Chapter 4: Trouble Brewing On Level 2

'The team has successfully completed level 1 and has moved on to level 2. What awaits them there?'

With the scrap metal pieces from Discardia being swept into the data stream of the game, the binary code is continuing to build up with the outline of a figure being made. The last of the scrap metal now enters the stream with the outline of the figure becoming complete. With the streaming complete, the binary code forms into a tall, statuesque figure wearing black slacks, a white shirt, and a long black coat. The appearance of the figure has blonde hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. His overall appearance is quite handsome.

The figure begins looking himself over as well as his surroundings.

"Where am I?" He asks, continuing to look around. "What is this place?"

Continuing to look around, he now spots the data stream coming in and notices the source it is coming from, which is the Northern Frontier. Seeing that, he now gains a grin.

"The Northern Frontier." He says, continuing to grin deviously. "If the stream is coming in from the Northern Frontier, then I must be back in cyberspace, but this place doesn't look anything like the Northern Frontier, at least not from what I can remember. Well it's no matter, I'm back and it's time to have a little fun."

Walking over to the stream, he holds out his hands. Concentrating on the stream, the data stream now builds up two tall, stocky and built figures that quickly form into identical Cyclops with cavemen clubs. Seeing what was created, the figure smiles.

"Perfect." He says as he rubs his hands together. "Now that I am back, just what can I do to start my little celebration?"

Beginning to look around the area for possible ideas, he now spots the live video feed of Hacker's video game, featuring the kids as they talk amongst themselves at the start of level 2. Getting a closer look at the feed, an idea comes to him.

"Well, it looks as if I was brought back to life inside a video game." The figure speaks. "I guess I won't have to think too hard about what I need to do because it's all right in front of me. I've always wanted to be a video game master and now, I'll have my chance. I know exactly what stage of this game I'll be ruling on and if this game doesn't have an ending, I'll see to it I give it one."

Dragon Gates Level 2

Having entered through the gates to level 2, the team are trying to come up with a plan on how they are going to make it through level 2.

"Ok, we made it through level 1." Matt begins. "Barely, but we made it out. So what's the plan to get through this stage?"

"Before we make any moves, we first have to know what we're dealing with and get organized." Inez says. "So what do we know? We know that we are in a mythical video game called Dragon Gates and in these games, we are dealing with mythical creatures such as dragons, trolls, and such."

"Your point?" Slider asks, not understanding Inez's logic.

"My point is, this level is a dungeon and in mythical games such as these, what do levels like this one normally contain that will be helpful to us?" Inez continues.

"Well from the games I've played like this, dungeon stages contains treasure chests of supplies that we can use, spare weapons and clues on how we can get through the stage without losing a life." Matt answers.

"Great." Inez says. "Matt, I'm going to appoint you leader through this stage because you have the most knowledge on things such as these."

"So technically, I'm in charge once again, considering I am the leader of the cybersquad." Matt gloats. "You're the best Inez."

Giving Inez a peck on the cheek, he now wields his sword.

"Ok everyone, follow me." Matt says.

Taking a step forward, Matt now trips over a treasure chest and lands face first on the ground.

"And you chose him to be our leader?" Slider asks. "We'll be lucky to get out of here with only one life left with him in charge."

"Hey, what did I trip over?" Matt asks as he gets to his feet.

"A treasure chest!" Jackie cheers, eyeing the chest in front Matt's armored feet. "Maybe it contains more weapons."

"Only one way to find out." Slider says as he now opens the chest.

With the chest open, everyone notices what the treasure chest contains. There is one blue, red, and purple potion, spare daggers, and a few golden snelfu tokens.

"More weapons!" Jackie cheers as she picks up one of the daggers.

"Potions!" Inez cheers as well, now grabbing the potions.

"Snelfus tokens?" Slider asks in confusion as he picks up the coins. "How are these going to help us?"

"Hey, there's a note." Jackie notices, now grabbing the note out of the chest.

Reading it over, she finds out that the note contains instructions on how to use the supplies in the chest.

"What does it say?" Inez asks.

"It says that the blue potion is a healing potion, the purple potion is for strength and the red potion is a life potion." Jackie explains. "The snelfu coins are for buying weapons and needed supplies, and the daggers are extra. The next treasure chest is at the end of this stage near the entry to level 3."

