Marcus gave me a look as I made my way into the library, brows knitted together. He was seated at the computer desk, legs crossed.

"You okay?" he asked, looking up from the computer. "You look tired."

I looked away, clasping my hands together. "I'm fine… just didn't sleep well."

Marcus raised a brow, grinning. "What, been playing too much Poptropica?"

"You could say that…" I chuckled, anxiously.

Ironically enough, Poptropica was the last thing I wanted to be thinking about. Astro Knights was next; an island I had been dreading since the start.

"Hey, I'll cut you some slack," Marcus tipped his hat. "I've been a brony for way too many years now. Us nerds gotta stick together, right?"

I laughed. "Yeah, right."

Why is he being so nice to me…? I thought. Is this an act, or…?

"Aw, don't look so guilty," he shrugged, patting my shoulder. "You aren't as bad as they say."

"What do they say about me?" I asked.

Marcus chewed his lip. "I don't think you'd want to know, man."

I reached out a hand. "I…" I trailed off. He was right. It most likely wasn't something I wanted to know; I had plenty to worry about already.

As I walked out of the library, huddling my books with my crutch underarm, Louisa passed me with a grin. Chrissi wasn't there, thank the gods.

"Hey, Alice," Louisa nodded at me.

"Uh, h-hey," I waved back.

"Excited for class?" she asked.

"Not particularly…" I uttered. "I'm real tired of algebra."

Louisa laughed, patting my shoulder.

"We should hang out together sometime," she told me.

"Huh, r-really?" I stammered.

She nodded. "Yeah. You're fun, Alice."

I gazed at my shoes. "Oh, uh… well, sure, if you want to."

Louisa nodded. "Of course! Get back to me."

She left me alone in the hallway, a rare smile blooming on my face.

Am I… am I really making friends…?

Fierce Fox and I arrived on Astro Knights, a medieval-ages inspired island. The background had many lush green mountains and trees, and the sun shone down on us. A stone-brick museum was ahead of me, and ahead of that was a rocket-shaped statue, water coming out the exhaust. I rushed over to the rocket, standing on its platform. Something shiny was at my feet. It was a golden coin. I dipped my hand into the water, pulling it out.

I returned to Fierce Fox, and led her into the museum, which looked like a house. Well, that was because it was the former house of Mordred, or Binary Bard. There were plump, green chairs, tables with dusty books, and cobwebs everywhere I turned.

A guy with a purple hat and ginger beard stopped us from taking a single step.

"Admission is one gold coin," he told us. "Come back when you can pay! You can take this pamphlet, though."

He handed me a pamphlet about the museum. I returned the favour by giving him the golden coin.

He grinned. "Thank you. Feel free to look around."

I nodded, then nudged Fierce Fox, pointing my finger at an aged pile of books. She gave them a weird look, walking over to them.

The man cleared his throat. "Sorry, the books must stay exactly as they are! I guess you can have this old library slip, though."

He handed me an old library slip. I gestured for Fierce Fox to follow me outside, which she did.

"Ready to visit the castle?" I asked, with a grin. "I'll explain the island on the way."

Fierce Fox nodded, and we began our walk.

"So, there's this guy called Mordred, or Binary Bard, who kidnapped the princess of the castle here, and took her to outer space," I explained. "Our job is to rescue her, and then we become knights. Oh, and, uh, we also have to stop Mordred from taking over the galaxy."

"I see," Fierce Fox replied, smoke twirling behind her. "Outer space? What, why? What's this Mordred guy's problem?"

I shrugged. "The princess was abducted by aliens, who took her to Mordred. Mordred was banished away from here a long time ago, and the princess joined a group loyal to his teachings."

Fierce Fox nodded. "Alright. I get it." She shifted her glance forwards. "Is that where we're going?"

The castle… well, what was left of the castle stood there, shivering. Pieces of cobblestone littered the grass, smoke trailed into the sky, and I saw a flashing UFO crushed up on the floor. We opened the broken door, entering the castle.

