A/N 8-28-09: And here it is. The second part and finale of the X-attack. I shall come back later and add notes. For those just tuning in I have added to chapter 6 6,000 additional words, and here are the final 8,180 to complete the XANA attack. Please skim chapter 6 and read its new additions if you have not done so already before continuing on with ch 7. Thank you.

Chapter 7

"Can you believe it? A new generation of Truffels! Cuter and more loveable then the first. Heaven!" Angela said. Well, squealed. Her face was alight with eagerness and a happy passion that Drew had to marvel at. He had never seen her so alive before.

"They're going to make a new generation of Truffels?" he asked, and he couldn't hid the dismay in his voice. There was going to be more?

Angela paused. "I never thought of that before. I mean, yeah, eventually they'll upgrade." She said. The wonderment in her voice was obvious. And then she was practically jumping up and down bursting with enthusiasm. "Even more Truffels! Won't that be so cool?"

Drew didn't let his initial reaction of dismay take him over. He had caught the abnormality of her sentence.

"What do you mean eventually? You just said there's going to be a new generation of Truffels. Why get so excited over something you already know is going to happen?" Unless you're a spazz.

Angela shook her head. "No, they've already released the next generation of Truffels. Every girl on campus that owns a truffel owns one of the new generation." Angela screwed her face up in thought. "Well, not everyone."

Drew halted and pulled Angela beside him. "What do you mean?"

"I've been tinkering with the Truffel software. It seems that all the truffels are loosely connected to one another." Dante hit a few more keys and on screen a map popped up with a multitude of blinking dots.

Riley leaned in closer. "Where is that?"

"Campus," Dante replied. "But do notice that when I said loosely connected I do mean loosely. Other then being able to pinpoint another Truffel's location, the connection seems quite harmless."

"But why?" Riley asked.

Dante shrugged. "Keeping track of the product's popularity, or finding out who's buying the Truffels as far as I can guess."

Riley nodded and looked again at the screen. The dots were scattered all across campus and varied between clusters and solitary individuals. The dots were all a bright red and blinked in regular intervals at the same time and speed. Except for two solitary dots.

Riley didn't notice them at first. For one the dots were a dark grey almost black and blended in perfectly with the screen's background. For another the two were separated and lost in the sea of red dots, and blinked after considerably different intervals from the red dots.

"I see you've found our anomalies." Dante said, his face grim.

Angela's face was calm, and her eyes bore into Drew's with an intense look of seriousness that held him captive.

"The first truffels created were much different then the version we see today. They were more responsive and interactive and captivating. They were the most charming, adorable things a girl has ever seen, but they were too charming, too perfect. The company got nervous and issued a recall. The first generation was taken back and destroyed."

"How do you know all this?" Drew asked her as a growing sense of unease grew.

"I have been monitoring the Truffel population screen for days ever since the first truffels came to campus. Up until today I have never seen the anomalies onscreen before. Their presence was only unveiled today. They're truffels, but they're different from the rest. A type of sleeper agent."

"What are you getting at?" Riley asked as he watched one of the grey dots blink. The solemn expression on Dante's face made Riley's heart freeze.

"Drew may be right." Dante finally said.

"My Dad works in R&D for Plushy Luv. He helped develop the second generation of Truffels." Angela said. "He said the entire team working on the first generation was sacked. He looked up the blueprints of the first generations of truffels, and combined with what he heard from the first team before they were fired, he didn't like what he saw." Then her voice took on a more bright and upbeat tune. "But I won't bore you with the horror stories."

Dante was out of his chair having let Riley slide in. The seriousness of the unveiling that Drew, currently the questionably sane member of the group, may be right had shocking connotations.

"So the Truffels are evil?" he asked.

Dante shrugged, but his body language easily showed just how tense he was. "I don't know. I haven't been able to find any connection to Lyoko or XANA. Right now, all we can do is wait."

Drew had been strung along and chatted at nonstop. Now he was going to take a stand and actually find the information he was looking for. With a glint in his eye and steel in his gaze, Drew followed his gut.

"What did you mean when you said that not everyone on campus had the latest version of Truffels?"

Angela stared at him for a minute. Her gaze was blank, not a bad blank, but blank as in not comprehending a situation. And then a sort of recognition dawned.

"You don't know," she said. Her lips began to quirk into a smile as she began to revel in the knowledge she held over him, that she had once thought him privy too. At his comprehension-less, clueless look the triumphant expression grew. "I thought it was obvious. You really don't know."

"I'd love to find out," Drew said a bit more testily then intended.

Angela smiled and patted Drew's hand in a calming gesture. It didn't work.

"The first truffel that came to Kaddic was a first generation truffel. It was a gift from one of the R&D workers to their little sister, Raven Poe. She's a boarder student. She named her truffel Never, and paraded it for all the dorm to see."

"How's she doing?" Drew asked. "Has she been acting strange, unusual, or out of character?"

