by Tom Nicoll
After a momentary stunned silence, the crowd was on their feet – those who had them.
Kiwi took off the sunglasses. “Wow. Did not know they did that,” he said. “Nice pick, Hungrabun!”
With Guggernaut unconscious outside the ring, all eyes turned towards Pheasel. He smiled nervously. “Hey … er … maybe we can talk about this?” he said, backing away slowly. But Max and I had already made our way round the ring, one from each side, blocking him from going anywhere. Pheasel stumbled, landing on his butt, and two health vials tumbled out of his fur. A red one and a blue one.
The red one belonged to Hungrabun. I tossed it to her, and after drinking its contents, she immediately popped up, raring to go. Remembering that the blue vials could be used by anybody, I chucked the other one to Kiwi, who also perked up after consuming it.
There was just one thing left to do. Max and I grabbed Pheasel and threw him into the ring. Hungrabun’s mouth opened wide and swallowed him whole.
The bell rang.
“YOUR WINNERS FOR THIS YEAR!” screamed the announcer.
The cheering from the crowd was the loudest I’d ever heard. Confetti rained from the sky as the four of us danced around in celebration.
“Ugh,” said Hungrabun. “Actually, you know what? That last thing I ate is very disagreeable. PTOOOO!”
She spat out Pheasel and he flew through the air, landing in a heap next to Guggernaut, who happened to be waking up just at that moment.
“This is all your fault,” a dripping-wet Pheasel screamed at his partner. “Biggest mistake I ever made was teaming up with a loser like you!”
Guggernaut held out a hand and flicked his finger at Pheasel, smashing him through the arena wall.
“This is the greatest moment of my life,” said Hungrabun.
“Mine too,” said Kiwi.
Pausing in my celebrations, I looked at Max. “We’re still here,” I said to him. “But we completed the game. What more is there to do?”
Kiwi must have overheard me. “Oh, there’s tons more to do,” he said.
“Yeah,” said Hungrabun. “This isn’t the end of the Super Fluffy Animals. It’s just the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“This was just a regional tournament,” said Kiwi. “If we want to be Grand Champions there’s sectionals, nationals, internationals…”
“Don’t forget interplanetaries and interdimensionals,” said Hungrabun.
“How could I?” laughed Kiwi.
My heart sank. We weren’t going anywhere for a very, very long time.
“Flo, this is what I wanted to talk to you about,” said Max. “I think there might be another way out of the game.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“I was examining the Shapeshifters,” he said. “I had the TV on watching Hungrabun and noticed that wherever she moved on the screen, the two of them would point towards her.”
I shrugged. “They’re bugged, we already know this,” I said. “They can’t do anything else now but point at Hungrabun.”
“No, it’s more than that. Watch,” said Max. He turned to Morpher, the floating hand, and asked her, “Are you trying to tell us something?”
The hand turned itself round, making a thumbs-up gesture.
“Are you trying to tell us how to get home?” asked Max.
Morpher once again gave us the thumbs up.
“What do we have to do to get home?” asked Max.
Morpher and Camo both pointed at Hungrabun.
“I think we have to let Hungrabun eat us again,” said Max.
As the hands changed shape to show their approval, Hungrabun looked a little freaked out. “You want me to do what now?” she demanded.
“How is that going to help?” I asked.
“I think there’s something inside Hungrabun that we can use to get out,” said Max.
Another thumbs up.
Max was on to something. Someone was clearly trying to send us a message. Then I remembered something I had forgotten.
“There WAS a bug with this version of the game,” I said. “More than that – it was an exploit.”
“It let you control certain characters – actually control them, not just coach them. You had to be a proper genius to get it to work though, and of course they fixed it in later versions.”
“We know a proper genius,” said Max.
We looked at Morpher and Camo.
“Mum?” I said.
The thumb went up again.
I let out a gasp. “All right then,” I said. “Hungrabun, it’s been a pleasure.
But Max and I need to leave now. And apparently the way to do that is via your stomach.”
Hungrabun looked conflicted about what to do. “Well, I mean, I don’t want you to go… But I am a bit peckish…”
“You’re leaving?” said Kiwi. “Now? But we’ve still got so much more to do. What’ll we do without you?”
“You’ll both be OK,” said Max. “You’ve got each other now. No one’s going to be able to stop the Super Fluffy Animals.”
“Yeah … and to be honest, after the Dropkick of Doom I’m not really sure there’s much more I can teach you,” I said. “I can honestly say you’re the best team we’ve ever coached.”
Kiwi threw his wings round our ankles. “I’m going to miss you guys,” he said.
“Me too,” said Hungrabun. “Thanks for everything. And please don’t leave a mess in my tummy.”