Inside was a bit better than outside, since the stone stairs were still intact, although crumbs of broken wall were lying around. I climbed up a few flights of stairs, getting into the throne room, Fierce Fox behind me.

The throne room had parts of the wall missing, flags torn apart, and smoke trailing around. Fierce Fox and I approached the king and the queen, who were standing near their grand and golden thrones. In the middle was a smaller throne, which I inferred belonged to the princess.

"Ah," the queen gazed at me. "So you are the one that they were talking about."

I raised my brow. "Huh?"

The queen smiled gently. "It seems you don't know, but unfortunately I do not think I can tell you. Someone else must. But I will say… be careful. Now, I believe you are after these?"

She held out the coordinates. I didn't even know what to say, so I just took the coordinates.

"What are you going on about?" Fierce Fox asked the queen. "The… the prophecy?"

The queen shook her head. "I really can't tell you. But I have faith that you two can find the princess."

"Can't tell us?" Fierce Fox growled. "It concerns our lives!"

"Um, I think it's time to go," I grabbed her arm, gently leading her out of the throne room. She glowered.

"Why'd you lead me away?" she asked. "That vague crap concerns both of us!"

"You were going to cause a scene," I told her. "We don't want to start drama, right…?"

"So you don't care about what they're saying, Alice?!" Fierce Fox leaned towards me, making me stumble back.

"No, no, I mean…" Cold, icky sweat dripped down my back. "I mean, I mean…"

"This is a team effort," Fierce Fox pointed her lightning staff at me. "We make decisions on things like that together. Understand?"

I trembled, using the wall to help me stand. "I… I understand. I know… I know I need to do better."

Fierce Fox crossed her arms. "Fine. What's next? We need to get some answers."

After some hunting around the castle, gathering some manure and old cheese, we made our way to the windmill. I reached out for Fierce Fox's arm.

"Y'know, I'm scared as well..." I told her. "Things are getting weird in my world, too… but I don't think we should be going after people."

Fierce Fox bared her teeth. "What do we do, then? Just stand there and look pretty?" She crossed her arms. "And I'm not scared."

"We… we need to be patient, and we'll find a way," I told her. "Go spin the windmill around a few times until the roof opens. When it does that, go into the roof and use this manure on the metal platform thingy." I handed her the disgusting manure. "I'm going inside."

While she hopped off, I spotted a ladder, near a great sea of mud. On the top part of the ladder was a rope, which I grabbed. Then I headed inside the windmill. I jumped up onto a wooden platform, where a gothic-looking woman was waiting.

After gathering a secret code from her, Fierce Fox and I met outside. We figured out some more stuff; she was going to the princess' room, and I… I was going to visit a secret order.

I stood in front of the rocket statue. On its stand was a plate, with stone, cosmic symbols. I pressed them in the correct order, and it opened up a secret passage.

I entered said passage, which was the headquarters for the Mordred fan club. It had a big statue of Mordred, many faded posters on the dirt walls and people dressed in purple cloaks. I approached the guy at the end of the cue.

"We found this key in Mordred's house, but we don't know what it goes to!" he cried.

The key flew into my inventory, and thankfully, I did know where it went to. I exited the HQ and rushed back to the entrance of the castle.

Fierce Fox, who saw me, trailed after me. I was headed straight for the haystacks, near the guy that gave me the manure.

When I finally got to them, I shoved them apart, revealing a hidden door. I used the key, which opened the door. Fierce Fox followed me inside.

It was no doubt Mordred's room; I noted all the invention blueprints on the dirt walls. Plastic stars dangled from the sky, and paper was littered everywhere. On a little tree-stump birdhouse was a robotic owl - more specifically, Merlin.

I tapped him with my index finger, causing him to flutter his mechanical wings and hover in the sky and out of the room.

"Now," I faced Fierce Fox. "Use that mechanical mouse you have to catch him."

I pointed upwards, which was where she headed. Meanwhile, I rushed to the wall of the room and shoved it. It crumbled, then exploded like TNT, creating a little passage.

