Here you are! No time for me to talk, so just read and review...sorry it took so long.

Jordan looked over his shoulder and caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. But when he looked, nothing was there...just like the other thirty times he looked. He had the distinct feeling they were being followed. With a sigh, he flicked his eyes back behind them. He caught another movement. Instead of spinning around to look for the source of the movement, he slowly drew his rod and a couple of discs. He kept his eyes trained on the spot of the movement. There it was again! It was just a flicker, but it was there. He marked the location to which it moved. Suddenly, he whipped around and shot his rod at it, followed by the discs. Verdana snapped around, wondering what the commotion was about. When she saw it was just Jordan, she turned back around and walked on. Jordan glanced around again, and then followed the girls.

- -That was a close one!- - the camouflaged figure thought. It waited till the boy was out of sight again, before following. - -You've got to be more careful, OSTA. Or it will be like all the other times. "You're useless and can't do anything right! You're as clumsy as you are stupid, told you you'd mess this up again!" I know that's what they'll say, I just know it!- -

Meanwhile, a little to the North...

Odd was feeling a little left out. Jeremy was up there talking to the Verdana puppet about several computer things that no one would ever listen to before. Ulrich and Yumi were in front of him, conversing in low voices. There were also puppet versions of Aelita, Jordan, and Viv but Odd didn't talk to them because they didn't have the capacity to speak. So, for the moment, he was content not to have a conversation. His eyes wandered back to Verdana's puppet. - -Not as pretty as the real one- - he mused to himself.

Odd caught sight of movement behind him. He knew they were being followed, but tried not to make such a show about it. To pass time, he recalled all he knew about these strange creatures. - -They are colored and have a red base. They can camouflage and they are part of the same virus. There are also four of them.- - Odd stopped in his tracks. - -What if there are more than four, say five! That must be what is bugging Verdana! And I have no way to tell her! - -

A little to the South

OSTA watched from behind a large tree as the group of four took a small rest break. The boy was starting to freak him out. The boy seemed to know they were being followed. His stomach squirmed with dread as he watched the boy pull his target away from the other two girls. He recognized one of the girls not only by the color of clothes she wore, but because everyone here knew her. She was Indevrigo. Before all this nasty business came along, they had been friends. When he had been forced to side with her brother, the Shadow, the look of betrayal on her face killed him from the inside. He'd regretted it ever since, but it was too late now...or was it?

North

Odd bounded up to Jeremy. "I think there are more than four of them!" he whispered as loudly as he dared.

Jeremy, caught by surprise nearly shouted. "More of who?" Before he could say anymore, Odd clapped a hand over Jeremie's mouth.

"Quietly, Einstein! Do want them to know that know?" Slowly, he released Jeremy. Jeremy spoke, quietly this time.

"Do you really think that?" Odd nodded.

"It all fits. That must be what's bugging Verdana." It did fit, more perfectly than Jeremy was willing to admit. Odd was not one to notice his surroundings. This was like a new Odd: an insomniac, never hungry, attentive, and smart Odd. The exact opposite.

"Well, I suppose it fits. We can't tell Verdana though, can we?" Odd had been thinking about the solution to that problem.

"We are going to double back, and head after her. Perhaps we can prevent an attack on Verdana. First we gotta lose these guys. Any ideas?"

Just then, Yumi and Ulrich came up. Odd stared at them for a moment. They were holding hands. Seeing that, a strange feeling suddenly went through him. Shaking his head to clear it of the many thoughts crowding in, it came to him.