Angela flipped a lock of blonde hair over her shoulder and pursed her lips in thought. "Not really. Raven's always been a little strange. I don't know why you're asking me though. Just ask Sakura."

"Sakura?" Drew asked with surprise at the sheer mention of the name evident.

"Sakura. Stern." Angela confirmed.

Drew paused for a moment puzzled. "Why?" he asked. Indeed, why ask the girl who had it out for him?

"She's Raven's roommate. She of all people would notice if Raven's been acting odder then usual, and besides, she's the second owner."

"The second owner of what?"

"Of a first generation truffel. Raven received two. She kept the first and gave the second to Sakura. I think Sakura named it something foreign, Japanese. Chobby, Chippy. Cherry."

"Chibi," Drew said. "She named it Chibi-chan." His heart sunk, and his mind whirled.

"That's it!" Angela crowed. "Chibi-chan! So adorable." And Angela commenced to smile softly in a state of bliss.

Drew rapidly rose from his chair. "Well, Angela. It was great talking with you. Cioa."

And, without any regard for decorum or manners, he left. Walking quickly Drew bulled his buzzing phone from his pocket and hit the send button. Instant connection.

"Hello?" he asked.

"You were right."

"Excuse me?"

Riley rolled his eyes at Drew's surprised tone. He looked back at the screen. The red dots, every single one of them, had changed color in unison mid-blink from red to blue. It had been sudden but not altogether unexpected, and the anomalies… Riley caught a glimpse of Dante's face in his peripheral vision. Dante was wearing sunglasses.

"Gloat later. Get to Lyoko, now. XANA's moved."

For a moment when Drew had heard he was right he had felt a burst of euphoria. It was like the world shown brighter and all of creation acknowledged his brilliance. He felt like dancing, not dancing in the ballroom sense, but more like a five minute spontaneous victory dance.

And then the reality settled. Grim, stark reality. He had been right.

"I hate being right." Drew muttered. It meant trouble was here. The oncoming storm had arrived. "So how long until the entire female student body mobs and tries to lynch us?"

"I don't know. Dante hasn't said anything specific about the attack other than a tower's active."

"Really now." Drew muttered as he careened around a corner.

"Yeah." Riley replied. "Although, he did mention that the attack felt concentrated."

"Meaning?"

"It has a narrow focus."

"Right, right." Another corner and turn in the hallway haphazardly navigated. One of these days, Drew figured, someone's going to be coming around the corner when I—

Smack! Direct impact. Headaches all around. Drew's cell phone flew grandly through the air where it had been thrown as a result of the collision. The mobile clattered to the ground, slid into a wall, and lay still.

"What was that? Drew? Are you there? Drew?"

Groaning Drew sat upright and rubbed his aching head. That would leave a mark. A verifiable goose egg. Rubbing his forehead, Drew squeezed open an eye and then the second fluttered open in shock.

Two flickering symbols pulsing in their host's eyes stared back at him. Then just as suddenly they and their host were gone dashing back around the corner.

It can't be…

Scrambling to his feet, Drew lurched around the corner only to be greeted by an empty hallway. Bewildered Drew glanced back the way he came and then back down the hallway.

It couldn't have been…

Disbelief swirled. It just wasn't possible. It couldn't happen. But the brief smash in with whomever, whatever that thing was had left Drew changed. Now a small bit of fear coiled in his gut and he quickly resorted his priorities. Lyoko could wait. Dante and Riley could handle the tower. Drew though…he had to find the girls.

And make sure they're alright.

Drew retrieved out his cell phone and noticed that his call with Riley had ended. He hurriedly pulled up his contact list. Need to call them and Dante.

Before Drew could call any of the three the phone was ripped from his hand. Spinning on his heel, Drew whirled about ready to give the perpetrator a piece of his mind. Instead half his anxieties melted away at the sight of the person in front of him.

"Sakura!" he cried in relief. "You're ok."

Sakura looked at Drew placidly and deftly slid his phone shut. Drew, too relieved to care about the loss of his phone for the moment, continued talking.

"Do you know where Hallie is? We need to get to Lyoko. XANA's a—," Drew's speech faltered slightly as he caught sight of movement in the corner of his eyes, "—ttacking."

He locked in on the new arrival. Another surge of immense relief swept over him when he saw his pink haired friend. For once the world was in his favor. He had been proven correct, and now angry brothers and wannabe boyfriends wouldn't be jumping down his throat for not keeping their girls safe.

"Hallie, good. We have to go." Hallie placidly walked up and took her spot beside Sakura. "A tower's active." The girls stared on passively. "And…we've…gotta…go…" Drew finished as he puzzled over their blank expressions. "Now." No reaction. Not even a blink. Drew sighed in annoyance. "Look Sakura, I know you're annoyed with me for threatening Chibi-chan, but I'm sorry already. Drop the act because we have to go."

Hallie cocked her had at a perfect 45 degree angle away from her shoulder. "Threatening?" she asked.

"Chibi-chan?" Sakura finished.