Fierce Fox returned, after befriending Merlin. The friendly owl floated behind her. Her, Merlin and myself crawled through the passage, which led into the castle's jail.

A robot was hovering around there. It spotted us, its large green eye flashing red. It self destructed, launching a power rod to the other side. I told Fierce Fox to get Merlin to grab it for us, and then I left them be.

I did not stop running until I arrived back onto the mill hill. The platform thing, which Fierce Fox had activated and was formerly inside the mill's attic, was waiting near the ladder. I gazed at it, watching it gently hover. Fierce Fox's words re-surfaced in my mind.

This is a term effort…

Is it, though? I thought. But I couldn't let her go out of control… and it's not like she doesn't have any secrets…

Fierce Fox and Merlin arrived, so the both of us got on the floating platform. Then, we rode together on the awfully speedy platform, zooming over the mud. A UFO was laying in the mud, completely lifeless.

Using the power rod Fierce Fox had given me, I placed it into the engine. Then, using the X and Y dials, I rotated them to the exact coordinates. The ship began to rumble.

And before I could utter another word, we took off.

For the first time in forever, I got to see the Poptropica planet.. In real life, not on my crappy laptop screen. Space was fantastical, the sky a beautiful black, stars twinkling. I could've stared at it forever…

Suddenly, the engine buzzed, and we were suddenly flung backwards onto the Pewter Moon.

"Dramatic entrance, check." I sighed, as we emerged out of the smoking UFO.

Despite being on the moon, we could breath quite well. The moon had... well, a moon-like surface, inhabited by green-skinned people with alien-attene. There were large, metal structures in the background, and in the foreground.

Ahead of us was another giant building, made out of metal; the place we needed to go.

I bent my knees and sprung into the air, almost flying. Then I remembered the lack of gravity - we were on the moon, after all. Fierce Fox bounded after me.

We entered the metal building, which sort of reminded me of a rocket. Inside was full of rocket parts, spanners, screwdrivers, and more all hanging on a baby blue wallpaper. I approached the cashier; an alien, of course.

"Welcome to AstroZone!" he greeted. "How can I help you?"

"How can we get off this planet?" I asked.

"Tell you what…" the cashier made a face. "Leave me your ship for scrap, and you can build a new one on the holopad."

"Great!" I grinned. "Thanks!"

I left the shop, Fierce Fox following me.

I turned to smile at her. "Hey, you can design the ship if you want."

I led her to the holopad, which was a giant metal pad, with a whirring engine. A floating, blue, grid-screen was near my head.

I turned to Fierce Fox. "Knock yourself out. Pro tip: speed is better because it's faster."

I held up my hands and trotted backwards, grinning. Fierce Fox faced the screen and worked her magic.

Then, right before my eyes, a tall, lean egg-shaped ship appeared on the platgorm. It had navy blue shark-fin wings, a baby blue body, and a few small, glass windows.

I clapped my hands. "Nice job." I patted Fierce Fox on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's go inside."

We entered the ship, which was surprisingly large and complex. A purple computer with a green screen stood in all its glory, with a glowing keypad full of buttons. I pulled a lever, and the engine rumbled. We started to lift into the air, leaving the moon behind.

Space was still astounding; I tried not to get distracted by the twinkling stars. Instead, I focused on driving the ship, despite never driving one before - heck, I hadn't even driven a car before.

Our little blue ship drove in front of the sun; a giant, glowing golden ball. Suddenly, circular shaped aliens firing red balls charged towards us. I swerved out of their way, our ship puffing out steam.

Then, out of the corner of my eye I spotted the Jungle Planet, which was a glowing green and pink sphere.

We docked the planet before we could get annihilated by aliens. The Jungle Planet was a fascinating, robotic jungle-like planet, with large, rusty brown trees. We were docked on one, in fact.

The two of us jumped down, landing on the soft green grass. Humongous, robotic flowers towered above us.

However, my eye was set on the middle of the room - a laser, with a green patterned design was shimmering in the light. I ran over and grabbed it, feeling relief knowing that we had a weapon at last: the laser lance.

