Chapter 18
On the way home
Meanwhile up in the sky, Jane, Samantha, and David,
along with the other crewmembers were on their way back to
the mainland of Baja. Many of them had smiles on their
faces to be finally going home, and many had frowns for all
that they had gone through and all the people that they had
lost. Especially Jane, she hardly ate or said a word; she
kept looking out of a window to see if a miracle would
bring Sam back to her. Once the mainland came into view,
people clapped. Some were crying, and others had no
expression or emotions at all; they were happy to see all
that they had missed, but there were still signs of a
disaster. The cure of the white rhino plant was just taking
effect; some trees were still down, some lay lifeless on
the floor, while others let out a moaning sound.
The cobblestone streets were cracked and bricks were
broken; stores and courtyards were totally destroyed. There
were many animals lying lifeless on the floor, on top of
houses, and all over the place. There were signs of a
struggle, but the good news was that people were still
alive.
Outside there were people cleaning and putting their
lives back together. The entire community pulled together
and helped one another. Then from a distance in the air,
Jane recognized Peter and his friends outside, helping
clean up all of the debris. Peter made large holes to
swallowed up all of the debris; while beside him was his
genie Merseft, who was magically making shops and food
parlors back the way they were.
Jamyra froze all the dying trees to preserved them
until the cure hit their roots, while Robert helped by
stretching his body to be in more than one place at a time.
The remaining friends cleaned, raked, and helped their
neighbors.
Mr. Stewart was in the public square telling reporters
how he appreciated the gifted children using their powers
to help Baja. Even though he was playing it calm, he knew
that Baja's existence was at stake.
He became nervous when a reporter asked him, "Through
my secret sources, I hear that Baja is under attack."
Mr. Stewart denied everything, but then the angry
citizens demanded an answer. A riot started, and Mr.
Stewart was ushered away by the royal guards.
"No further questions!" shouted one of the guards.
Every citizen knew that Mr. Stewart was lying, and
they came together secretly to start their own army. If a
war was coming to Baja, they wanted to be ready. Little did
they know that a war was already on the way.
Jane told David to lower the vessel when she saw her
son. Before the vessel could even touch the ground
completely, Jane was rushing out. She called out to Peter
frantically. The crowd was surprised to see a vessel of
this kind in their sky.
"It's Jane Carrot-Top," one of the bystanders said.
When Peter heard his mother's voice he followed the
sound until he found her. When they saw each other, it was
the sweetest reunion; they hugged and kissed. Jane did not
want to let go, and the crowd cheered.
Jane ran up to the reporter and gave a full report;
she talked about the war that was coming, and that the
wizards of the Ambassador Forest were building the
strongest army possible to attack Baja. They wanted to take
the place of the elders! Jane went on to name all the
wizards, not leaving out Patric's brother Mirus. Jane told
the people not to trust Mr. Stewart; that for some reason,
she thought he was involved, and how Mr. Stewart left them
to die in the forest. Before Jane could finish the press
conference, the story was printed and shipped out the door.
Every newspaper boy and girls were on their bikes
delivering newspapers to all the homes in Baja, and
messages were even sent through the air by talking birds to
the far reaches of Baja. David tried to hush Jane up, but
it was no use; she was angry that she had lost her husband
and was sent on a deadly mission by the caretaker of Baja.
Peter was glad to see all of his parent's family and
friends, but he was especially glad to see his grandpa.
When Peter asked for his father, no one wanted to give an
answer. Tears came to Jane's eye, and his grandfather just
turned his head up to the sky. David broke the news to
Peter that his father had died, that the wizards of the
forest captured him and put an evil spell on him.
Peter cried out, sending chills up the spines of many
onlookers. He ran through the vessel, searching and
screaming for his father, but Sam was nowhere to be found.
Peter became angry and ran off. Jane followed him, but she
was stopped by David; he let her know that Peter needed
time to grieve, and to let his friends take care of him.
Clara, Nicholas, Ben, Zack, Robert and Millie went to see
Peter.
Meanwhile, there was no time for rest; David had to
get the people ready for war, whether they were fighters or
not. He had already lost most of his best fighters in the
forest; so the only ones left were the royal guards and the
citizens of Baja. David let everyone knew that no matter
their background, powers or no powers, their help would be
required. David let the citizens know that this was not a
time to be afraid; they had to fight and preserve Baja for
the generations to come.
