I saw Athena in front of me. She was pacing around Mount Olympus, brow furrowed.

"How were the two from Earth able to come here at all… a higher power must have dragged them here," she grunted. "But what power is higher than the gods?"

She glanced at her hands. "What is happening to Poptropica… already, so many changes…"

I woke up in a sweat, head pounding. I slumped backwards into the bed.

Not again… please, no more hero activities…


School was the same as always. People finally learned about what had happened to Louisa. It had been explained that she had died in a 'mysterious' accident.

Chrissi had not been around much, but I'd seen her friends. They were all quiet too, huddling together, eating their food in silence. It was… strange. Almost cult-like.

And when Chrissi was around… she was the most brooding of them all. I almost felt sorry for her. Did she know how Louisa really felt about her…?

She never actually spoke to me, but I saw her staring at me with cold, dead eyes. Did she blame me? I was too scared to ask…


"Look, celebrities!" a guy holding a camera cried as we landed on Back Lot Island. He gasped. "Is that the prophesied hero?!"

"Let's go," I whispered urgently.

Fierce Fox and I dashed past the people and entered a green talent agency. It had pale walls, large fans blowing down air. People were queued up behind a desk.

Fierce Fox and I approached the woman behind the desk, who was a former actress. But we weren't supposed to know that yet.

"You're… you're a natural!" the woman exclaimed, eyeing Fierce Fox. "You've got the look of a star." She turned to me. "And you're the prophesied hero! So well known around here. I bet you could be a great star, too."

Yeah, right, I thought.

"Us?" Fierce Fox asked. "Stars?"

"Just pay me a thousand dollars each for your set-up fee and we'll get started." the woman replied.

Sounds like a scam, I thought.

"We don't have a thousand dollars!" Fierce Fox exclaimed.

"Hmm," the woman said, tapping her chin. "If it's money you need, I heard Harvey Scoops is looking for help with his gossip rag."

So that's what we did. We headed out to the sunset-lit atmosphere, puffy clouds dancing in the sky. The two streets - Main street and Sunrise street - looked like they came straight out of Hollywood, including a giant, Chinese-themed theater.

Fierce Fox and I spoke to Harvey Scoops, who was standing outside the gates of the Grand Majesty studios. He gave us this old camera that needed film to work. If you don't know what film is… look it up.

Fierce Fox and I got some film, and climbed up a large, wooden, greenish-blue building, near the studio. We stood on a ledge. I grimaced.

"What's with that look?" Fierce Fox made a face at me.

Suddenly, there was an earthquake. We fell off the ledge and landed in the studio.


"Arf! Arf!" a dog barked nearby us.

We'd landed on a set that looked like it came from a fairytale. There were butterflies hovering around, and a fairytale castle.

"I don't think we're in Poptropica anymore!" Fierce Fox cried; obvious reference to the Wizard of Oz.

"Nope, we're still here," I replied, getting up. "Smack bang in the middle of a studio."

Fierce Fox followed me over to Studio 1. It was a big, metal shed, with many props standing around outside. An organized-looking woman called Sofia was also there. She had neat, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and glasses sitting on her face. She also carried a clipboard.

"Uh oh!" she cried. "Are you two from studio security?"

We told her we weren't. She then told us that a movie was being made in Sound Stage 1, and we had to stay out of the way.

… so we did the exact opposite, and barged right in.

We interrupted a movie scene, where an actor named Kirk Strayer was creeping down some stairs.

"Hey!" he grumbled, when he saw us. "Watch the light! Why are you trashing my scene?"

"Say what?" Fierce Fox asked.

Kirk stormed off in a fit of rage.

"Kirk, please!" the director - Carson Wills - cried. He chased after Kirk.

I shrugged at Fierce Fox, and we followed them. Sofia was there, sweating all over.

"We're going to blow our schedule if we can't get Kirk back in here," she panicked. "I've got a ton to do here - can you two go try to get him out of his trailer? You can take that cart."

"On it." I replied.

Fierce Fox and I climbed into a small blue golf cart. Remember Cryptids Island when we drove that jeep? Well, the cart wasn't much better. We skidded all over the place, eventually arriving at Kirk's dirty purple trailer. The director was outside, storming around.

"You two got him in there, get him out!" he told us.

So Fierce Fox and I spoke to Kirk, who refused to exit his trailer until he got a coffee. A very specific type of coffee, that is. This took Fierce Fox and myself back to main street where we went to two different cafes to create a very specific coffee. Thankfully, it was enough to lure Kirk out of his hiding hole.

However, our problems weren't over yet. As soon as we returned to Sound Stage 1, we were hit with another dilemma.

"Sorry, union rules," the camera guy bowed his head. "I can't work another minute today."

"You two!" the director yelled, looking at us. "Think you can handle a camera?"

"I've used cameras before," I replied. "Yeah, let's do this." I turned to Fierce Fox. "All we have to do is keep Kirk in the center of the screen. It'll be easy."

