A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! After my William Redemption fanfic, I didn't intend to write anymore. But I changed my mind when I thought of an isolated Aelita, forced to fight for herself. A Bad Turn, imo, was one of the best episodes partly because of how badass Aelita did on Lyoko by herself. Since she's never completely alone again, I wanted to give my take on it and really show Aelita pushed more than ever to survive.

"You sure you want to do this, Aelita?"

Wearing his black shirt and pants, as he always did when he practiced Pencak Silat, Ulrich leaned against one of the four wall of Kadic Academy's Gym room as he looked curiously at Aelita, who wore a pink shirt and shorts. Both Lyoko Warriors were barefoot, their normal clothes left in the locker room.

Aelita gave him a firm nod, saying "I'm sure, Ulrich. I've been kidnapped dozens of times already. What if there's a time where you don't know XANA managed to take me? And I'm left completely alone on Lyoko?"

For first half of the war against XANA, Aelita had no weapons aside from her Creativity powers, which only brought her time to survive long enough for the others to save her and get to the Tower so she could shut it off.

Aelita's lack of weaponry had resulted in many close calls, and as a result Jeremie had finally decided to focus on developing fighting abilities for the pink-haired princess. She first gained the ability to form energy fields, followed by gaining Angel Wings that essentially made Aelita a moving vehicle. But even that didn't stop the Scyphozoa from all it's attempts to either take her memory or possess her to destroy the Lyoko sectors.

Finally, after her last encounter with the Scyphozoa left her possessed and forced into a sword fight with Ulrich, she had had enough. Aelita decided she needed to learn to fight not only on Lyoko, but in the real world as well. Dozens upon dozens of kidnappings left their toll on the Lyoko Guardian, and she wasn't sure if she could take it any longer.

Ulrich shook his head, unconvinced. "I'm not saying it's a waste of time for you to learn self-defense, but we've fought XANA for two years now and you've never been completely alone on Lyoko. Whenever you went there alone, we've always been able to come help"

Aelita dismantled his argument swiftly. "Remember that time when XANA sent Krabs into the real world?" Aelita reminded him. "XANA destroyed the scanners after I went into Lyoko. I was completely alone on Lyoko that day except for Jeremie to guide me."

Ulrich's eyes widened at that. When Jeremie told him that day about how Aelita was working to deactivate the Tower, he assumed she had an escort same as always. His mind was a bit too focused on stopping the Krabs that day for him to realize that since Odd was tackling another Krab, Aelita really was all alone that day. It was without a doubt the most adrenaline-filled moment of her life, doing tricks with the Overboard to fight off dozens of Hornets and tricking the Scyphozoa to enter the Tower.

"You taught me that elbow trick one time. What's the difference between that and now?" Aelita asked, recalling the last time Ulrich started to teach her Pencak Silat. Ulrich stopped leaning against the wall at that point. That literally backfired in Ulrich's face when the Xanafied Aelita smashed her elbow into his face in a sword duel.

"It was only one trick." Ulrich explained. "Learning martials arts, including Pencak Silat, isn't a joke. There's a lot of risk of personal injury even when your trainer is holding back. I had my share of injuries as I learned. Even got a black eye more than once."

Whenever Ulrich had received an injury, a scolding from his father was never far behind. He had repeatedly told Ulrich to stop, but being the stubborn boy that he was, Ulrich had done no such thing.

"Then there's also who you're fighting." Ulrich added. "Polymorphic specters, Xanafied people, the monsters on Lyoko. Hand-to-Hand combat isn't reliable at all on Lyoko except stunning William for a couple seconds. And that's if you're able to hit him without being sliced in half by that massive sword of his."

"You beat up Creepers." Aelita pointed out. "Odd wouldn't stop talking about it for days."

Ulrich flashed her a sweet smile as he remembered that situation. During that time where the fake Franz Hopper took away their weapons, Ulrich and Odd did have a great time in beating up Creepers with their bare hands while it lasted. Granted they were in a life-or-death situation, but it was still fun.

"Okay, there was that one time." Ulrich conceded, before he returned to his more serious tone. "But I'll be honest, I don't know if we were even damaging them. The only reason we killed them was because we knocked them off the platform. And we all would have still died had it not been for Jeremie getting us our weapons back."

"Now, as for the real world." Ulrich continued. "Hand-to-Hand combat doesn't do that much to Xanafied people or Polymorphic specters. It stuns them, true, but you know we can't actually get rid of them aside from deactivating the Tower. And it's not like you're going to be left in the real world to fight them."

Aelita shook her head. "I know that, Ulrich. But i'm going to tell you what I told Jeremie. I've almost never been able to get away from a kidnapper in the real world. If, like you said, I can stun one of them, I can alert you all sooner that i'm being taken to Lyoko. Maybe even escape completely. That would make things a lot less stressful for all of us."

"And it's not like I'm a stranger to physical pain or injury, Ulrich. Do I need to remind you of the time where I had multiple heart attacks in one day when the Supercomputer's nuclear battery went dead?"

Ulrich looked down at the floor, clearly bothered. That day, where XANA had to get them a new battery, had been one of the most memorable for Ulrich. Seeing Aelita on her hospital bed convulsing and having heart attacks bothered him in a way where nothing else did, except the time where Aelita had been successfully thrown into the Digital Sea by William.

"If we're going to this" Ulrich conceded. "Then we're going to start with the basics. Using your arms, punching, that sort of stuff. It takes a lot of time to learn how to do high kicks, time that XANA definitely won't be waiting for."

Aelita nodded in agreement, but Ulrich didn't say anything. He appeared deep in thought, but Aelita was patient. She had endured two years of war after all.