Drew blinked at their unexpected and unprecedented use of what could be considered telepathy. Then he seemed to take in many things at once. The emotionless set of the girls' faces, the monotone, lifeless voices, and finally their empty eyes. And he remembered.

"The first truffels were much different from the version we see today…"

"Raven received two. She gave the second to Sakura."

And his own words: "That's what they all say, and next thing you know a mob of zombies is attacking."

Oh no…

"You guys can't," Drew fumbled for words as he stared from one face to another. "You're Lyoko Warriors. We fight XANA; therefore, we can't be controlled by him."

As if to respond to Drew's hasty rationalization and realization the girls slowly blinked. And in the instant after their blink Drew was locking eyes with two sets of the Eye of XANA in his friends' eyes.

Sakura calmly tossed Drew's cell phone over her shoulder. It landed on the floor with a clatter. Drew did the only sensible thing he could. He shoved his shock into the back of his mind to deal with later and ran.

A moment later Sakura and Hallie were running after him.

At the factory

The supercomputer was a mess. Wires were unplugged, ripped out of their sockets, and strewn across the floor. The elevator had been sabotaged and was hanging useless between floors. Needless to say Dante and Riley were less then pleased with the destruction that greeted them.

Down in the scanner room Riley was hastily reattaching wires to the back of the scanners. Dante was in the control room underneath the supercomputer reconnecting more loose wires and plugs and cords. Both were unhappy about the state of the computer and scanners.

The connection to Lyoko had been severed—what Dante was quickly working to fix—and enough wires had been pulled to cripple supercomputer and scanner traffic and activity. While the damage wasn't sheer carnage it was quickly recognized for what it was a delay.

Riley and Dante were busy reconnecting the bare necessities needed to get people on and off of Lyoko all while under the steady tick of time. And they bore the mental stress that as they were floundering about XANA's attack was being carried out and gathering greater strength.

Feeling a sense of relief and a wave of urgency, Riley hastily plugged the last cord for the scanner and stood. He had been assigned to rewire and rehook up one scanner in order to save time and reduce the potential for mistakes to occur.

"The scanner's ready." Riley yelled to the ceiling knowing the intercom system would relay his message to Dante. "How much longer until the computer is ready?"

Up in the control room Dante eyed the last dozen or so cords dubiously as he reconnected, replugged, rebound, and unplugged mismatched cords. "Now." He called back. The middle scanner in the scanner room opened as if on cue, and Riley stepped inside.

"Ready on this end."

Up above Dante leapt over the mounds of disfigured and disorganized cords and made for the ladder rails in the elevator shaft the only connecting route left between the two floors.

In his mind he reached out into the supercomputer and began the virtualization process.

Scanner: Riley. Transfer: Riley. Virtualization.

Nimbly climbing down the rungs Dante briefly wondered about the current circumstances.

The damage done to the factory was deliberate meant to slow them down. But why? Yes, Dante and Riley had been slowed down considerably in the process of getting onto Lyoko. A good fifteen minutes had been needed to get the super computer function at the most basic levels of operation, but what was the point of it?

"Hey, Dante." Crackled Riley's voice from Lyoko.

"Yeah." Dante replied as he entered the scanner room.

"Any sign of Drew or the others? It's been a while since I called."

Twenty minutes in fact, Dante mused. Sufficient time for Drew to make it to the factory not to mention Sakura or Hallie. "I'm sure he's fine." Or taking on XANA's attack head on. It wouldn't have surprised Dante if Drew had decided to take that course after all the hoopla he had made about the Truffels. But after all Drew could take care of himself.

"Anyway, although I was able to restore the connection to Lyoko I didn't have time to fully fix the scanners."

There was a pause, and Dante used it to enter the single working scanner. As the scanner hummed preparing to begin scanning Dante reflected. Yes, Lyoko and Earth were connected again, but given the time he had that was all he could do. He had almost no control over where the scanner would place him on Lyoko. The operative word being almost. Dante would appear on Lyoko right next to Riley, but other then that fixed unknown starting point he had no control.

He had not had time to locate the activated tower or to restore that program. He hadn't deemed the program a necessity. Once he was on Lyoko, Dante would know exactly where the active tower was, but the odds were he would be in a different region then the tower.

Dante blinked and dropped onto the firm desert platform. Looking over at Riley in his Jedi robes, Dante spoke simply. "We're going in blind."

Riley nodded his face a picture of calm. The only betraying fact of his unease was how his hand drifted towards the hilt of his light saber. "Right." He replied. "Where's the tower?"

Dante's red eyes were jerked east at a firm, incessant tugging in his mind. He could hear the inaudible pulsations from here, could feel the slight vibrations rumbling from so far away. "East, far east, near the way tower. And lucky us are on the outer desert rim, the furthest point from that tower in this region."

Riley nodded. "Do we have transport?"

Dante shook his head. "No time to restore that feature."

Riley nodded. He hadn't been that confident that the opposite would have been the case. Of course they wouldn't have transport. Why would the XANA and his saboteurs be so kind?

