The next morning, my parents drove me to school. Once they dropped me off, I hurried to breakfast. I got an omlet, toast and some OJ before sitting with my friends.

"Good morning, guys," I said.

"Morning," They replied.

"So, you think you can materialize Aelita?" Yumi questioned.

"Possibly, but I need a few more pieces of data, first," Jeremy replied.

"Great, so once that happens we can shut down the supercomputer and its bye bye XANA!" Odd said.

Once Odd said that, my head started to throb painfully. I tried to ignore it but the pain increased. Groaning softly, I held my head.

"Are you alright, Dialla?" Yumi asked

"Yeah, just a headache," I replied. "I'll be fine."

"Maybe we should take you to the infirmary," Jeremy suggested.

"Again," Ulrich added, smirking.

I smirked as well and the bell rang. "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

We arrived at the track for more exercises and I realized what a flirt Alex could be. He was leaning against the fence next to me while I was drinking some water. As he flirted with me, I remembered what Ulrich had said about him, so I wasn't paying attention when he asked me out.

"So? What do you say?" he asked.

I blinked, snapping out of my daze. "Huh? Sorry, what was it?"

I thought he would've been irritated that I hadn't been paying attention. But instead, he smiled and chuckled lightly.

"I said, would you like to see a movie sometime? Maybe this weekend?" he said.

"Oh." Was all I could think of to say. "Well, uh, what movie?"

"Not sure. I'll have to look," he said. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay,"

Then Jim abruptly called him over to race against Ulrich and Odd. Ulrich and Alex were neck-and-neck, Odd slightly tailing them. In the end, Ulrich won, but only by an inch. Nonetheless, I congratulated all three of them. After class, Alex offered to walk me to Biology but Ulrich beat him to it. I said goodbye to Alex and walked to Biology with Ulrich.

"I though you were going to be careful around him?" he asked.

"I was. And I don't think he's that bad. He seems nice," I declined.

"You hardly know him," he pointed out

"So? Besides, what do you care, huh?" I asked, looking at him.

He stared back at me firmly, then huffed slightly and continued walking. I glared slightly as he walked, but soon followed him.

Mrs. Hertz rambled on about something that was probably irrelevant as I gazed out the window, watching the clouds float by, temporarily wishing I was one of them. Surprisingly, she hadn't called on me to question if I was paying attention. Instead, she chose Odd, who tried to make up an excuse, which led to the class laughing. Finally, class ended and we were on our way to lunch when Jeremy's laptop started beeping. He pulled it out of his backpack and started typing.

"Looks like XANA's launched an attack, guys," Jeremy said. "Let's head to the factory."

"I'll tell Yumi," Ulrich said and dialled her number.

While he explained everything, I remembered I left my phone in my room to charge.

"I'll be right back," I said, heading to my room. "I need to get my phone. I'll meet you at the factory."

They nodded and ran into the woods while I ran up the stairs to my room. I quickly grabbed my phone and when I opened the door, I got smacked back, crashing into my chair and desk.

"Ooh, man that hurt," I looked up at my enemy and saw that it was Nicholas. He raised his hand at me and purple streams of electricity flew out of his hand and shocked me. I cried out in pain for a moment, but the pain stopped suddenly.

Nicholas had disappeared from the doorway and I saw Yumi standing there.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned while I struggled to get up.

She helped me up and we ran as fast as our legs would carry us to the factory. Nicholas wasn't that far behind us but by the time he caught up with us, we were already safely in the elevator. We quickly got into the elevator and began to descend into the computer room. I leaned against the wall, panting.

"Thanks for saving me," I said, breaking the awkward silence between us.

"No problem," she replied.

We got to the computer room and Jeremy was already at the computer.

"Sorry we're late," I explained. "XANA possessed Nicholas, who isn't to far behind us."

"Get to the scanners," Jeremy said. "You're off to the forest region and Odd and Ulrich need your help."

We nodded and took the elevator. We got to the scanner room and stepped into a scanner.

"Virtualization!"