There was whispering throughout the crowd; many of the
people were afraid, most had never fought in their lives,
and many of them made up the population without powers. The
crowd became silent, but David kept on encouraging them to
step forward and fight for their land. After a few minutes
of silent, one by one, they started stepping forward; men,
women and children, all would play a role in saving Baja.
Once David saw this, he smiled with pride; the
fighting citizens had stepped forward. He was never prouder
to be a Bajaian, and congratulated everyone for taking a
risk. But there was no time to waste; David ordered
everyone to head home and build the finest weapons they
knew how to, or make anything that would help the fighters,
whether it be medicine, food, water, or any necessities.
The citizens sprang into action.
Meanwhile, Peter's friends consoled him. Clara tried
to make her green saliva bugs into a funny face get him to
smile, but Peter was not in the mood. Robert even twisted
his body into a balloon, but Peter just pushed him aside.
Then Zack came up with an idea that intrigued Peter.
"Let's go and find your father," said Zack.
"That's crazy," said Clara.
Peter loved the idea and told everyone that he must
go, and those who were coming were welcome, and those who
were afraid could stay. They were all afraid, but because
Peter was their friend they went along with him to help
protect him. They all made a pact
, eleven of the children
put their differences aside and went along to help Peter.
There was Clara, Millie, Robert, Zack, Ben, Nicholas,
Jamyra, Steve, Michael, Sam, and Peter. The children were
their own little army. They put their fears aside, and
planned how to get to the Ambassador Forest. Before they
left, they had to go home and sneak out. Peter told each of
his friends to make sure to pack light, and only the
important stuff; to bring a lot of food and water, and most
of all, not to mention anything to anyone or act strange
around their parents. Peter told his friends that they
would meet behind the ice cream shop in town.
Later that day, all the children went home and did
their chores, ate dinner with their family, and turned in
to bed early. Once all the good night kisses were done, one
by one, the children snuck out their bedroom windows.
Nicholas was the only one who almost got caught, because he
was making such a racket coming out of the window.
But each child made it on time. Little did they know
that there was someone in the bushes watching them. Seeing
that Peter and his family were so popular, eyes were always
on them. But the children did not notice whatever was in
the shrubs watching them. They were in too much of a hurry
to meet at the secret spot.
Once there and everyone was accounted for, they came
together on how to get to the forest; it was far away. Zack
brought up the time clock at school, but school was too far
and it was heavily guarded. But then Peter commanded
Merseft to make a fast moving vessel to carry them. Merseft
tried to talk Peter out of doing such nonsense, but was not
successful. Peter had already made up his mind that he was
helping his father, no matter what. As Peter flipped
through the great big book that held Merseft and all of his
spells, he came across one for the spell of flight.
"This is it!" shouted Peter.
Peter pointed at the only object he could find in a
hurry, which was a huge garbage dumpster, and recited a
spell to turn it into a flying object.
"Spell of flight I call to thee, take me to the skies
and above the trees; high and low I would go, make this
dumpster a vessel boat," repeated Peter.
There was a glow in the air, and all eleven children
watched as the spell took place. The garbage dumpster bent
and twisted; the sound of crushing metal hurt their ears,
but when it was done, low and behold there was the most
magnificent vessel made of gold. It was made for royalty,
and was so beautiful the children had to touch it to see if
it was for real, and real it was.
The vessel glowed with the symbols of Baja; the power
turned on inside, and it was equipped with a 3D image
driver. The children ran on board, this was the coolest
thing that they had ever seen. The vessel was made of the
finest material; there were leather seats and soft rugs.
There was enough food to feed an army; the vessel was
stacked from floor to ceiling with the children's favorite
snacks.
The outside of the vessel was more like a cube that
had wings that lifted from the sides. In the shrubs, hiding
was an on looker. For a minute, Clara thought that she saw
something in the shrubs, but when she did a double take, it
was long gone.
"Maybe I'm seeing things," said Clara to herself.
But she was not seeing things; there was something out
there lurking in the bushes, watching everything they did.
But the children were too excited about being on their own
vessel. Each of the children ran through the huge
structure, exploring their new home; they had not yet come
to grips with the fact that they were going to the most
dangerous part of Baja, and they were mere children with no
adult supervision.
