I find myself writing in other points of view a lot less than I used to in the first writethrough of Code Revenge. So here's an Odd chapter.
"What about Sissi?" Taelia asked. "What are you gonna do, call the cops on me? In order to do that you would need to explain the situation. In order to get any evidence on me, you would need to bring them here."
I saw Einstein pause. She had a point. There weren't a whole lot of ways to take Taelia down without hurting ourselves in the process. We would have to show authorities the factory and that would just...bring all sorts of trouble. I didn't really want that kind of trouble. I just liked playing hero. But Morgan wasn't playing...or even more scary, she was. She played a scary game.
"Well, we have to do something. Sooner or later, Principal Delmas is going to notice his daughter's missing." Einstein rubbed his chin, thinking.
"What if we made a clone, like with William?" I suggested. Everyone made a face that said that was a bad idea. "What?"
"That clone was nothing like me." William said.
"True, but it would be easier to explain a personality shift than death. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to deal with this now. We'll make a clone and deal with this later..." Jeremie said.
"I agree. Morgan has to be our top priority." Taelia agreed.
"You're just saying that so you can forget what you did." Ulrich said, pointing at her. A smile stretched onto Taelia's face, and her eyes were cold. Scary stuff.
"I never forget anything I've done. I know exactly how much weight is on my shoulders. I am trying to do what I can to prevent any more damage from being done." She looked around. "We need to talk somewhere else. She can see us here."
"What?" Aelita asked.
"The-" Taelia facepalmed. "The cameras, the security cameras. She can probably see through them that's how she's been watching everything. We need to get somewhere with no cameras. We aren't safe."
Oh. Was that how Morgan was ready for anything we had to throw at her? She listened to our conversations. That was kinda creepy, when you thought about it. Did Xana used to listen like that, too? Probably. Everyone frowned. They realized it too. If they were listening then we gave away a lot of plans, huh?
"How about the forest, then." Aelita suggested. Everyone agreed and we moved to the forest. It was kind of weird to talk outside. It felt so in the open. But apparently this was safer? Who knew? Jeremie looked kind of uncomfy out here. After all, what is an Einstein without his computer? I got it, though. The woods felt like too open a place to talk about what we needed to talk about. The Factory seemed like the safest place, hidden away from everybody, but Taelia was probably right. There were cameras there. If Morgan could hack into cameras and listen from there, which she probably could I mean it wouldn't surprise me, then this was the safest place. It just felt weird, is all.
"Alright, we're out here, satisfied?" Yumi asked. I couldn't blame her for the attitude. Taelia was a real pain for everyone...And...Aelita told me some things Taelia said about her past. And, if they were true, then she had a real bad hand dealt to her in life. It would explain a lot of why she did what she did...She had things really rough. That explained her behavior, but it didn't excuse it. No matter what, killing an innocent being was wrong. To most things there was a gray area, but this was black and white all the way. Taelia was wrong. But I could still sympathize.
"Yes." Taelia said. She was so stiff compared to the rest of us. Her breathing was a little funny. Nobody said anything for a little. The sun was setting, and it was nearly time for summer vacation. The leaves glinted gold in the sunlight. It almost looked like the forest was on fire. It was the sort of thing I would have loved to draw if I had any of my art supplies with me.
"So, a Sissi clone? Personally, I think that's the easiest solution. We can always stage it's death later so Delmas doesn't catch on." I suggested.
"How can you all be so calm about this?!" Ulrich slammed his fist into a tree. Everyone was quiet, and looked at him. Sissi gave him a hard time, sure, but they had known each other way longer than any of the rest of us. They were together since Kindergarten. And now she was gone. We all liked making fun of her but she still didn't deserve to die. And Taelia...Taelia killed her.
Yumi was the first to try to comfort him. She reached to place her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.
"Don't touch me."
Taelia put her hands up in an attempt to calm him down.
"Hey, you want me gone, right?"
Everyone sort of hesitated, but Ulrich went right on ahead.
"Yes. We want you gone." His teeth were grit.
"Then I'm gone." Taelia said simply.
"But I thought Morgan was keeping you here." William interrupted. Taelia looked off to the side.
"Yeah...But if you really want me gone, I'm gone. I'll figure out a way around Morgan...on two conditions."
"Do you really think you're in a position to make demands?" Jeremie asked.
"Wait, listen to her. What are the conditions?" I said. The conditions might not even be something that hard. A lot of tension would be gone if taelia was, too. Then we could put our focus on defeating Morgan. Sure Taelia would be a huge help but also a huge hassle.
"One, you guys find shelter...uh...do you know about some sort of bomb shelter or shelter for a storm or something?" Taelia asked. My hand immediately shot up. "Yeah, Odd?"
"A buddy of mine, Stacey, her dad is one of those zombie apocalypse enthusiasts. He has a shelter with supplies in it that would last for years." I explained. Everyone looked at me funny. "What?" I crossed my arms. "I know some interesting people, ok?"
"Right, right." Taelia continued. "So Odd, can you go and make sure you can use the shelter-"
"The conditions?" Yumi asked, a little impatiently.
"Condition number one, you guys get out of here and stay in that shelter for 48 hours. Unless I come and tell you that Morgan's dead, then you can get out. I'll get out of your hair. We'll move on. If I don't get you come out after that uh...You'll have to regroup. I'll be gone either way so everyone's happy."
"And the second one?" Ulrich asked.
"Take this with you." She took off a backpack she was wearing and tossed it to Ulrich. "Now, uh...to sum up, Odd please go get the shelter ready, Jeremie make a Sissi clone I guess...and uh...I'll take a nap. The rest of you do whatever..." And she walked off.
My stomach rumbled. It had been a while since I ate. Perfect time to see Stacey.
"Well guys, I'm off." I said.
"Don't you wanna stay and help make a game plan?" Jeremie asked.
"Stacey awaits." I replied.
"Oh, I see how it is. She's not so much a good buddy as she is a good buddy." Ulrich smirked. I could feel my cheeks getting a little hot. Yeah...I liked her...but it was different. She was a friend. I didn't wanna ruin that or anything. I didn't answer Ulrich, I just waved and walked away-
And walked right into McDonalds. Stacey was the fry cook at McDonalds.
The place was pretty much empty, except for a few people off to the side and the employees of course. I walked right up to the cashier. Her name was...uh...I looked at the name tag. Oh yeah, her name was Fran. I gave her a big ol' Della Robbia smile.
"Hey there, Fran. Is the McRib back yet?" I asked. It was one of those limited time deals. I knew it was garbage but it tasted good. What? Are you gonna judge my eating habits?
"Yeah, actually. They just came in this week. How many do you want? Three or four?" Fran asked.
"Four...and a large fries...and two apple pies." I ordered. I pulled out a handful of coins out of my pocket that I managed to scrape together from my room. Some of it was...probably Ulrich's. Oh well...if he ever found out, I was sure he wouldn't mind donating to the cause. Fran counted the coins.
"Yep, that'll cover it plus some." Fran said, and started to give some back to me. I put my hands up in protest.
"Please, keep the change." I winked at her. She smiled, and pocketed the change. Then she called out the order.
All the people in the back started greeting me. They knew it was me just from the order. Needless to say I was a regular here.
"Oh my god, Odd's here." "Hey Odd, how you doing, brother?" "Welcome back, Odd!" I chuckled lightheartedly.
"Ladies and gentlemen alike cannot resist the Odd Della Robbia charm." I winked and made finger guns. This was my home turf. In this place, I was king.
"You frikkin nerd." Fran replied. "Will that be for here or to go?"
"For here, and uh..." I looked around. "You guys aren't that busy right now. Would you mind if I borrowed Stacey for a little bit?" I asked.
"Yeah sure. She's actually taking her break right now. I'll go get her." Fran left to go to the break room. I stood there for a few minutes while my food was being made. When I got it I took a seat in the corner of the store, as far away from the kitchen as possible. This was really sensitive information and I didn't need anyone overhearing us. Soon stacey took the seat across from me.
"Sorry for the wait, Odd. I was in the middle of a conversation." Stacey smiled as she sat. Her hair glowed golden in the setting sunlight. Her eyes sparkled. She was beautiful. But...uh...there wasn't time for that right now.
"It's ok." I said, finishing a McRib I'd been eating while I was waiting.
"So what did you want me for?" She asked. I wasn't exactly sure where to start...
"Your dad owns an apocalypse bunker, right?" I asked.
"Uh...yeah." She was clearly annoyed being reminded of that. She thought that thing was ridiculous. She thought her dad was cray for having it, especially since he frequently made the family do drills in case of lots of really ridiculous emergencies...all things that had happened during various Xana attacks. That just dawned on me. There might have been something up with that guy...Anyways.
"My friends and I need to borrow it for 48 hours." I said, very seriously.
"Why, is the apocalypse coming?" She asked sarcastically.
"Possibly..." I said. She furrowed her eyebrows. "There's someone after us. We don't know what she's gonna do." Stacey looked at me for a long time and then burst into laughter.
"You're messin with me! Very good, very good. You gotta be more specific though, it makes it more believable! What is it actually?" Stacey asked. I blinked. Well...it wasn't like I blamed her for not believing in me. Instead of trying to convince her, I did the next best thing, improvise.
"We want to just have a few days away, you know? And the bunker sounds like just the place. We just need to be away from everything for a bit." I explained. Two years of being a Lyoko Warrior made me really great at lying. Well, better than I already had been.
"You know, I could use the time off, too. How about I pick you and your friends up tomorrow night. We can all go together. I'll get the days off, and it gives you time to pack." Stacey smiled.
"That sounds awesome! Thanks Stacey! I have to go now but I'll see you tomorrow night. Pick us up at the gates of Kadic, ok?" I gave her a hug in my excitement, picked up my things, and left.
Stacey had no idea what she was getting herself into.
Time elapsed since last chapter: An hour or two.
Time since chapter 1: still 2 weeks
Ah yes, there's the OddxOC I used to swear I would never do because it was overdone. How are y'all liking how the plot's unfolding so far? I'd really like to know. And if you would like to know how it continues to unfold, fav and follow. Thanks, and have an awesome day!