So we jumped up to the camera, which was shining down on the creepy, greyscale set. It was supposed to be a scary short film, after all.

I focused the camera on Kirk, as he leaped down staircases and was spooked by special effects. Not as good as modern ones, but oh well. Before long, we were done.

Our next stop was Sound Stage 2. It was... a bit different there. There was a green prop hill, and a (badly made) hot air balloon. As well as the dark walls you'd expect to see in a sound stage. Sofia was also there, appearing frantic as usual.

"Where is Goldie with the script?" she demanded. "We told him it was due yesterday! He's probably in his usual spot, head in the clouds. Find Goldie and get that script!"

"I know where he is," I told Fierce Fox. "Come on."

We went back to Sound Stage 1. Indeed, Goldie was on the roof - his head was literally in the clouds. Unfortunately, when we reached him, the script blew away in the wind and scattered all over Sunrise Street.

So Fierce Fox and I headed over to Sunrise Street and searched for the missing script. A little while later, we found the entire script, and returned to Sound Stage 2.

"Let's put the script in the correct order," I said. "It'll make life easier."

With that word, we put the script in the correct order. Then we gave it to Sofia, who was content. But the problems weren't over yet.

"Our lead actress never showed up," Sofia explained. "We need a Lacey Williams Type. Get us someone like her!"

So guess what folks? We had to return to good old Sunrise street. From there, we went to the Talent Agency. Remember how I said the woman who runs it was an actress? Well…

"Lacey Williams, at your service!" the woman said, jumping out of her chair. "This Talent Agency thing was just a safety net. I'll see you at the studio!"

"There you go." I said, shrugging.

I slipped on a navigator costume. I was entirely covered, so you couldn't recognize me at all. A bandit face mask was over my mouth, and goggles were plastered over my eyes. Brown, leather clothing covered my body, and I was wearing a white scarf - instead of my regular grey scarf.

I stood on the green, prop hill, facing Lacey Williams, who was also dressed up. Only her face was exposed. Still more recognisable than me…

"Quiet on set!" Carson cried, Fierce Fox and Sofia next to him. "Ready… action!"

"This is it, my friend," Lacey whimpered. "It is time for us to say goodbye."

I pictured the script in my head. "But-"

"I know what you're thinking," Lacey replied. "You can't come with me!"

I spread my arms above my head. "But we've come so far! You can't leave me behind now!"

I was not much of an actress, sadly.

"I'm sorry," Lacey said, shaking her head. "But the journey from here is too dangerous!"

"Take this to remember me by." I said. I gave her a metal compass.

"What is it?" Lacey asked.

"It's my compass," I answered, smiling. "For when you're lost in the stormy skies."

"Thank you, my friend." Lacey said, saluting. A hot-air balloon lowered from the sky; she climbed in.

"Safe journeys!" I cried melodramatically. "I'll never forget you!"

"So long!" Lacey waved.

The balloon floated into the sky, and appeared in the background as a prop. It was struck down by some fake lightning.

"Noooo!" I shouted. "Guess I shouldn't have given her that metal compass in a lightning storm."

"Print it! That's a wrap!" Carson exclaimed.

I sighed in relief. That costume was not pleasant to wear.


Fierce Fox and I entered Soundstage 3. There was a moving screen, which looked like it came from Wild West Island. There was also a giant fan, and a bin full of buffalo plushies. Our old pal Sofia was waiting by the side, looking stressed as usual.

"The set-builder's a no-show," she told us. "Sift through that pile of old old props over there and try to get a prop train together."

We headed over to a bin, which was stuffed with pieces of wood. We fiddled with the wood and made a train shape. We had to do this three times to make the carriages for the train.

"It doesn't look like a train at all!" Fierce Fox proclaimed, when we finished. She was right. It looked more like a LEGO project.

"Nothing a fresh coat of paint can't fix." Sofia retorted. She waved her paintbrush; the train suddenly looked amazing. I wish I had a paintbrush like that. "See? Movie magic. But we're not done yet. Grab the hats from upstairs and try to find the right actors for the parts. There are plenty of out-of-work actors milling around Sunrise Street."

So off we went. We managed to scrounge up two actors: Willy Bingleman and another guy I didn't know the name of. Willy was the bad guy, and the other guy was the good guy.

Sofia turned to us. "We need you two to be the stunt coordinator. When we call for an effect, you set it off!"

Fierce Fox and I faced the moving picture. The good guy was standing in front of it.

"And… action!" Carson called.

The good guy started running.

"We need more buffalo!" Carson instructed.

Fierce Fox slammed her fist on the buffalo button. A plushie buffalo charged for the good guy; he jumped over it. "Cue the tornado!" A press of the button with the tornado on it summoned a fake tornado. "Cue the villain!"

I pressed the button with a black hat. Willy was riding on a fake horse.

The good guy tried to catch him, but missed. This process repeated a few times, until the good guy caught the bad guy.

"Me no likey!" Willy shouted as he was shot by the fake gun.