The children ate their candy worms and cotton popcorn.
Peter loved the cotton popcorn as it popped its kernels and
turned into cotton popcorn. This was the greatest trip of
their lives. Clara and Steve played around with each other;
Clara spit her green saliva bugs at him, while Steve
smashed them against the walls. Then Steve took one of his
special shoes and let his feet grow, and then the toe jam
came out.
It stank up the entire vessel, everyone ran for cover
until the odor dissipated out of the vessel. Nevertheless,
it was time to go. The 3D captain of the vessel ordered
everyone to take a seat, and when the children did; their
seatbelts immediately strapped them in tight. With a quick
startup, the vessel took off; the children looked out the
window to see their town. Peter pointed at his house while
the other kids did the same. Peter unlocked his seatbelt
and went up to see the 3D captain. He was see-through; it
was a clear imaginary image, and it was well dressed in a
detail fashion. He was also proper and polite.
"Where too?" asked the captain.
At first Peter could not give an answer, but then he
said, "To the Ambassador Forest."
"Right away," said the captain.
Peter and his friends were so intrigued with how real
the captain looked, and it was hard to wrap their minds
around the fact that he was just a programmed image. As the
children headed toward the Ambassador Forest, Peter
reflected on what he was about to do. There had never been
a child sent to the Ambassador Forest; in fact, adults
never went there unless they were ordered by the elders or
the caretakers of Baja!
But Peter did not let his friends know that he was
afraid and that he had no idea of where to find his father.
So, Peter looked out of the window and prayed to the Father
above to help him find his father. Once out of the mainland
of Baja, the children were seeing things that they had
never seen before, only what they had heard the adults talk
about.
There were six moons, all different colors; there were
huge flying birds and animals in the skies. The children
pointed and were awed at what they saw; it was like being
on a field trip to an old museum. Peter and his friends
were now seeing the things that his parents had seen, and
it was a beautiful sight.
After a long night of sightseeing, the children took a
nap, but Peter stayed awake, gazing at the stars and the
moon in the sky. He hoped he had made the right choice.
Soon, Peter drifted off in a deep sleep. He dreamt of his
father, finding his lifeless body in the Ambassador Forest.
Over Sam stood Mr. Stewart, who was beating Sam to death
with some type of weapon. Peter screamed out to Mr. Stewart
to leave his father alone, but little did he realize that
the dream was now reality. Everyone on the vessel could
hear him scream. Clara quickly shook Peter to wake him up.
"You are having a bad dream," said Clara.
Peter was filled with emotions; he was also dripping
/> in sweat. Sam quickly ran and got Peter a glass of water.
From that moment on, everyone vowed to stick together no
matter how scared they got. Once everyone agreed, all the
children suddenly went back to sleep; they were sleeping
like new born babies. Peter left Merseft in charge as they
slept. Merseft duties were to watch over them, and if he
saw anything strange, to wake them up immediately.
Merseft took his job seriously and patrolled the
vessel up and down, keeping a close eye out, looking for
anything suspicious. But oh how the world of Baja had so
many things that no one had ever seen. Merseft, a genie,
who could make anything appear, was also surprised to see
the other lands of Baja. He too glanced out of the window
every now and then, gazing upon the heavens.
"What a beautiful sight," Merseft mumbled.
Suddenly the vessel gave a little jerk, and it sounded
like scratching was going on. The children were immediately
awakened by Merseft, and the captain went to see what it
was. By him being 3D, the image generator could move him
anywhere in and out of the vessel. Soon the captain
announced that there was an intruder and the hatch was
opening. Clara was ready with her green saliva bugs to
attack whatever it was.
The hatch opened slowly, and the children were ready
to attack, when a voice shouted out, "It's me!"
It was none other than Larry Stewart.
"What are you doing here?" said Clara.
Larry told them that Jamyra invited him. Clara was
upset and threw a pillow at Jamyra, telling her she
couldn't keep a secret if it was to save her life. No one
wanted Larry there, not even his friends; Larry was just an
inconvenience.
"Who else did you tell?" said Peter to Jamyra.
"I told no one else, I swear," said Jamyra.
