Skorm

How that storm hit me while I was outside. I put up my arm to shield myself from the rain as I trudged through the muddy snow. Having almost no idea how in the world I pulled myself out in this winter mess in the first place, I screamed internally and ran as fast as I could.

Suddenly, I stopped.

Why was I running from rain? It's just water from the sky. Although each drop punched me like AJHQ sometimes did to my face with some random update or IG post, it's just stupid water. And lightning? I wasn't near anything that could attract lightning. I'd barely even seen a bolt strike through the dark, angry sky, so why be afraid it would strike me? Thunder. It's just noise. Just the shouts of this thunderstorm screaming at the earth.

I looked up and threw a few empty punches at the sky.

Another slash of lightning zipped through the clouds and almost trickled down like blood, while an angry scream of thunder (probably of agony) followed no more than a second later.

"Don't try to scare me like that next time!" I screamed to the sky, adjusting my glasses. I stuck a smile on my face and walked nonstop for what seemed no more than 20 minutes but was actually about three hours.

Realizing that it was 5:00 and also having nothing better to do, I decided, why not go on Animal Jam. I hadn't logged on for a few days, anyway.

Username, Skorm. Password, I'll never tell.

This account has been permanently banned from Animal Jam and cannot login.


Aparri

I looked out the window. The rain was pouring down dreadfully as if the raindrops were unhappy that the clouds were letting go of them. Another five minutes, though, and it seemed it would completely extinguish hell.

I let my mind wander back to what I'd told AJHQ about. I'd been a bit suspicious about Skorm's actions lately and I found random Animal Jam items on eBay that could have been linked to him. As far as I knew, selling in-game items for real money was way against the rules. I had no way of knowing if AJHQ had read my email to them yet. It seemed the answer would have to wait until something either was done or they replied.

But even though they treated me well, AJHQ was stubborn about a lot of stuff. Sometimes, they don't give you a straight answer in their emails, sometimes they pull glitches or pranks on you, other times they leave you with a question that you just can't answer.

That question, right now, was - had I done the right thing?

I turned away from the depressing window. If only it was snowing instead of raining. Rain? In December? Life is messed up.

I was sure Skorm was selling items on eBay. Or at least, I was pretty sure. He'd done bad things, but I know I've probably done worse. I'd gotten another chance as Aparri, as who I am now. I've reached, what, 300,000 subscribers? Skorm is almost at 100,000, and he'd gained lots of popularity over the years. I've gotten more hate and been thrown at more drama than I'd like dealing with, but hey - you can't be a YouTuber without getting hate sometimes. Drama and hate are both parts of life. An Animal Jam life. I get huge hate now and then, yet there hadn't been huge drama in years, and I wouldn't want to see it return.

But if Skorm was banned…

Sighing, I tried to shake those worries off my shoulders. If Skorm was banned because AJHQ had discovered he was really selling items, then, of course, it would be for a good reason. If Skorm found out that I was the one who told AJHQ about him selling items in the first place, nothing but drama would spring up.

Turning to the computer, I whipped my fingers on the keyboard this way and that, and I was logged onto Animal Jam. Since I was curious about Skorm at the moment, I decided I'd look him up and try and see if I could find out about other stuff.

Find a Buddy. Skorm.

That Jammer couldn't be found!


Skorm

It took my mind a while to register what had just happened. I was banned? For what? I'd done bad things, but nothing that bad, had I? AJHQ couldn't have found out I was selling items...could they? I didn't think they were allowed to snoop around you that well.

Unless someone told AJHQ. But who could that be? I thought about the people who could have done this. There was WisteriaMoon, but she wasn't a sort of person who would tell AJHQ about something bad someone was doing. There was Julian2...but he wasn't one of those people, either. There was Snowyclaw, but she was almost part of AJHQ, so she wasn't a possibility. Bepper? No...she's pretty much Skepper with me and she'd never do that, as long as she knew that I kind of already have a girlfriend and I don't like her as much as I say I do...

Aparri?

He was a person who never cared about another player's actions. Even though he was a bit of snitch sometimes, Aparri wouldn't be someone who could tell AJHQ about something another person was doing. Then again, Aparri was sneaky. He had secret ways of stalking and getting random information that was only confirmed by AJHQ months later. He had ways of getting people's attention. He had ways of making AJHQ listen and captivating future subscribers. He was...okay. He wasn't bad, though not the best.

An hour later I was still pondering over this. More information was thrown from the screen into my face within each second that passed. After ten minutes, I was far too shocked to say anything at all. It wasn't just me that was banned, it was also five or six other Jammers. MakeItHappen21, TypicalRocky, and...Jurshy? Maybe more? I hadn't heard anything else that night.