"These supplies couldn't have come at a better time." Slider exclaims. "By the way Matt, you better hold on to the life potion. You'll be needing it more than any of us will."

"Very funny Slider." Matt replies as he rolls his eyes.

"Ok, now that we have our supplies, let's get through level 2." Jackie says.

Putting their supplies away, everyone begins on their way. While the team is continuing on their journey, they are unaware they are closely being watched and not just by hacker.

The Final Stage

On level 12, the final stage, the figure has set up his headquarters in the castle that closely resembles Dracula's Castle and is monitoring the team on the live video feed of the game. On each side of him are his Cyclops guards. Continuing to watch them, he notices how easy going the stage appears to be, which brings a devious grin to his face.

"It seems that they have it way too easy." He says as he begins stroking his chin in a thinking manner. "I guess I'm going to have to change that. After all, what's a video game without a few interesting and entertaining challenges?"

A transparent panel now appears in front of him as he hits a red button.

"Has anyone else noticed how easy this level is compared to level 1?" Jackie asks.

"You're right Jackie." Inez agrees. "This level is much easier then level 1."

Just then, huge spikes suddenly emerge from the ground along with buzz saws suddenly emerging from the ceiling and walls. Noticing this, the team stops dead in their tracks with Slider and Matt grabbing onto their girlfriends, protecting them.

"I spoke too soon." Jackie says, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Now what are we going to do? There is no way that we are going to make it through those things alive."

The buzz saws are spinning around in a circular up and down manner while the spikes are disappearing and emerging from ground. Inez notices the motions of both and gains an idea.

"Follow their patterns." Inez speaks up.

"Follow what patterns?" Slider asks, continuing to watch their possible doom.

"If you notice how each are moving, we can easily follow their patterns so we can make it around them." Inez clarifies. "Notice how the saws are moving in a circular up/down motion and the spikes are emerging and disappearing? If we watch them long enough and time their movements, we can easily make it around each and get to the other side."

"I see what you're saying." Matt replies. "So when one moves one way, the other will let us know it's movements as well so we know when to make our move. Brilliant Inez!"

Loosening his embrace from Inez, Matt now walks ahead of everyone.

"Matt, what are doing?" Slider asks, confused as to what the red head is thinking.

"I'm going to go first." Matt replies. "I will make it across first and then the rest of you follow behind me."

"That's not a good idea Matt." Inez protests. "We haven't gotten an accurate time for each pattern yet."

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Matt confidently replies to his girlfriend.

With the spike disappearing back into the ground, Matt takes one step forward, unaware that a buzz saw is heading his way. The buzz saw now hits Matt and makes him disappear.

"MATT!" Everyone yells.

The red head now reappears next to Inez as three hearts appear over him, indicating how many lives he has left.

"Hey, what just happened?" Matt questions in confusion. "Did I make it across?"

"No, you were hit by a buzz saw!" Inez replies, irritation flooding her tone. "You only have 3 lives left because you did what you always do, rush into things without thinking them through first! We have to time the movements of the saws and spikes so we can make it safely to the other side. No offense Matt, but I'll be taking over as leader from this point on."

Slider takes out the red life potion and hands it to Matt.

"Just in case." Slider says.

Matt grunts as he takes the potion in defeat.

Inez continues studying the patterns of the spikes and buzz saws, timing their motions. When the saws draw up, the spikes emerge and when the saws come down, the spikes withdraw. One minute to be exact between both.

"Ok everyone, I've got the pattern and the time." Inez announces. "When the saws draw up, the spikes emerge, but when the saws come down, the spikes withdraw. Each of their movements are exactly one minute apart. All we have to do is wait until each are clear and then we make our move."

"Great plan Inez." Slider congratulates her.

Taking notice of the saws and spikes, everyone sees the pattern that Inez pointed out. With that, the team begins making their way through the danger zone with Inez going first, Matt second, Jackie third and Slider last. Being on the other side, they all breathe a sigh of relief.

"So glad we made it through that death trap." Jackie says, releasing an exhausted sigh. "I thought we'd never make it."