"Why do you really want me to teach you?" Ulrich asked. "I just told you." Aelita replied, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I think this about something more than just learning how to defense yourself." Ulrich explained. "We've been doing this for two years and you only come to me now? Be honest Aelita, what specifically made you come now?"

Aelita knew the answer to that off the top of her head. It had been nagging at her for longer than she would like to admit, but with a deep sigh, she went with it.

"My father." Aelita admitted. "Ever since I was lured out into that simulation bubble and Daddy saved me from the Digital Sea..." Then she shook her head. "No, that was the trigger, but it was long before that. He sacrificed himself for me when I lost my memories, and he nearly got himself killed when he saved me from the Digital Sea."

Ulrich sat down on a bench as he listened to Aelita talk about her father. "Love" was a strong word and while had had no doubt Aelita and Franz Hopper shared their parental love for each other, he couldn't say it was the same for him and his father. They had rarely talked, and usually when they did, it consisted of Ulrich having to listen to his father lecturing him about his bad grades or how "harmful" his friends were.

"I want to reunite with him so badly Ulrich. I want to feel the warmth of a father in my arms, see what it's really like to have a parent. I've been thinking about this even before I saw his pink orb form, but it's on my mind everyday ever since. Then, just a few days ago, the Scyphozoa took me. Again. From what Jeremie said, I was extremely lucky to get out of that. I could have died there, Ulrich, and never saw my father again."

The thought of the Scyphozoa successfully forcing her into the Digital Sea, stripping away all her free will once more and simultaneously killing her just so XANA could murder her father as well, made Aelita want to vomit.

"I want to live." She concluded. "Not just for you and the rest of us, but for my father too."

If he were a lesser man, Ulrich would be jealous that Aelita had a more loving father, but the day that Aelita reunited with Franz Hopper would no doubt make Ulrich the happiest he had ever been, and it was worth hell to see that happen. Aelita sat down next to him and let out a deep sigh.

Well, here goes... Aelita thought.

"But about wanting to live...I'm going to tell you something else. I've been thinking for a long about how to say this. Ulrich, something happened the day we went to Sector Five to recover my memories."

Aelita sat down next to Ulrich and hesitated to speak further, but Ulrich put her hand on Aelita's knee and gave her a supportive look. Seeing this, Aelita continued.

"After Jeremie showed me Franz Hopper's diary, I got the wrong impressions. Instead of being happy that I had a father, I thought he was 'a totally crazy second-rate magician' who made me into nothing. I didn't feel human. I felt like I was putting you all in danger just by existing, and that I wasn't worth the effort."

As Aelita spoke, Ulrich began to remember the events of that day. He and Odd were sitting by the vending machine when Jeremie told them that he couldn't find Aelita, there was no answer on her cell phone, and that the Supercomputer wouldn't respond either. Odd suggested it might be a bug and Jeremie went to check it out.

The next time he heard from Jeremie, he just said that it was time to retrieve Aelita's fragment and mentioned nothing further about the "bug", assuming Jeremie must have fixed it with Aelita's aid.

"Jeremie told us there was something wrong, but I thought it was just a bug." Ulrich explained. "What really happened?"

Aelita put her hand over her heart as she said "I thought I was a curse, Ulrich. That just living would put you all at risk."

Ulrich's heart sank to the bottom of his chest.

"You...you don't mean..."

Aelita's eyes began to water as she recalled her drastic actions. "I vowed never to go back on Lyoko. Because of that, there was only one way, at the time, to get rid of XANA. I didn't care about how it affected me. So, I went to the Supercomputer Room and shut it down."

Ulrich stared at her, his mouth agape.

"B-But at that time, you were connected to the Supercomputer. Shutting it down would mean-"

"Yeah. I knew." Aelita finished for him.

As naive as Ulrich could be sometimes, he wasn't stupid. The gears of his mind worked for only a few moments before he realized what she had done.

She's so absurdly noble...how did I not see this coming? Ulrich thought.

"Oh...Aelita..." Ulrich opened up his arms for a hug and Aelita readily accepted the comfort.

Both Lyoko Warriors found themselves at a loss for words. As much mental and physical turmoil Ulrich had been through these last couple years, he was completely unprepared for a topic as sensitive and tear-inducing as this one. It wasn't often that the Lyoko Samurai found himself speechless. For a couple minutes, they just embraced each other in silence.

In that moment, Aelita and Ulrich felt like siblings rather than friends.

"What...happened after?" Ulrich said, once he felt like he could talk without his voice cracking.

"Jeremie did come to check what was wrong and turned the Supercomputer back on. I woke up with me in his arms." Aelita explained. The first thing she had seen was Jeremie's face, which was the very picture of horror; it didn't take long for the young genius to realize what she had done.

"When I told him that I did it to save you all, he told me that he would show me a brand-new life, and that we would see it together." That was just a short summary of what had happened; their discussion continued long after, but Aelita did not feel like indulging the full details. Ulrich had the picture as it was.

"I promise Aelita, we'll destroy XANA and get you your father back. And despite what XANA would likely say, you're worth fighting hell for."

Aelita reared her head back and smiled at Ulrich, wiping away a couple tears from her eyes. "I didn't know how much I wanted to hear that until now. Thank you."

Then a thought came to Ulrich's mind. "But before I actually start training you, tell me, what do you fight for?"

Aelita digested Ulrich's question, but it didn't take her long to answer. "For you, for Jeremie, everyone here at Kadic and beyond, but most of all, for my father."

Giving a content smile at the princess, Ulrich said "Just remember that whenever you feel down."

Then he stood up and set up a punching bag that he brought with him to the gym. They both stood on a training mat.

"Alright, when you're going to fight someone, the best place to punch them is the throat. But for now, we're going to practice how much force you're able to use. Just throw a punch at it." Ulrich instructed. "Show me what you got."

