Glow: Thank you to head-in-the-clouds for giving me some more caffe mocha, especially since the people here aren't kind enought to leave it lying around. Also thanks to SilverHawkeye for being my other beta and getting back to me on this and the next chapter. Lady Kyra, um sorry about the missing coffee, I really can't help myself.
Verdana: Shut up and get on with it!
Glow: Fine, then you get to do the disclaimer!
Verdana: -grumble- Glow Frog Kyrna does not own any Code Lyoko things. She does own Viv, Jordan, Odd, SIRS, and any other characters that are not in Code Lyoko.
Glow: Oh yes, this is my first disclaimer, but I really don't care if any one else uses my characters, however unlikely that may be.
Jordan: Stop rambling!
Glow: But they love my rambling!
Viv:Come on! I wanna know what happens!
Glow: Okay!
"Hello SIRS. I see you're still alive." Verdana said cooly.
"What were you planning on doing, murdering us in our sleep?"
"I meant what I said. I mean you no harm." SIRS said looking taken aback. "And I'm quite offended that you think I would do something like that."
Verdana looked skeptically at him. "Uh, yeah. Nothing is below you and your compadres."
"Hmph. I would attack you, but as it is, I need your help."
"Our help?" Odd broke in. "What makes you think we'll help you? After the way you treated us, you should be glad she doesn't kill you."
"Well, if I'd have known that you were friends of Indevrigo, I would have comported myself differently. Besides, you were with another interest of mine. Conflicting interests, couldn't be helped." he shrugged.
"Lemme guess. You want help against my brother."
SIRS's and Odd's eyes grew big. "How'd you know?" they demanded.
"Well, to start, Viv told me her dream. I figured that my brother is back. Secondly, X.A.N.A. and us already went through this if I remember correctly. You are so predictable." She rolled her eyes.
Aelita stepped out from the shadows along with the rest of the gang. They had heard the commotion and come out to see.
"Is there a problem?" Jordan asked. The others nodded in agreement. All except Viv.
"What the hell are you doing here!" she screamed at SIRS. Then she followed up with a quick spurt of Spanish that none of them could understand. "Murderer!" she screamed again and raced toward him.
Verdana calmly stepped between them. "Viv. Stop." she held Viv and SIRS back from each other, a great feat in itself. "Calm down, both of you." she glared at them. "Viv, I know he killed your sister, but now is not the time for revenge. At least you know your sister is somewhere better, and don't have to live with a betrayal every day of your existence." Her eyes clouded over and they all knew what she was remembering. "And you, SIRS, you are not to lay a finger or any thing connected to you, i.e. minions, sticks, anything, on Viv, nor take any of her stuff. If you do, I will personally destroy you as painfully as I can make it. Viv, If he gets within four feet of you, let me know."
Verdana snapped back to reality. Viv stepped back a few feet, but still looked surly. SIRS growled a bit, but relaxed.
"Now then, let's all go back to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow, and I want everyone in peak condition." They all headed off to the tents.
Verdana sighed and turned to SIRS. "You are gonna stay right here, where I can see you. Then, you're gonna tell me what you wanted with Viv."
"Fine"
The next morning
"Okay, everybody up!" Verdana called. "How would you like to see the place that I emerged from?" Jordan and Viv looked up happily and Odd jumped out of bed for once. When they all looked at him he shrugged and said, "What? It's vacation."
Verdana reached over and snagged SIRS collar. He had been edging away from the group in an attempt to escape. "Oh no you don't." Verdana led the group to the computer room, standing between Viv and SIRS.
Once they were there, they began to fix the computer. It was a long process and took nearly all day. But, as the sun slowly sunk below the horizon, they felt pleased with their work. Verdana wiped a grease smudge off her cheek and smiled. "Don't worry, it'll still be here tomorrow, and my brother won't show up. In fact, he don't know I'm alive!" She laughed as she said the last words. Then she rolled her eyes and grabbed SIRS as he made another attempt.
With a sigh, she took him to another room and locked him in. It was little more than a pit with a lid on top of it. As soon as she was done with that, she returned to the others. "Why don't Yumi and Aelita prepare dinner, Odd and Ulrich re-pitch the tents, and Jordan and Jeremy keep trying to get a link to Lyoko." They dispersed to their various tasks.