“We won’t,” I said.
Hungrabun nodded, took a deep breath and swallowed us whole.
And we were back where we had started, inside her cavernous stomach with its pink fleshy walls. It was still full of junk, which was surprising given the amount of vomit earlier.
“She’s worried about us making a mess?” I muttered.
“Not sure what we’re looking for,” said Max. “It could be any of these things.”
I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I’ll bet any money it’s that.”
I pointed at the swirling gooey hole in the middle of her stomach.
“The wall glitch?” asked Max.
“I don’t think that’s what it is any more,” I said.
Max didn’t look convinced. “Well, if you’re wrong, we’ll spend the rest of time falling into a black hole.”
“Trust me,” I said. “Have I ever led you astray before?”
“We’ve been over this, Flo,” said Max. “The answer is yes. Always yes.”
“Come on,” I said, reaching out to him. “It’ll be fine.”
Max sighed and took my hand. We stepped into the hole. The last thing we saw was:
We were on an aeroplane. Us and about a hundred other people by the looks of things.
“Another game,” yelled Max above the deafening roar of the engine, the frustration clear on his face.
“Another game,” I repeated, sharing his disappointment.
I had assumed that Mum must have somehow figured out a way to add a portal to Critter Clash. I had hoped it would lead us back to the real world, but clearly not. We were back at square one.
I looked around the cabin. The other passengers were a colourful bunch, each one with their own unique look, costume and hairstyle. That likely meant these were all real people, since real people generally spent time getting their characters to look the way they wanted them.
Then it hit me what game we were in. “Max, this is Last to Leave,” I said. “It’s a Battle Royale game.”
At that moment, a passenger caught my eye and I almost fell over. Max had to keep me upright.
“What is it?” he asked.
There were two possibilities. The first: it was just coincidence that someone had made a character look like that.
Then there was the second possibility.
I pointed across the cabin.
When Max saw the passenger, it was his turn to almost fall over.
The woman had seen us and was waving. “F
lo, it’s me!” she yelled. “I’m here in the game. I’ve come to save—”
She was cut off when the plane door opened. Several people got up at once and rushed towards the exit.
Mum didn’t get out of the way in time. Some of the other players bumped into her, knocking her backwards out of the open door.
She was gone.
To be continued…
My mum had just fallen out of an aeroplane. How’s your day going?
To be honest, things like this had become quite normal for me and my best friend Max, ever since the two of us found ourselves trapped inside a series of video games. So far we had been space soldiers, block people and creature coaches. But it had always been just the two of us trapped in the games.
Until now.
The latest game we had jumped into was Last to Leave – the world’s most intense Battle Royale survival game – and for reasons currently known only to her, Mum had joined us. I’d have asked her why, but as I mentioned, SHE HAD JUST FALLEN OUT OF AN AEROPLANE.
“Flo, what are we going to do?” yelled Max above the roar of the plane’s engine and the noise from the other players.
“We need to go after her,” I said, grabbing hold of his arm.
“And how do we do that? By jumping out of the plane?” He began to laugh, but stopped when he saw my expression. “You can’t be serious!” he shouted.
I looked him straight in the eye. “Max,” I said. “You’ve known me all your life. Does jumping out of a plane sound like something I’d try to get you to do?”
Max considered this for a second. “Well, yes, it does actually.”
“Exactly,” I said. “So, stop wasting time. Besides, you’ve got a parachute on.”
“Do I?” he said, looking over his shoulder. “Oh yeah. Where did that come from?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Everyone just gets one.”
Getting to the front of the plane wasn’t proving as easy as I had hoped, given the urgency of the situation. A blockade of players had formed as they all lined up to jump out. I elbowed and pushed my way past them until Max and I were at the door, but when I scanned the island below us I couldn’t see any sign of Mum.
I turned to Max, whose eyes were like giant saucers. Normally this would be the point when I’d try to calm him down, give him some encouragement and tell him everything was going to be OK. But that would take time we didn’t have. The longer we left it, the further we’d be from Mum and the harder it would be to find her. So I did the only thing I could do.
I shoved Max out of the plane. And following the sound of his screams, I dived after him.
I should probably have told him how to open his parachute.
As we plummeted towards the ground, I used the time to remind myself of the Last to Leave map. In the north were the snow-covered mountain peaks of the Arctic Zone. The green trees of the Jungle Zone lay to the west and in the south were the sand dunes of the Desert Zone. Green hills and meadows formed the Grasslands to the east and in the centre of the map, where we were headed, were the quaint cottages and picturesque villages of the Olde Zone.
I was worried at seeing all the other players landing in positions around the map. Last to Leave was a battle to survive. Only one team could win.
