"So, you're saying that my dream...wasn't really a dream?"
William and Yumi sat together on a bench just outside of Kadic. William had just gone through every excuse in his delinquent handbook to keep Jim from discovering Yumi's absence in the locked darkroom he was inside of. Yumi had finally come back just before Jim entered the room, allowing William to feign anger that Jim "ruined" their photos for photography class. He had no idea what Yumi was up to, but it had sounded urgent. Just another unanswered question.
Well that is, until now.
About a month ago, William had the strangest dream. He and Ulrich were out in the forest, fighting a murderous Jim, Mrs. Hertz and about a dozen students. They were surrounding Yumi, fully bent on killing her for whatever reason. All of them had the ability to spew lightning out of their bare hands as if they were Sith lords, and their bodies faded in and out like static. Ulrich had tried to pretend nothing was going on, but Yumi's yells of pain had made certain William would not walk away from this.
Urich Stern had been a mixed bag to William. He had always been an obstacle to his crush Yumi, but he respected Ulrich's skill in fighting and eagerness to jump into action. It was obvious to him that Ulrich was in love with Yumi as well, however much the two lovebirds tried to deny it. The two had competed for a long time for her attention, but William was growing tired of it and told Ulrich to his face to talk to Yumi from the heart or he would. Then, he really would be Ulrich's problem.
Now though, he was about to be a problem to someone else, or in this case, something else.
"Are you sure?" William clarified. Yumi nodded "You've probably suspected i've had a secret for a while. Me and my friends, Ulrich included. I'm going to tell you everything, but first you need to swear to me you'll keep it between us."
If Yumi wants this to be a secret so much, then it must be serious. I better at least hear her out.
"You got my word Yumi. What's up?" Yumi took out her phone, and William looked to see a view of the lab room with a holographic map.
"Holy...What is this?" William asked, his attention instantly grabbed.
"This is a map of Lyoko, a virtual world. Remember when Jim and the class turned murderous and tried to kill me? They were compelled to do all that. They were compelled with towers that exist in this virtual world. And these towers are activated by an artificial intelligence named X.A.N.A."
Artificial Intelligence? Wow, now I've heard it all.
"X.A.N.A. huh? Let me guess: it's like Skynet from Terminator. Trying to destroy humanity and all that, except instead of going back in time..." William paused, letting Yumi continue.
"There are four regions that make up Lyoko: Mountain, Forest, Desert and Ice sectors. Each sector contains towers that X.A.N.A. can use to trigger an attack in the real world. He's grown more powerful overtime. At first, he wasn't able to possess people at all. Now not only can he do that, but he can also do a whole group. He's also capable of triggering catastrophic events, like possessing all the food in the cafeteria to make a monster out of it."
William couldn't help but laugh at this choice of tactic. "A food monster? You call that catastrophic?" He scoffed, but Yumi was not finished.
"Or taking control of a military satellite in space to snipe me with its laser beam." The smirk on William's face disappeared instantly.
That is...messed up.
"There's also the time where X.A.N.A. possessed an army of rats to maul us all to death, too." William eyes grew wide at the implications of such a gruesome death.
What in the...
"Or causing an overload at a nuclear facility that could have turned the entire country into a wasteland." Yumi continued. William almost fell out of the bench.
Whoever programmed this thing earned a one-way ticket to hell, that's for sure.
"Oh, I just remembered the time where X.A.N.A. modified a song that put anyone who hears in a catatonic state that gradually slows down their hearts."
Okay, that is by far the most messed up way to kill someone I have ever heard.
"How long have you been fighting this X.A.N.A. thing?" William inquired, hoping to avoid learning about even more disturbing attacks.
"One and a half years."
William's eyes were wide with shock and he took a glance over at Odd, Ulrich, Aelita and Jeremie nearby. "That's..." He trailed off, staring at Yumi.
Amazing. You and Ulrich were fighting to the death for that long? No wonder he loves you.
"Alright, if you keep giving me secret after secret, I might get a heart attack. Nonetheless, go on."
"There's really no limit to what X.A.N.A. can do with the computer. And before you ask, no; we can't kill X.A.N.A. by shutting off the supercomputer. It's our only weapon to fight him. Aelita can deactivate the towers, but X.A.N.A. can generate monsters in the virtual world. So, in order to stop X.A.N.A..." Yumi paused, testing William's response.
