Lost Protecting Slovenia: The Joke's On You

02, When Northern Lights Are Dancing

"Wait... What?" Žiga raised his voice.

"I got a voicemail from Gale, warning us..." Filip trailed off. Everyone gasped.

"You... You can't be serious!" Gašper trembled.

"I wish I was kidding....." Filip trembled. He knew what happened last time. Some days, he could still feel the burns from the electric shock from three months ago. He shivered as he thought back to when their entire country was in danger.

"There's no way we can do tonight's gig! Sherman might come for us when we least expect it!" Žiga cried out.

"We can't just cancel the gig! This show is very important to Joker Out! They'd be devastated if we had to postpone or cancel!" Mark trembled.

"You think that's more important than our safety? You know how Sherman is!" Zala raised her voice.

"I don't think that!... I just don't want to hurt Joker Out.." Mark sighed.

"Well we have to do something! We can't just stay here like sitting ducks, waiting for Sherman to come for us again. We have to hide!" Gašper trembled..

"Gašper's right. We may have won last time, but that was because of Gale. If she wouldn't have shot that tranquilizer dart at Sherman, or saved Filip, Slovenia probably wouldn't even be a country right now!" Žiga sighed. That was when Alexander, the manager for LPS, burst into the room.

"Guys... We have a major problem." He cried.

"We know... Sherman's coming for us.." Filip trembled.

"Not that.... It's Joker Out! Their van's tire is popped and none of the members are in there!" Alexander cried. Everyone gasped.

"So Sherman is trying to get to us by involving Joker Out???" Gašper cried.

"We have to find them!" Filip cried.

"No! We have to hide! Let the authorities handle this!" Zala raised her voice.

"What are the authorities going to do? Sherman clearly will stop at nothing! If it's a fight he wants, it's a fight he's going to get!" Filip said, determined.

"Filip, need I remind you that this was the very idea you had three months ago when we first dealt with Sherman?" Žiga asked.

"And we beat him that time! We can do it again!" Filip raised his voice.

"Fičo, don't even think about it! I've lost you once. I'm not losing you again!" Zara began to cry. Filip took a step back. He didn't even stop to think about how Zara felt in that moment when she thought that Filip was gone forever. Filip took a deep breath.

"Zara, you don't need to worry.... No matter what happens, I promise you it's for the best." Filip smiled at Zara.

Zara held her breath. She knew that Filip really wanted to save Joker Out, but she also didn't want to lose the love of her life in the process.

"Fičo, there's no way we can save Joker Out on our own!" Žiga sighed.

"Žiga, we saved the entire country of Slovenia! We can save our friends for sure!" Filip reminded Žiga.

"Are you sure we have what it takes?" Gašper asked.

"I'm certain that we have what it takes!" Filip said confidently.

"Okay then... Does anyone want to object?" Zala asked. The room was filled with awkward silence.

"Well then, I guess it's a plan. First things first, we should check out the van and see if we can find any clues from Sherman or Joker Out." Zala suggested.

"Good idea." Žiga replied. Everyone then got in the car and left for the scene. The wind was hostile, so everyone knew they had to dress in their winter clothes. When they arrived at the scene, Filip noticed the popped tire and the van, (which had been in the ditch). Everyone gasped at the events right in front of them

"Sherman did this??" Gašper asked in a condescending tone.

"I guess so..." Zala trembled. Filip slowly walked towards the vehicle to look for clues. Zara cried out for him.

"Fičo, be careful! Don't fall on the ice" Zara called down from above.

"I know what I'm doing, don't worry." Filip called from the ditch. He rummaged through the stuff in the van. That's when Filip noticed a corner of a paper that was sticking out from under the seat. Curious, he pulled it out. What he found shocked him.

"Guys! I found an address!" Filip cried.

"Wait, seriously??" Zala asked. Filip ran up the hill out of the ditch, showing everyone the note.

"235 Bjorn Ave, Oslo, Norway." Filip read the address.

"Damn. How could Sherman be so careless to drop something as important as an address at a crime scene?" Gašper laughed to himself.

"I don't know..." Filip responded.

"Hold on, I remember seeing that address somewhere. Bjorn Avenue was where Keiino will be performing tomorrow!" Mark announced. Žiga's eyes lit up.

"Will we get to meet Keiino???" Žiga asked at a rapid pace.

"I don't know for sure, but even if we do, we have a mission, and that is to save Joker Out before Sherman does the unthinkable!" Filip reminded Žiga. Not even that could stop Žiga from getting slightly jittery and excited. Žiga is a huge Eurovision fan, so meeting Keiino would be a huge honor for him.

"Well it looks like we're going to Norway then?" Zala asked.

"Actually, it might just be you guys... I'm kind of prohibited from leaving Slovenia because my mom was so mad at me for following you guys last time." Zara sighed. "But I will do my best to help you from afar."

"Thanks, babe." Filip smiled. Zara pulled him into a hug.

"Fičo, please promise me that you'll be as careful as you can be. Don't do anything stupid.... I don't want to lose you again." Zara trembled.

"I promise you, Zara. I will save Joker Out, and I will come back home alive... I promise!" Filip smiled slightly.

"Uh, guys? If we want to catch a flight to Norway, we have to leave as soon as we can. Let's see if we can catch a flight for tomorrow." Zala said, breaking the love-fest between Zara and Filip.

"Oh, right." Filip chuckled. The two unwrap each other from the hug, and everyone began to get back into the car and drive off to their house. Once there, everyone went to their separate rooms. Gašper plopped his stuff down on his bed and sighed. All he could think about was Zala. How she was feeling about the situation, how he saw her getting close with Žiga.

Does Zala love Žiga? He thought to himself. He couldn't get that thought out of his head. He and Žiga didn't have that much in common, so if Zala liked Žiga, she wouldn't like Gašper..

Oh, Zala. You are my angel. You know that, don't you? Gašper thought to himself as he turned off the light in his bedroom, buried himself under the covers, and fell asleep.