Everyone was upset with Jamyra, but they could not
waste time now. Peter was more concerned with Larry, not
with the fact that he did not have any special powers, but
that he was easily persuaded and could flip on them at any
time. Jamyra apologized over and over again, but no one
wanted to hear it. Clara then fixed her mouth to send a
large green saliva bug, and burst it all over Jamyra.
Green slime was everywhere! Jamyra was not happy and
was very scornful of Clara's green bugs. She screamed and
ran to the restroom to wash off. Everyone laughed, but the
laughter was cut short as Larry found himself a seat on the
vessel. Nevertheless, Peter set down some ground rules for
Larry. He wanted Larry to know that he was now on their
team, and reminded Larry that his father was a part of the
seven wizards and he must not switch sides.
"Whatever," said Larry as he sat with his hands
folded, and his legs crossed.
Peter did not like this sign, and made Larry promise
that he would not switch sides. Everyone stood over Larry
waiting for his answer, being the bully that Larry was and
wanting attention, he took a while before he answered.
Finally he said, "Okay, I'll stay neutral."
Everyone accepted his word, but Peter secretly
reminded everyone to keep a close eye on him. Larry went
through the vessel, rambling for food while the others just
sat back and watched every move he made.
Peter got the team together to make a plan on how to
save his father. All of the children brought their special
gifts that they got in school. Peter had his box of small
fighters, and the others had their special gifts. Soon the
captain announced that the Ambassador Forest was six more
hours away, and lights would be going out on the vessel to
conserve energy; everyone was ordered to get a good night's
rest because tomorrow would be a long day.
As everyone slept, the time clicked by until morning
came. The sun was shinny brightly, and the children were
awakened by a huge white bird. It had a large red beak,
huge dark eyes, it carried the magical symbols of Baja in a
straight line down its back, and it was staring in their
window, admiring the children. Everyone was startled for a
minute, and then realized that it was just a huge harmless
peacock.
The captain announced that they had arrived in the
Ambassador Forest. To the children's eyes, it was a
beautiful place, one with ancient temples, golden sands,
huge rocks and waterfalls; it was like stepping into a
fantasy land. Huge stone temples guarded the opposite sides
of the forest. Life there was also coming back to normal;
Peter saw his mother's work in affect. Trees came to life
right before their eyes, plants sprouted up everywhere, and
vines crisscrossed the golden sands like snakes.
The vessel quietly landed, making sure not to cause
any disturbance. Peter asked Merseft to cover the vessel
with vegetation to hide it from prying eyes. Merseft
quickly stumbled through his book of spells, first
accidentally covering the vessel with a pink blanket, then
finally getting it right and covered it with vegetation.
"Oh, you silly genie," said Peter as he laughed at
Merseft.
First the children got something to eat; hot banana
pancakes were made for them with blue syrup.
"Those were was the best pancakes and crackling eggs I
have ever had," said Steve.
Suddenly someone asked, "Where is Larry?"
Peter called out for Larry, but there was no answer;
he was nowhere to be found. Then the captain mentioned that
Larry had left the vessel. The children ran to the window
and saw Larry running across the desert floor. Peter was
furious that Larry had lied and did not keep his promise.
At the same time, everyone gave Jamyra a mean look. They
were upset that she'd told Larry of all people.
"Well, I could have told the reporter for some cash,
but instead I told Larry. You all should thank me," said
Jamyra.
Needless to say, no one wanted to thank her; the mean
looks remained on their faces until Peter asked Jamyra to
freeze Larry so that he could be caught and tied up until
they came back from saving his father. Jamyra was
reluctant, but since everyone was upset with her, she
agreed to freeze him.
Jamyra's hair blew in the wind, her eyes turned pure
white, a cold chill came upon the vessel, and Jamyra
stretched out her hands and pointed in the direction that
Larry was running. She sent a freeze bolt at him. At first
Larry dodged some of her ice bolts, but on the third try
she got him. Larry froze from his feet to his head. As he
was freezing, begged Jamyra to let him go, that he was
going to tell his uncle. Even though Jamyra wanted to let
him go, she knew that it was not the right time and that
Larry had made them distrust him.
Before Larry got totally froze he shouted, "I just
wanted to see my real father!"
But before anyone could change their minds, the ice
had taken over. Everyone hauled together to lift Larry's
ice cold body back into the vessel. Now that he was safely
tucked away, it relieved most of the worries of the
children; they did not have Larry's attitude to deal with
anymore.
