Back to life
The Lyoko gang was excited. Their teachers had announced a trip to the Caribbean. "This will be a educational trip. No lounging on the beach or shopping." It was for a school project on the islands. "Sign up for the island you want to cover. Upon return, you will give a report on everything about the island. Below is a list of topics you will be required to research as well as some others for fun." ,the poster read.
"Hey guys you wanna sign up for Puerto Rico?" Jordan asked.
"Why not, it would be cool to see where Verdana is from." Odd said.
Under the island name, they all signed up. "Yeah, at least we won't have to worry about X.A.N.A. anymore." It was true, they had taken care of X.A.N.A. almost two months ago. The bell rang and they walked off to their classes.
A pretty native girl walked over and noticed there was still a space under Puerto Rico. It was her homeland and she wished to visit again. She signed her name on the last space, then she turned a way and hurried to her class.
Later . . .
Every one was gathered in the gym, awaiting the announcement of their chaperone. The principal ran down the list of islands. "Because those of you going to Cuba and Haiti need two chaperones, Puerto Rico will not have any. Also because it is a protectorate of the U.S., there will be a native guide there to watch you. The first flight leaves tomorrow at 8 o'clock for the Virgin Islands. Your flight and schedule is in the packet I gave you. That is all, you are dismissed."
The gang gathered in a corner to examine their schedule and flight plans.
"Cool! We have extra time!" Odd exclaimed.
"Hey look guys, it says that there are seven seats reserved for us, if you haven't noticed, there's only six of us here."
"That's because I'm in your group." They turned and jumped. It was the native girl that had shown up that day instead of Verdana.
"Vivian? I had no idea that you wanted to visit home."
"Yeah, I don't even know if I'll come back." she replied gloomily. "I don't really like it here and I want to go home." Yumi, holding Ulrich's hand, stood up.
"I'm going to start packing if we leave tomorrow at 8:15."
"I'll come help." Ulrich added. They had been going out for about two months.
"Viv, you should pack and get some rest. Everything will be better in the morning." Aelita put her arm around the sobbing girl's shoulders and escorted her from the room.
"I wish Verdana was still here. She wouldn't be crying her head off." Odd was still disappointed that Verdana didn't come back.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you liked her." Jordan taunted.
"Honestly, the way you hang on that camera..."
"Guys, we'd better go pack as well. I know you don't want to get up earlier than you have to Odd." Jeremie mentioned.
With that, they all headed off to their rooms.
In Vivian's room . . .
Aelita left Vivian sitting on her bed, sobbing. "I never wanted this. All I wanted was friends. The group are my friends, but they talk to me like I'm someone else, They just aren't telling me something." she said pouting. Vivian emptied her closet into her bag. Then she lay down on the bed and fell asleep. Aelita had paused outside the door and heard everything. She went to Jeremie's room to ask him if Vivian could know about Lyoko.
Late that night . . .
"Viv, psst, Viv!" Vivian's eyes shot open and she sat up. Then she walked over to her window. The gang was outside and they were calling to her. "Viv, come down, we want to show you something." Vivian nodded and dressed herself. Then, very quietly, she slipped out her of her dorm room, down the stairs, and went to the gang. They motioned for her to follow them.
At the factory . . .
The gang had just finished telling her what had happened and what Lyoko was. When they were done, they sat there, half expecting her to say they were crazy. But, instead, she just sat there, staring out into space.
"That explains a lot. Do you think I could visit?" Jeremie shrugged and motioned for her to enter the scanners. He seated himself at the computer and created a virtual being for Vivian.
In Lyoko Odd, Aelita, Yumi and Jordan all fell to the soft ground of the forest region..
"Where's Viv?" Odd asked slightly put off that he had to lose sleep.
"I'm up here." Vivian was floating. She had white wings and she was dressed like a pirate. "This is different. I'm not sure where the wings came from, but the pirate clothes are from my heritage. You see, Puerto Rico was a haven for pirates. It's only fitting that I should come out like one."
"Viv, do you have any weapons?"
"Well, I think I have this." She held out her hands and he fingernails shot out like claws. Cautiously, she took aim at a tree. A nail shot out and hit the tree dead on. "Well, I guess they shoot, too." she said sheepishly.
"By the way, I thought that X.A.N.A. was gone. Why do we need weapons"
"Do you recall Verdana? She increased our awareness of other worlds like this one. That means X.A.N.A. is not the only virus out there. We must watch constantly to see if another has entered the system." Jeremie explained.
"This is nice, even if it's not real." Viv mused aloud.
"So what are we going to do now?" Aelita asked.
"Whatever it is, you better hurry. Our flight leaves in a couple hours and you know how early we have to be at the airport." Jeremiw reminded them.
"We could do a quick tour." Yumi suggested. Jeremie gave them their rides and away they went. Aelita rode the overbike, Odd on the overboard, Yumi rode the overwing with Jordan, and Viv flew.
All too soon, the tour ended and they had to devirtualalize. They returned to their rooms and collected their bags. As they stood in line to board their flight, a sudden thought occurred to Viv - -What will happen if we can't get to Lyoko and something shows up!- -
Far Far Away (Wherever you want that to be. It really doesn't matter.)
A man sat at a computer console. He was typing furiously. He wiped the sweat off his brow and pressed one final key. A blinding flash of light covered the room. A voice called out "Eureka! I've done it." Then he gave a menacing laugh.