Then, we used the giant flowers - which were actually springs - to leap back up to where the ship was docked.

Ahead of our white platform was a series of moving platforms, connected to the robotic, green leaves and swinging ropes. Caterpillars, with electrifying fangs, were hanging from the leaves.

I climbed onto the first platform, Fierce Fox behind me. It reached up to the second platform, so I did a semi-jump across, avoiding the caterpillar. I grabbed onto Fierce Fox's t-shirt, so she didn't fall to her demise.

Eventually we made it past those and to the next section. A green knight was standing on the white, metal platform. Behind him were large, blue eggs with red dots, that opened and closed, revealing robotic phoenixes.

"Something or someone is being held in that cage," the knight told us. "It may be the princess! Use the laser lance to cut open the cage!"

And so we ducked under the eggs. I held out a hand to stop Fierce Fox when we were at the last egg. Then, I grabbed her arm and hopped up, just as the phoenix peaked out.

With a painful jab, we were thrown up to the golden cage, which held a pegasus. I used the laser lance, which easily sliced open the cage.

"Look out!" the knight cried. "The Mother Phoenix is coming!"

I climbed onto the pegasus, extending a hand to help Fierce Fox on board. The pegasus soared into the grey, stormy sky, Fierce Fox in front, me on the back of the horse. Fierce Fox was wielding the laser lance, which let off a green glow.

"Okay!" I yelled, glancing apprehensively at a storm cloud. "Avoid the storm clouds, charge the laser lance up, avoid the yellow bug things, and most importantly, shoot the bird missiles!"

The horse ducked down, away from the storm cloud. A cloud of yellow, firefly-like bugs charged towards us. Fierce Fox shot a laser, killing them all in one go. She charged up her laser again, just as a bird missile came right towards us. She shot the laser, demolishing it.

Then it was back to avoiding the bugs and clouds. Again, Fierce Fox charged up her laser, as we ducked away from a cloud. A missile began to approach us, which Fierce Fox speedily shot another laser at, destroying it instantly.

More bugs began to swirl nearby us, but we dodged them. Fierce Fox shot yet another laser, decimating another missile.

The last of the bugs and clouds vanished, and there was nothing in the air with us for a few moments. Until the mother phoenix arrived.

She had robotic, flame-coloured feathers, and missiles attached to her wings. She roared, ready to shoot her missiles. However, Fierce Fox shot a laser before such a thing could happen. The mother phoenix flashed red and vanished out of sight.

Fierce Fox charged up the laser, just as she suddenly returned. We shot the second laser, making the mother phoenix fall again. We grinned and shared a high-five.

Then, before anyone could even blink, the Mother Phoenix appeared behind us. She glared straight at me and shot one of her bird missiles.

Something crashed into my head; my vision blurred. Then, with my weakened body, I fell off the pegasus, and towards the ground.

My vision was going blurry, and the world was turning black. I could hear faint muttering below me, like people waiting to catch me, or it was my imagination.

I heard a scream… then everything went black.

...

There was nothingness around me. Eerie, empty, lifeless. Then… a light.

There was someone standing in front of me, but I couldn't recognise them. They shook their head. From the crashing of the waves, I could tell… that person had washed up on a beach somewhere.

"Where am I…?" they asked. Their voice - her voice - was familiar, but from where?

The girl got up, looking around. She walked away from the beach, approaching a grassy path. Next to her were old, Greek style buildings.

"What's going on…?" she trembled.

Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning. The girl screamed, falling over. A glowing, illuminated figure stood in front of her.

"MORTAL… YOU ARE NOT FROM THIS WORLD, ARE YOU?"

Before the girl could respond, my vision changed. I was back in the void again. A figure was in front of me, glowing gold. I blinked, straining my eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked, stepping back. "What's going on?"

"Fear not, Alice," the figure replied; a feminine, soothing voice. "You are still alive. However, I must warn you to be careful."