The captain reminded the children that they had to
leave, that night fell quickly here, and Merseft reminded
Peter that the spells in the book only lasted three days.
Peter and his friends were under more pressure; they all
quickly bailed out of the vessel, one behind the other.
With an old hand-drawn map of the forest, Robert instructed
the team on where to go.
Meanwhile the forest was coming alive; huge plants
were popping out of the desert floor, and as they burst
into the air they sprayed out seeds that in a few seconds
grew more plants. This was amazing to the children, to see
plants and flowers pop out of the ground and grow before
their eyes. But this was no time for sightseeing. Robert
was the guide and the one with the map, and he was moving
really fast.
Peter reminded everyone to stick together and not to
lose sight of what they were there for. Just as he said
that, they came upon the most beautiful blue polar bears.
They were large, but docile; in their mouths the mother and
father had their cubs, carrying them along the golden
desert. The polar bears were harmless and never made a move
toward the children, as long as they stood clear away.
"Oh! They are so cute and fuzzy," said Millie.
As the children walked along, they could feel the
ground beneath them sinking.
"Move quickly, this is black tar," said Robert.
The children ran as the black tar tried to get ahold
of them. The black tar had hands that were web-like; it
tried to grip and grab at the children, but they ran,
jumping through and over the tar. But the black tar was not
giving up; it swarmed its way toward the children like a
snake on its belly. Screams of fear filled the air.
The black tar grabbed Millie by the legs and pulled
her under. Robert quickly made his body into a beanpole so
she could hold on while Peter created huge holes to devour
the black tar. Peter's hair spiked and his freckles turned
even more orange. Suddenly he created a huge hole that
swallowed up the black tar.
The children cheered, "We did it!"
Indeed they had, they had defeated a forest monster
that only the legends had talked about the way it swallowed
men whole, or the way many armies had succumbed to its
powers.
"We must move fast," said Robert.
Millie thanked Robert and Peter for saving her, but to
them this was what friends did for each other. The children
headed toward an open field when they heard the thumping of
hooves. It was the black Ryders coming; they could smell
visitors a mile away.
One of the Ryders pointed toward the moving bushes in
the forest; it was where Peter and his friends were
standing. The black Ryders came running through the field
like wild horsemen; Peter and his friends panicked and they
ran in different directions, jumping and falling over rocks
and debris. The black Ryders did not let up either; they
kept on coming and coming until they caught up with the
children. All the kids were running by each other,
screaming and could not seem to get it together; until
Jamyra decided to freeze the black Ryders.
She twirled her hands until them became frozen and
cold-looking, and then she sprayed out a bash of cold air
onto the Ryders until they were frozen solid. Everyone was
still afraid because they could still see the Ryders eyes
moving. Jamyra wanted to touch them but Peter pulled her
hands back quickly.
"Are you crazy? We know nothing about them," said
Peter to Jamyra.
"Quickly, we must move," said Robert.
The children went down a passage way heading to the
golden temple that was on the map that Robert was reading
from.
"Maybe your dad is in there," said Clara.
Peter just shrugged his shoulders and was unemotional
about it; as if he did not know if he could really save his
father. Still, he was willing to give it one last try. As
the children headed toward the golden temple, huge statues
of Indian chiefs guarded the temple gates. The statues were
alive with color; the red, white, blues and greens of the
feathers on the Indian statues' headdresses were bright and
vibrant, as if they were just put there days ago.
Everything around the temple was adorned in the most
beautiful colors one could imagine. Things seemed to be
going as well as possible, until the Indians moved! At
first the children were not sure of what they'd heard, and
were afraid to look around. Suddenly the footsteps became
louder and louder.
Peter turned around and saw the Indians coming from
the back, front, and sides of him and his friends. The
children were full of fear; they did not know what to do.
Jamyra began screaming of course, and Robert, with his
slender body, hid behind one of the tree branches. The
Indian statues came closer and closer, until Peter finally
decided to tell the others to calm down so he could speak
to the statues.
"We come in peace; we are from the mainland of Baja.
Please, we ask for your help."