"Viv, come with me." The two girls walked down one of the many tunnels in the cave. "Viv, I'm sorry about your sister. If I hadn't of been wrapped up in my own conflict, I would have been here to help you." Verdana said quietly.
Viv brushed some of her long hair from her eyes and tied it all back. "S'okay. You were getting rid of a greater evil. X.A.N.A. would have destroyed the world. SIRS would not have." Viv smiled understandingly.
"But, you see, I did not get rid of X.A.N.A. That was Jordan, Aelita, Jeremy, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd." Verdana said bluntly.
"What about your brother? That would take a lot more courage and persistence. You destroyed him to protect your friends."
Verdana looked down at the ground. "I didn't destroy him. He's back." She twitched a little then looked up. "Look, there's the forest again." Viv stared at the bright light filtering in from a hole up ahead. "The sun is setting. We better hurry." Viv nodded and followed her out into the red glow. "Viv, do you remember the day your sister was killed?"
Back at camp
Odd and Ulrich were sitting by the fire although it was still hot out there. Ulrich had his arm around Yumi as she stirred some rice in a bowl. Jeremy and Jordan were a short way away, plugged into the cave's electrical system and arguing about something. Aelita was hovering nearby, gathering some herbs for flavoring. Odd had his nose in the air and was breathing in the delicious aroma of the cooking food.
"Is it done yet?" Odd asked yet again.
"No Odd!" Yumi and Ulrich shouted at him.
"Geez. No need to shout." Then he got up and walked away. "Hmph. All they want is some 'alone time'." he muttered angrily as he marched into the forest.
He sat beneath a tree and crossed his arms. Suddenly something fell on his head and tried to smother him. "Mmmph! Gemph omph!"
He yanked a frightened monkey off his head. He gave a sigh of relief and leaned back against the tree. As he stared at the monkey, he realized he missed Kiwi, who had been left behind at the house in all the rush. He figured they'd have to go back sometime to collect the rest of their stuff.
- -I gotta tell her soon, before she disappears again. Why is the whole world against my love life?- - Odd thought dejectedly. - -I was so close last night, then stupid SIRS had to show up.- - He pulled out a folded piece of paper and opened it. It was the drawling Viv had given him. As he stared at it, he heard a sound in front of him.
He lowered the paper and saw the real Verdana standing there. He turned bright red as she came over.
"Odd, what are you doing?" He quickly folded the paper back up and stashed it in his pocket.
"Nothing."
Verdana raised her eyebrow and said, "Ookay, whatever. Anyway, I thought you'd be back at the camp, eating dinner."
"I was being a pest, so I was...uhmm..."
"Lemme guess, you left because they shouted at you." Odd jerked his head back in surprise and banged it against the tree.
"Oww! Fuck'n Hell! How did you know?"
"You weren't exactly being quiet, were you?" Verdana shook her head and put her hand on the bruise. It glowed green and vanished.
"Hey, it's gone! I forgot you could do that." he shrugged. She stepped back and offered him her hand. He took it and let himself be helped up. Then Verdana noticed the monkey.
"That monkey is not native to Puerto Rico. I wonder who it belongs to."
The monkey had been sitting there calmly at Odd's feet and shrieked loudly when Odd stood up. Verdana jerked her head around to look at the trees to the left of them. Her excellent hearing had picked up and almost indiscernible rustling. A rather young native girl stepped out and whistled to the monkey. It gave a confused look to Odd then leapt to his mistress's shoulder. Verdana grabbed Odd's arm and whispered, "She looks just like Viv!"
Glow: And there you have it! Another evil cliffy! Enjoy the week of torment before the next one comes out! Muhahahahah! Who wants to announce the long-awaited results of the poll?
Odd: Me! Me!
Verdana: -shoves Odd out of the screen- No! I will because you can't know until we reach that point in the story. The most popular was-
Jordan: What's this about a poll?
Glow: Well, it looks as though you will just have to wait and see how the story plays out! Please Read and Review!
Viv: By the way, Glow says thanks to her small, but devoted fan group.