"...Aelita needs an escort to fight these monsters, so she can deactivate the towers and stop X.A.N.A.'s attack?" Yumi nodded before William thought of another thing. "Wait a minute, that means you'd have to go directly inside the computer to do it right? What kind of messed up tech allows you to do that?"
Yumi brought up another photo, this time of the scanner room. "We all go to the abandoned factory nearby, where Jeremie virtualizes us into Lyoko. When you go into Lyoko, you'll take a virtualized form based on your personality and characteristics. You're given the ability to fight the monsters. Think of it as an anti-virus program destroying corrupted files in a computer." Yumi proposed.
"What do you look like on Lyoko?" William asked. "To keep it short, a ninja with fans." Yumi replied.
Wow. You probably look even more hot on Lyoko than in the swimming pool. William forced the thought to stay in his head to continue listening.
"So, why come to me now?"
Yumi sat down on the bench, having stood upright this whole time. "You don't remember this because of the Return to the Past, but we had an...altercation outside my house. On my way to the factory, you literally bumped into me with your skateboard to get my attention."
That sounds something like Ulrich would do though. William forced himself not to say the joke aloud.
"I was being serious William. Look, it's no secret that you have a crush on me. So i'm just going to tell you this now: i'm not interested. I'm not in love with you and I never will be."
Straight to the heart, huh? Well...I appreciate the straightforwardness at least.
William let out a depressed sigh before Yumi put her hand on his shoulder. "But I am willing to be friends with you. Our fight with X.A.N.A. has gotten harder and harder. The day after that incident, there was a vote to let you in the group because you had been helping us numerous times even before the forest."
"Wait, when did I..." A confused William started to ask before he remembered something she said "Wait, you said something about a Return to the Past?"
"Yes. Usually after we stop X.A.N.A.'s attacks, we use it to reverse time to 24 hours earlier so nobody can remember what happened."
"You can REVERSE TI-?!" William nearly shouted before Yumi swiftly put her hand upon his mouth. She turned her head around to see if anyone heard William raise his voice. Thankfully nobody did, so she withdrew her hand.
Get a hold of yourself William. If Yumi won't love you, at least let yourself be friends with her.
"Okay, I joked that I might get a heart attack with every secret, but now I'm thinking you need to come with a huge warning sign. You're telling me..."
"Yes." Yumi clarified. "The consequences of using the Return to the Past is that it makes X.A.N.A. more powerful, it's needed to save us from dying or being exposed. It's why you don't remember the things you helped us too. One time, X.A.N.A. materialized one of his monsters into the real world and you helped Odd destroy it. There was another time where you helped defuse a bomb that a possessed demolition worker planted in the factory too."
"Wow. For all my flirting Yumi, I never imagined saving your lives repeatedly. But still, you didn't want me?"
Yumi shook her head. "I'm not going to apologize for voting against you, William. I'm only telling you why I did it and hopefully make you understand. Fighting X.A.N.A. is not a joke. During the attack where you helped Odd, X.A.N.A. directly attacked my family. I nearly lost them and Ulrich."
This X.A.N.A. thing makes Sissi seem like an angel.
By now, William was dead serious. It was bad enough that X.A.N.A. could cause catastrophic events and possess people, but he would go so far as to murder children? He knew Yumi had a younger brother. Hiroki was only eight years old for God's sake!
"And now i'm here, asking you to join the fight against X.A.N.A. If you accept, we'll take you to the factory tonight and make you immune to the Return to the Past program."
"And that will create my Lyoko Avatar?"
"Right." Yumi confirmed. "But this will make you a target of X.A.N.A. For joining us, he'll come after you. Try to kill you just like he does to the rest of us. Until we find a way to beat X.A.N.A. for good."
"So...you in?" Yumi held out her hand for a handshake.
William was given pause by this proposal. The dangers of his dream were terrifying, and fighting X.A.N.A. directly might be a never-ending nightmare for him. One that he might not return from. But at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to let the kids, especially not Yumi or Ulrich, do this on their own. William's resolve would not let him back down. From what Yumi said, he had fought X.A.N.A. before and at least had some experience.
And so, William gathered his resolve and courage before he shook Yumi's hand with a determined look for his eyes.
You better hope you're ready X.A.N.A. Because if you want to get to Yumi, you're gonna have to fight me.
"What?"
"Fight me."
William gave Ulrich a look of bewilderment, but it paled next to the look of Yumi. Aelita was only slightly confused, but Odd was ecstatic. "Oh, now I get it Ulrich! Gonna give William the good old 'bond with a brawl' treatment before he can come back! Makes sense. After all, your first meeting with Yumi ended with her boot in your face."