"So I guess we'll travel the old fashioned way, by foot. What do you think XANA's up to?" Riley asked. "Why all the delays?"

More faint pulsations reverberated in his ear. For a moment Dante was still tasting the air around him, searching for any malevolent presence or clue to their predicament. Finally he replied. "I don't know."

And without further ado he began running. The sooner the tower was deactivated the better. It was going to take a lengthy stretch of time and plenty of hard work before the factory was put to rights again.

The pair ran without pause over the barren desert landscape. Traveling from platform to platform Riley noted with great interest the complete lack of monsters. A curious coincidence. XANA had gone to all the trouble to slow down their progress by sabotage and dissembling the supercomputer and scanners, so why stop there? The whole situation reeked of a trap or an ambush.

Suddenly, Dante disappeared from sight. It took Riley a moment to realize the change in events. He had been running at Dante's heels for the entire stretch they had been running and now he was suddenly…gone. Poof, vanished into thin air. Before Riley could begin to speculate where Dante had disappeared to the missing man himself provided the answer by reaching out, grabbing Riley's arm, and successively wrenching Riley backwards mid stride.

Dante nearly lost a hand in the process. Riley's immediate reaction to suddenly being grabbed from behind was to activate his light saber and slash at the threat. A neat sidestep and loss of contact between the two avoided such damage but only just.

Finally having processed Dante had ceased running and had not disappeared, Riley deactivated his blade and asked with much annoyance—and quite rightly so—"What?"

In response Dante did not say a word. He merely motioned for silence and tilted his head to the side and listened to some far off sound only he could hear.

Finally he spoke. "Something's not right."

"Really? Was the lack of opponents your first or last clue?" Riley asked tartly. It was all a clever disguise though for the unease he really felt at such strange circumstances. Dante was right—as usual. Something was off about the entire situation.

Dante's head shot up to look to the digital sky. Riley's head followed suit. If Dante was looking to the skies as if expecting the heavens to open then something big was about to happen (whether for better or for worse was yet to be seen. Knowing Dante it could easily be either).

What Riley saw was a simple and common sight, but it surprised him all the same because he had not been expecting it. It was merely the scanner constructing the wire frame of one of the Lyoko Warriors.

Something eased inside of Riley's heart. Either one of his friends or his sister was safe. Secretly he hoped it was Sakura. He hadn't been able to contact her or reach her at all once the tower activated. But his heart sank slightly as the wire frame took on a distinctly masculine shape.

Soon Drew dropped to the desert floor. He looked just like his dad did on Lyoko excepting a few features. Instead of bearing the outrageous purple and gravity defying hair, Drew had an obnoxiously orange jumpsuit and short spiked hair. Instead of favoring the long range approach of his father, Drew's retractable Wolverine claws (so dubbed by the Sterns) left no option but close range combat. But aside from those key differences Drew really was his father's son. They both shared catlike features and outrageous color schemes.

But now Drew seemed more haunted then cocky or smug as he should rightly be after being proven correct above the majority. As he took in his surroundings and finally saw Riley and Dante, Riley could have sworn he saw fear flash through his friends hazel eyes.

The emotion was gone so quickly Riley almost doubted he had even seen it, for Drew carried on as if nothing was wrong. The orange oddball straightened, stiffened his spine and walked over to his friends. It was only when he reached them that Riley began to see the façade crack.

"The world's gone mad." Drew said simply. He began to speak before Riley or Dante had a chance to comment. "I tried, I swear I did. I tried to hold them off, but it's not like I can hurt them, I mean…" he exhaled. "XANA really got us this time."

"Drew," Riley said carefully. "What are you talking about?"

He wasn't listening, Riley noticed, because if Drew had been listening he would have answered the question. Instead Drew began talking again, to Dante this time. "I managed to lock them in a janitor's closet but it wouldn't have held them long not while they're together." Drew paused and laughed mirthlessly. "He really did get us this time."

"Drew." Riley said again. "XANA attacks. It's nothing new. We're on Lyoko. Whatever his attack is it can't reach us here. Only XANA's minions."

Drew laughed again. It was a mocking laugh and too bitter and old a laugh for a 17 year old to laugh.

"Really Riley?" he patronized. "Really? Because XANA is merciless. He strikes our hearts, finds our weaknesses, and exploits them. So Riley, what is your weakness? What renders you powerless? What do you hold dear and would hate to lose, hm?"

Riley's mind instantly leaped back to his thoughts from earlier. Sakura. She was still unaccounted for…what had XANA done?

Drew began to pace, circling the two as he continued his monologue. Dante's eyes tracked Drew's every move as Drew became increasingly more and more disturbing.

"What makes your heart scream in anguish and shudder in despair? Where are you most vulnerable because the two of them," slowly on the hand held loosely below his waist 18 inch claws silently crept out unnoticed to Riley, "aren't here!"