"Why?" I asked. "What's going on? Who are you? Where am I?"

"You will see who I am in the future," the voice replied. "Where are you? You are nowhere but your conscious, child. You will awaken shortly. But before you do, I have a message." She cleared her throat. "Be careful who you trust, may they be from your world or Poptropica. Watch your step, too - traps can be hidden anywhere."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. A bright light flashed in front of my eyes. Everything began to vanish.

"Fear not," she told me. "I am watching over you. Stay with your Poptropican. She knows more."

"WAIT!" I cried. "I-"

And then I was gone.

"Alice! You're awake!"

Fierce Fox was standing over me, as well as the green knight. I blinked my eyes a few times, head pounding.

"What happened?" I asked, taking in my surroundings, which was the ship.

"You were knocked unconscious," Fierce Fox told me. "So this knight and I brought you here. But you're okay now." She almost seemed… concerned. My heart warmed a little.

I got to my feet, feeling my strength return. It didn't even feel like I had been knocked out. I guess I had Poptropica physics to blame… or, rather, thank.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I replied, trying to bring myself back to reality. "Let's... complete the rest of the island... and... maybe forget this ever happened."

I trotted over to the rocket, and pulled the lever. We left the jungle planet, into the deep, dark space sky.

"You mentioned a prophecy before," I looked at Fierce Fox.

"Let's focus on finishing the island, huh?" she grumbled, looking away.

"Now who's avoiding questions?" I teased.

"Listen," Fierce Fox bit her lip. "I can't… I just don't wanna talk about it now. Okay?"

"I thought we were a team," I replied. "I thought you wanted answers."

"We are," Fierce Fox huffed. "But… you don't need to know about it yet. I want us to be safe… and it is anything but safe."

I grimaced. "Alright. As long as you tell me at some point."

She nodded, expression darkening. "Of course."

We were standing on a rock platform, completely surrounded by lava. Platforms were being ejected into the air by the boiling hot lava. Neatly, I leaped onto the first platform, rising into the air. Fierce Fox followed behind me, as I continued to jump.

After quite a series of hopping across platforms, we made it to the entrance of the rocky, lava-filled volcano. We climbed inside.

It was like a vent in there, however instead of dust and metal walls there were charcoal-black walls and hot, smoky draft blowing through the air.

I grabbed Fierce Fox's shirt and pulled her into an open crevice, avoiding the draft. Once it was clear, I dragged Fierce Fox and myself out of the crevice and pulled us through the rest of the way. Fierce Fox shook me off halfway and just followed me.

Eventually we got past the draft section and arrived at the bottom layer, where a monster made out of circular, brown rocks and googly eyes was rolling around. With a mighty bending of my knees, I managed to get over it. Fierce Fox rushed after me. Ahead of us was the red knight.

"What should we do?" I asked him.

"I believe the princess is being held captive there!" The knight cried frantically. "The beast is too strong for me. Please, take my arrow and slay the beast!"

An ice arrow, cold to the touch (well, duh) flew into my inventory. I nodded, then Fierce Fox followed me to the next area. The next area had a fiery, orange background with some old metal poles in the background.

Chains hung from the ceiling, and the floor was an unstable metal bridge. A huge, green robot dragon crashed around, creating a ruckus.

"Okay!" I cried, as I felt myself warming up. "Climb across those hanging chains, then get onto the dragon. A lever will be underneath it - you need to pull that." I held up my hand. "Oh, and watch out for stalactites."

I took a few steps back, while Fierce Fox swiftly leaped from chain to chain, unlike I ever could. Trust me, I was not doing that. It had been hard enough playing it on my laptop.

The dragon roared at me, revealing its robotic fangs. Suddenly, it froze, becoming as still as a statue. I chucked the ice arrow like a javelin; it landed in the dragon's mouth.

It bellowed, then furiously hopped up and down, creating an earthquake.

Fierce Fox rope-jumped (that's what I called it) across the chains. The dragon glared straight at me, sending a shiver down my spine. It hopped up and down, forcing me to lose my balance. I bent my knees, trying to keep standing.