With the ground racing towards us, I pulled the cord on my parachute, slowing my fall. Moments later I was relieved to see Max open his own chute. I’d known he’d figure it out! I was slightly less relieved when he proceeded to fly right into a clock tower. “OW!” I heard him yell.
I landed in the middle of the village square and my parachute vanished, as video game parachutes tend to do. I looked up at Max, who was dangling helplessly about six metres above the ground, his parachute caught in the tower’s spire.
“Max, release your parachute,” I shouted.
“How do I do that?” he asked.
Parachutes usually disappeared once players hit the ground. If you got stuck, you could press the X key to cut yourself free but that wasn’t an option here. “Is there a button or something on the chute you could press?” I asked. “Some kind of catch maybe?”
“Not that I can see,” he said. “Also, if I do get free, I’m not super keen on the massive drop that comes afterwards.”
“One problem at a time, please, Max,” I said, looking around the square for inspiration. But while the cobblestone streets and quiet shops and cafes looked positively charming, they didn’t really offer much in the way of a solution to Max’s problem.
So, in a way, it was handy when the lasers started firing.
Pew-pew!
The blast cut right through Max’s chute and he dropped like a rock, straight into my open arms. This was a video game though, so unlike a rock he weighed nothing at all.
“Thanks,” he said.
Another blast shot past my head, then suddenly four more players were in the square with us. Two boys and two girls, all wielding impossibly large laser cannons. Pointed our way.
“We’d better go,” I said.
“I was thinking that,” agreed Max.
I started sprinting across the square, shots nipping at my heels as I ran.
“You could put me down,” yelled Max.
“No time,” I shouted back.
I ran through the open doorway of a run down post office and kicked the door shut before dumping Max on the ground.
“Come on, we need to find the back exit,” I said. “They won’t be long.”
I was right. I had just lifted up the serving hatch of the post-office counter when the front door burst open. A mean-looking boy with neon-green spiky hair, wearing desert camouflage trousers and a white tank top, stepped inside.
“Hiding in the post office, eh?” He laughed. “Well, I’ve got a special delivery for you right here.”
He raised his laser cannon and opened fire. Max and I dived behind the counter as the wall behind us exploded, leaving a huge hole.
“Oh, wow,” I said. “I didn’t know they’d added destructible environments to this game. Cool.”
“I’m not sure this is the time to be admiring the game’s new features,” said Max.
“Good point,” I said. “Though with any luck it might give us a way out of here. Listen!”
A click-clack sound was coming from the other end of the room.
“He’s reloading,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Max and I sprang to our feet then dived through the hole. It brought us out into a narrow alley.
“Which way?” asked Max.
His question was quickly answered when another member of the attacking squad appeared at the end of the alley – a girl this time, wearing dark sunglasses and a full-length purple coat.
“Run, little bunnies, run,” she cackled.
We took her advice and ran in the opposite direction, then turned right into a lane and headed along a row of back gardens.
“In here,” I said, opening the third gate we reached. As Max pushed past me into the garden, I glanced up the lane but there was no one there. Yet. I closed the gate, then Max and I headed into the house and went straight upstairs, each step squeaking beneath us as if they were trying to give us away. We entered what was clearly a nursery, with a cot and pictures of balloons and teddy bears on the walls. Carefully, we crept towards the window. There wasn’t much to see beyond a few more similar-looking houses and a small garage sandwiched between them. Carmack’s Cars.
Max was about to speak when I held up my hand and we moved away from the window. I could hear footsteps outside.
“Where’d they go?” asked the girl we had seen in the alley.
“Dunno,” replied the boy from the post office. “But they can’t have got far.”
“They might have found equipment by now,” said a new voice, another girl. “Weapons even. We should bounce.”
“You’re right,” said a fourth voice. “And look, we’ve got wheels.”
I chanced a peek out of the window. He was right. There in the ga
rage was an open-top truck. Vehicles were invaluable in this game so it was a shame we hadn’t got to it first, but I couldn’t help feeling relieved as the four of them climbed into the truck, two in the cab at the front and two riding in the back with an assortment of wooden crates.
“It’s OK, we’re safe,” I said as the truck pulled out of the garage and turned on to the lane. Max breathed a long sigh as he looked out of the window.
Then we saw her.
Crouching down, hidden from the other team behind the crates, was Mum. Travelling further away by the second.
STRIPES PUBLISHING LTD
An imprint of the Little Tiger Group
1 Coda Studios, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
First published in Great Britain in 2020
Text copyright © Tom Nicoll, 2020
Illustrations copyright © Anjan Sarkar, 2020
eISBN: 978–1–78895–269–9
The right of Tom Nicoll and Anjan Sarkar to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