"Well if it wasn't for my Inez's strategy, we wouldn't have made it." Matt says as he takes Inez in his arms. "What would we do without you Inez?"

"You'd be down to only one life." Inez replies with a sweet smile.

"At least the worst of it is over." Slider says.

Having said that, a swarm of flying dragons now enter the area with their screeching tearing through the air. Hearing their screeching, everyone looks up and notices the dragons heading right for them.

"It looks as if the worst is yet to come!" Matt says. "Those things are heading right for us!"

"When the going gets tough, the tough fights back!" Inez says determined as she wields her crossbow.

Grabbing three arrows, Inez positions them in the crossbow. Getting a lock on three of the dragons that are heading their way, she releases all three simultaneously. The arrows now hit the dragons, instantly destroying them.

Slider now grabs his sword and slings it towards one of the dragons. The sword stabs the dragon with his instantly vanishing. With that dragon gone, a boomerang is left behind.

"That dragon left behind a weapon." Matt points out.

Jackie eyes the boomerang and quickly grabs it. With a dragon heading straight for her, she quickly sends the boomerang in its direction. The boomerang now comes in contact with dragon, destroying it. The boomerang now makes its way back into Jackie's hand.

"Don't ever mess with the Princess!" Jackie says.

Matt now takes out both daggers that were in the chest and slings them at the remaining two dragons. The daggers impact the dragon, instantly destroying them.

"That's all of them." Slider says. "Before another swarm of any kind shows up, we better get out of here!"

Everyone nods in agreement as they continue on their way, having destroyed a swarm of dragons and successfully getting through a death trap.

Level 12

The figure has witnessed the team's successful triumph.

"So they made it through my little challenge did they?" He says, continuing to monitor them. "Well then, it's time to beef things up, but before I do that, I'll first have to eliminate the one factor that is giving them the advantage."

He now hits a green button on his transparent panel.

Northern Frontier

Hacker, Buzz and Delete are also monitoring the team's progress through the game. Hacker, who witnessed Matt's contact with the saw, couldn't be happier that his game plan is working flawlessly.

"If I do say so myself, this is my best plan yet!" Hacker gloats. "I'm more of a genius then I thought."

"The buzz saws and spikes were an excellent idea boss." Delete praises the cyborg.

"The greatest." Buzz adds in.

"That, my robot friends, is why I am such a genius." Hacker replies. "Even though those were not a part of the original plan, they fit into the scheme all the same so why fix what isn't broken. Whatever it takes to help me get rid of those earth brats once and for all, I'll take it!"

Control Central

Digit and Motherboard are awaiting Dr. Marbles return with his plan. Digit has begun pacing back and forth nervously while thinking about the squad and Motherboard is watching him with an exhausted look on her face. For as much pacing as Digit is doing, she can swear he is going to pace a hole in the floor.

"What is taking him so long with that plan of his?" Digit asks as he continues pacing. "I can't stand waiting! Who knows how much longer the kids can survive in that game. We have to do something!"

"Please do not worry Digit." Motherboard says in a calm voice. "I'm sure whatever Dr. Marbles has planned, he will return soon with a concise plan as to how we are going to help the cyber squad."

"I sure hope so." Digit replies. "Who knows how much has happened to them since we have no way of viewing or controlling the game from our side."

"That is all behind us now!" Dr. Marbles voice now rings out.

Digit turns around and spots Dr. Marbles heading in his direction with two silver game controllers in his hands.

"I have the answer to our problems right here." Dr. Marbles, now holding up the pads up so both Digit and Motherboard can see. "I have designed these game controllers so that we can control the game from our end."

"Great plan doc, but how are we going to do that?" Digit questions. "That's hacker's game. We would have to be where he is to control the game."

"Not exactly my cybird friend." Dr. Marbles replies. "By having Motherboard stream the game to her network, I can easily gain access to the game that way and when I hook up these controllers, they will immediately link up to the game, thus giving us control over what happens to the team. That maybe Hacker's game and he controls what goes on in it, but we will have the power to control what happens to the team while they are in the game."

"Brilliant doc!" Digit praises him. "Even better then I'd hoped for!"

"Motherboard, will you please do the honors?" Dr. Marbles requests.