Suddenly, the dragon froze up again, its mouth ajar. I shot another arrow into the dragon's mouth, enraging it further. It continued to pound on the unstable ground, again making me wobble.

I faced Fierce Fox. "One more time!"

She did said thing, hopping across the ropes. The dragon was jumping more than ever, pretty much set on my demise. I furiously clung to the shaking metal ground, praying that I wouldn't die. Then, for the final time, the dragon froze.

With my dizzy head, I shot the arrow; it exploded the dragon's mouth. Sweat was drenched down my back, and only then I realized my temperature had risen to an unhealthy level.

I felt the floor cracking beneath my feet, and I waddled backwards.

The lava was right behind my head; the place where the dragon had met its own demise. I wanted to scream, but the heat was overwhelming.

It's over… I thought.

Suddenly, a hand clamped onto mine and pulled me up. With athlete strength, Fierce Fox helped me escape the fiery volcano, with nothing but faint tears in my eyes.

"You alright?" Fierce Fox asked, once we were back on the ship. I nodded, then shook my head.

What had happened? Had I passed out again? Astro Knights was a difficult island, but I never thought I would collapse from playing it.

"I'm okay," I stammered. "I don't think fire and me mix well." I turned to the control panel, Fierce Fox with a raised brow. "Come on, it's time to go to the Ice Planet. We have some... sharks to deal with."

I launched our ship into the sky, flying through the breath-taking space sky. After a few minutes of peaceful flying, we arrived at the Ice Planet, where space sharks were roaming around. The ship budged up near them, grabbing their attention.

They followed us around, treating space like the sea. I swerved the ship, proud with my oddly impressive piloting skills. Especially when I led them to the black hole.

I ried my hardest not to get sucked in, though it required all the effort I could shove on the gas. The space sharks, thank goodness, were successfully sucked away, allowing us to return to the ice planet.

The ice planet, like the name, was made completely out of ice. A sea of ice was holding large ice platforms, which were covered in snow. Fierce Fox and I leaped across the smaller, bobbing ice platforms, our feet slipping.

Robot piranhas nipped at our toes, but we avoided them. We got onto the larger ice platform, which led to a slippery ice mountain. The two of us managed to hike it, despite how stupidly slippery it was.

The blue knight was waiting on the peak. Fierce Fox and I approached him.

"Can you help us?" I asked, folding my arms from the cold.

"Yes!" he cheered. "Take this shield and defeat the beast!"

A golden force shield popped into my inventory. Suddenly, a snow-white tiger-copter flew up before us, with beady yellow eyes and whirling blades.

Fierce Fox and I stayed under the shield, as it began to shoot rock-hard snowballs at us. They bounded off the shield, the occasional one landing straight on the chopper. It roared and flashed red, then began to shoot missiles, while our shield charged.

We ran to the side, waiting for the shield to finish charging. Once it did, the both of us left the corner, as the helicopter started shooting snowballs again.

They deflected off the shield, while at the same time destroying it. Another one yet again hit the tiger-copter, provoking it to come down and get us. We avoided it, of course, and went to recharge the shield.

I smiled at Fierce Fox, preparing for the final attack. The tiger-copter flung out the stupid snowballs again, right at us. We flung them back, destroying the tiger-copter.

It roared and vanished off into the distance, making me thankful that I didn't collapse again.

"The princess is not here!" the blue knight cried. "Two other knights set out to find the princess. Perhaps one of them has found her!" He walked over to us. "I will accompany you on your quest!"

"Legend has it that there is a golden key on a large asteroid," the red knight told us. "The key opens a gateway to another galaxy!"

"Luckily I know exactly where to find that asteroid." I replied, facing the control panel.

I pulled the lever, and the engine rumbled. The ship, with my guidance, drove to a certain asteroid, with a crystal-shard shaped blue building. Fierce Fox and I climbed up the incredible crystal building, shimmering in the pale light.