Aelita stepped up to the bag, unsure of what to do. In unarmed combat, the best experience she had was kicking the Xanafied William a couple times on Lyoko; never before had she used her hands. She brought hands up and clenched them into fists, trying to mimic a typical boxer's stance. After a steadying breath, Aelita threw her left fist forward. The bag met her punch with barely a sound. Aelita glanced over her shoulder at Ulrich, who watched her with an upturned eyebrow.

"Really?" Ulrich asked in a mocking tone. "That's what you call a punch?"

"I guess."

Ulrich and Yumi had always loved to tease each other when they sparred or practiced. Applying it to Aelita was a gamble to rile her up, get her more invested in the training. But she looked more confused than riled up.

Yeah, better do constructive criticism instead of just teasing her about it. Ulrich thought.

"You don't just throw your hand out and hope for the best. That's a way good way to damage your knuckles" Ulrich lectured, having suffered such injuries in his first days of advanced techniques. "You have to push through your target. Watch." He brought his own hands up and with a flourish, laid into the bag, which thumped due to the impact and rocked slightly up off it's base before settling back down.

Aelita watched the demonstration carefully, trying to commit to memory the sight of Ulrich's body going through the motion. Getting back into her stance, she glared hard at the punching bag before trying again. She thrust her fist out much quicker this time and tried to imagine punching through the bag. The impact with the bag was slightly louder than the first time but still hardly effective.

"It's an improvement." Ulrich complimented. "But you're still using just your arm. You've got to get your whole body into it." Ulrich went through his motion again, but this time did it slower. Letting the image really sink into Aelita's mind. "Rotate your hips to put more weight behind your punch."

Aelita tried again to copy Ulrich's motion but found her uncoordinated limbs refused to work together, and her punches continued to have little effect of the bag. With a groan she dropped her hands, and her frustration became readily apparent. Ulrich put her hand on her shoulder, and her expression calmed quickly.

"Sorry, Ulrich. Just not used to this." Aelita apologized, but Ulrich just gave her a nod. "It's alright. Everyone struggles especially on their first day practicing." He lowered his hands towards Aelita's hips but stopped short of touching her. "Do you mind if I guide your hips? I won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

"It's okay, I'd rather it be Jeremie touching me but-." Aelita's eyes widened and her cheeks blushed as she realized what she just said. Ulrich smiled at her, playfully suggesting "Well, pretend my hands are Jeremie's then."

Aelita blushed at Ulrich's teasing, but then again, she had frequently teased him about his crush on Yumi, so it was just good old-fashioned revenge in play.

"Just follow the motion as I guide you." He instructed.

Aelita moved her body through the proper motions a few times until the whole thing finally started to click in her head. Finally, Ulrich let go of Aelita's hips as she sped her punches up closer to real time. After a deep breath and tensing of her muscles Aelita went through the whole process at full speed meeting the bag with a satisfying thud.

Ulrich smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Nice work, you'll be a little butt-kicking princess in no time." Aelita gave him a gingerly smile and the two Lyoko Warriors high-fived before she wiped some sweat off her forehead.

"What should we practice next?" Aelita asked. "I'm up for a bit more."

"Let's try getting out of headlocks" Ulrich suggested. "The look on XANA's face when you get out of that would be priceless, wouldn't it?"

That sounds quite appealing... Aelita thought.

Ulrich went behind Aelita and gently wrapped an arm around the back of her neck, being careful not to choke her or injure her neck in any way.

"Alright, to get out of a headlock, the priority is protecting your airway, so you don't get choked out. Turn your head toward the side from which your attacker, in this case me, is choking you to protect it. Use your hands to grab onto my arm, with your fingers on the inside of my arm, near your chin" Aelita followed that readily. "Now, raise or shrug your shoulders to create space where you can tuck your chin down to your body and get your fingers into the space between their arm and your chin."

"Create some struggle. Got it. But how do I actually get out?" Aelita replied to which Ulrich explained. "Bend your knees and turn 180° toward your stepped foot. Your hands should still be on my arm, in between your chin and my arm. Once out of the headlock, pull diagonally across your body to throw your attacker to the ground. Keep your opposite foot (the foot that didn't lock behind your attacker's leg) strong so as to trip your opponent as you throw them to the ground across your body."

Aelita absorbed Ulrich's words, although she detected a flaw in his advice. "I don't think i'm strong enough to straight up throw someone to the ground, let alone someone who's Xanafied." She explained.

"If you can't throw your attacker," Ulrich suggested. "Keep turning your shoulders and hips inward to create more leverage. Eventually, this should create enough space that you can pull your head out." Aelita nodded, before she an idea came to her and she asked, "I wonder, what would Yumi think if she saw you doing this to me?"

Ulrich's cheeks flustered. They weren't dating exactly, but that didn't stop him from jealous of Yumi hanging out other boys that weren't in the gang.

Oh, man. She'd probably kill me.

"Well, we could ask her. She's behind you."

"WHAT?!" Ulrich whipped his head around in an instant, only to find the entire area behind him empty.

With all the strength she could muster, Aelita took the unfocused Ulrich by surprise and turned on her shoulders and hips, creating enough leverage to pull her head out. Then, crouching downwards, she lashed her leg to the side and swept Ulrich's legs out from under him, sending the Lyoko Samurai to the floor.

Not wasting any time, Aelita saddled her fallen friend's stomach and held his wrists down above his head. Ulrich's wide-eyed stare was beautiful to behold, and Aelita leaned her head down towards his face as she grinned devilishly at him.

"Element of surprise. If I'm going to surprise XANA, I do have to surprise you first."