"You and Yumi met by fighting each other? Seriously?" William asked as Yumi rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I'd rather not talk about it.", Yumi replied, unintentionally evoking laughter from Odd at the reference to their P.E. teacher's iconic phrase.
"Martial arts class." Ulrich replied. "She was pretty good for a beginner. That's all I got to say before she pinned me down. But don't worry, I made sure to even the score when we met again." He smirked, recalling their second brawl in the gym. They had sparred numerous times after that. Sometimes Ulrich won, but sometimes Yumi did too.
"When I said I didn't want William to join the group, I didn't mean to literally kick him out Ulrich." Yumi clarified.
Ulrich put his hands on his pocket as he walked up to William. "As much as i've been wanting to that, which has been for a long time, that's not what I mean. X.A.N.A. is going to launch another attack, sooner or later, and you were great at fighting those possessed students. You've got potential to be just as good on Lyoko, like when you were under X.A.N.A.'s control."
"Do I now? How many times did I devirtualize you all?" William asked.
"In total," Aelita replied "You've accomplished dozens of devirtualizations. Yumi and Ulrich have been beaten you solo a few times though, and Odd just once." Odd's response was swift "Hey! I'll have you know that unlike my friends, I have limited ammo and no powers besides a shield!"
"Anyway!" Ulrich brought the subject back. "I want us to fight for three reasons. One, to just get whatever feelings we have for each other out of the way now. Two, to get an idea if you're really ready for Lyoko..."
"And three?" William asked, when Ulrich didn't answer.
"Just for fun."
Ulrich and William shared a smile. When was the last time they fought that it wasn't for fun? It was always either of out jealousy for Yumi's heart or because of William being under X.A.N.A.'s control. Ulrich took of his jacket and placed it on the fence, his smile turning into a prideful smirk.
"And the way I see it, if William doesn't even have the guts to fight me, he'll freeze up when he sees the Scyphozoa." Ulrich shrugs. "Then i'll have to beat him up again."
Oh, no. That is not happening. It was clear to everyone present that Ulrich's goading had the desired effect as William went over to the fence and hung up his jacket.
Odd nudged Aelita with his elbow and pulled out a $20 bill. "Twenty bucks says Ulrich beats William." Aelita smirked at him, saying "Forty dollars says that William beats Ulrich or they fight to a draw." Odd chuckled at that, "The princess drives a hard bargain. Deal!"
Aelita smiled at the sight of Ulrich and William respectfully bowing to each other. Their bonding helped take her mind of her vision and instilled confidence within her, but not just Aelita. "Not worried anymore Yumi?" She asked her friend.
"Trust me, when they fight. I'm always worried. But now..." Yumi looked to see William and Ulrich in Pencak Silat stances, looking excited. This was a sharp contrast to their fist fight, where the only "excitement" they had was to punch each other in the face. Slowly, her worries faded away along with Aelita's. "Not so much."
William had no illusions about his chances against Ulrich. In the real world, he was the superior fighter by far. He had so many times more of the experience than William did, mostly against irregular humans and monsters, but also against regular humans too. Getting into a fistfight with Ulrich was, by the start, something that William told himself not to do. If Ulrich was focused and committed, and he very much was, William could not defeat him outright. Then he remembered a glimpse of Aelita and Odd's bet.
Tire him out William. Go along with the fight. Dance with him and draw it out to a stalemate at least.
"HI-YAH!"
Ulrich charged forward with a snap kick aimed at William's chest, to which William dodged and countered with his own kick to Ulrich's back. He staggered only for a moment before he struck back with his hands, throwing punches and chops. William found himself working harder than ever before to keep up with Ulrich, dodging and blocking his hands, although one punch got a solid hit on his chest.
Come on, William. You are not going to lose in front of Yumi. Not when you're this close to fighting X.A.N.A. again!
He stayed on the defensive, letting Ulrich come at him again. Once more, the Lyoko Warrior fought with his hands. William called upon his Pencak Silat training to counter his; he had about a month's worth and knew the basics but not much else. By an increasingly narrow margin, William blocked or dodged Ulrich's hits, but the Lyoko Samurai only increased his aggression in response. If he was holding back at the start of their spar, he was doing it less now.
Alright, then. Guess I have to fight dirty.
Once he though Ulrich's attention was consumed by striking his upper body, William brought up his right knee and thrust it into Ulrich's gut, causing his old romantic rival to let out a gasp. William tried to continue the initiative by throwing a punch, but his fist was promptly grabbed by Ulrich. William responded by literally throwing his weight at Ulrich, tackling him and sending both boys to the ground.
