CROSSING OVER

CHAPTER 7: ROLLERCOASTER PTERRATACK

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Kitty had just adjusted to sitting on the saddle of the giant robotic red Pterri when it began to move.

"Hey, I'm not touching the joystick!" Kitty gasped, while being squashed from behind by Fashir and Sep, who refused to stay still in Fashir' massive paws.

"It's not you, the Pterri is programmed to moved towards the start line of the game. Look ahead!" Fashir motioned forward, and Kitty found herself watching as the wall directly in front of where the robo-Pterri was heading lifted upwards, revealing that they were now under the Grand-Canyon like ground. At either side of the walls, pterodactyls were flying out and towards the way the Pterry Kitty, Fashir, and Sep were riding, would soon be flying.

"Up close, and real personal!" Fashir laughed, his voice growling over the noise caused by the beating wings. "GO FOR IT KIT!"

At the command, Kitty cranked the joystick upward, and the large red Pterri rose into the air, its wings flapping on either side of its passengers.

"Push to button on the top to shoot!" Fashir instructed into her ear, and Kitty did as he told, pushing down on the red button on top of the joystick.

As the Pterri now made flight, shots came out of the box strapped around its neck. Two shot out and directly hit a passing Pterodactyl square in the ass, sending the creature reeling down towards the ground. Instantly, a little black screen appeared on a metallic section on the Pterri's back, right in front of Kitty's face, reading: 3 NP

"For each brown one you kill, you get 2 Neopoints, for red ones you get 8, and for green you get 10. Then there are other bonuses, harder to catch! You can also improve weapons like in the game! Go for the red glowing balls, they have the best weapons!" Fashir instructed further, while Kitty frantically played around with the joystick, shooting and dodging the Pterodactyls that flew their way. The score increased steadily, until one was shot down to reveal a green glowing ball.

"Uh...bad!" Kitty dodged the ball, preferring to wait for the red weapons that soon came afterwards.

"Just fly right at it!" Fashir spoke.

Kitty obeyed, flying her Pterri straight at the glowing red ball. Seconds before impact, the robo-Pterri opened its mouth and swallowed the ball. Suddenly, the shots changed into bone-shaped weapons, killing off twice as many Pterodactyls as before.

"ALRIGHT!" Kitty cheered, feeling an up lift in her ego.

While Kitty, Fashir, and Sep enjoyed themselves in a round of Pterratack, Maggie's parents had been called and informed to come to a specific address by a man who had identified himself as a colleague of Mike Laughton.

They drove in silence, each pondering their own thoughts as to what had possibly transpired in Maggie's room the day she had vanished.

When they finally arrived at the intended address, they found it was way out of town, sitting by itself as a large gray building. In all respects, it looked like some old factory, not much of a sight at all.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Mrs. Griffin asked her husband, checking out the paper he had scrawled the address on during the mysterious phone call.

"I'm sure, let's go in and look around!"

They headed into the building anticipating little less that it should be found empty, deserted long ago by whatever company may have once used it. However, the door opened automatically when they stepped close enough to it, and on the other side stood a man neither had ever seen before.

He wore a black suit, and was fairly muscular with a military buzz cut. An ID card hung from his breast pocket, with his stoic-faced image on the front, along with the name 'Corp. G. Rozzna'

"Welcome to our local headquarters!" The man greeted Maggie's father, extending his hand in polite handshake. Mr. Griffin shook his hand, but look at him with a confused expression on his face.

"Headquarter for what?" He asked, once he had his hand back from the Corporal's rather tight grip.

"That's what you're here to find out sir. If you and your wife will just follow me please!" Rozzna stepped to the side, allowing for the couple to step into the building. The door shut automatically behind them, and looking back, Mr. Griffin could see the mechanical controls that handled the doorway.

On the inside, the building was clean and white. A shiny gray floor with white walls made the place look like a cross between a highly official government building, and a mental asylum.

"What exactly are we here for?" Mrs. Griffin asked as they followed Rozzna down the hallway. He walked ahead of them, his footsteps echoing down the deserted hall.

"I promise you that all your questions will be answered in due time!" Rozzna stopped in front of a large gray door at the end of the hall. "I must ask you both to remain patient, as well as secretive about what you are going to see!" He pulled on his ID card, swiping it across the small computer console attached to the doorway. An audible buzz was heard, and then a click. "All I can tell you is that it has everything to do with what may have happened to your daughter...and what has happened before, and will again unless we are able to stop it from doing so!"

He pulled the door opened then.

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Maggie's parents discover the truth about her vanishing, and decide to pursue her into Neopia.