I looked at the clock. 5:59.

Picking up my phone, I scrolled through Instagram. Strange, I thought. Now all the AJ posts are about Aparri banning someone..?

That was when I saw who Aparri so-called "banned".

S-K-O-R-M.

That news slapped me harder than AJHQ ever did. If every last speck of my hatred at the moment towards that damn Aparri was a tiny little rock raining down to the world from outer space, planet earth itself would collapse to nothing. I could feel the shock and anger springing up all through me. Banned by Aparri? I didn't see how this was possible, but if that was that, then I didn't care.

Calm down, Skorm, I told myself. You know how much people hate and abhor Aparri. They do random stuff to him all the time and you shouldn't believe it all. Aparri wasn't someone you ever liked that much from the start, but what's the world without Aparri? Go ahead and ask him. Chill.

Hands shaking as if I did something wrong someone would kill me, I quickly sent a message to Aparri asking him about this whole deal. I felt shocked and angry, but who was to believe a bunch IG posts?

Did you ban me?

Thirty seconds.

I told AJHQ about you selling items, does that count?

That was when I screamed at the top of my lungs.


Clark

These past 6 ½ years my mind has all been on Animal Jam. Thinking about how to make the game better. Handling bad Jammers. Fixing annoying glitches. Doing whatever AJHQ and I could to satisfy the players. The road to now had been quite rough. Sometimes drained out of ideas for updates, Jammers disgusted by the utterly strange things we release, and more, but what can you do about it? Not every game can be perfect. I recently discovered that players who enjoy a game don't bother to give it a rating, whereas people who don't like the same game will bother to give it a bad rating.

Turning to the row of computers, I randomly hit a bunch of keys. There goes the game, which 90% of players love and 9% hate and 1% who don't have an opinion. Pulling away, I started walking over to the rest of the team until there was a shatter and a chorus of screaming.

I felt myself getting pulled back by a strange force. There was almost no sound, but I took one glance at the computer and screamed so loud that I swore my vocal cords would snap.

The screen was dark purple, the screen shattered, and the computer was jumping around like it was mad at me. There was some white force sucking me in.

Was I about to go inside the computer? Had I hit some random key combination that made it do something like this? I shook my head, thinking, This can't be happening. Computers can't do this. Just walk away, Clark Stacey. Walk. Away.

Attempting to walk away, I quickly strut out of the room and slammed the door, breathing heavily. Should I tell the others about this? Maybe, maybe...no. They'd never believe me. They'd just think I'd gone crazy.

But while pondering over this, I grew unaware of the fact that the door was suddenly missing. Looking behind me, I saw that the screen was now showing a purple and Animal Jam-ized Blue Screen of Death...or more like a Phantom Screen of Death.

The last thing I remembered that day was hitting my head on the computer.


Sir Gilbert

(Inside Animal Jam)

"This way. Look, if we don't take this way, the phantoms will already take over Jamaa. I don't know what's happened, but it looks like we're trapped. We can't go anywhere else."

"Says who? Why not this path? That way, we can sneak up on the phantoms and they'll never notice."

"That is utterly stupid, Greely."

"Your choices are much dumber than mine."

"I didn't say you were dumb, I said you were stupid."

"Dumb and stupid mean the same thing, do you not know that, Sir Gilbert?"

I scowled. Turning away, I looked down at Jamaa. The phantoms were reaching the outside of it, and they were after Mira's Feather. If it was taken out of its place...there wouldn't be any chance left to save Jamaa. At least the phantoms would die off, but what about all of us?

I was just thinking how stupid Greely was until I heard a crash and a scream.

"Who's there?" Greely shouted, spinning around. But there was nobody else in sight - not a single Jammer or phantom to be seen. Confused, I looked around and nearly dropped dead at the sight.

Over in the mountains, where Mira's Feather was, a purple whirlpool shape was hovering over it and all the Jammers were screaming. Suddenly, they all fled, and then there was silence. Greely and I just stood there in shock, unaware of what just happened. There were two possibilities of what was going on: the phantoms were coming and they wanted the feather or Jamaa had crashed again.

Then the sky shattered, and there was chaos.

We screamed.


Aparri

I froze. Skorm had really dared to ask me such a question? He'd really expected I'd give him a straight answer? How come he doesn't just email AJHQ now and then? It would be a whole heck easier than trying to force information out of me. Everyone knows how stubborn I am, and it isn't the easiest thing to do, getting all that stuff out of me.

With quivering hands, I quickly responded that I had told AJHQ about him selling items on eBay.

Another second whizzed by and random things were slapping me in the face as if they were being pulled at me with an electromagnetic force. I ducked out of the way, and then I started getting dragged...towards the computer.

I screamed, not knowing what was going on. The computer...was it dying? I'd barely heard anything, but now the screen was purple and it was jumping around like it had gone bananas. I attempted to dash out of the collapsing room before I literally died with it, but it was no use.

I was now pressed against the computer, trying in vain to pull off of it. I probably looked completely ridiculous...and the world started spinning, though I felt exactly the same.

Then I heard Bepper shriek. Was this same thing happening to her? Or...or had she seen me in the random mess I shouldn't be in?

Worst of all, was this happening to all the players of Animal Jam?


Skorm

That scream I let out must really have cracked the glass.

And screen.

"What in the world is going on?!" I screeched at the computer. "Why are you sucking me in?!" Trying to run away, I was both shocked, confused, and angry at the same time. This was all a nightmare, a horrible nightmare. Aparri was such a screwup, such a bother, such an idiot. Now, what was he doing? He'd banned me and he still wasn't satisfied?

I inhaled deeply. Three seconds later, I was running for my life.

Or should I say, running forward yet going towards the computer, which was behind me. I must look as idiotic as Aparri always is, aimlessly trying to bolt forward yet moving backward.

Scowling, I grabbed on to whatever I could. Pictures. Pencils. Boxes. Books. Even the wall, which was also getting sucked in by the strange force of the computer. Oh, all I had done was scream, I hadn't done anything else. This must be some sort of Aparri's suspicious actions. What was he doing? Trying to get me stuck inside a computer so I'm gone from the world? If this was a crazy dream, I couldn't bring up a single clue about what could possibly have triggered it.

Stop running, my mind said, It's no use. If this is something having to do with Aparri, he's probably just trying to scare you. Computers can't suck things into them or jump around on their own.

So I stood still, digging my feet into the ground.

Which was likely a bad idea.


Bepper

Screaming, I held on to the desk of my life. I didn't dare look behind me. Papers were flying in my face and I couldn't see a thing. I needed help. Now. Right now.

"James - er, Jim? I mean, Aparri? MOM? Help me!" I screamed. "Help! Someone help, please! The computer's sucking me in and I know that sounds stupid but I don't care because that's what's happening!"

Nobody came. I didn't even hear a single thing.

I gingerly cranked my head to look behind me, and as the paper got sucked off of me, my eyes nearly fell off of my face. Random things were spinning around in a dark purple pool of nothing and it was getting louder by the second, which was strange because when it started, there was no sound. No sound at all.

Then I heard screaming. Lots and lots of loud screaming. It sounded annoyingly like a Screaming Choir of Jammers, though not just Jammers. Also Alphas, even though I've never heard their voice, and also AJHQ? And Animal Jam YouTubers like me?

What was going on? Was I not the only one? I heard, Skorm was banned, but what else? Had AJHQ made some horrible coding mistake? What could possibly have caused this to happen? Maybe Windows was messing up again and decided to suck me in because it was angry I never fixed the computer. There were never that many problems there, though, were there?

I never thought in my life I'd had to scream for help like this, especially when getting sucked in by a computer. Never.


Pharrell

(Inside Animal Jam)

"What?!" the king screamed. "You let that damn group of losers escape? With the feather? AGAIN?!"

I gulped, still quivering, as I tried to keep myself up. "Sir, uh...I couldn't do anything. They'd have trapped me otherwise, and...we can always try another way to get the feather back, you know? I mean, just chasing them the aggressive way isn't going to - "

That was when he smacked me on the head.

I ducked down to the side as he glared at me. Though I was a phantom (a stupid one, to be more exact) and I was immune to sharp hits like that, they still hurt, and they scared me, Phaelyn, and little Phil quite as much. I'd have to get out of this place soon. If only I could take on a more Jammer-like form instead of this weird thing that everyone's scared of…

"I'd rather have you trapped in that chomper plant and dead instead of here at the moment," the king growled. "You do understand the only reason why I still keep you here with us is because I can't risk having more phantoms join the Losers, am I correct? Shall I get the others?"

I froze. "N-n-no, please," I said, almost like a surrendering idiotic Jammer. "I will get that Mira's Feather back to you, I will! Just give me another chance!"

He only threw me against the wall. It was all I could do not to scream.

"I have given you too many chances," he whispered. "Therefore, I will not - wait, what? What's that? Who's there?!"