"Ulrich, come on! Go get him! Don't make me lose forty bucks now you hear?!" Odd's words of encouragement at Ulrich were quickly adapted by Aelita "Come on William! I believe in you! I know you can do this!"
I won't let you down Aelita!
Ulrich and William got up almost immediately, and William went for a palm strike at Ulrich's face. Dodging the blow, Ulrich twisted his body for a roundhouse kick to William's head. His eyes wide, William ducked below Ulrich's leg and retaliated with a snap kick to Ulrich's chest.
Ulrich staggered and nearly lost his footing, prompting William to step forward to try and ram his elbow into Ulrich's stomach. Ulrich didn't let that happen, grabbing William's elbow and shoving him back before delivering a hard punch right across William's left cheek.
William shouted in pain and staggered back, his hand on his cheek. Ulrich wasn't giving him a break, physically and verbally.
"You wanna come back to Lyoko so bad? Huh?! Then you need to learn to take the pain! I've been electrocuted, punched, knocked out, and nearly died more times than I count!"
So X.A.N.A. doesn't pull his punches and thus neither does Ulrich. Makes sense I guess.
"If you think i'm bad, just wait until you see another Xanafied human. Or the Scyphozoa again." Ulrich put up his fists. "So are you going to stand there gawking at me or you going to start actually fighting me?"
Ulrich used his fingers for the 'Come at me!' taunt and William readily obliged by throwing two punches. Ulrich blocked the first one, but William threw passion behind the second one, hitting Ulrich dead on in the face.
Oh...Oops.
Ulrich yelled in shock and surprise, staggering as he held his hand in his face. Aelita put her hand up to her mouth in concern and Odd's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Yumi went so far as to take a step forward. "Ulrich...you okay?" She asked. The response she got Ulrich looking back at William and bursting out laughing. A laugh of surprise and amusement, as if he was ignoring the pain.
"Yeah." He replied unusually calmly. "Stay back." Ulrich ordered right before he locked eyes with William. The Lyoko Warrior wannabe could see his opponent's eyes ablaze with passion.
You've really done it this time William.
Ulrich sprang at him so much speed and aggressiveness that William was literally and figuratively taken aback. Punch after Punch, and kick after kick, was thrown at him. Ulrich was going all out as if he were going up against a human possessed by X.A.N.A. Yumi, Aelita and even Odd were taken aback.
WOAH!
William thought as Ulrich's next swing -his fastest yet- came. William barely managed to slap away his fist at the last moment and even then, Ulrich still grazed his jaw. William couldn't keep this up much longer, and Ulrich looked like he still had plenty of energy to spare.
No way you're last long enough to tire him out in time now. Look for an opening and hope to God that you can exploit good enough.
William gave ground as Ulrich continued his relentless advance, stepping backwards and not daring to try and strike him back. Ulrich went downwards and tried to sweep William's legs. In a fraction of a second, William jumped over the leg sweep and launched a kick back at Ulrich. He grabbed William's foot and smiled.
William just smiled back and leaned forward, grabbing Ulrich by the shoulders and pulling the bewildered teenager towards him. Ulrich let out a shout of surprise as both he and William were sent to the floor once more. Yumi looked in amusement, recalling how she and Ulrich's second brawl ended in a very similar manner.
William placed his hands on Ulrich's shoulders to pin him and prayed to God that Ulrich was satisfied enough to stay down, sweating practically pouring from his forehead. Ulrich and William both took deep breaths as they stared up at each other in silence. Finally, Ulrich spoke up.
"Welcome back to the group, William. We've all missed you."
Then William allowed himself to collapse beside his old romantic rival. Ulrich began to laugh again, prompting William to join in.
I did it. I actually beat him. I did it!
Out of the corner of his eye, William saw Aelita smugly hold out her hand to Odd, who made a pouty face as he handed over two $20 bills. "Awww, if it was anyone else I would've won that bet for sure!"
Yumi held out her hands to William and Ulrich, slowly helping them up from the ground. "I've never seen you fight like that Ulrich, certainly not in any of our practice sessions." Ulrich wiped some dirt off his shirt as he replied, "Like I said, i've been waiting to that for a long time."
The Lyoko Samurai turned towards William and held out his hand.
"Friends?"
"Friends." William replied and shook Ulrich's hand without hesitation. "And no more racing after Yumi. I've accepted that she's not for me. You have my word."