The crew thanked us for our help, then we headed over to Sound Stage 4 (don't worry, this is the last one before post-production). This one had a city stage set up, which reached the roof. Kirk and Carson were standing there.

"Okay, Kirk go ahead and suit up." Carson ordered.

Kirk went to the change rooms. He returned a short time later, wearing a gorilla costume.

"It's demeaning!" he exclaimed. "I won't do it!"

He returned to the change rooms and chucked the costume off. It landed nearby us. Carson sighed deeply.

"Does he need another coffee?" Fierce Fox asked.

Carson frowned. "I've had it up to here with his primadonna hijinks! You think you're up for the role of a lifetime?"

I patted Fierce Fox's shoulder. "Go for it."

"Sure!" Fierce Fox grinned.

She slipped on the gorilla costume, completely unrecognizable. She was a Poptropican-sized King Kong.

Swiftly, she leaped over to the city-themed set, then turned to me. I told her what to do; she nodded. I watched her scale the fake, yet imposing structures, grabbing balloons. Fake planes and guns fired at her, damaging her life. But she kept going.

Eventually, she reached the top and got the red balloon that Lacey was holding. Then she fell back down, completing the scene.

"Great!" Carson congratulated us. "All the scenes are shot! Now head over to post-production!"


Post-production was a fairly small building with shiny pink windows. Inside there were different stations where editing took place: film editing and sound editing, that is. I was going to do film editing, and Fierce Fox would do sound editing.

Film editing is a bit different from… modern film editing. I had to cut pieces of film from… well, the film that the movie was on.

The film I had to cut off had errors, like on one there was a microphone above my head. If you know what film looks like, this will make more sense to you.

Anyway, using a razor, I sliced off parts of the film. It was fairly easy.

"Now, to add sound." Carson said, facing Fierce Fox.

"Didn't we record the sound when we were filming?" Fierce Fox asked.

"I forget, you are a neophyte," Carson replied, sighing. "No, we will add most of the audio effects now, so that we can make them sound exactly as we desire."

"I'll help, don't worry." I whispered, nodding at my poptropican.

She shrugged, and we made our way over to the sound department.

We had to use the appropriate sound effects at the right times. I called out when; Fierce Fox triggered the sound effect. We missed a few times, but we made it. We got the entire complete movie onto a film.

"My masterpiece, finished at last," Carson admired the film. "Will you take this film to the theater? I have… other business to attend to."

Fierce Fox made a face. "'Other business'?"

"Come on," I urged her away.

We arrived at the chinese-style theater. There were some posters on it that were references to movies, like the Hobbit. Sofia was standing there too.

"Carson's a strange guy," Fierce Fox grunted. "What's his deal?"

"Watch the movie and you may understand." Sofia replied.

I shrugged at Fierce Fox, and we entered the dark theater. There were a lot of people there, including some familiar actors and civilians. I raced up to the top section, and put the film in there. The movie started.

It showed all the scenes we'd recorded in the sound stages, except in HD. Well, mostly. Anyway, the movie was cool, I guess, but definitely not the best movie I've ever seen.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it quite a lot, though. It didn't really explain Carson's odd behaviour, however.

"That didn't make a lick of sense." Fierce Fox expressed, once we were outside.

"Genius, absolutely genius!" somebody cried.

"Carson Wills is back!" somebody else cried.

"If only I had thumbs to give this movie!" another person agreed.

"You see?" Sofia asked, as we approached her. "It was him. He had so much early success, but he lost his imagination and went after the money. It turned him into a monster."

"So this movie was his way back home, huh?" Fierce Fox asked.

"Yes," Sofia nodded. "And I think it may have been his swansong. He left for Cannes just before the screening. But he told me to give you this." She handed us the medallion. We barely got a break because it was bonus quest time.

"Shoot!" Sofia sweatbeaded. "I think I left the camera running on Soundstage 1. Would you go and shut it off?"

We nodded and headed over to do so. However, when we got to the soundstage, something happened.

"Hold it right there!" two voices called. They belonged to two women wearing fancy clothing.

"Who are you?" Fierce Fox asked.

"We're the Warren sisters, the owners of Grand Majestic Studios!" one of the women answered. "And you two are trespassing on our property."

"Stealing from us!" the other added.

Fierce Fox began, "We weren't-"

"We've caught you red-handed." the first one growled.

"You two stay right where you are," the second continued. "Security will be here in a moment to arrest you."

"You have to catch us first!" Fierce Fox cried, grabbing my arm.

She pulled me out the soundstage and onto the golf cart. Then we went on a wild ride. Fierce Fox proved she had some serious driving skills - well, unsurprisingly - when we skidded all over the joint. I really began to regret buying membership.

Regardless, security chased us around, but Fierce Fox kept ahead of them. She grabbed some energy balls laying around, to improve our life.

When the chaotic mess that is the bonus quest was finally finished, I almost passed out. The Warren sisters complemented Fierce Fox on her driving skills, so at least she was happy. Or she was laughing at me. You decide.