forced himself to stand with the last of his energy, using it to protect his daughter, his reason for existence.

"X.A.N.A... *gurk* don't you EVER lay a hand on my daughter!" Franz yelled, grabbing the robot at the waist. He called upon every reserve of strength he had, his will power being the only thing keeping him awake. He pushed with all he had, putting his entire body-weight into it, forcing the robot back into the portal, but at the cost of having to throw himself in with it as it wouldn't let go of him with its unimaginable grip.

—

"The reactor... It blew..." Jeremy said seconds after Franz fell into the portal. He removed his headset and slowly placed his head into his keyboard in disbelief, a stream of tears forming in his eyes.

—

Aelita watched as her father sacrificed himself to save her, protect her from the most evil thing in the world that had plagued her family her entire life. The film of the portal disappeared, and the device let out a few sparks before it fell into a multitude of broken pieces. Aelita raised herself against the wall, her legs wobbling as her knees moved back and forth from a locked position to an open one. She wobbled over to the debris from the device and picked up a large piece about the size of an average rock.

"Daddy..." She mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Daddy! Daddy why!" She screamed, falling to her knees and placing her head against the piece of metal she wad holding so firm to.

"...daddy... *sob* please come back... come back..."

Aelita's words were hardly audible as she spoke through her tears. Her heart was broken, her brain dead and her soul dark. She had no clear thoughts other than those of her father. She raised her head and looked up to the sky, hoping, praying her pleas would be heard. She let out one more audible word before she passed out on the floor, one last word that represented all she was feeling deep within her shattered heart.

"...please..."