William saw signs of relief on both Ulrich and Yumi's faces. Not only because he and Ulrich had put their rivalry aside, but now there would be nothing stopping them from being friends. Odd came on over and gave William a pat on the shoulder.
"Anyone who can beat Ulrich here without a X.A.N.A. powerup is A-Okay in my book William. I vote for you coming back." Ulrich nodded "Ditto for me, and we already know what Aelita thinks". With that in mind, all heads present turned expectedly towards Yumi.
"Let's go inside." Yumi proposed. "I want to talk to William alone." Ulrich nodded with complete trust in her words, and Yumi and William went on inside. William staggered on over to a nearby yet worn-down couch and collapsed on it. It was at least intact enough to maintain his and Yumi's combined weight.
"I'm sorry, William. For everything that I said about you not being strong enough or not changing. You have. I can see that now." Yumi started. "It's just that...for months we've had to fight you over and over again. For many of those fights, at least one of us almost died on the real world. I never want to risk that again."
"I know. And i'm sorry." William responded in an exhausted tone. "But all I want is a chance to make it up to you. Not just you and Ulrich, but to Aelita. Yumi...one of the memories I remember is when I succeeded in throwing Aelita in the digital sea."
Yumi's eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect 'o'. William nods "Yeah, and even after that, Aelita came up to my bed this morning and inspired me to come up to you. Without her, I think I would have just walked away. Never proven myself to Ulrich."
"Aelita can be noble to the point of absolute absurdity." Yumi chuckled before forcing the lightness down. "William, do you know that falling into the Digital Sea means you're completely erased?" William nods, saying "Yeah, we're lucky she came back from that."
"We are, but that wasn't what I was referring to. I was talking about early in the fight against X.A.N.A., when Aelita was still living on Lyoko. The time when I fell into the Digital Sea and died."
Wait, What?
"When we first found the Supercomputer, and this before you came to Kadic, Aelita was trapped inside and our initial goal was getting her to Earth. During one X.A.N.A. attack, I saved her life and fell off a ledge. Ulrich raced after me but...it was too late. I fell and all I saw was darkness after that."
He literally watched you die?
"At that time, Aelita had her materialization program ready, but she sacrificed it to undo my deletion on Lyoko. As soon as Jeremie realized it could be used to save me, Aelita didn't hesitate to give up her chance at coming to Earth."
William didn't know how to reply to that. Not only had Aelita helped rouse his courage, but had it not been for her, he would never have even met Yumi?
"She really brings out the best of us, doesn't she?" William commented, to which Yumi gave a firm nod.
"Aelita's been through so much William. So have me, Ulrich, and everyone else. But Aelita...she's just on another level. She's died too William. She sacrificed herself to deactivate a Tower and was only brought back because Jeremie had virtualized a strand of hair."
"That's...that's..." William's voice trailed off, struggling to think of anything else to say.
Thank you Aelita, for saving Yumi, for saving everyone, and helping me find myself. I swear to you, we'll get your father back. You deserve so much better than this.
"Yumi! William!" Aelita suddenly called out from a window. "Jeremie just called. My father sent him a message, sounds important!"
"Franz Hopper? Are you sure? It could be a X.A.N.A trick." Yumi suggested.
"Well just after Jeremie got that message, he found out that X.A.N.A. has activated a tower too!" Aelita replied.
"Both an activated tower and your father popping up at around the same time?" William questioned. "From what I remember, X.A.N.A was determined to have me kill your father the one time I succeeded in luring him out. Can't be a coincidence."
"Jeremie is at the factory trying to confirm if daddy really is there and what X.A.N.A.'s attack is this time. Coming, William?" Aelita asked, knowing full well what the answer would be."
"Wouldn't miss this for the world." William responded without hesitation. Yumi smiled at him, silently giving her vote to make him a Lyoko Warrior again.
No more X.A.N.A. Your lies, your schemes, your sick games are over. You will never claim me again.
Yumi and William walked out, joining Aelita and Ulrich outside. As the Lyoko Warriors gathered and he and Ulrich put their jackets back on, William looked at his new friends with pride. He made peace with Ulrich, he accepted that his love for Yumi was never going anymore, he made a new best friend in Aelita, and got himself an amusing jester in Odd even if most of the latter's jokes were bad and annoying.
The only one he hadn't reconciled with was Jeremie, the super genius and the "Einstein" of the group as Odd loved to call him, and he would have to get his permission too, he realized, if he wanted to return to Lyoko.