Yumi and I were materialized into the forest section and this time I landed on my feet and one hand. In front of us, was Ulrich, battling two krabes, and Odd battling five kankrelats. Yumi whipped out her fans and went to help Ulrich while I helped out Odd, taking out three of them with my gun. I got shot in the chest and my right shoulder by them and I hit the ground, wincing slightly. Odd took them out and I got to my feet.

"You have 80 life points left, Dialla," Jeremy told me.

"Alright, let's get Aelita to the tower," Ulrich ordered.

Aelita peered behind a tree. "Hello."

"The tower's this way," she added and ran off.

We followed her and beams came from behind us. Odd got hit a couple of times and soon got devirtualized.

"Odd!" I cried and glared at the three kankrelats behind us.

I whipped out my boomerang and launched it at them. It destroyed one of them and two of them shot me. I got hit in the leg by one beam but the other one hit Ulrich. Up ahead, Yumi was dealing with a megatank. The megatank fired and was about to hit Aelita, who was heading to the tower, but Yumi shoved it out of the way. The beam missed Aelita by inches and the megatank fell though a giant gap that separated Yumi from Aelita. Unfortunately, Yumi was now hanging on the edge of the gap.

"Dialla!" Jeremy cried. "You've got to get to Yumi! If she falls, she'll be devirtualized forever!"

"What?!" I yelped then ran towards her.

She had just lost her grip when I reached her. I grabbed her hand and saved her.

"Guess we're even now, huh?" I said, smiling.

She smiled back and suddenly I got shot in the back. I gasped as I fell but I managed to grab the edge with my other hand.

"Okay, this is bad," I muttered. "Ulrich!"

"Hang on," he yelled. "I'm coming!"

But I lost my grip and he missed us by a second.

"No!!" cried Ulrich.

As we fell, an idea popped into my head. Tightening my grip on Yumi's hand, I threw her up with all my strength. Fortunately, she flew straight up and Ulrich caught her. However, I still plunged into the digital sea.

"Dialla!!!!"

Ulrich's POV

Yumi and I watched in agony as Dialla fell into the digital sea, disappearing forever. Aelita deactivated the tower and Jeremy launched a return to the past. We stood at the factory, mourning her loss.

"It's all my fault," I said grimly. "If I'd been faster, she'd still be here,"

"There's one solution and Jeremy knows it," Aelita said.

"The materlization program!" Jeremy said.

"You finished it?" Yumi questioned.

"With Odd's help," Jeremy answered. "Yes."

"Can it bring Dialla back?" I asked urgently.

"Yes, but it's good for only one person. One and only one," Jeremy said.

We all fell silent, debating on who we should choose: Aelita or Dialla.

"Then choose Dialla," Aelita said. "She's already part of your world. Don't worry, I can wait a little longer."

"Alright," Jeremy said after a moment. "I'll launch the program."

He started typing on the computer. In a few minutes, he announced that he was finished and we headed to the scanner room. The far right scanner opened and Dialla stood there for a moment before falling forward. Odd and I caught her and steadied her.

"It's okay, D," Odd assurred her. "We got you."

"I-I'm back?" she mumbled, confused. "How? I thought I got devirtualized forever by falling into the digital sea."

"Aelita sacrificed her materlization program to bring you back," Jeremy explained.

"Really? I've got to thank her."

"Speaking of thanks, I owe you one, Dialla," Yumi said. "Thank you for saving me."

She smiled. "No problem."

Dialla's POV

Weeks passed and XANA continues to attack us. It's starting to become a pain, but fun at the same time. According to Jeremy, with each return to the past, XANA gets stronger. I don't think it's a big deal, but apparently it is. Each time I go to Lyoko, though, I get a strange feeling. Like, I've been there before.

We were eating lunch when Jeremy announced that he had finished the materialization program.

"So we can materlize Aelita?" Odd asked.

"Yes," Jeremy answered. "And finally shut down the super computer. We'll head to the factory after lunch."

We agreed and lunch flew by and we quickly got to the factory. Jeremy virtualized us into the forest sector of Lyoko and I landed swiftly on my feet and one hand. I noticed a blue gem had appeared on my left hand.

"Yo, Einstein. What's with the gem?" I asked.

"That's your sheild. It can generate from your hand at your will," he explained.

