Chapter 1: The Invite
The email had been cryptic: "Tonight. 8pm. chatroom."
7:50pm – Phil logged in and we noticed some friends joining the room
7:55pm – Exchanged pleasantries
7:58pm – Compared theories on why we were we in there
8:00pm – The screen turned to static and started glowing a blue hue
The next thing I remember was waking up to the first hint of daylight seeping through the windows. Something felt different, strange. It took a moment to realize I wasn't at home or in my bed. I sat up and looked around the room; there were five other beds in addition to mine, all with two occupants. Before I could gather my thoughts, someone exclaimed, "Dude, who's in my bed? Leo! Get up!" followed by a loud thump as Raphael pushed Leonardo onto the floor. He mumbled some unintelligible gibberish in response. From across the room Luigi sighed, "Can't a fella get some sleep around here? Wait, what?! Who's there?" Another voice, "Luigi, keep it down, will ya?" Mario groaned. Everyone started to stir and realize we weren't at our homes.
As a whole, no one could recount how we got there. We remembered being online and the screen going fuzzy. There had been a blue glow and then a white flash. The next thing anyone knew, we were waking up in this overly sized room. Luigi asked how we had gotten there and Daisy replied with a question of her own, "Where exactly is here?" Peach walked over to her friend, "And more importantly, how do we get back home?" Link took a step forward and stood in the center of our circle, "Let's everyone take a deep breath and think this through. Wherever we are, we are here together. That's a blessing in itself." Zelda slightly raised her hand, "But how? We were in the castle at Hyrule just last night". "We were at the Mushroom Kingdom castle", added Peach. Leo was next, "And we were in the sewer in Donatello's lab." Peach snapped her head toward him, "Did you say you were in the sewer?" He nodded, "Yeah, in the lab". Her eyes grew big, "Why were you in the sewer?" Raphael answered in a confused tone, "Why were you in a castle?" Zelda shrugged, "That's where we live." Leo pretended to bow, "Exactly, my lady." Peach shook her head, "I never knew you...you lived in the sewer". Conrad joined in, "You learn something new every day." Link cleared his throat, "Well today we're going to learn how to get home, regardless of where that is."
While the rest of us had been talking in circles about what to do, Donatello had been examining the room and spoke up, "Guys, there's a letter, map and some compasses over here on the table." He read the letter and pointed out there were 4 backpacks one of the beds, each including: 2 flashlights, a box of wipes, band aids & bandages, colored smoke grenades, water bottles, a phone in the shape of a shell and snacks.
We snacked on cereal bars, pop tarts and fruit as we headed to the cave, Donatello and Raphael leading the way. Mario, Luigi and Link followed behind; then Zelda, Peach, Daisy and myself with Phil, Conrad and Leo in the back. Daisy expressed her concerns, saying she had a bad feeling. Zelda scoffed, "I can't imagine having a good feeling about it." Peach tried to be optimistic, "Maybe it's just a joke and there is no cave. Maybe we'll find a bus or plane that'll take us home." I sighed, "If it were only that simple." Zelda agreed, "Exactly. Whoever did this didn't bring us here to take us home after a walk through the woods." Daisy rubbed her hands together, "Sounded good to me." Zelda rolled her eyes, "Of course it sounded good." Peach became defensive, "Zelda, why must you be so mean?" She sighed, "I'm not, I'm being real. Whatever it is we're about to face is not going to be easy. The clue even said so, verbatim." I took a deep breath, "Ladies, we're all in the same situation. If we start tearing each other apart before we even get to the cave, we'll have less of a chance of getting to go home, which is what we're talking about to begin with. And Zelda's right, the clue says it won't be easy."