Flora’s POV:

I stared up at the ceiling of the Arena. I had fallen on my butt. Again.

“Is there a trick to these landings that none of you are telling me?” I asked as I stood up.

“No.” Od said. “You just end up getting used to it.”

“Keep moving guys.” Jeremy said & I jumped. 2 weeks of training on Lyoko & his voce still shocked me since it seemed like it didn’t come from anywhere. Even after 2 weeks, Ulrick & Od fond this to still be extremely funny.

When the door opened, I ran ahead to run next to Yumi & Alita. Ulrick & Od ran behind all of us as we headed for the Skid hanger.

“Looks like this is it.” Jeremy said. “Alita, be ready to make sure our new panel works.” This new panel would let somebody in Lyoko transport themselves to the Skid, in case Jeremy was knocked out or some thing.

Jeremy launched the program, & I gasped. Before me stood the biggest ship I had ever seen! Not to mention the coolest!

“You did it, Jeremy!” Alita said. “The Skid is back!”

“So, Flora, want to go for a spin?” Od asked as we headed over to what had to be the transport spots.

“Right now? Really?” I asked. “Sure! That would be amazing!”

“Alita will take you into the Digital Sea for a quick spin around Lyoko. We’ll tech how to fight with the Nav Skids later…”

At that moment, we were transported to the Skid. As I fell into my char, I noticed a lot of controls around me. I put my hands in my lap & didn’t touch anything.

“Ooh, leather.” I said. “A girl cold get used to this…”

Alita’s POV:

The gang came to the factory after dinner. Jeremy & I had skipped dinner to work on making travel plans.

“So what’s up?” Od asked as they came over. “XANA active again?”

“We think so.” Jeremy said as he moved away from the computer. “Check out this article.”

“A stolen necklace?” Yumi said. “How is that related to XANA?”

“It’s because it happened during a power outage in Las Vegas.” I said. “This happened a week ago, & Jeremy & I managed to hack into the system. This hotel & casino has 2 back up power sorces. How come they didn’t turn on?”

“So, for those of us who haven’t fought XANA for long, what exactly are you saying?” Flora asked. “XANA’s got a lady friend who likes jewelry?”

“Isn’t this kinda like what he tried here?” Ulrick asked. “He kept stealing power from the school, & then tried to send it to the nuclear power plant?”

“Yes, which is why we don’t want some thing like that to happen. We don’t know where the energy is, but there have been black outs all this week, each lasting about 10 minutes.” I said. “So some of us are off to Vegas!”

“Only some?” Flora asked.

“If all of us are absent from school a lot, people will start asking questions that none of us want to answer.” Jeremy explained. “So, in this cup are 20 slips of paper. 10 have a check, & 10 have an X. If you pull a check mark out, you get to go.”

We passed the cup around & picked out a slip of paper. I was sad that I didn’t get to go, but I had just finished my make up work a few weeks ago from my Tokyo trip. It would be nice to not have to be lost in class for a while.

“Hey, I want a do over!” Od said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Why?” Jeremy asked.

“This has an X on it!”

“Sorry, Od.”

“WHAT?”

“Any way, Yumi, Ulrick, Flora, you leave the day after tomorrow. We’ll come up with a reason for your absences…”

“Hey, why didn’t you pick Jeremy?” Flora asked. “Won’t people think it’s strange if you’re always left behind?”

“She has a point, Jeremy.” I said. Besides, maybe things would work out some time & Jeremy & I would go some where, just the 2 of us!

“Fine.” He pulled out his slip of paper. “Ok, well, Yumi, Ulrick, Flora & I will leave the day after tomorrow. I guess we better pack…”

Flora’s POV:

“I can’t believe we’re in Vegas!” I said as I looked out the window.

“I can’t believe Jeremy was able to modify the program to make us look 21.” Ulrick said under his breath. We all lowered our voices, so the cab driver wouldn’t her us.

“Look, it’s the only way. Yumi & Flora are supposed to be show girls, & there’s no way any of us would be able to get in the bars if we were 13.” Jeremy said.

“I love this!” I whispered. “I’ll get to play Vegas, & I’ll know when I turn 21 I’ll look hot!” The program made my arms & legs long & slender, just like I’d always wanted.

“The program was only designed to make you look 21. It can’t predict the future. It just basically took a guess.”

“Dang, that sucks.”

“Not really.” Yumi said, playing with her long black hair. I smiled, thinking about how we had laughed when she stepped out. Not so much because of the hair, but because she realized what happened, she started to mutter a few cuss words about tangles…

“What are you smiling at?” Yumi said.

“Nothing.”