"Certainly doctor." Motherboard obliges.

Searching through her communication log, Motherboard now finds the video link to the game for when Hacker contacted them earlier to announce what he has done with the team. Her image on the screen disappears only to be replaced with the image of the kids in the game. Dr. Marbles now plugs both controllers into Motherboard's control panel. With the pads hooked up, they immediately link up the game.

"Digit, you are player one and I'm player two." Dr. Marbles says, now handing Digit the first player pad. "Now, let's help the team through the game!"

"You don't have to tell me twice doc." Digit says as he grips is game controller.

Dragon Gates

Having made it through saws, spikes and a hoard of dragons, the team are continuing on their way through the level. They now approach a bridge, which leads to the gateway to level 3.

"Hey, we've come to a bridge." Matt points out.

"And on the other side is the gateway to level 3!" Jackie cheers. "Let's get out of this death trap!"

Everyone begins crossing the bridge, running across one at a time. As they continue crossing the long bridge, they are unaware that the start of the bridge has snapped behind them. With Matt behind everyone, he turns around and notices that the bridge is falling apart ply by ply.

"Guys, the bridge is giving way!" Matt warns them. "We have to make it across now!"

With that warning, everyone picks up speed. Being half way across, the bridge is continuing to give way quicker and quicker.

"We're not going to make it!" Matt panics.

Control Central

Digit and Dr. Marbles are noticing the bridge giving way under the team.

"Another one of Hacker's tricks!" Digit sneers. "Not on my watch!"

Hitting the pause button, the bridge has now been paused.

Continuing to run at break neck speeds, everyone now makes it to the other side of the bridge, unaware that it has been stopped. Being on the other side, they all begin catching their breath.

"If I said it once, I'll say it again." Matt says through his heavy breathing. "This maybe hacker's best plan yet. I think this time he's really got us."

"And like I've said before, we will get out of this." Slider replies. "I don't care how many brilliant plans Hacker thinks he has. He hasn't and never will stop the cybersquad."

Having caught her breath enough, Inez now looks ahead of them and notices that the bridge is suspended, including the parts that were falling away.

"Is it me or does the bridge looks like it's been paused?" Inez questions.

Matt, Slider, and Jackie looks ahead and notices the exact same thing.

"It's not just you Inez." Jackie replies. "I see it too."

"Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?" Matt asks as he turns to everyone.

"You don't think Motherboard and Dr. Marbles has anything to do with what happened to the bridge pausing do you?" Slider asks Matt.

Matt nods yes with a sly grin creeping on to his face.

"That means that they found a way to link into the game to help us." Inez says cheerfully.

"Well, we're still stuck here until we play the game through." Jackie replies. "I say as long as we have the advantage, we might as well take it. The gateway into level 3 is just a few steps away. Let's get out of here."

Everyone now turns around and are about to make their way to level three's doors when a big black dragon suddenly appears in front of the doors, instantly stopping them. The dragon looks down at them and roars.

"This must be the end of the level enemy." Slider says.

"Not a problem!" Inez says a she wields her crossbow. "We can take him!"

The dragon now turns to Inez, his attention fully focused on her. Roaring once more, the dragon now takes flight while grabbing Inez in the process.

"Inez!" Everyone yells.

"Hey, put me down!" Inez yells as she begins struggling to get out of the dragon's claw.

"Put her down right now!" Jackie yells as she takes out her boomerang.

With the dragon in the air, Jackie slings her boomerang in its direction. The boomerang comes in contact with the dragon, but doesn't do any harm. The dragon continues flying off with Inez.

"We have to go after her!" Matt panics. "The last thing we need is to get separated in this game and who knows where that dragon is taking her!"

"We will, but not before knowing where we can find her." Slider says calmly to Matt. "I've played games like this before myself and somewhere along the way, there are always clues. We will find clues to where we can find Inez before we leave this game, but for now, let's just proceed to level 3 and hope we find some clues there."

Taking in Slider's reasoning, Matt nods in agreement. The remaining teammates now enter level 3, completely passing up the chest of supplies at the entrance.

Man what a trip level 1 was and who is the guy now controlling hacker's game? Keep reading to find out what happens next! Next chapter, Level 3 with a BIG twist!

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