Ulrich gave her a smile of pride, which Aelita returned. Suddenly, Ulrich leapt up with a surge of strength and instantly broke Aelita's hold, saddling her back and pinning Aelita's own wrists above her head. Luckily, the impact of Aelita's fall was mostly broken by the training mat.

"Normally when I'm in that situation," Ulrich explained "I would headbutt the one pinning me down, but I think this sends the message in a less violent way: fight your attacker, but don't stick around. When you can, run and get help. Xanafied people don't stay down until the Tower is down, no matter who's pinning them down."

Once he felt Aelita got the message, Ulrich held out her hand and helped her up, seeing Aelita's face drenched in sweat. Even if she wanted to trick him again, Aelita had no energy left to perform anymore maneuvers.

"Thanks for the time, Ulrich." Aelita swiped some sweat off her forehead. "Good idea to do this on a day off from classes, huh?"

Ulrich nodded, content with her progress. "Yep. And one more piece of advice, Aelita. When you're about to make your move against your kidnapper, do it when they think you're incapacitated. Wake up, start plotting, and have a plan of escape ready as soon as you strike."

Aelita gave a thumps up. "Got it. I'll plan before I act."

"Oh, and before I forget," Ulrich added. "Yumi wants you to meet her at the Factory in a couple of hours. Gotta train you on Lyoko too."

Aelita gave him a fist pump, adding "And about what I said about shutting down the Supercomputer, I swear that I have no intention of doing it again. For Daddy, for you, Jeremie, and everyone else, i'm going to live a brand-new life."

Ulrich patted her shoulder, saying "I'm proud of you, Aelita."

And with that, the two Lyoko Warriors went back to their respective locker rooms, putting on their normal clothes before heading back to their daily routines.

Four Days Later...

Once back in her bedroom, Aelita shut off the lights and yawned before lying down on the bed. As she gazed at the ceiling above her, Aelita was more convinced than ever that she had made the right choice in asking Ulrich to train her. Her training had begun a few days after the after the attack where XANA placed the entire school, including Odd's parents, under partial possession. She remembered little after the possession but learned after deactivating the Tower that she had been forced into a sword duel with Ulrich. Ulrich recounted vastly increased agility and skill despite having never wielded a sword in her whole life.

Prior to asking for training, Aelita decided on who she considered the best Lyoko Warrior. Odd's clumsiness and arrogance, even though he had proven himself many times such as when he pretty much singe-handily took on that Forest Replika, had disqualified him from permission to be her mentor. Jeremie wasn't a fighter at all, so that left her with either Ulrich or Yumi to go to.

She decided that instead of choosing one, she would go for both. They came to an agreement that Ulrich would train Aelita in the real world, while Yumi would help sharpen her battle tactics on Lyoko. Aelita had already gone to Yumi before Ulrich, and on Lyoko, she not only refined her energy field tactics, but also learned how to do a leg sweep. Yumi had specifically requested that she surprise Ulrich with it, a request that Aelita happily carried out.

Over the next four days, Aelita continued training on both the real world and Lyoko. Ulrich and Yumi called her progress "slow but steady", and Aelita recalled the expression from a fairy tale she had read, "The Tortoise and the Hare". While she wasn't fond of slow pacing, especially when XANA could attack at any moment, Aelita accepted it as the training proved difficult and sweaty. She had to admit that it felt exciting and fun, especially to have the achievement of pinning the toughest Lyoko Warrior down like that, even if it was for just a few seconds.

But he's my friend, so why do I feel that way?

She had been on earth for over a year at this point, yet still she had yet to become fully used to her human emotions and feelings. Granted, she had grasped the basics and blended in perfectly at Kadic Academy as Odd's so-called "cousin" despite some suspicions. She shouldn't feel happy after humiliating her friend, but then she had seen Yumi and Ulrich had done just that far more than her.

I guess that's just what it means to be human. Everyone's different.

Whenever Aelita wasn't busy fighting XANA or pursuing her education, she was studying human biology and psychology. It only took a few hours before she was completely entrapped in her humanity studies, and she quickly knew no human could be "nothing". Most of all, though, Aelita loved the human imagination as she looked up fan art, fairy tales, and media franchises. The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was her personal favorite, as it left her inspired by the heroes of that trilogy. She particularly liked Eowyn and Samwise.

Samwise reminded her all too well of Jeremie and the others, always full of life, hope and humor. She found herself frequently rewatching clips of his and Frodo's friendship and journey together to destroy the One Ring.

Sauron reminded her a lot of XANA, and she felt personally inspired by Eowyn's heroism. Aelita even shed tears when she stood against the Witch-King to protect her uncle.

I promise, Daddy. XANA will never get his hands on you. Never again.

Around midnight, Aelita fell asleep, with the rest of Kadic Academy following not long after. For about an hour, peace and silence reigned.

SELECTING TOWER.

On Lyoko, however, peace did not reign. The ground of the Ice sector shook with pulsations. They led to a tower at the northeastern edge of the sector, a wide-open circular area with a clear path leading to it. Nobody was awake to see its halo turn red...

TOWER SELECTED. ACTIVATING TOWER.

Over and over again, Polymorphic specters or Clones had failed to achieve their goals of bringing Aelita to their creator. Or they had succeeded and were discovered because of their experience with human emotions and impersonation, or because they had attacked the Lyoko Warriors before XANA was finished with Aelita. In its early days, subtlety wasn't often XANA's specialty.

ACTIVATION COMPLETE. CREATING CLONE.

XANA had grown tired of possessing people or sending polymorphic specters, which were by far his reused methods of attacking his enemies. Just a few days ago, he had resorted to putting the entire school (aside from Sissi Delmas, who happened to not have her phone at the time) under his possession. However, the strain of possessing so many forced the A.I. to limit its control over them, and once again the attack resulted in failure.

