A week had passed since Lyoko was shut off. School had just got out and Dennis was walking across the school looking for Calvin. He reached one of the courtyards and there he saw Calvin and Rumiko duking it out at Pencak Silat. Dennis was surprised to see that Calvin was doing a lot better since the first fight he saw against Rumiko. Calvin ducked from one of Rumiko's punches and Calvin tried to sweep her legs, but Calvin missed and Rumiko landed a kick on Calvin's side, knocking him down.

"Nice job, Calvin." Dennis said.

"Thanks." Calvin said. "Even though I still have yet to beat her."

"You knocked me down once." Rumiko said. "You have to admit, that's a great sign of improvement."

"You're right." Calvin said. Rumiko then extended her hand as she helped Calvin up.

"You know something?" Dennis asked. "You seem a lot happier ever since we shut down the supercomputer."

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Calvin said.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you that we have a surprise for you in the gymnasium." Dennis said. "You coming?"

"Of course." Calvin said.

The three then made their way across the school grounds. They then got to the gymnasium as Dennis held the door open.

"After you, Calvin." Dennis said.

"Thanks." Calvin said walking inside the dark building.

"No problem, birthday boy."

"What?" Calvin asked. Just then, the lights went on.

"Surprise!" Calvin's friends and family shouted. "Happy Birthday Calvin!"

Calvin was literally taken back. Through everything he had been through, he had completely forgotten that today was his 16th birthday.

"Another surprise party?" Calvin asked.

"I know we did the same thing last year." Dennis said. "But we thought you deserved it."

"I…I don't know what to say." Calvin said.

"Why not start with 'thank you'?" Yumi asked.

"Right." Calvin said. "Thank you. Thank you for doing this for me."

"Well, don't just stand there." Sam said. "Open your first present and grab some cake."

"Don't mind if I do." Calvin said.

"Open mine first." Sam said. Calvin then grabbed the one with Sam's name on it. Inside was a box with tickets.

"You got me tickets to Fighting Gravity?" Calvin practically shouted.

"I knew how much you and Antea liked performance art, so Sammy and I put our money together and got you both two front-row tickets."

"Awesome!" Calvin and Antea shouted.

"Sammy helped pay for this?" Ami asked.

"Yeah, kinda weird." Sam said.

"Me next." Sven-Søren said. Calvin then opened up a larger box and pulled out large, metal katana.

"Wow, this is awesome." Calvin said.

"I'm glad you like it. It even comes with a display stand so you can hang it up with ease."

"Thank you so much." Calvin said. Just then, Mr. Xavier walked into the room.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone." He said. "I misplaced Calvin's present and it took me a while to find it."

"Better late than never." Dennis said.

"Calvin, this here is for you." Mr. Xavier said handing him a heavy, square present. Calvin opened it to find a large book.

"It's a book on ancient world history." Calvin said.

"Dennis told me ancient history was one of your weak areas, primarily the Punic Wars." Mr. Xavier said. "So he suggested this book to me to give to you and I managed to find it at the museum."

"Museum, that reminds me." Calvin said. He reached into the crawlspace below the gymnasium and pulled out a large box. He then gave it to Sam.

"What's this?" Sam asked.

"I was going to wait until your birthday, but I felt like since we're already here, I might as well." Calvin said.

Sam the opened the box and his eyes widened when he saw that inside was the thing he wanted most: Charles de Gaulle's hat.

"Yes, Sam. I got you the damn hat." Calvin said.

"Ohthankyouthankyouthankyou!" Sam shouted as he bounced up and down while hugging Calvin.

"Just promise me you won't do that again." Calvin said. "Anyways, thanks for the gift, Mr. Xavier."

"You're quite welcome."

"Here, Calvin." William said handing his present. "This one's from Dennis and me."

Calvin opened the box and found a glass case with a gold and silver chess board inside, with gold and silver chess pieces off to the side in separate containers.

"Wow." Calvin said.

"It belonged to Willy." William said. "He won it at a chess tournament years ago."

"We thought you should have it." Dennis said. "We know how much you like chess, not to mention that Willy would've wanted you to have it."