And Drew lunged a snarl on his face curling his lip as he made to strike down his friend. Red eyes flashed and an explosion of red light knocked Drew back and flipped him head over heels. Snarling Drew was on his feet and ready to pounce again when Riley shoved him back mentally with telekinesis. Dante lifted his hand and red energy sailed out of his fingertips and wove itself around Drew in a tight, crackling net preventing movement.

Drew stopped struggled and settled to stare murderously at Dante.

Riley, fingering the hilt of his light saber, found his voice. "That's not Drew."

"You're right." Dante replied and his eyes darkened. "She's not."

And with a flick of Dante's wrist all was revealed. Spiky blond hair darkened and grew pulling back into a ponytail and curling itself. The skin paled and the orange jumpsuit morphed into a robin's egg blue long sleeved shirt, slacks, and ballet flats. Finally hazel eyes darkened to a forest green, blurred, and then disappeared only to be replaced with a pulsing Eye of XANA.

"Impossible." Riley breathed.

Ignoring him, Dante looked at the revealed actress. "There has only been one shape shifter in the history of Lyoko Warriors that's been able to perfectly replicate the original image." Here his voice turned slightly accusing. "Isn't that right, Hallie?"

Aside from squirming further against her bounds, Hallie neither spoke nor replied. She only continued to hold Dante's gaze.

"Dante," Riley asked. "If she's not Drew then where is he? And where's." here he had to swallow and clear his throat in order to keep his voice from betraying him. "Where's Sakura?"

"Probably with Drew," Dante replied calmly, "trying to kill him."

Riley swallowed, hard. "So XANA has control of Hallie and Sakura?"

"It would appear so." Dante replied impassively. He was watching that pulsing Eye of XANA in Hallie's eyes as if it meant life or death. But where XANA was concerned it may mean just that. "We need to move. That won't hold her for long."

Riley nodded and focused firmly on the task ahead. He couldn't afford to dwell on the horror just revealed to him. No, he needed to focus. "How soon until we reach the tower?"

Shooting a backwards glance toward the pinkette, Dante muttered. "Not soon enough."

The two ran then faster then they had set out. It all became clear to Riley all his questions earlier. Why had there been no monsters? They weren't needed. Why was the computer sabotaged? So that they could see XANA's new power, being able to control one of their own. But now he could only wonder where his sister and best friend were, and if the situation was as dire as Dante had predicted.

In the factory

Drew whistled in shock. It was all he could manage in the way of sounds. Drew was never one to label his reactions to situations right off the bat—it never occurred to him—but this time he had a name for what he saw and how he felt, dumbstruck.

"This place is a mess." He muttered. As soon as the words left his mouth he recognized the sentence for what it was, the biggest understatement of the year. Crawling over a wasted support beam, Drew went over to the elevator and pressed the call button. At the lack of sound and rumble of the elevator Drew turned away. Of course having the elevator working would be too easy, like having the Truffels raising an army of zombie teenage girls would be too easy, too predictable. Instead he was forced to take the stairs and keep a weather eye out for his two hypnotized teammates.

Why, oh why hadn't XANA manipulated the masses? It would have been so much easier to deal with, so impersonal, and so simple instead of suffering various degrees of guilt in having to detain two good friends in a janitorial closet. Although, Drew mused, if XANA truly did have control over them a janitor's closet wouldn't hold them long.

Shaking aside unpleasant thoughts, Drew headed for the supercomputer gratefully that Dante had drilled into each and every one of their heads how to safely virtualize themselves and others onto Lyoko. It would make meeting up with Dante and Riley that much easier.

Spying a silhouette at the factory's entrance, Drew quickly climbed down the ladder rungs and out of sight. A new thought struck him as he descended. Because of Dante's drills, Sakura—the great destroyer of computers—would be able to safely virtualize herself onto Lyoko also. The thought made Drew climb faster.

On Lyoko

"Dante? Dante?" a voice called over the intercom.

"Drew." Dante acknowledged. The two were hid among a forest of boulders grouped together and towering towards the desert sky. It was an interesting sight to see, a closed off Dante. The eighth wonder of the world. Well, it wasn't that extraordinary. Dante had been moody before, but there was something certainly frightening about a nonchalant Dante acting as if nothing was wrong when something clearly was.

Riley for some strange reason wasn't included in the conversation He could only hear Dante's replies after Drew's initial contact. And as such he had to get information secondhand.

"Is that Drew?" Riley asked.

"Really now." Dante said.

"Is he alright?"

"No, no. Stay."

"Where's Sakura?"

A sidelong glance from Dante. "No, it'll be fine. Nothing permanent."

"How?" words failed Riley. How could someone be ok if they were possessed by XANA?

"Don't worry, you'll have help." Another sidelong glance. And then Dante spoke in a lower tone of voice. "I'm perfectly aware of the fact."

Dante blinked and quit looking at the sky and instead started looking at Riley. Riley met him eye for eye, question for statement. They spoke simultaneously.

"What's going on?"

"You're going back to earth."

The two paused, and Riley processed the statement.