CREATION COMPLETE. SEARCHING FOR TARGET.

XANA was growing impatient and agitated with its failure to end the war with the Lyoko Warriors after two and a half years, but whenever it seemed like XANA had finally won, either by stealing Aelita's memory or destroying the Core of Lyoko, Franz Hopper was always there to undo his progress. The A.I. could take its creator's interference no more and refocused its efforts into killing Franz Hopper once and for all.

TARGET FOUND.

But to do that, it had to lure Aelita to Lyoko and toss her into the Digital Sea, thus forcing Hopper to resurface and revive his daughter. Thanks to the interference of the other Lyoko Warriors, especially that wretched Jeremie Belpois, XANA had only succeeded in luring out his creator once, and Aelita's friends had helped enable Hopper's escape. XANA never got that close again. It had tried disposing of her friends so many times, even through infiltration.

MATERIALIZING TO EARTH.

XANA had emulated this tactic a couple of times, sending clones of Yumi and Jeremie to Earth; the Jeremie clone was far more successful than the latter. While an Odd or Ulrich clone would be helpful, this was not what XANA needed now. He only needed Aelita. For once, her friends would have to wait their turn for death another time. What XANA had just sent to Earth would fulfill those requirements with certainty.

Aelita's desk lamp shook, and a black specter unscrewed the light bulb of the lamp. It emerged from the object all the way, making sure not to break it and draw any attention to itself. It then turned towards the sleeping and obvious Aelita, morphing until it was of human shape and morphing into something different.

It became a splitting image of Aelita. Her over-sized pink t-shirt with a red-letter A on the front, her shorts, her hair, and even her face was the perfect splitting image of it's sworn nemesis. The only difference was that XANA-Aelita was wearing pink boots while the real Aelita was barefooted as she slept. The Clone opened the window and took a look outside, seeing nobody in the vicinity. Then the Clone stepped towards the door and put her ear to listen for anyone nearby.

Hearing nothing, XANA-Aelita slowly took the sleeping Aelita in her arms and lifted her out of bed, being careful not to awake her just yet. Then, climbing until she was at the edge of the window, XANA-Aelita leap out of it and dropped two stories to the ground below.

Now, such a fall would have surely broken the legs of any human, but a Clone such as XANA-Aelita had no such vulnerabilities. The Clone of Yumi would have broken her legs or worse from that, but by the time that the Jeremie Clone was used, XANA had upgraded Clones to have the same powers as Polymorphic Specters did.

What that fall did, however, was stir Aelita from her slumber. Feeling the cold air of the night brushing against her skin, especially against her bare feet, Aelita's eyes blinked and slowly opened to see the Xanafied eyes of her evil twin. As her eyes widened in fear, the Clone tilted her head and wagged a finger at her captive.

"Hush."

XANA-Aelita sent a dose of electricity coursing through her fingertips into Aelita through one hand, while the other hand covered Aelita's mouth to keep her from crying out.

It wasn't a lethal dose; the tiny girl's death was not what XANA sought, at least not on the real world anyway. Aelita became limp swiftly, a bit sooner than the A.I. had anticipated, but the Clone nonetheless stopped with the electrocutions and raced into the forest. Using super speed, XANA-Aelita swiftly found the manhole cover leading to the sewers.

Carrying too much wasn't an issue for the Clone, nor was holding Aelita while simultaneously descending a ladder, so the two Aelitas descended into the sewers and proceeded across until they found the ladder that led them to the bridge of the Factory.

As XANA-Aelita picked up the human she was based off on to continue carrying her, Aelita very groggily and slowly opened her eyes. This time, XANA-Aelita wasn't looking directly at her. Aelita hastily shut her eyes, knowing her best bet was to pretend as though she was still out cold and wait for her opening. If she woke up now in her evil Clone's arms, she could be knocked out cold for real this time. Also, even if she got out, it was a wide-open area, and the Clone could catch her with ease.

Fortunately, XANA never noticed that its prisoner was awake, and Aelita never felt that second shock. Instead, Aelita heard her Clone calling up the elevator and stepping inside once it arrived. Keeping her eyes closed, Aelita felt the Clone set her down somewhere.

It has to be the Scanner. Aelita surmised. My Clone must be trying to set up a virtualization.

Aelita opened her eyes narrowly, just enough to see her Clone climb up the ladder leading up to the lab to start the transfer to Lyoko. Once her evil twin was out of sight, Aelita rose to her feet and exited the Scanner around three seconds before it closed.

I don't have long before she realizes I'm not inside. It will bring up an error message and let XANA know that nobody was transferred.

Entering the elevator, which the Clone had left opened, Aelita went inside and pressed the button to close the elevator and take her back up to the base floor, so that she could get out of the Factory and hide in the Sewers.

Once the doors closed, Aelita leaned against a wall and took several deep breathes to recover from her electrocution.

Good, I'm out. Now I just need to get up to the bridge and-

A loud thump on the top of the elevator interrupted the thought.

Oh, Come on!

The elevator hatch on the top opened up and revealed a splitting image of Aelita, except said splitting image was snarling at her, clearly infuriated that its carefully laid plan was nearly ruined because of Aelita's quick thinking.

"You can't get away from me," The Clone growled.

XANA-Aelita jumped into the elevator next to Aelita. Just as the elevator arrived at its destination and Aelita tried to exit, XANA-Aelita grabbed her by the back of her shirt and yanked her back in. Then she pressed the elevator button to take them back to the Scanner room.

The Clone turned her head back towards her prey, only for Aelita's fist to jab into her evil twin's throat. Eyes bulging, the Clone grasped her throat before Aelita spun around and rammed her elbow into XANA-Aelita's face, knocking her to the ground.

I really need to give Ulrich another hug next time I see him.

As soon as the Clone fell, the elevator opened up to the Scanner room. As her evil twin raised her hand to launch more electricity at the human, Aelita raised up her left leg and stomped directly onto her evil twin's face, emitting a cry of pain and causing XANA-Aelita to enter a disrupted and stunned state.

Wasting no time, Aelita executed her plan of escape by climbing up the ladder to the lab room. Then she ran up to the other ladder that took her to the balcony overlooking the boiler room. Aiming to get as far away from her evil twin as she could, Aelita entered the boiler room, intending to get through to the sewers and take the long way back to main lobby to get out of the Factory.

Sprinting towards the Boiler room's exit, Aelita glanced behind her to the see the Clone ascending the ladder and spotting her. Aelita had a good head start, but this was swiftly negated when XANA-Aelita used her super speed to get ahead of Aelita, standing between her and the exit.

"Going somewhere?" The Clone sneered.

Aelita stopped in her tracks, digesting the situation. Her way out was blocked, and the Clone would just zap her if she tried ascending the ladder to the Scanner room. XANA-Aelita stepped towards her, and Aelita took a few cautious steps back.

I need time to plan. Maybe if I can just keep her talking...

"You think nobody will notice i'm missing?" Aelita inquired.

The Clone paused her movements and tilted her head in amusement. "Every student in Kadic Academy is asleep and will be for the next few hours. I have plenty of time to get you to Lyoko and have you tossed into the Digital Sea before even a soul realizes what is happening."

Aelita shook her head in denial. "No, the Superscan always picks up an activated Tower-"

"Only when it's working." XANA-Aelita interrupted. "Do you remember the time that a Ghost was sent after you?"

The gears of Aelita's mind grinded, bringing her memory back to the attack where XANA sent a Specter resembling a ghost after the team while simultaneously corrupting the Superscan so it couldn't detect Towers. The Lyoko Warriors weren't able to fix it, so a Return to the Past was needed to undo the effects. If XANA did that again...

So I really am all alone... Aelita realized with dread.

XANA-Aelita saw her counterpart's face contort into fear, and she formed her lips into an unsettling grin.

"Tell me, little girl, how are your nightmares?" She asked savagely. "You're afraid. I can see it in your eyes."

Knowing that it would be hours before the Lyoko Warriors would wake up from their sleep, XANA-Aelita took a few steps closer, toying with the Lyoko Guardian. Aelita stepped back again, clenching her fists as she drew upon her anger to counter her fear.

Keep it together, Aelita. She chided herself.

Seeing Aelita raising her fists up into an improvised boxer's stance, XANA-Aelita's form flickered and the XANA logo flashed in her eyes. "You really think you can fight me?"

"I'm not afraid, XANA. I've fought you for over two years and for as long as it takes, we will beat you!"

XANA-Aelita rolled her eyes and lifted up her own fists. "Like I said, I have hours before your friends awaken. I can toy with you as long as I want. Just as a cat does with her prey."

Aelita narrowed her eyes and shifted closer, as did her evil twin. She had no energy fields, no angel wings, no Creativity, and no weapons. Nothing but her bare hands and feet. But still, she refused to submit.

"You have chosen to spend your final day in pain and suffering." XANA-Aelita spat. "Had you not resisted me, you would have had an easy and painless death in the Digital Sea without what's about to happen. It is all you illogical humans know how to do well: endure pain."

Aelita shook her head, remembering the cheers of her friends as she performed at the Subdigitals concert. "We have spent two years foiling your schemes and this is all you've taken from that? You know nothing about us."

"You are weak." XANA-Aelita snarled before using her super speed to rush Aelita. She grabbed the Lyoko Warrior from behind and wrapped her arm around her neck, pulling her into a headlock. The Clone whispered into her ear:

"And once you and your father are dead, know that the rest of your-"

While her evil twin was monologuing, Aelita grabbed the arm crossing her chest and turned her head towards XANA-Aelita to protect her airway. Once out of the headlock, with every ounce of strength she could muster, Aelita followed Ulrich's technique and pulled diagonally across her body to throw her Clone to the ground.

The shock and incredulous look that XANA-Aelita had on her face was laughable, but Aelita remained focused. She couldn't run just yet; the Clone wasn't stunned enough. With a grunt, the Clone tried to get back onto her feet, only for Aelita to lash her leg forward and kick XANA-Aelita across the face. Aelita tried another kick, but her evil twin thrust out her leg and hit Aelita's knee. When Aelita stumbled, XANA-Aelita clumsily got up and tackled her.

The two Aelitas got up and raised her fists in boxer stances, sizing each other up. Aelita noticed, even in the heat of battle, that the Clone was no longer using electricity, presumably to savor the fight and beat on her as much as she could. XANA-Aelita all but wanted to tear Aelita apart with her bare hands had it not been for the need to lure out her father first. Still, it seemed content simply to beat her into submission instead.

Aelita's only advantages were strategy and surprise, not in physical strength. Banking on her Clone's inexperience in combat, Aelita stayed on the defensive as XANA-Aelita lunged forward with a three-punch combination, all of which failed to hit. Blocking wasn't Aelita's strong suit, and she surmised that the Clone's punches would hurt badly even if she were successful in blocking. Dodging was her primary strategy; avoid as much damage as possible, even if that came at a cost of sacrificing openings to hit back.

XANA-Aelita began to attack faster and threw her fastest punch yet. Aelita barely managed to slap away her fist at the last moment, but the Clone still managed to graze her jaw. Aelita stepped back again, knowing had that blow landed, she probably would have been knocked out cold. Irritated, XANA-Aelita lashed her hand out to backhand her enemy, but Aelita ducked and fought back, burying her fist into the Clone's stomach viciously and drawing out a strangled gasp from her evil twin.