"Well, thanks." Calvin said. "I shall take good care of it."

"I miss him." Dennis said. "Even though he was a jerk at times, he at least got better as he got older, unlike Russell."

"He's in a better place now." Antea said. "If he's looking down at you right now, he wouldn't want you to dwell on it any longer. He would want you to keep your chin up and worry only about the present."

"You're right, Antea." Dennis said. He then turned to her grandmother. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask. Whatever became of that virus?"

"When we defeated XANA, I managed to contact David Peters and tell him about the virus." Antea Hopper said. "We managed to take it and properly dispose of it. Fortunately, the virus was inactive when we defeated XANA, so there's no chance of it harming anyone anymore."

"That's good." Calvin said.

"I guess it's time for my gift." Antea said handing him his gift. Calvin opened it up to find a scrapbook. Inside he saw all the pictures of him and Antea during their dates.

"I want you to keep this to remind you that I would never, ever do anything to hurt you." Antea said.

"I know." Calvin said. "Also, even though I know you've forgiven me, I never got a chance to actually say it. I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry for everything that I've ever done. I'm especially sorry to you, Antea. It was wrong of me to express my anger the way I did back at the club."

"I think I speak for everyone when I say that I forgive you." Antea said. The other just nodded in assent.

"I'm just glad I can finally put this behind me." Calvin said.

"I agree, Calvin." Antea said.

"I guess that just leaves our gift." Ulrich said. "Come outside."

Calvin and the rest walked outside as they were led to the front parking lot.

"So what am I supposed to be looking for?" Calvin asked.

"See the white roadster at the very end?" Rumiko asked.

"Yes." Calvin said.

"Check in the glove compartment." Ami said.

"Um, okay." Calvin said walking to the car opening the glove compartment. "I'm really not keen on the idea of my gift being in some stranger's car, but I guess…Oh…"

Calvin looked inside and found only a key taped to a card. Calvin then read the card out loud:

"Happy Birthday, Calvin. May our gift take you where you need and even further. Love Mom, Dad, Ami and Rumiko."

Calvin just turned and faced them.

"This is mine?" Calvin asked.

"Holy shit." Dennis said. "They gave you a car?"

"You lucky dog." Sam said.

"I didn't know you could drive." Antea said.

"I took drivers ed over the summer and ended up getting my license some time after we turned William Jr. in." Calvin said. "Of course, I wasn't expecting this."

"Anything for you, Calvin." Yumi said. "So do you like it?"

"I love it." Calvin said.

"Of course you still won't be able to drive unrestricted until you're 18." Ulrich said (A/N: If I'm wrong about the driving laws, just assume that they changed throughout the decades).

"I understand." Calvin said.

"Hey Calvin." Antea said. "You wanna go out and celebrate?"

"Just the two of us?" Calvin asked. Antea nodded.

"I don't see why not." Calvin said. "Can we, Dad?"

"Oh okay." Ulrich said.

"Just bring my daughter back safely." Aelita joked.

"Mom." Antea said blushing. Calvin then hopped in the car and started it up.

"Hold on, Cal." Ulrich said getting in. "Remember, I still need to accompany you."

"Right." Calvin said. Antea then took the spot in the middle. After everyone was strapped in, Calvin, ungracefully yet safely, backed out of the lot and made his way to the road.

"You have fun, Calvin." Yumi said.

"Of course." Calvin said putting on a pair of sunglasses. "When was the last time this year I had any real fun? Might as well start now."

Calvin then drove off away from the school and towards the city. As the wind blew across his face while the sun was shining bright on him, he could only smile and enjoy the day as it were his last. After all, he had no reason to not be happy. Even if he did, he knew to put it behind him and worry about the present and nothing more. But right now, he could only be happy: He had more friends than he ever thought he could have, he had a faithful girlfriend, he became one of the most well known students in both athletics and academics and with the help of his friends and family, he was able to conquer his negative feelings and defeat XANA for the second and last time and saved all of humanity.

Most importantly, he had ultimately won the race for control that XANA and William Jr. had put him through. He knew now that he could do anything.

The End.

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