"Let's stop for a break in a little while." he said loudly and meaningfully. The others, catching his meaning, stopped abruptly. Yumi was slammed from behind by an unseen force and Ulrich, who knew this would happen, had his sword out and ready. Unfortunately, he forgot about the new button on it. The other blade popped out and he spun it a little to prevent getting hit. A whirlwind flew out, and Ulrich, too surprised to control its direction, watched as it flew toward Yumi. She was flat on the ground, but the thing that had hit her wasn't. It took the full force of the whirlwind head on and it flew ten feet-straight into a tree. Ulrich helped Yumi up. She took her chopsticks and out and connected them. She used the "x" formed by them to pin CEPE, who had been in the lead, to the tree he had smashed into. Odd swung his tail with the intent to stun RIGI, who had been following close after. Indeed, just as Verdana had said, it stunned him. Then Odd turned his tail upon BANO. He was stunned as well. Odd watched the proceedings with POLU interested. Yumi used her chopsticks as spears and pinned both CEPE and POLU to their respective trees. Jeremy, in an effort not to be left out, knocked the two of them out. Then, following after Odd, they began to double back.

The lair of the Shadow

"So SIRS, after all these years of hiding, I hold you within my grasp." the Shadow said, face to face with a still trussed up SIRS. "The first of those to escape from me, and the last of those to become part of me. At last I shall have all knowledge that you have, including the location of the crystals. Then, both worlds, real and virtual, will be mine!" The Shadow laughed maniacally. SIRS meanwhile was not idle. He was working furiously to free his bonds and thinking as fast as he could to develop a plan of escape that did not involve becoming assimilated into the Shadow. So far, he had nothing. "I'm going to reprogram you. Now don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." The Shadow said as he approached SIRS with a needle.

Back in the Forest

"We are such idiots!" CEPE moaned when he awoke and found the area around him empty. He and POLU were slumped down underneath their trees, since Yumi freed them once they were knocked out. RIGI and BANO were laying a little ways away, spread-eagled on ground. Once he had gotten them all in a group, he explained what happened.

"Oh, me aching body! What happened?" RIGI asked.

"We forgot that these are not some off-system idiots, they are the warriors of Lyoko that defeated X.A.N.A.! We have underestimated their abilities, and we will not ever again!" CEPE shook his fist in the air at this. "None the less, it is apparent where they have gone. Our ploy has failed and there is only one thing to do now. We must follow and make sure the mission gets accomplished!" He did not tell the others about his side mission, given to him personally by the Shadow in the real world. "Connect!" CEPE ordered. They four of them merged into one being, a human shaped blob. The transformation into something better looking was not possible, due to the fact that one of them was missing. This new being looked like a maple tree in the fall with its many different shades of red and orange on it's body. It bent what could be considered its head to the ground and sniffed. It shot off in the direction that it appeared the others had gone.

As soon as they were out of sight, someone dropped from a tree. "Viruses," she muttered disdainfully under her breath. "At least these should prove to be more of a challenge, as well as the ones they are apparently chasing after. I am the next generation of anti-virus and I will fight someone worthy of my skills! This system is home to many viruses and no decent programs ever come here. I shall defeat every one of them, then I'll move on to the next system!" Then she raced after the blob thing.

Another being dropped from a different tree once she was out of sight. "So Shanil, it appears you have found this system. It is a wonder that nobody knows you are here, with all your shouting and such. None the less, I will claim that bounty which is mine!" He laughed crazily. "Tron will not give up so easily!" Then he too raced after them.

Back with Odd's group

"Do you think that they've woken up by now?" Odd asked Jeremy as they raced in the direction that Verdana had gone. "I---would---guess---so!" he replied, winded because he was not used to all this walking and running. They had shed the Aelita, Jordan, and Viv puppets long ago, mostly because they could not run and keep up. Verdana's had the most capability, in order to make it seem more realistic, so it was able to keep up, even if it could not talk. Yumi and Ulrich were right behind them, keeping pace.

Soon, they reached the clearing where they had started. As they stopped to catch their breath, they heard something big snorting and running through the forest.

"Uh-oh. I think we're in trouble now!" Odd said.

"I think they've awoken and merged!" Jeremy shouted. All at once, the sound stopped. At the same time, the four of them made a circle around the puppet Verdana. Facing outward, they scanned the tree line for their unseen tracker.

The results of the contest are: No one got it...see profile for details.