*^*^*^*^*^

“This is our hotel room?” I asked as we went in. It’s really…small…”

“It was all we’re able to afford.” Jeremy said. “We don’t know how long it’ll take to find the jewels, so we have to but up with a cheap hotel room. The place is a nice resort from what the Internet had to say. We just can’t afford any thing better.”

“Is this where the jewels were stolen?” Yumi asked.

“No, but we’ll be working where they were.”

“Why don’t we go there now?” Ulrick asked. “Check the place out, see if XANA pulls any thing tonight…”

Flora’s POV:

“So…if our problem is at the Empire Ball room, why are we here?” I asked. “It’s not like we have nothing better to do. We need to find out where those jewels are.”

“Well, XANA must have a thing for fine art.” Jeremy said as walked through the art gallery. “Besides, this gallery is part of a huge resort. If XANA knocks out the power here, it would impact a lot more people.”

“Yeh, ok…but shouldn’t Yumi & I be, like, rehearsing or some thing? We start working tonight!”

“Your cover is that you’re a show girl. I don’t think you’re in any show.”

“Well, there goes that dream.” Yumi said. “So much for fame & fortune…Where’s Ulrick?” she asked.

We turned back, & saw that he was staring at anther panting where the girls…weren’t very shy…

Yumi looked like she was about to slap him.

“You know what? Yumi & I will meet you in the gift shop.” I said. “You can take care of him…”

*^*^*^ That night *^*^*^

When Yumi & I entered the dressing rooms, we just stared at the amount of cloths there were.

“C’mon! If we’re show girls, we have to look like we’re working.” I said as I grabbed a dress. We were back stage, getting ready for our first night of work. The boys were stage hands. Our plan was simple: If or when the power went out, we were to make sure XANA didn’t pull any thing, with out blowing our cover.

 Some body knocked before opening the door. “Ah, Miss Yumi.”

The man walked towards us. “I’m Mr. Melton, but everybody around here calls me Danny. I mange everything about the performances. I see you’ve managed to find your costume all right. You’re on in 20 minutes for your Lee Ann Rimes number.” 

We followed him to the wings where he left us.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to sing!” Yumi whispered.

“Well, given your outfit, I’d say it’s “Nothing Better to Do.” It was a hit last summer.”

“I don’t know it!”

“Is your mike on?” 

“What?” 

“Is your mike on?” 

“No…”

 “Give it to me. I’ll sing for you. I know it by heart.” 

Yumi looked worried. “Are you sure?”

 “Yes.” I said. “Just try to move your lips to my words.”

Flora’s POV:

“Given what Ulrick told us, I can see why we want to keep an eye on Danny.” Yumi said as she picked the lock to his office. “I just don’t know how your alarm clock will help.”

The power went out last night while Yumi was singing. Danny had been standing near Ulrick when the power went out, & then ran as soon as it went black. Ulrick chased him with his flash light, but lost him. When the power came on, he was no where to be fond.

“It’s not my alarm clock.” I said. “After I moved to France, I prepared myself for stuff like this. There’s actually a little camera in it, & Jeremy can access it from his lap top.”

Yumi got the door open. “All right, let’s do this quickly.”

^*^*^*Later^*^*^*

Danny came in with a full case of beer. He put it next to all his empty bottles. He started to pace, like he was waiting for some thing.

Flora’s POV:

“There!” I said. Yumi, Ulrick, Jeremy & I followed Danny into the carnival.

“Don’t follow so closely.” Ulrick said. “No need to revel ourselves yet. Keep a low profile, & let him take us directly to his base.”

“Right.” I said & we slowed down to a walk. Danny got to a door, & went inside. We waited a few moments, & then hurried in behind him. He was gone.

“Now what?” Yumi asked.

“We go down.” Jeremy said, since all the door was was an entrance to a star case.

*^*^*^

“This must be it.” Jeremy said as we entered anther room. After we went all the way down, the lab was almost like a huge maze. We had yet to find any robots though, so we were hoping that they weren’t working yet.

This new room had a huge computer in it. We had struck gold.

“So, now’s the part where we kick XANA’s butt, right?” I asked. “Just tell me what to punch into this thing.” I began to fiddle with my necklace.

“Not so fast.” Jeremy said. “Flora, I want you stay back. Yumi & Ulrick will meet Od & Alita on the Replica.”

“What???” I asked. “But…I haven’t had time to train out of Lyoko, I don’t know what to do if Danny were to come back…”

“If they get things taken care of quickly, we won’t have to worry about him. We also should try to find these robots & destroy them.”

“Jeremy, Ulrick or I can do that. Flora’s getting better & better in Lyoko, she’s learning really quickly.” Yumi said.

“I know, but you both work well together, & I’m hoping we can get out of here before XANA finds us.”

“Too late.”

