Omigod, it's HERE?! FINALLY?!
Yes, my friends, yes.
Dan woke up the next morning with a feeling of confusion; the kind of confusion one gets when they wake up in a bed that isn't theirs.. Something warm was pressed against him, his arms cradling something. Dan opened his eyes groggily and saw what, or rather who, was pressed against him: Mira. Dan swallowed, suddenly very awake. He remembered the events of the night before, how upset she was.
She doesn't look upset now. Dan thought, watching the gentle rise and fall of her breathing, a peaceful expression on her face. She looked...adorable really. So unlike how she how she usually looked, that same look of worry always on her face. She tried so hard, it hurt to watch sometimes. Dan felt something stir inside him as he watched her. Tentatively he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. She made a noise and her eyes fluttered. Dan hastily withdrew his hand as she opened her eyes. She smiled at him hesitantly. "Hey."
"Hey," he whispered. "sleep okay?"
"Yes."
Suddenly, Dan felt awkward. "I should, um, probably go."
She looked at him curiously. "Why, is something wrong?"
"No, it's just...Drago's probably wondering where I am, and also everyone might jump to conclusions if they saw me come out of your room."
Her face reddened. "Oh. Right. You should probably go then? See you downstairs?"
"Yeah." he got out of the bed and left the room, closing the door quietly. He crept back down the hall to his bedroom. Light filtered through his window, revealing the open ball forms of Drago and Apollonir.
"And where have you been young man?" Apollonir demanded.
"Um...I was just...I mean..." stuttered Dan.
"Have you nothing to say for yourself?" Apollonir interjected. Beside him, Drago chuckled. "Easy on him Apollonir. I'm sure he wasn't doing anything wrong."
"Hmph! I remember back in my day when we courted ladies instead of just jumping into their beds like dogs after a piece of meat!"
Drago burst out laughing while Dan howled indignantly. "It's nothing like that you crazy old dragon!"
"Crazy old dragon'?" Apollonir hissed. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to respect your elders?"
Dan grumbled under his breath as he searched his room for his Resistance uniform while Apollonir continued to berate him, Drago still laughing. He found it draped over his desk chair, fresh from where his mom had washed it the day before. He picked it up, his thoughts flicking to Mira, and he smiled.
We're going back to New Vestroia today! Dan thought to himself. Everything's going to be okay when we get there.
-x-
Mira listened to Dan's raised voice from down the hall, muffled by distance and the shut door, as he argued with Apollonir. She smiled to herself, then felt it slide off her face as she remembered what was going to happen that day. What she was going to do.
Sh slowly got up and sat on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath, steeling herself.
Wilda popped open on the nightstand. "Everything is going to be okay Mira." he said.
"I hope so Wilda, I really do." she replied, then got up to get ready for the day.
-x-
By the time Dan and everyone else had gotten downstairs, his father had already left for work and his mother had breakfast on the table. Another thing; Mira's earlier good mood seemed to have vanished, replaced by the uneasy silence she'd had the night before. Dan reached across the table the table and touched her hand, asking "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine Dan." she mumbled. Dan hesitated, then let it drop and withdrew his hand. Breakfast was mostly quiet except for Baron's excited chatter.
"When are the others going to be here?" Baron asked.
"Not sure, probably soon though." Dan glanced up at the kitchen clock. "We should probably start getting ready to go though, just in case."
They all started getting their things together in preparation to go. They had decided to meet at the old museum where they had their final fight with Naga. It had been rebuilt since the battle, and was now good as new. Dan, Mira, and Baron said good-bye to Mrs. Kuso; Dan's father had already left for work.
When they got to the museum, Runo and Julie where already waiting.
"Hey girls, you ready to go?" Dan called.
"Yep, can't wait." Julie said.
"If everyone is here, we should get started." Apollonir said , floating forward to be in front of all of them.
"Wait a minute Apollonir. We've got one more coming. Alice is coming too." Dan said, and looked around. "Really, she should have already been here by now."
"This is strange for Alice. She's usually more dependable." Drago said.
"We shouldn't wait any longer. I'll open the gate." Apollonir said.
"Look, there she is!" Runo said, and they all turned and saw Alice hurrying towards them.
"You're late Alice. We were waiting for you." said Dan.
"I'm so sorry." she panted "I brought Lync along with me, but now he's completely disappeared."
"What? I can't believe you did that!" Baron gasped. Nemus spoke from his shoulder. "Lync is a traitor."
"Have you completely lost your mind? Lync's a Vexos, and Vexos can't be trusted." Dan asked accusingly Alice, leaned forward.
"He said he quit and that he had something important to tell you." Alice said, looking alarmed and defensive.
Drago turned to Dan. "Dan, this has got to be a trap."
Dan nodded gravely. "I'm sure it is, but we can't let that stop us." Everyone agreed with him.
Apollonir interjected. "If we're going to go, we need to go now." He turned and his body started to glow, and a portal slowly opened in front of them. He turned back to the other. "Hurry! The gate won't stay open for long."
"Yeah." Dan turned to the others. "Okay, let's go guys."
"Sorry, you're not going anywhere." Gus dropped down from the roof and threw something at them that split open, trapping them it a cage with electrified strands of wire that dropped done from a roundish object suspended above their heads.
"What the...?" Dan reached out to touch of the wires and was instantly electrocuted."Oh, that hurt!" he said, jerking his hand and Lync dropped down from the roof to land behind Gus.
"Spectra!" Dan snarled.
"And Lync." Alice said, stepping forward. "You lied to me!"
"Yeah, what was your first clue Einstein?" Lync taunted.
"Look, you better let us out, or-" Dan stopped when he heard a noise behind him, and turned to see Mira standing outside the cage. "Mira! You're free!"
What's happening?
"I'm so sorry about this Dan." she whispered. Mira slowly stepped around the cage and crossed over to stand by Spectra side.
"Mira!" Baron said, shocked.
"How could you?" Julie wailed.
Dan didn't move.
-x-
Mira watched Dan's back as he stood there, stunned. Slowly, he turned to face her with a blank look on his face and his eyes full of hurt and betrayal. "This is wrong." he said.
"I've no choice." Mira said shakily. "My place is beside my brother."
"No way!Spectra's your brother?" Dan said, shocked. "Even if he is, you know everything he's doing is completely wrong!"
Mira twisted her head to the side and shut her eyes, trying to forget the horrified look on Dan's face. Behind her, the other Vexos were jumping into the portal.
"Come on Mira." Spectra, her brother, called to her. "It's time to go."
Mira bit her lip, fighting back tears, and turned her back on Dan, starting to walk to the portal where Spectra was waiting.
"Don't do it!" Dan pleaded. "Mira, please, don't leave me!"
Mira faltered, but kept going until she made it to the portal and jumped in. Spectra followed behind her.
There ya go, ya little shits! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, full of shocks and humor. Maybe the other way around. Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter!