Thank you to Luiz4200, futureauthor13, and Josie Mayrean for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome! Now, some notes.

Josie Mayrean: I will keep fluffiness out of my fanfic. Fluffiness would get in the way of the complete randomness, but thank you for your inquiry. As to the other questions, smoothies will play a minor role. However, "Peanut butter jelly time!" will play a larger role.

futureauthor13: Thank you!

Luiz4200: Thank you! In response to your question, not quite…


The Grading of the Tree Houses, the Reward, and the Challenge

In an Iowan forest near Muscatine-

Gwen, Trixie, and Sam watched the sunset.

"You know, Claire was right," Sam said to Gwen. "That is a beautiful sunset." Gwen and Trixie nodded their heads in agreement.

The boys were working on their tree houses frantically, to busy to even bother enjoying the sunset.


At night-

The boys were still working, and the girls had climbed onto the roof of their tree house to examine the night sky. The threesome gave simultaneous gasp as a shooting star zoomed across the sky.

"You know, I've never really seen so many stars," Trixie said quietly.

"Or so many constellations," Gwen agreed.

"Or even the Andromeda Galaxy and Venus," Sam added. Venus was near the horizon, brighter than any of the stars, and a golden yellow.

"Yes, the night sky is beautiful," a voice said next to them. All three turned. It was Claire.

"At Lake Odessa, the constellations show as easily as if you are standing next to them," she continued. "Even in the heart of Muscatine, you can see the Big and Little Dippers, as well as many of the major constellations. See that?" she asked pointing to a group of stars that formed a W. "That's Queen Cassiopeia. Nearby or are the King, and her daughter, Andromeda." Then she disappeared with a small pop.


The next day-

The girls woke up to the sounds of the boys arguing. They still hadn't finished. The girls climbed down the ladder. There was a loud BANG!

"Good morning, everyone!" Claire chirruped. The boys stared at her, circles under their eyes.

"Now, I will grade your tree houses!" Claire walked around the clearing, examinging the houses.

"Okay, Heroes, first," she muttered to herself as she looked at a clipboard in her hand. She examined everything, from the lopsided wall to the half finished roof.

"Tsk tsk tsk," she said, clicking her tongue and shaking her head. "Horrible. ½ out of 5." She wrote it down on her clipboard, and then waved her hand. The tree house immediately became perfect. The Heroes stared at her. Claire went on to the Sidekicks.

"Hmm, all four walls up, roof three quarters up, and a tire swing. No floor, though. 3 out of 5. I liked your tire swing," she told the Sidekicks, waving her hand and fixing the tree house. She walked over the Girls.

"Perfect tree house, 5 out of 5," she told them, marking it down on her clipboard. "I like your pulley system." She waved her hand.

"Go look inside now." The Girls did so. Soon Gwen stuck her head out the window.

"Appliances!" The boys stared at Claire, who shrugged. Trixie stuck her head out next.

"Stocked cupboard!" Sam stuck her head out.

"TV!"

The boys were now glaring at Claire, who shrugged again.

"That was the reward. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go prepare the challenge for the Heroes." She disappeared with a poof. The boys went to explore their fixed tree houses. When they did, they noticed that there were only the bare necessities.

"This is all your fault!" shouted Danny.

"No, this is your fault, ghost boy!" Jake shouted back.

"If it isn't your fault, Dragon Kid, then it's E.T.'s!" Danny screamed, looking at Ben.

"WHAT?"

"If you had spent more time gathering supplies than trying to find a way out of here, we would have at least been better than the Sidekicks!" Jake shouted, turning on Ben as well.

"You WANTED me to find a way out! I kept on saying that we had to work on our tree house, but NO, you wanted me to WASTE MY TIME!" Ben hollered.

"STOP YELLING IN ALL CAPITALS!" Danny yelled at Ben.

The Sidekicks were glad that they had gotten extra points because of the tire swing. They only had one question.

"Where's the bathroom?" Spud asked lazily.

"We're in a forest, dude," replied Tucker, who was playing Pac-Man on his PDA.

"How many of those do you have?" Kevin asked Tucker.

"I only brought a few of my total. Just three." Kevin stared at Tucker, awestruck.

"So, does this Claire girl check out?" he asked, shaking off his awe.

"Yep. Not only does she check out, but she's a kid genius. She's thirteen, and has been accepted by a national wide program. Only ten people were chosen last year. She's also in ninth grade, taking two tenth grade classes and one with eleventh graders. Reads a lot, loves science, and writes poetry. She's won a few contests, including one state wide. She's won the local science fair last year and got 2nd place before that. The category she was in last year was also the largest one." Tucker let out an impressed whistle. "She's cool."

"I wonder if she's got a boyfriend," Spud said idly.

"Have you forgotten about Stacey?" Trixie asked. She had come down from the tree house.

"I'm back!" sang Claire as she reappeared in the clearing with a poof. A stage with a curtain draped over had appeared with her.

"Time for the Hero Challenge!"


A few minutes later-

"Okay, first I must ask you all this. Do you want to join the Dark Side?" Emma asked.

The Heroes shook their heads.

"Well, we have cookies."

The Heroes suddenly stopped mid shake and began to nod.

"Good. Before you join the Dark Side, however, you must prove your loyalty. I decided that a mere obstacle course was not enough, so your challenge is this!" Emma pulled a golden chord with a likewise golden tassel on the end. The curtain on the stage rose, to reveal:

Three plates piled and heaped high with pancakes. There were three chairs behind them, and syrup and butter next to each plate. The Heroes stared, aghast.

"Pancake eating contest!" Emma crowed.


After the pancake eating contest-

"We have a winner!" Emma shouted, holding Ben's hand high. His belly was bloated, as was Jake's and Danny's.

"You all get cookies, but the winner gets to be leader of your group." Ben managed a smug look in Jake and Danny's direction.

"Thank you, now you can go back to your tree house to recuperate!" Emma clapped her hands, and the Heroes disappeared.

"Those were gluten-free pancakes. I'm surprised they ate so many," Emma told the Sidekicks and Girls, shaking her head in surprise.

"Now, your challenge is different. Both teams must compete in a special contest I designed. It's called: Game On!"


Who thinks Tucker's going to win? Go on, raise your hands.