We looked toward the door where Danny was now standing. He shot a bolt of electricity at me, sending me flying backward into a wall. Jeremy sent Yumi & Ulrick to the Replica as I lay there, to dizzy to stand. I herd Jeremy scream as he was attacked.

There was a metal bar next to me. I tried to stand, & hit Danny on the back of the head with it. What a pervert, I couldn’t believe some body as nice as him had worked for XANA.

“Thanks.” Jeremy said as he caught his breath. “You saved my life.”

“Don’t thank me until we’re safe.” I said. “We need to destroy that robot army, & fast. Am I right?”

Yumi’s POV:

Is there no end to these Hornets???

We were in a Replica of the Mountain Sector, & XANA kept sending swarm after swarm to keep us busy. We were trying to move fast, but XANA made it impossible. Alita was shot down after every time she tried to fly. We tried to divert them, but it was no use.

I hope Jeremy & Flora are having better luck than we are.

*^*^*^

Flora’s POV:

I hope the others are having better luck. Danny was right on our heels, & Jeremy & I had gotten lost during the chase. Eventually, he pulled me into a dark room, where we stayed very quiet. Danny ran past us, thinking he had us. Jeremy closed the door.

“I wonder where we are now.” I quickly fond the light switch.

“Oh…wow…” I said. We had fond the army. They didn’t seem to be working, but we were careful any way.

“I see the control panl.” Jeremy whispered. “If we can get up there, I might be able to reprogram them not to destroy everything.” We walked towards the front of the room. All of a sudden, they came to life.

“I’m thinking that this isn’t good.” I said.

“I’m thinking that you’re right.”

*^*^*^

As we ran out into the hall, Danny stepped right in front of us. We were trapped!

Suddenly, the robots stopped moving. XANA left Danny’s body & he fell. Jeremy & I managed to catch him before his head hit the floor.

“Thanks, Alita.” Jeremy said as he helped me lay Danny on the floor.

Flora’s POV:

I lend against the banister & looked out at the city. After defeating XANA last night, Jeremy booked us a flight back tomorrow morning. The others were inside packing, but since I never really unpacked, I was done. Besides, I couldn’t help feeling bad about what happened with Jeremy.

Jeremy knocked on the sliding door, scaring the crap out of me.

“Flora?” Jeremy said as he stood beside me. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, but…I…Look, I’m sorry for giving you a hard time.” I said. “I really had no right to question you. You have much more experience, & I…”

“It’s ok.” Jeremy said. “Really. It’s just…what Willem did…he just freaked us all out. To think that a Warrior had betrayed us like that…”

“Well, I’m not Willem.” I said. “Do you really think that I would beg my dad to put me in boarding school just to stab you in the back? I don’t know how much harder I have to work to prove that.”

“Nobody’s comparing you to Willem. Trust is just…some thing that takes a while to build.”

“I know.” I said. “But…what do I have to do, Jeremy? I’m so clue less!”

“Just do your best. That’s all we can ask of you. Besides, you’re making a lot of progress.”

Jeremy paused. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea by keeping you here, & you’re right, I suppose I let the past influence me. But, you saved my life. Willem would never have done that.”

“I guess.”

“Well, there is some thing I trust you to help me with.” he said. “You see, when she was in Tokyo, Alita brought some thing home for me, & I…uh…” He blushed as he tried to finish his sentence.

“It’s ok, I get it.” I said. “Let’s go back to the art gallery. I saw some posters there that are kinda cheap. I bet she’d love it.”

“You think?”

“Dude…I’m her room mate. If you give her some thing, she’ll totally love it, just because it’s from you.”

I guess things will be ok after all. I love my life!!!

Hi! I’m so glad you’ve red this far in the series! I don’t have that much stuff to talk about, plot wise, so let’s get started!

*^*^*^ Country Music References *^*^*^

Ok, so all of knew about how Yumi would have sang “Nothing Better to Do” by Lee Ann Rimes. But, country fans would have also noticed the title. “I Got My Game On.” Is by Trace Adkins, & if you haven’t seen the video, I suggest finding it on You Tube. It’s 1 of the best videos ever!

*^*^*^ Your Questions *^*^*^

Well, nobody left us any. So I guess we’ll just move on…

*^*^*^ The Next Story *^*^*^

Well, I got a review that you wanted more, so Flora will live on! I might take a week off, just to get my thoughts together so I can figure out how I want to start it, but there are a few things I’m pretty sure of that I can tell you right now. It will be K+, just like Sunrise. It will most likely be called When the Sun Goes Down. I will also try to make Flora more accepted in the group. Now that Jeremy finally accepts her, there shouldn’t be much drama…

What am I saying? She in jr. high! Of course there’s gong to be drama…