Seizing the chance to go on the offensive, Aelita slugged her evil twin hard and fast across the face. XANA-Aelita's head snapped to the side and she growled in frustration, obviously not expecting Aelita to be fighting back like this. Aelita remembered all she had learned from Ulrich, throwing her entire body into her punches. She then jabbed the Clone twice in the face, but XANA-Aelita counterattacked with a snap kick to Aelita's chest. Gasping in pain, Aelita gave up ground, fighting defensively.

XANA-Aelita aggressively moved in and launched a roundhouse kick at her face, which Aelita barely ducked under in time. Aelita could not replicate a martial arts move like that; it appeared that flexibility was no issue for Xanafied people. She continued kicking at her, and Aelita found it hard to find any openings. Her Clone was faster than her in every aspect. The less that XANA-Aelita held back, the harder it was for Aelita to fight back.

How am I even supposed to land another hit?

But then Aelita looked at the Clone's legs and an idea struck her. As XANA-Aelita lashed out another snap kick, Aelita grabbed her evil twin's foot and lunged forward, tackling the imbalanced Clone to the ground. Aelita saddled atop her enemy and violently slammed her knuckles into XANA-Aelita's face as hard as she could. She let out cries of adrenaline and rage as she did, taking out all her anger at XANA into beating this Clone's head in.

After about five punches to the face, XANA-Aelita angrily gripped Aelita's wrists and shoved her off with inhuman strength. Aelita was sent flying against a wall, crying out in pain from the impact. She put her hands to her knees as she got up, taking several deep breaths. Her back ached and protested from the strain of standing up, but Aelita forced herself to remain focused.

She looked just in time to see XANA-Aelita's foot rushing towards her face. Had Aelita not ducked and then hopped away to the side, the blow just might have crushed her skull or broke her neck. Aelita backed away, seeing that her evil twin's face looked like the personification of rage.

XANA-Aelita resumed punching away at Aelita, now with more reckless abandon, but Aelita rammed her knee forward into her Clone's stomach, something XANA-Aelita did not believe she would do. Before the Clone could recover, Aelita gripped the back of her evil twin's head while bringing her knee up, hitting XANA-Aelita dead on in the nose and sending her to the floor, her body flickering in static.

Aelita turned away and sprinted towards the boiler room exit. When a Xanafied person was glitching out like this, they were stunned and could not be harmed further. But just as Aelita moved up the stairs towards the exit door, a hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. Aelita turned onto her back and saw the Clone pulling her leg, trying to drag her back down from the stairs. Aelita grit her teeth, a growl of frustration building in her throat.

Now, Aelita was far from a violent person. She was the kindest person that any of her friends knew. On the first days they found her on Lyoko, Aelita wouldn't hurt a fly. But over two years of constant war would take their toll on anybody. It hardened her. She had tried to remain clear-headed throughout this fight, but things had dragged on for too long. And being beat up by an evil twin of herself that simply refused to stop attacking would infuriate any human alive.

"PISS OFF!" Aelita found herself snapping. Couldn't she just get a moment's peace from this evil A.I?

Aelita lifted her free leg up and whipped her bare foot into XANA-Aelita's face thrice over before her evil twin's hand found her kicking foot.

"I'll piss off when you're dead, you stupid girl!"

With a snarl, XANA-Aelita mounted Aelita and pinned her by the shoulders on top of the staircase. She bared her teeth and flashed the Eyes of XANA as if she were a predator, ready to tear her prey apart. However, XANA-Aelita reared her head in a bit too close.

"Normally when I'm in that situation," Ulrich explained "I would headbutt the one pinning me down"

With that memory in mind, Aelita rammed the crown of her head into her evil twin as hard as she could. XANA-Aelita was caught completely off-guard, and she got off of Aelita, holding her hands to her face. Aelita crawled back a bit to get some extra space before launching both feet against XANA-Aelita's chest, knocking her down the stairs. The Clone landed with a loud thud as Aelita turned tail and ran out of the boiler room, slamming and locking the door behind her.

That fight proved a pyrrhic victory for her Aelita; at the cost of merely stunning her evil twin, her head felt sore, her back hurt like hell, and she soon had to slow down from running to limping. In addition, the sheer number of punches she dealt to XANA-Aelita caused Aelita's knuckles to start bleeding.

For a moment, Aelita's thoughts were distracted by how bad she felt for Ulrich anytime that happened to his knuckles. And with the frequency he had to fight on the real world, it surely happened to him far more than anyone else.

BANG!

As she stumbled through the sewer tunnels, Aelita whipped her head around to hear the Clone trying to bash through the door.

BANG!

XANA-Aelita would break through in seconds, leading Aelita to desperately put her mind to work. Her evil twin was through messing around by now; it would knock her out as soon as it saw her and drag her to Lyoko to get her into the Digital Sea. To make matters worse, her super speed would make finding Aelita trivial.

BOOM!

A much louder noise than usual confirmed to Aelita that XANA-Aelita had just used her electricity to break down the door. Aelita took one look at the water below her and dove in. Just as the splash receded, XANA-Aelita sped into the room, the X.A.N.A logo flashing in her eyes as she looked around. She did not think to look in the water, however, and XANA-Aelita sped on to a different part of the tunnel.

Holding her breath as long as she could, Aelita swam underwater and only occasionally reared her head back up to get some air. She had remembered how Jeremie told that her that, to evade Nicholas and Herb when they stumbled inside the Factory and nearly found the Supercomputer. More than once, XANA-Aelita had missed Aelita by a fraction of a second. Her search became frantic and angry, her raging growls heard from underwater. It sent chills up Aelita's spine.