"You don't want any help then?" Riley asked. "on delaying Hallie?"

"Riley." Dante said simply, and somehow in that one word managed to convey how ridiculous Riley was being trying to stay on Lyoko when he was needed on earth; how absurd he was to underestimate Dante, and how silly he was to even begin to think he would be able to delay Hallie. Ah yes, how the monosyllabic could mock him.

"One hit Dante, and you're off." Riley warned. Ever since April Dante no longer held his banner of invincibility, and all of the gang knew it.

"Sakura needs you."

That was all it took, that one sentence. With that sentence Riley found it in himself to take the return to earth gracefully. He was needed. His sister needed him. What kind of brother would he be if he abandoned her when she needed him?

"Alright," Riley nodded in assent. He caught the look of satisfaction that Dante showed in his eyes at Riley's announcement. "But where's Hallie? Shouldn't she have caught up by now?"

"She's already in front of us." And with that Riley felt the pull of the scanners as he was swiftly devirtualized and materialized back on earth and into the scanner. He opened his eyes just in time to see his sister and Drew duking it out.

Well, the duking itself out was one sided—thank goodness for Drew's sake. Sakura had clearly reverted to a more primal and feline nature and was trying to scratch Drew's face if not eyes out. Drew was holding her off by gripping her wrists and moving to and fro across the room caught in a dance of remaining unhurt and fending off his attacker without hurting her.

Riley noted with interest several red lines running down Drew's cheek, the split lip, and bloody nose. Well, a dried bloody nose, And by the way Drew was carrying himself it looked as if Sakura had managed to land some well placed hits to the chest and abdominal area.

All observations were cut short when Drew, having noticed the arrival of the cavalry of the one person who could do something about the situation, shouted. "Well, don't just stand there! She's your sister. Help me!"

Obliging, Riley rushed over to join the madness. All in all he stood a better chance then Drew. For one Drew had to pull his punches completely or suffer the rath of the Stern family, and as Sakura's older brother, Riley had watched over, taken part in, and overseen the self defense lessons his parents had taught Sakura. And he was her brother, older, stronger, and could read his sister like a book. She was in short predictable.

Catching sight of the Eye of XANA flickering in her eye, Riley grew serious. Sakura was his sister after all. XANA had messed with the wrong family.

On Lyoko

All was silent in the desert sector. From the supercomputer map of the terrain there were only three important objects: the activated tower, and the two avatars facing off.

All was still in the desert sector. Not a monster of XANA could be found defending the tower. Not one guardian, crab, sicklet, hornet, block, kankerlot, peep, flying manta, or tarantula. The only defense against Dante was his own teammate, Hallie. XANA couldn't have picked a better guardian.

All were waiting on the desert sector. On earth the two siblings and best friend struggled. In Sector 5, XANA watched all with great interest. In front of the active tower 100 yards apart stood Dante and Hallie.

Nothing moved because Dante dared not move. The first step he had taken within 100 yards of Hallie had resulted in a pink energy sphere being hurled in his face. He had dodged it gracefully. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to having threatening balls of energy hurled at him. He had been Hallie's main sparring partner in the past. Only this time one hit would have him off of Lyoko and on earth unable to deactivate the tower.

No sound was heard because Dante was sizing up the situation, plotting, scheming, and devising a safe way to the tower without the death of an innocent on his hands.

And Dante had observed. He had discovered a very interesting thing. Whenever he took a step forward Hallie (under XANA's influence) would throw an energy sphere at him, but only if he was within 100 yards of her.

Dante raised his heel of the sandy ground. Pink energy began crackling around Hallie's right hand—her throwing hand. He placed his heel back in its former spot on the ground outside of 100 yards. The energy dissipated harmlessly.

Dante raised his heel and moved his foot forward as if to take a step. Pulsing XANA possessed eyes locked onto his foot, and Hallie's throwing arm shout out straight in front of her glittering with energy massing around her hand. Dante placed his foot safely back outside 100 yards. The arm was lowered, and the energy dissipated.

Dante took a step forward and hastily threw up a force field of red energy to block the volley of pink energy spheres. He took a step backward outside 100 yards. All fire ceased. This could turn into a game if he let it.

But enough about games.

100 yards.

So be it.

Dante raised his heel. Pink energy began to flare to life around Hallie's right hand. Dante extended his foot out hovering over the ground. Hallie's right arm raised. Dante spoke and took one step forward.

Nothing.

Dante smiled. Here he was on step inside Hallie's turf and still on Lyoko. Oh, the power of a name. Following up on the success of his first step, Dante repeated the single word from before.

"Hal."

And he took another step forward.

Again, nothing.

She was still there, poised to fire, standing impassive and emotionless except for one key feature, her eyes. The Eye of XANA had flickered at the sound of her name.

It was as Dante had surmised. He proceeded forward and slowly a step at a time all the while maintaining a steady dialogue.

"Well," Dante began as he took his third step inside of "enemy" territory. "I wonder how this happened. Your possession." He clarified.