But nothing Peter said was working, the statutes came
closer and closer with their thunderous footsteps. They
weighted so much that every time they came closer, the
ground would seem to sink in. When Peter noticed that
nothing he did or said was working, he decided to make
giant holes to sink the huge giant statues. Peter's orange
hair stuck up into the air and became brighter. His hands
formed an orange glow that then created the holes; one by
one the massive Indian statues fell through the holes.
They were sinking faster than Peter could make the
holes; the giant statues went down moaning and groaning.
Then the dirt from the ground covered the giants from head
to toe, leaving nothing more than their heads poking up
above the dirt.
"We must hurry," said Zack.
All of the children hurried along, they ran through
the temple gates, and suddenly they were approached by a
very tall Indian ball thrower. The Indian was a very tall
man who wore a turban on his head. His arms stretched out
for miles, and so did his legs; his skin was dark and ashy.
He wore no shirt and on his chest were the symbols of Baja
that glowed and flickered at a more rapid pace than other,
normal codes. The Indian only wore a white cloth around his
waist area. In his hands he held big crystal balls that
turned into fire balls, and he threw them at whoever he
pleased.
The Indian ball thrower sat on a spinning disc that
allowed him to move forward, backward, and side to side. He
> had no eyes, nothing sat in his eye sockets except for two
golden eggs. The ball thrower sat in the middle of the
temple grounds and protected its entrance.
Millie quickly became invisible and ran toward the
temple doors to sit and wait on her friends; then Steve
took off his shoes and his feet grew huge and hair. He let
off an odor that was so stinky that the ball thrower
coughed and cover his nose. All the children covered their
noses and mouths.
"Steve, you jerk, tell us when you're going to do
that," said Michael.
The ball thrower threw the balls of fire at the
children who ran and hid from the flames coming through the
air. Michael pulled out his wing of armor from his
backpack, put it on, and his own wings became powerful. He
flew above the ball thrower, but not for long. The ball
thrower threw fire balls at Michael. He taunted the ball
thrower and flew in front of his face faster and faster.
The thrower was not happy and threw even more balls of
fire. Trees and shrubs were burning everywhere; there were
small patches of fire all over the temple floor, burning
uncontrollably. Then Steve put on his shoe wings that were
given to him in the school trip and flew Michael over the
ball thrower's head. They distracted the ball thrower as
they signaled to the others to try and cross.
But the ball thrower had another trick up its sleeve.
From behind his back, four more hands came out, like an
octopus. They dangled in the air, and each hand held more
balls of fire.
"Oh! No, not more hands," said Jamyra.
Sam blew himself up into a big ball of farts; he
sucked in the fresh air, and then let out a fart ball of
slime all over the ball thrower. He was not happy with this
little stunt, and ran after Sam. But Sam also brought his
gift, which was a gum that turned into slime. Sam chewed
and chewed until he could not chew anymore. He spit out the
gum, and it turned into a ball of slime right under the
ball thrower's feet.
He got up off of his floating disc and tried to chase
Sam, but because the gum was made of slime, the thrower
stumbled and fell. He could not catch himself; the slime
was so slippery that the ball thrower went sliding into the
walls of the temple. This made the ball thrower very angry,
and he got back on his disc and hovered over the children.
Peter could not make a hole that would suck the thrower up
because it would not stop moving.
The ball thrower laughed, "Ha, ha, ha, you silly
brats."
Zack blew snot out of his nose, and turned it into a
huge giant that would fight the ball thrower. But the ball
thrower was not impressed. So Zack blew and blew until the
snot was a few feet higher, and then the snot giant formed,
and went after the ball thrower.
The ball thrower threw fire through the snot bugger,
and all it did was melt the mucus. The giant snot formed
again and again as the ball thrower fired more fire balls
its way. Then, at the last minute, Zack ran to freedom, and
then had the snot splatter all over the ball thrower. He
screamed aloud until the walls of the temple shook.
Then Clara and Nicholas came as a pair. As Nicholas
roared at the ball thrower, Clara formed spit and saliva of
green mucus bugs that swarmed and attacked the ball
thrower. Nicholas' roaring talent was so loud and
thunderous that it caused an earthquake. Clara pulled out
her golden sword that shot fire dragons. The fire dragons
attacked the ball thrower.