You know what? I don't care. Jeremie can voice all the objections he wants. I'm going to Lyoko. I'm going to face you, X.A.N.A. And you better be prepared. You know why?
Because I will play a part in killing you.
RESOURCE DETECTED.
The multi-agent intelligence program known as X.A.N.A. was used to things going as planned. It was supposed to anticipate all results, no matter what. In the nine years it had slept since Franz Hopper deactivated the Supercomputer, X.A.N.A. bided his time and waited to strike. Finally, a Jeremie Belpois activated it and set things into motion. After that, X.A.N.A should have been able to barge it's way out of the supercomputer within a fraction of a second and slaughter any who opposed him with a single attack.
ACTIVATING TOWER.
Yet almost none of X.A.N.A.'s plans had come to fruition. For two years, the A.I. had fought with the same group of teenagers that dared to try and keep him trapped on the Supercomputer, attack it's Replikas in an attempt to destroy him directly, and keep it from eliminating it's creator. It had tried a variety of attacks from a blizzard, possessing countless people, sending it's monsters into the real world.
LYOKO ARCHIVES ACCESSED. SEARCHING FOR DATA.
Yet the only true achievement of these efforts was it's escape into the real world. Even it's erasure of the Lyoko World and it's sectors was undone by it's creator. Unlike the Lyoko Warriors, Franz Hopper was a threat that X.A.N.A. both respected and dreaded. Only it's creator had a true chance of destroying X.A.N.A. A group of teenagers, surely, would be no threat to X.A.N.A. Or so it thought.
DATA LOCATED. BEGINNING TRANSFER.
At first, X.A.N.A. had little thoughts of Jeremie Belpois and his group of misfits. But with every plan they had foiled, with every miraculous survival they had pulled, so to had X.A.N.A.'s disregard morphed into annoyance and finally into loathing. They had turned from a group of delinquents to the mortal enemies of X.A.N.A. The A.I. knew that it could not win as long as any still drew breath.
DATA TRANSFER AT 25% AND RISING.
But even the loathing had turned into begrudging respect. Not once had he succeeded in killing any humans. By all odds, Jeremie had kept the evil A.I. at bay by the slimmest of margins. And most recently, it had taken away it's greatest weapon. William Dunbar, whom he had turned into a mighty warrior before Jeremie could do the same. This was a problem. There was no doubt the boy would be eager for payback. There was always the Scyphozoa to lure him back in, of course.
DATA TRANSFER AT 50% AND RISING.
From that point on, respect turned into hatred. The A.I. was well aware of Franz Hopper and Jeremie's plan to destroy it with an Anti-Xana Program. It had searched for any way to hide from the Program should it be run, but no option had a guaranteed outcome of safety. For the first time in its war against the Lyoko Warriors, X.A.N.A was in true danger of being destroyed.
DATA TRANSFER AT 75% AND RISING.
But X.A.N.A would not simply shut down and die. No, the moment that William was stolen back from him X.A.N.A had calculated it's options for the next move of both itself and Jeremie. He had destroyed the Skidbladnir, so the A.I. knew for certain the Lyoko Warriors would focus on their Anti-X.A.N.A. program. The Kolossus was strong but slow. If was going to eliminate his enemies, X.A.N.A. needed something smarter, faster, and with more...motivation.
DATA TRANSFER COMPLETE. SHUTTING DOWN TOWER.
And with that, X.A.N.A. had a weapon to replace it's stolen one. The Lyoko Warriors had no idea what their enemy was up to; X.A.N.A didn't even have to use the exact tower that the weapon was first created at in order to extract it. As far as Jeremie knew, X.A.N.A. had done a "scare and bait" tactic to unnerve him. His newest weapon would do much more than that.
For all their overconfidence at their ability to eliminate X.A.N.A, it's enemies were right about one thing though: their war against the A.I. had reached its climax.
And with it, the lives of the Lyoko Warriors and X.A.N.A.'s creator would come to an end.
A/N: It was fun to speculate how exactly Yumi told William about Lyoko back in episode 63, but the Ulrich/William fight was a doozy to write. I didn't want William to lose nor make Ulrich seem nerfed in any way; hopefully I managed to balance that out. The thing I love the most about Aelita is her selflessness, especially the mentioned events in season 1, and I wanted William to get a good understanding of Aelita too. What do you all think X.A.N.A.'s move with the data transfer is? All I can tell you is that you won't have to wait long to find out!