95 yards.

"It's not often XANA takes control of his enemies. I can only think of two examples off the top of my head. Your mother and a cocky fellow named William."

90 yards.

"Neither of the possessions lasted too terribly long, and by too terribly long I'm using multiple years as my time frame."

85 yards. No movement. The only sign of life from Hallie's statuesque form was her ever flickering eyes holding either XANA's Eye or nothing at all (whiteness) for multiple seconds on end.

"But each of the possessions were set up and carefully done. XANA couldn't just take them over. Your mother had been given a necklace, a bug. William was taken over by the Schiphazoa. So what happened to you?"

75 yards.

"Well, obviously the attack has to do with the Truffels; but you don't own a Truffel, Hal. So how did XANA's attack lead to this?"

70 yards. It struck him at the 65 yard line right when the Eye of XANA began to solidify in Hallie's eyes.

"Sakura."

At the sound of her friend's name, the Eye disappeared leaving literally nothing in Hallie's eyes. No pupil, but no Eye. Dante was able to gain 10 more yards before he began to speak again.

"You and Sakura are joined at the hip. Best friends since diapers apparently. You've known each other since birth. Well." Dante paused to correct himself. "Almost since birth. Since six months of age most assuredly. You always support Sakura whenever she's facing off against Drew. You may not agree with her, but you support her. And since you have spent practically all your school time with her you've been exposed to whatever's caused this."

Another 10 yards gone.

"So whatever Sakura did that caused this hypnosis, you caught it secondhand." Which was probably the whole point of the attack, "but you aren't completely under XANA's control. Are you, Hal?"

There. A flicker of green. And only 30 more yards to go.

"Although the possession is thorough, it's shallow. It only grasps the surface. You're fighting in there, aren't you? Waging a war with an alien force, not letting it take you completely over. It's why you can only use your energy spheres. Anything else wouldn't be stable enough for such a conflicted mind to hold. The shape shifting I grant was thorough visually, but it didn't hide your Lyoko signature completely as it should if working properly. You thought I wouldn't notice. I had been wondering why the ground hadn't disappeared from beneath my feet, why I wasn't dust beneath a rock slide, or squished between two boulders. Yes, you are that vindictive when angry. But you aren't letting XANA win."

15 yards. Dante slowed his pace and ambled 10 yards over to Hallie before stopping 5 yards away from her.

"It fits with your character. Out of the entire time I've known you, I know you have three great wishes where Lyoko is concerned. You wish to deactivate towers and foil XANA's schemes. You have hunted the shcipozoa as part of your wish to find a way to…neuter it. And you have always longed to send me off of Lyoko courtesy of one of your energy attacks. That was the unstated motive behind Program Exorcism. You took away my invulnerability."

Dante chuckled and moved to stand next to Hallie so he could look her in the eye. "But even using Program Exorcism as the cheap shot it is, you've still lost. And I win."

Dante jumped away from the swinging first and indignant cry ("That's not true!"), and slid into the tower. The insides remained as usual. Data squares lining the walls, the pressure sensor activated lights and transport. And Dante mused as he deactivated the tower.

He thought of all the truffels he had taken apart, of the digital map, of Drew, Sakura, and Riley, and finally the feeling of sheer utter relief he had felt when he saw the Eye of XANA disappear to be replaced by indignant green seeking to repair her maligned character.

Dante chuckled. He had some apologizing to do when all this was over, but his ploy had worked. Hallie was back in her right mind. Now as the words Code Lyoko formed on the screen in front of him, Dante marveled. He still had the Code Lyoko code. But if he still had the one Hallie gave him then did she…? Dante filed the thought away for later. As the data banks fell away down the side of the tower he focused on the problem at hand. Solving the riddle of the attack. The who, what, when, where, why and how.

Surprisingly enough it was Drew who had the answers for the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the XANA attack. It was a simple matter to pull Hallie off of Lyoko and escort the befuddled but uncontrolled Sakura to a safer location. The girls were rather dazed and a dash disorientated after XANA's spell had lifted (they both couldn't remember how they had gotten to the factory or any on the earlier events); so it was up to Riley to go and retrieve the key to the entire situation, Chibi-chan.

"Apparently before the current generation of Truffels hit the market a prior model had been made." Drew explained to his audience—Sakura, Riley, Hallie, and even Dante spared him an ear as he disabled Chibi's inside. "The first generation was creepy and disturbing, so the first generation was dumped, the workers responsible fired, and the plans for the Truffels taken back to the drawing board. Now here's the interesting part. Chibi-chan is one of the few survivors of the first generation of truffels."

Drew smiled a smile that fully conveyed the six kinds of smug he was feeling. "And your precious Chibi-chan duped, hypnotized, and manipulated you into letting XANA have the opportunity to control you. And if that isn't evil then I don't know what evil is."

An eye roll and crossed arms fully conveyed Sakura's mood at Drew's words. Sheepishly embarrassed and desperately defensive. "Is there any truth in what the baka is saying, Dante?"

