Chapter 2

Tech and Daniella were fiddling with the computers with Rev.

The nine super-teens were now in black uniforms with different highlights (Nadine-pink, Benny-yellow, Lucy-brown, Robert-red, Jack-orange, Kelly-silver, Ryan-green, Sarah-blue, and Michael-purple).

"Don't you think going in there in uniform is gonna tip someone off?" asked Lucy.

"Well, you're not gonna be wearing the same thing in the game anyway," commented Daniella, hitting a few buttons, "I mean, as long as you wear the 3D glasses." She tossed a few pairs of glasses at them.

The kids caught them.

Nadine reluctantly put on hers. She pulled out her mirror again. She groaned as she took off her walnut headband— "AHA!" She whirled around. There was no one there. "Oh." She held up the mirror again as she took off her gummy bears bracelets and her fruit snack belt.

"Boo."

"GAH!" Nadine spun around again to glare at Austin. "I hate you."

Austin walked right past her.

Nadine glared after him. "Well!"

Austin approached Kelly. "Bet you miss the meteor, huh?"

"Not really. This time, Ryan is the one we've gotta worry about."

"I heard that!" Ryan said, walking by.

"You were meant to!" Kelly called after him.

Austin smiled one of his "just for Kelly" smiles.

Kelly smiled in return.

They leaned in…

"We're ready!" Tech snapped without looking, even though they still needed a few more seconds.

The sudden statement did, however, make Austin and Kelly back off each other.

"So…" Austin said.

"Yeah," Kelly said, walking off.

Daniella took out her wand as the team gathered, ready to go in.

While she was preparing the spell, Rev handed each of the kids an extra watch. "This'll-help-you-keep-track-of-how-much-time-you-have-left-by-recording-the-time-period-elapsed-during-gameplay-I'll-start-it-right-now-while-we-have-exactly-12-hours." He hit the button on Ryan's watch and it started beeping, flashing "12:00:00." Then 11:59:59. You get the picture.

"Hope you guys are ready for this," said Daniella.

"That depends," said Nadine, "What happens if we die?"

"You get sent back here. No big deal. Just let me zap!"

"Wait a minute—"

Daniella waved her wand, not letting her finish.

All nine kids got zapped into the computer.

"You couldn't let her finish?" asked Lexi.

"By the time she was done, our time would be up," Wendy answered for her.

"You gotta admit she has a point," said Austin, sitting down and letting them keep track of the kids over the computer and the spell.

The kids flew through the digital vortex and right into Level 1.

They fell in a pile on a street.

None of them were hurt.

Ryan noticed this and curiously and suspiciously pounded the street. It produced a bouncing sound. He groaned. "Computer generated." He stood up and helped up the others.

"Where are we?" asked Nadine. She examined her altered suit.

"Level 1," Ryan answered as Nadine felt around the suit and noticed the differences (for one thing, the triangle on the chest was an outline and not filled in), "Why couldn't Aunt Danni jump us forward a little?" He then looked around. "And as a bonus, it's low-rez. Great."

It was then that a bunch of frogs on pogo sticks hopped by them.

"…huh?"

The frogs hopped over to a young man and started attacking him with their tongues. He responded by grabbing one by the tongue and throwing it into the others. The boy then snatched one of the pogo sticks and started off.

The Loonakids exchanged looks and did the same.

Unfortunately, they did this at just the wrong time. They all accidentally grabbed the same one, which just so happened to be currently occupied by another boy.

"HEY!" the kid snapped, "Get your own ride!"

"Sorry!" Lucy said, "We thought this one was vacant!"

He started to ease the bouncing on them, pulling them up to the platform. "New players, huh?"

"You could say that."

"Well, here's a tip for you." He then hit a button and the platform retracted, dropping them all through a hole as he bounced on.

At HQ…

"How are they?" asked Sophie in concern.

"Well, all the vital signs are normal," Tech answered as he and Rev and Daniella monitored the systems.

"Yeah, but how are they?" Austin added on.

"Oh…" Daniella hesitated. "…they fell."

Everyone looked at her as she just kept working.

In the game…

The nine Loonakids lay on a platform in a dark cavern.

A droid flew up. "Wake up."

They roused slowly and groaned in pain, rubbing their heads.

"You fell three stories."

"We survived?" Robert asked in confusion.

"…not exactly."

Suddenly, the triangles of their suits glowed revealing 9s turning into 8s.

"That's your life count. After taking heavy damage, you lose a life."

"What happens if we hit 0?" Lucy asked warily.

"Game over. When you run out of lives, you lose. No checkpoints, no restarts."

Michael then got up and looked at the count on Ryan's watch. 7:46:52. "What happened to our twelve hours?! We barely have eight now!"

"Time flies when you're playing games. You'd better hurry." The droid then flew off.

Suddenly, the platform creaked and launched them like a spring. They landed above ground in a field loaded with bull's-eyes. Painfully.

The two boys they'd met earlier then came up and helped them up. "So who are you?" the first one asked.

Nadine sighed. "I'm Nadine, this is Benny, Lucy, Jack, Robert, Kelly, Ryan, Sarah, and Michael. Tell you the truth? We're the Loonakids. We need to get the Level 5 but don't have long to do it. And if we don't get to it before midnight and fix the situation, the Toymaker will take over the world."

"Level 5?" the first boy asked.

"Level 5 is unwinnable," the second one said.

"We understand that," Benny groaned, "But we have to save the world here. Kind of our job."

The second boy scoffed. "Hey, Rick! These kids say they're the Loonakids, they're trying to get to Level 5!"

The guy named Rick sat on a bull's-eye. "So I hear."

Ryan got it. "You guys are Beta tasters."

Rick jumped off the bull's-eye, letting it walk off. "Yup. And if anyone is gonna get to the great prize of Level 5, it's gonna be one of us."

"Whatever!" Jack groaned, "Look, we need cheat codes, shortcuts, back doors, anything!"

"No can do, buddy. Use of any hack, code, or cheat would trigger an immediate Game Over and permanent evac from the game. You have to play the game by the rules or not at all."

"So how do we get to Level 2 from here?" Ryan asked.

Rick sighed. "See that target?" He gestured to one. "Hit it hard enough and you'll bounce straight to the moon."

"I'd suggest a running start," said the smart one (second boy), "Level 2 is on the dark side of the moon."

Lucy groaned as she and the other Loonakids formed a line and all prepped for the jump. "Not a lot of realism in these games, is there?" She grabbed her friends and they all rushed the target at once, bouncing right off.

Once they were gone, Rick smirked. "Won't be seeing them anymore. Less competition the better." He led his buddies (I'll just say it: their names are Artie and Greg) off.