The king spun around, unleashing a wave of purple evilness in the process. I peeked from behind him, trying to see what was going on. The entire fortress had suddenly erupted into complete chaos.

I jumped up, rapidly looking around. Had some sneaky Jammer caught up to us and started breaking the fortress again? Were we moving again? Were we -

"Pharrell, what are you waiting for?! GET MOVING AND GET THEM! Wait, hold on - why is there purple? In the sky?" The massive phantom's voice fell down into a whisper - so quiet I could barely hear him - and he stood there, gaping at the sky. "Holy Zios, I don't believe I'm capable of doing that, actually…!"

Other phantoms zoomed this way and that way, and I saw the world tilting. Random things - some sort of extraterrestrial things - were falling from that strange swirling whirlpool of purple dread. Where were they coming from? Why were they -

My thoughts were cut off with a sharp edge when I heard screaming...strange screaming, of some sort of animal that I've never heard of. It almost sounded like my own screaming. The next thing I knew, something shiny dropped from the top of the mountain.

Mira's Feather! It had fallen out of his place!

I knew this was my chance to prove everyone wrong, that I was a good phantom who could attack and help and rule one day. I would be able to do everything once I've gotten that feather and handed it over to the king and -

"Help!"

Phaelyn?! Where was she? Rushing to the side, jumping over falling debris, and shoving past phantoms, I hoped she hadn't gotten crushed by something, oh, not Phil either...the screaming and the sickening sounds of phantoms getting crushed were so..ugh. I had to find my wife and my son before those two fell to their fate!


Julian2

I wasn't usually scared of heights.

They didn't scare me that much. I mean, so what? If I fall, I'd turn my head and get knocked unconscious so I wouldn't feel any pain until I wake up. And...if anything else happened, I'd just hope I could say goodbye to my beans before dying. I had one rule: don't think about heights when you're high up from the ground.

But right now, this was an exception.

I didn't know where I was going. I had fallen through some random dark purple computer screen, now I was still falling through purple, and I swear I almost felt myself evolving. I was simply falling...falling...falling...falling...to nowhere, it seemed. Through a completely endless purple nothing.

Screaming like beans, I was spinning around aimlessly in the air and flapping my arms like the baked bean who wanted to fly. I saw random items from my room and my house and outside and even items I've never seen before in my life. At the moment, I didn't care if I suddenly died or if I was never to be seen again. I just didn't want to be the only one.

Then something else flew past me. A streak of brown, pink, a little bit of purple, and light brown, accompanied by a female sort of a scream.

Oh, no, I thought. Please don't be who I think it is. Give me someone else, please…

Then the figure appeared next to me again. And she became clear.

WisteriaMoon.

It looks like she's the one stuck with me now. Sorry, Aparri. Hey, that rhymed.

But now wasn't the time to think about what rhymed and what didn't. Now was the time to think about how to get out of here. I tried "swimming" to what seemed like the edge of this purple mess, but there was no edge. Just an illusion.

"Uh...Wisteria? WisteriaMoon? What's going on?" I tried shouting.

WisteriaMoon immediately shut up from the screaming and she shrugged. Then, all of a sudden, she started screaming again.

Then something - another random thing - of magenta and white - whizzed past me, accompanied by a more high pitched scream this time.

Was that Bepper? Or was I hallucinating?

Then there was a streak of...of what? Random. More screaming and maybe even cursing and swearing...

Then a streak of red and another scream.

Then blue and another scream as well.

Then something fuzzy and black, but with some sort of whine.

I hadn't had time to think about where that whine came from until everyone became level and it came clear as to what was falling from above. No, it wasn't some other colored object or something else.

It was Bepper, Aparri, Skorm, Snowyclaw, and...Clark Stacey? What was going on? Why was this happening? Especially the fact that we were here, and not some other random group of Jammers. Also, why Clark? Why not someone else? Was this punishment? Was I dreaming?

That was when I saw a black dog - almost like the black ball of fuzz that fell earlier with a whine - glaring at me with red eyes. I gasped, but nobody else seemed to notice it. I cocked my head at the dog and it immediately seemed to gasp and disappear. Why wasn't that dog spinning and screaming and falling? Why did she only look at me, and how come nobody else noticed?

This could not happen in real life. At the moment, I closed my eyes and joined in the screaming again. I didn't care about anything else right now. All I cared about was that if I had known this was to happen, I never would have joined Animal Jam in the first place.


A/N: I think this is coming off to a good start. I might not be posting regularly though, so make sure you stay tuned for more updating!