A large blue sheild with red in the middle appeared from my wrist and was projected so it covered the same length as a regular sheild would.

"Heads up, guys. Bloks at twelve o' clock,"

"Looks like XANA's not gonna go down without a fight," Odd said.

We found Aelita hiding behind a tree and Jeremy said he was starting up the program.

"Oh no!" he cried.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I got the wrong CD. It's one of Odd's dumb video's," he explained. "I've got to go back to my room and get it."

"Alright, hurry," Yumi said.

We quickly got rid of the bloks and Aelita got into the tower safely. We all stood on the platform of the tower, waiting for Jeremy.

"Where is he?" Aelita wondered aloud. "I'm getting worried."

"I'm sure he's fine," I assured her.

Suddenly, the tower shook and we all stumbled.

"What the heck was that?!" Odd exclaimed.

We emerged from the tower and saw a mega tank, preparing to fire again. We quickly got out of the way, but the beam struck the tower.

"We've got to protect the tower until Jeremy gets back!" Ulrich ordered. "Let's take this thing out quickly!"

We charged head on at the bowling ball monster.

Jeremy's POV

I sat in the infirmary, sulking, my right leg bandaged. Jim had caught me sneaking out of my room and chased me. Unfortunately, I tripped down the stairs and sprained my ankle.

*I need to get back to the factory!*

"Can I go to the bathroom?" I asked.

"No, I'll get you a bucket," Ms. Perraudin said and left the room.

I crossed my arms over my chest, frowning, when the door opened and Jim came in.

"Listen, Jeremy, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was so sure you guys were up to something, but I guess I got carried away a little," He walked over to the window, his hands folded behind his back. "I deserve to get fired. I went a little crazy because I thought you and your friends had a lot of secrets that you were hiding."

He started to walk out of the room. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"Hold on a second, Jim," I said. "You're, um, not as crazy as you think,"

"Huh?"

"My friends and I, we do have a secret," I admitted

He turned at me. "Then that means I was right after all! Well, what is it?"

"Look, Jim, if you help me, I'll tell the principal everything. You'll be off the hook and he's bound to give you your job back.

"Great!" he said, extending his hand. "Shake on it."

I smiled slightly and shook his hand.

With me on his back, Jim ran quickly through the woods. I showed him where the sewer was and started explaining everything about Lyoko. By the time we reached the elevator, I had pretty much explained everything.

"Here we are," I said as the doors opened to the computer room.

"Whoa," he said appalled. "Well, whaddya know? I was right! Ha ha!"

I sat down in the computer. "Aelita? Do you read me?"

"Jeremy! Oh thank goodness! What happened?" Aelita responded.

"It's a long story. Too long, but I've got the program and I'm starting it now," I explained and put in the CD. "Let's hope it works."

Dialla's POV

The megatank fired again, missing the tower, and I rolled out of the way and threw my boomerang. The megatank shut and my boomerang was deflected off and disappeared. Yumi and Odd ran at it and the megatank fired, devirtualizing Yumi. Odd fired his laser arrows at it but the megatank shut. Odd leaped into the air, landed on the back of the megatank and was about to take it out, but it fired and devirtualized him.

"Odd!" I cried and fired my gun at it.

It fired again, destroying my bullets and devirtulizing me as well. I appeared in a scanner, exhausted, gasping for breath, using the inside to hold me up. I stumbled out and made my way to the elevator with Odd and Yumi. We got to the computer room, we were surprised to see Jim there.

"Jim?!" We cried appalled.

"Yeah, he's one of the gang, now," Jeremy explained.

We still stared at him, out mouths agape. When we recovered, Ulrich had taken out the megatank, but another one had shown up and fired and the tower. Ulrich used his sword to try and deflect the beam.

"Hang on, Ulrich. Just a few more seconds," Jeremy said. "Aelita get into position on the platform."

She did so and Jeremy initiated the program just as Ulrich got devirtualized. Once he finished we all went to the scanner room. Yumi and I helped Ulrich stand since he was exhausted. One of the scanners opened and Aelita appeared, curled into a ball.

"Aelita!" we exclaimed.

"She's here at last," Jeremy said. "Welcome to earth!"