"Language," tutted Riley from beside his sister.

Pulling out a piece of software, Dante examined it carefully. Sure enough engraved in the surface was an unmistakable Eye of XANA. "Yep." Dante replied to Sakura. "That's the summary."

Sakura wilted into a slouch and glared at Drew who was fully enjoying his moment of triumph. Drew shot up with a shot of exultation. "Yes. I was right, and you." He sidled in front of Sakura, "owe me an apology."

The hostile look in her glare clearly communicated Sakura would not repay that debt.

"But how's it possible?" Hallie asked quietly. "I mean a plushy hypnotizing anyone let alone Sakura is a tad ludicrous."

"And I thought the Truffel software was insultingly amateur." Riley also said after he nudged his sister in the ribs.

"Not this software. This was designed to send out an electrical field that in the common tongue messes with the electrical field around the brain, and as Drew said hypnotizes the brain. Brainwashed is more accurate. The electrical field stimulates the field around and in the brain making the brain send out signals along the nervous system to do whatever the emitter wants."

"So Sakura had a special Truffel that took over her brain and made her more susceptible to XANA's influence." Hallie said slowly.

"And because Sakura and Hallie are joined at the hip, Hallie went down too." Drew finished. "Sorry Hal."

"So the point of the attack was to trash the factory and try to kill you guys?" Sakura asked.

"No," Dante replied. "It's not that simple. It was a power ploy to let us know how far XANA's influence can reach and take over the world or at least brainwash the masses. The second generation of Truffels broadcast whatever input they're given. Audio, the spoken word, programmed songs, or even the electrical field of from the first generation of Truffels. XANA could have used the popularity of the Truffels to enslave the minds of the masses. Fortunately for the masses, XANA was focused on Hallie and Sakura. Although if the tower had remained active I'm sure XANA would have secured control of Lyoko, the factory, and then moved on to take on the world."

A pause as all focused on a very certain reality.

"XANA's back," Dante concluded quietly. "And this is only the beginning."

Which would have been a very grim and solemn ending to any adventure if Hallie hadn't butted in.

"Well, I am personally disappointed. I expected more from XANA. XANA symbols printed on newspapers. Evil (here Drew's smirk widened considerably) balls of fluff zombifying the masses. Taking over the world. It all seems a bit cliché for the great and mighty XANA." A fierce glint of light entered her eyes then. "And you can tell XANA I said that."

The sound of clapping filled the room. "A point for spunk." Drew said as he continued to clap. "We shouldn't call you Hallie, Hal. We should call you Spunky. May XANA never make us bow to him in defeat."

"I second that." Sakura said as she pulled herself up off the floor. "Both of those statements. Come on, Spunky." She teased Hallie as she extended her a hand. Accepting the hand, Sakura pulled Hallie to her feet and turned to Riley to find him already standing.

"But Dante," Hallie asked. "If the Truffels are transmitters of some sort will they be a problem in the future?"

Closing up Chibi-chan, Dante packed up his tools. "No, they shouldn't. I must have dissected every Truffel on campus by now. After the modifications I've made the Truffels are not only hacker proof but also XANA proof."

"What about Nevermore?" Hallie asked.

"Who?" Drew asked.

"Oh yeah, Never, Raven's truffel." Sakura said thoughtfully as she meandered over to the stairs. "I think she burned it."

"Why?" Drew asked shocked.

Sakura shrugged. "She said having two Truffels in the same room was creeping her out, so she found an incinerator, and that was the end of Never."

Riley looked at Sakura then with a quizzical, I can't believe we're related, and you're strange look. "Your choice in roommates is weird."

"Hey, I didn't choose her!" Sakura defended. Her voice rose an octave. "We were assigned to share a room."

"Weird." Riley repeated, and then he scrambled up the ladder rungs to avoid the swipe Sakura took at him. Sakura followed up right on his heels going on about not picker her roommate, and Hallie, newly dubbed Spunky, followed behind pleading for the two to calm down. Soon it was just Drew and Dante.

Drew looked around the control room. It was still a mess. Not a lot of work cleanup wise had been done yet, so the room still looked as if a tornado had come through. During the ruckus Dante had walked over behind the supercomputer and had begun some of the repair work: beginning to securely reconnect the scanners and the computer.

Drew walked over and paused for a breath before speaking.

"It's going to take awhile to get this place back in shape, huh?" he asked as he took in the room again. The silence settled over the room for a handful of drawn out heartbeats before Dante replied.

"Yup."

"Need any help?"

"Nah," Dante replied as he reappeared from behind the supercomputer. "I'll recruit you guys later for work, but for now we need to back to campus and see if a return to the past is necessary."

Drew's ears perked up at this. "A trip back isn't necessary?"

"No," Dante replied. "Unless you want to relive the past month of your life."

"The last month?" Drew asked. "Repeat one month of choir madness, rehearsals, Truffel nonsense, and being thought insane and deranged at best? Heavens no! Once was quite enough!"