Dialla's POV

I managed to make it home before my parents and acted innocent by reading a book on the couch. My father looked hesitant for some reason. I decided not to question it and continued reading. After about a half-hour of reading, I remembered that there was a physics test tomorrow and decided to study. With the exception of coming down for dinner, I never left my room until the next morning when my father was gone. I left without breakfast, telling my mom I would eat at school, when in reality I wasn't hungry. I got to the Academy and met my friends at the cafeteria. I explained everything to them and when I finished I folded my hands on the table and placed my head on top. My friends consoled me until the bell rang. On my way to class a teacher told me that Mr. Delmas wanted to see me. I didn't like the idea, but I had no choice. When I got their,. he told me that I had been absent at classes too many times.

"If I hear you are absent at a class on more time, I will have no choice but to expell you," he said. "I'm sorry."

I had to bite down hard on my tongue so that I wouldn't freak out. I nodded and went back to Mrs. Hertz class. During class, Mrs. Hertz handed out the test and I drew a total blank. I studied for over an hour last night and now it was all gone. And I needed a good grade for this class. I knew some of them easily but the rest of them I couldn't figure out. In the end, I settled with guessing. Once the bell rang, I sighed in relief, knowing that I was probably going to get another bad grade.

"Hey, D, what did Mr. Delmas want?" Odd questioned after class.

"He said that apparently I've been missing too many classes. And if I miss one more, I'll be expelled," I explained. "And with me being stuck at my house by my dad, it's going to be hard to get to the factory now."

"The only good thing is since we've destroyed a few replicas, that's probably weakened XANA," Jeremy concluded.

"I sure hope so," I grumbled.

We let the subject drop for the rest of the day and once the final bell rang and I walked outside, my dad was waiting for me, standing next to his blue Fusion.

"Well, now I'm off to prison," I muttered. "See you later, guys."

I waved good-bye and walked slowly over to my dad, not even bothering to look at him. He drove me home and I began working on my homework immediately. It wasn't until eight o clock at night that I was interrupted from studying by Jeremy.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Dialla! We need you!" Jeremy cried.

"Jeremy!" I opened my door, checking to make sure my parents weren't around to hear. "What is it? I'm in enough trouble as it is."

"XANA knew we'd be trying to destroy a replica tonight. So he's launched an attack on Lyoko's core!"

"Can't you just bring them back to Lyoko?"

"There's not enough time!"

"Tell me, how am I supposed to sneak out to help you if my dad checks on me every ten minutes?"

"I'll think of something. Dialla, if you don't come Lyoko will be gone forever!"

"I know that!" I stalked out of my room and peeked into the living room. My parents were both sitting on the couch reading. If I tried to escape, they'd see me at once. I cursed softly and headed back to my room. I had left my phone on my desk and Leo had just walked across it. I checked if Jeremy was still there and he wasn't.

"Stupid cat!" I scolded.

Leo just meowed at me and started cleaning his face. I sighed and looked out my window. I checked the drop. Two stories high and it looked about 24 feet.

If I land wrong I could end up back in the hospital again. Risky. But right now I don't really have much of a choice.

Slipping my phone into my pocket, I pried open my window and kicked out the screen. It hit the grass below with a soft thud. Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself out the window and jumped. I landed on the grass and rolled, but there was a sharp pain in my left ankle and I winced. I held my ankle and assumed it was probably sprained. I got to my feet and ran as fast as I could despite my injured ankle. I arrived at the factory in a few minutes, grateful that my house was close by. Swinging down the rope and landed on the floor hurt my ankle more, but by then I had actually gotten used to the pain. I quickly walked into the elevator and told Jeremy I was at the on my way to the Scanner Room.

When the elevator opened, I limped my way towards the closest scanner and Jeremy virtualized me onto Lyoko. I appeared in Sector 5, wavered a little bit, then dropped to the floor. The path opened up and I took off. Jeremy notified me that the countdown had started and I three minutes to find the key. The room started shifting and changing rapidly. To make matters worse, XANA sent me some Creepers to play with. The key was positioned high up from where I was and, after taking out the Creepers, I quickly scaled up the wall and hit the key. After Jeremy guided me there, I finally reached the room. All the way at the top were three mantas and three creepers. I activated my booster and quickly flew up there. The mantas noticed and flew down to try and stop me. I quickly dispatched them, only getting shot once. I took out of one the Creepers when Jeremy alerted me that Dan was coming and a second later his beam was fired. I managed to avoid it but I realized later he used that as a diversion because he threw his sword at me. I quickly leaned to the left, but it managed to scrape my side. My stomach began electrocuting as I lost a few life points. I took out the last creeper with my gun and threw both my boomerangs at Dan. He deflected them both but at the same time, he left himself wide open.

I took the chance, flew down at him and kicked him in the stomach and fired at him with my guns a few times. He managed to block a few with his shield but the others still hit him. He hit the bottom of the floor hard and I soon joined him. He quickly got up and began firing at me. I pulled out my sword on my right hip and connected it with my other sword, creating a double-edge sword, shielded his cannon beam, and charged at him. When we clashed, something unusual happened. As soon as our swords connected, there was a flash of white light. As it engulfed us, I lost contact with Jeremy. When the light faded we were in a house or something. I looked around, momentarily forgetting about Dan, trying to figure out where the hell we were. When we looked at each other and I remembered that we were fighting and quickly tackled him. I reached for my sword, but all I grabbed was air.

"Huh?" I checked myself. All my weapons were gone. I looked up at Dan and his weapons were gone as well. I realized also he was no longer under XANA's control.

"Now, I can't have you two fighting while I'm trying to talk to you, can I?" a husky voice said.

Still on top of Dan, I looked to my left and a man with brown hair dressed in a white lab coat was standing there. I didn't even need to look in his eyes to know who he was. I slowly got of Dan, who was just as shocked and confused as I was, and stared at the man.

"Hello, Dialla. Dan. It's a pleasure to finally see you again. I'm Tyler Reinhart. Your father," he said, like he had reheasered it.

"Is it... really you, Dad?" I questioned, my voice was shaky.

Slowly, he nodded and at first I was wary, thinking it was XANA again, but there was something different. He was more... fatherly than the XANA clone. Dan wasn't wary at all as he raced up and hugged him. Dad hugged him back and looked at me, as if he was expecting me to hug him. I walked towards him and....

Smack!

There was a red mark on his cheek and his hand was next to it. He stared at me in shock as I glowered at him.

"What kind of a father sends his own daughter and son into a virtual world to be trapped by some evil program?!" I shouted angrily, tears springing from my eyes. The shock faded from his face and instead it was sympathy and sorrow.

"Ah, right. I suppose, I shouldn't try to be like a father, right now," he said, while Dan released him. "However, it's time I explain things."

Surprisingly, I let him explain his story. Apparently, him and Franz Hopper had created Lyoko and XANA to counteract a military project but when the secret service found out they hid in Lyoko. He also explained that he was the force that took over me at the factory when XANA possessed the alien.

"Wait a minute," I interrupted. "What about our mothers? Aelita and me."

His face darkened slightly. "They dissapeared."

My face fell slightly. "Dialla."

I looked up at him. "Yes?"

"One more thing. What ever you do... do not let the Scyphoza capture you."

I raised an eyebrow at him, confused, but a large light appeared, similar to before, and I felt myself dissapearing.

"Wait! Dad! How do I free Dan and William from XANA?" I begged.

His mouth moved but I was terrible and reading lips. It looked like he said "Sector 5" but I wasn't sure. When the light faded, I was back in Lyoko, but was devirtualized. When the doors opened, I fell forward, my eyes closed and hit the floor of the Scanner Room hard.