As they fought, Peter, Ben, and Robert were able to
get to safety. The two creatures fought until the fire
dragons destroyed the ball thrower; it disappeared into
thin air. The only thing left was all eight fire balls. No
one dared to touch them because they did not know if
something else was forming.
The children ran inside the temple and, oh it was such
a beautiful sight! Inside were three small pyramid temples
that were different colors of gold, from red to blue to
green. Everything in the temple was made of gold or gold
bars. The walls were even perfect, and the grounds were
well manicured. The children walked the grounds with
caution; there were magical symbols everywhere.
Inside the temple there was blue electric water that,
if you drank it, it would shock you. On the temple walls
were drawings of the elders, which where all defaced. No
one could tell or see who they were, but since Millie was a
code breaker they had her try and see if there were any
clues on how to get to the heart of the Ambassador Forest.
As she read, a big blast of firepower came through the
grounds, the tiles and bricks of the temple cracked.
"Hurry, Millie, is there anything?" said Peter.
Millie quickly glided her hands over the
hieroglyphics, but was sad to report that there was not
much there for her to read. Peter and the others were
disappointed, but they had to go. For some reason, a sea of
lava was headed their way. Millie quickly put on her
magical shades and looked through them. Since the shades
could see through anything, Millie saw a small opening in
the wall of the first temple, and led the others to it;
running as the sea of lava approached closer and closer,
missing the children by mere inches.
All of the children quickly ran through the opening,
and were now in temple number one. Inside, the temple was
very dark and none of the children could see each other;
they were going by touch, and felt the walls and each other
to stay close together.
Clara lit her magical dragon sword. The fire formed a
dragon and it filled the entire temple with light; it was
an amazing sight. There were rows and rows of mummies in a
straight line; many of the children were scared, but
Michael was so cocky that he flew over to get a better
look. Millie decided to play a trick on him, and
disappeared and hid by a mummy. When Michael passed by,
she'd make the mummy move; and that's exactly what happened.
The mummy moved, and Michael went running back; all
the children laughed and teased him. He blushed, but knew
he deserved it, and it was his own fault. As the light got
brighter, the temple was filled, level by level with dead
mummy corpses, and there were one hundred levels of
mummies. On the very last level there was a mummy in a
chair. For a minute, Peter thought it moved, but as he
rubbed his eyes back into focus, he decided that maybe he
was seeing things.
The temple walls also had the drawings of the elders
defaced, but on one of the walls it showed a picture of a
small baby with orange hair being held by the elders facing
the heavens, and a star pointing at the earth.
"Peter, that looked just like you," said Clara.
Peter quickly denied it, and turned away, but Millie
dec
iphered some of the codes and came up with a name:
"Peter of Earth". The children knew then that the elders
and their prophecy was real, and it was coming to pass.
Peter was a little stunned, but quickly regained his
composer.
"We must protect you," said Clara to Peter.
"Yeah, Peter, you are Baja's only hope," said Millie.
For the first time, Peter really accepted who he was
and what was his plan in life. For the first time, he went
back in his mind and saw how he was made to be the person
that he was. Peter thought of how he stood up to bullies,
how he remained who he was, despite what others thought;
how he obeyed and respected his parents and the elders of
his community. Peter realized that he was being trained for
the job that was now ahead.
Clara shook Peter out of his daydream because the
mummies seemed to be moving. One by one, the mummies
marched and marched, as if they were marching to the beat
of some drummers. The children had nowhere to go but up. As
the mummies marched and grabbed after the children, those
that could fly, flew, and those that had special abilities
that could be used, used them.
Peter opened up holes in the ground, his orange hair
stuck up in a frenzy, and his hands turned orange. Out of
his hands, a blast formed a series of holes that gulped the
mummies down, one by one. The mummies came alive, and they
were scary and ugly, with their teeth half falling out of
their mouths. Their jaw bones were falling off, their bones
were so brittle that some of them broke and crumbled to the
ground.
The mummies hooked the children by using their old
wrapped up white cloths. Robert slid by the mummies because
he was so skinny that they hardly noticed him. Clara used
her fire dragon sword to burn up the mummies; Ben pulled
out his magical cape and flew over them. They tried to pull
him down, but Ben got away.