There was decreased gravity, so it was easy for us to get up there. A golden key was stuck in some of the crystals, behind some text about the four knights.

"The chosen one..." Fierce Fox's eyes scanned the passage. "But who's the chosen one?"

"Probably you, considering Poptropican logic," I replied, preparing to hand Fierce Fox the weapons. "I mean, you have to complete the island, not me."

I thought about all the messages, all the clues... all the connections I had been getting. I remembered the earthquake on Nabooti Island, and the person who had spoken to me while I was unconscious. … and the girl who woke up on the beach.

What's going on here?

Fierce Fox reached over and pulled out the sword, which didn't surprise me. However, it pulled her in before I could explain what to do. I gasped, as the portal began to close.

"Fierce Fox!" I cried, grabbing onto her jacket. We zoomed in, the world disappearing with a flash of white.

I dropped down from the sky and arrived at a blue-brick, medieval castle. No one was outside, not even Binary Bard disguised as the princess.

"Fierce Fox?" I asked, looking around. But she was nowhere in sight.

Did the Binary Bard take her?

The castle door was ajar, so I entered, getting chills up my spine. The inside had a lush, red carpet and murals on the walls that shimmered gently against the cream, stone walls.

I heard a scream from an elevated metal platform. My eyes widened in horror when I saw Fierce Fox and the princess, captured behind a green shield.

"Ah, Alice!" a giant, rather scary-looking robot boomed. "You have finally arrived!" It had sharp green swords in its hands, and tech all through its body.

The owner of the robot grinned from inside. "It's about time!"

"Binary Bard!" I commanded, with trickles of anger. "Let them go!"

"Not until I have you first!" Binary Bard cackled, the huge robot rumbling towards me. It swung its green blades. I gasped and rushed out of the way, heart hammering.

Stay calm, stay calm, I can do this…

I led the Binary Bard robot under the captured Poptropicans' cage. Then, I jumped up him, ready to free my friends.

"NO!" Binary Bard cried, suddenly shooting me down with a laser; pain shocked my body.

I grumbled, falling on my butt. I quickly got to my feet, just as Binary Bard hurdled straight for me. I rolled out of the way from his swords, like you see in movies.

Bending my knees, I climbed up him again and onto the cage. I soared across the sky and onto the chandelier. Binary Bard growled and shot a laser, just as I jumped out of the way. He destroyed the chandelier; it landed on him, smashing his robot.

Smirking, I made clenched fists as Binary Bard came for me again, swinging his swords. Somehow, I managed to dodge them all. I flipped up onto Binary Bard's body, then leaped up to the cage again.

From there, I got to the second chandelier, just as Binary Bard appeared underneath me. He shot it again; it landed on him. His robot began to fall apart.

"NO!" he boomed, scrambling out of his crackling robot. He grabbed me by the front of my shirt. "YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!" As well as me, he picked up the powerful green orb. "HE WILL SURELY BE PLEASED WITH ME!"

"Who?!" I repeated, shaking in fear.

"Not today!" the princess suddenly squawked. She leaped down from the cage and karate-kicked Binary Bard in the chest, sending him flying across the carpet. She stood protectively in front of the orb, just as Fierce Fox climbed down.

The princess smiled at me. "Thank you both for saving me!" she said. "Mordred has deceived us all - and thankfully hasn't gotten his hands on you, Alice. Now that we have the orb back, power will be restored to Arturus and Mordred will be trapped here forever."

"Yeah..." I said, my heart thumping. "Let's get outta here."

Fierce Fox and I were requested to the castle by the king and queen.

"So Mordred was behind all of this!" the king declared, as we stood in the throne room. "I should've known." He faced Fierce Fox and I. "For your valiance, both of you, you shall be knighted as Lady Fox and Lady Alice of Arturus!"

The medallion glowed around Fierce Fox's neck, as my vision turned white. The queen gazed at me and winked.

Huh…?

Going home was almost a relief. I slumped over in my bed.

What is going on? Who are these people? And who was that girl? I need to figure this out, pronto…