Eventually, Aelita surfaced near the entrance to the Factory's main floor. Climbing out of the water and shaking her head, Aelita rushed back towards the ropes that led back to the main bridge. It was a long run, Aelita dreading every second she spent sprinting to escape her evil twin.

If I can just exit the Factory and get into the manhole, I can make it back to Kadic and warn the others about my Clone. Then we can all go together.

Aelita made it to the two ropes and grabbed onto one. Looking upwards, Aelita climbed up until she reached the top of the rope and saw the bridge in sight.

So long, evil twin. Aelita thought as she prepared to leap onto the bridge-

Only for XANA-Aelita to emit a howl of rage and grab the rope, sending a bolt of electricity up to where Aelita was. The shock hurt, badly, and made Aelita let go, sending him right into the arms of her evil twin. She was back in X.A.N.A's clutches, and by the time Aelita regained her senses, the elevator had risen up to the surface with both of them in it.

After pressing the button to take them down XANA-Aelita kicked the princess across the face, eliciting another cry of pain from Aelita. The Clone then grabbed her by the shirt and dragged her into the Scanner Room. Aelita, dazed from the kick, could barely make out XANA-Aelita's face, contorted into an expression of fury and hate. This time, XANA was taking no chances.

"Die." XANA-Aelita coldly told her. "Knowing that your father will follow you."

XANA-Aelita lifted her leg up and struck Aelita directly in the face.

I'm so sorry, Daddy. I've failed you. Aelita thought just a split second before darkness took her.

Satisfied with her work but still heaving with rage, XANA-Aelita took the elevator and reentered the Lab Room. As she sat on the chair, XANA-Aelita began typing away and brought up the transfer program. Her rage soon shimmered, glee taking it's place.

There was nothing left standing in XANA's way anymore. Having learned from it's previous failure with Mr. Delmas, XANA intended this time to simply drop Aelita directly above the Digital Sea and watch as she fell to her death. He would not even need to use William or the Scyphozoa this time. And with Kadic Academy still asleep and the Superscan corrupted, nobody would know what had happened until it was far too late.

At last, the victory belonged to XANA. Nothing could protect Franz Hopper when he emerged from the Digital Sea to revive his daughter, and his prepared squadron of Tarantulas and Mantas would destroy him. The latter would plant mines all around him while the Tarantulas fired directly at his creator. Hopper's Lyoko form was completely defenseless, thereby ensuring nothing would stop his monsters this time.

And then, XANA-Aelita pressed the final button and activated the transfer. Her lips settled into a devilish grin as the transfer completed and Aelita was sent to Lyoko. Since she was unconscious while entering the Scanner, Aelita had no way of activating her wings in time. Once virtualized, she would fall to her death. And XANA would savor every second.

"VICTORY!" XANA-Aelita screamed as she raised up her arms-

Only for a Red exclamation mark to pop onscreen. XANA-Aelita's jubilation was swiftly replaced with confusion.

"What is the meaning of this?!" She demanded as she pressed more buttons. The only response that the Clone's efforts received were a pop-up message along with a timer that counted down from 6 hours. Angrily, XANA-Aelita read the message.

Dear XANA,

You actually thought you could just drop Aelita into the Digital Sea? On my watch? I'm surprised you didn't attempt that earlier, but nonetheless, I placed a little surprise for anyone who virtualizes someone directly above the Digital Sea, Aelita or not. What you just did has triggered an override. Aelita has now been, safely and automatically I might add, transferred on the ground in one of the five sectors. In addition, for breach of protocol, you are now locked out of the computer for six hours straight.

Sincerely, Jeremie Belpois.

"NO!"

XANA-Aelita shrieked. She pressed more buttons, only for more red exclamation marks to pop up.

"NOOOOO!"

XANA-Aelita picked up the chair she sat on and smashed it against the wall with a howl of rage that echoed through the Factory.

She went back to the computer and began typing again, attempting to least get Aelita's location, only for seven more red exclamation marks to pop up on screen as the timer continued counting down.

XANA-Aelita reared her head back and bellowed to the heavens.

"DAMN YOU, JEREMIE BELPOIS!"

Barely able to keep herself from lashing out and smashing the computer screen in a fit of blind rage, XANA weighed its options. It could not wait six hours to get Aelita's location; by then Kadic will have woken up and the Lyoko Warriors would be searching for their friend. Besides, Aelita would have plenty of time to wake up and find the Tower beforehand. With the Computer on lockdown, XANA-Aelita could not disable any of Aelita's weapons or narrow down the search in any way.

XANA also could not send the Clone to Lyoko, not that that would solve the problem of the real world wondering where Aelita was anyways. Besides, it had plenty of monsters and firepower to use against Aelita once she had been found. Clenching her fists, XANA-Aelita angrily walked to the elevator and pressed the button to get down to the main floor. She then jumped to the balcony above her with her Xanafied powers and exited the Factory through the sewer manhole.

Literally sending its own creation to bed (in this case, Aelita's bed), XANA-Aelita would have to go to Kadic and impersonate its real counterpart until business was finished on Lyoko. Anything else, including killing the other Lyoko Warriors, would have to wait until Aelita was found and cornered. XANA had learned from the failures of its other polymorphs, and it was confident that XANA-Aelita could impersonate the human she was based off of long enough until Aelita and her father were taken care of.

XANA now shifted its full attention to Lyoko.

And so began the Great Hunt.

A/N: I always wondered why XANA never just virtualized Aelita atop the Digital Sea whenever he kidnapped her, and figured Jeremie trolling with the message was a good way to address that plot hole. I'm estimating 2 more chapters; this'll be shorter and have a smaller scale compared to William's Redemption. Being a major LOTR fan myself, I had some fun with Aelita's reactions to the trilogy.

Next up: XANA and Aelita play a dangerous game of hide and seek on Lyoko.