One by one, the children made it to the top. Jamyra
turned the mummies into ice, but the temple was so hot that
it melted the ice. At the top of the 100th level, there was
a twelve-headed clown. Each head spun around like the hands
on a watch, and each face had a different expression. In
the clown's hands, he held a big wooden hammer that had to
weight about one hundred pounds. The clown wore a big white
clown outfit with red fluffy buttons that came down the
front. Its faces were made up with makeup so there was no
way of telling what was really underneath it all.
It grinned an evil grin, and chased the children.
Millie disappeared because she was afraid; Michael flew
into the air and kicked the clown with his feet, but it did
no good. Clara sent her green saliva bugs at the twelve
heads, but it only lasted for a few seconds before the
clown was chasing them again. Behind the clown stood a
small golden door that had rubies and gems embedded in it.
The door was glowing and a banging was coming from it.
"We must make it to the door!" said Peter to the
others.
One by one, they tried to make it up to the top, but
the clown had super fast speed. It zipped from one end of
the level to the other, knocking some of the children back
down to the floor while others tried to climb up. But they
were getting pulled back down by the mummies; there were so
many mummies, and the temple was so crowed that the air was
getting thick.
Steve once again took off his shoes and let his hairy
feet grow, and then let off the stinkiest toe jams. The
mummies coughed, and many ran out of the temple. Steve
laughed, but the other children were getting choked and
turning green from Steve's toe jams.
"Oh, Steve, I told you to warn us," said Clara.
Steve just laughed and stood on the ledge, and
twinkled his toes as the mummies ran out of the temple.
When the smell wore off, they came back in, trying to stop
the children from going through the golden door. Millie
made it over to it because she was invisible, and began
trying to pry open the door. As her friends battled the
gigantic clown, Millie deciphered the codes on the door and
touched them in the ordered she felt they went in. She
pressed star, blue moon, horseshoe, birds, and some other
mystical symbol.
At first, nothing happened; then the banging and
pushing on the door ceased, and then the glow went away.
Millie did not know what she'd done; she thought maybe
she'd done it wrong. But, it was not wrong; suddenly the
magical door flew open and a burst of red and yellow light
blasted through the room. The wind was so strong that it
blew the children and the mummies away.
Out of the door flew millions of tiny fuzzy critters;
they were soft fuzz balls that were in multi colors, light
enough to float through the air with just a blow of air.
Two big boggle-eyes sat on the top of their heads, and they
had skinny arms and legs like a spider. They made a funny
noise that was a little irritating to the children, but
this was such a great sight to see, no one did much
complaining. The fuzz balls ran through, pushing everything
out of their way, leaving the path open for the children to
enter, but they still had to deal with the giant clown.
The giant clown zipped back and forth like a lightning
bolt. Neither Peter nor his friends could keep up with the
giant because of his speed. So, the only thing they thought
could slow him down was some of Sam's green slime gum. Sam
chewed and chewed until the slime oozed out of the corners
of his mouth; then he knew that it was ready. He spit out
the oozing slime gum onto the ledge where the clown was
zipping and making faces at the children.
During the next pass, the clown stepped in the slime
gum and went sliding down the levels. Peter and his friends
cheered loudly; they quickly climbed to the top of the
level, while the giant clown went tumbling down over the
mummies that were chasing Peter and his friends.
Once at the top, the children looked down to see the
crowd of mummies coming back up. Clara pulled out her
golden fire dragon sword and commanded it to burn down the
levels. The dragon became a ball of fire and began burning
the levels, spewing fire from its mouth. After the levels
were on fire and burning, Clara put her magical sword away,
and out the magical door they went. Everything was so
bright and colorful; it was as the children were sliding
down a rainbow.
"Weeeeeee" they shouted.
The only thing the children could see was the multi
colors; that's why the fuzzy critters were so colorful.
When Peter and his friends landed at the end of the rainbow
slide, it led them to a door that led them to the outside
of the second temple. Outside, the children noticed that
they were all multi colored, just like the critters they
sa
w in the first temple. Their skins had change to many
colors of the rainbow.
"Oh! Great, my hair is a mess," said Jamyra.
"Whatever, let's go," said Robert.
The children were afraid to go to the other temple,
not knowing what they would have to face. So they all got
ready, stood in a line, got their powers ready, and burst
through the second temple's gates. They were now inside the
second temple walls; it was purple and gold, it glittered
in the sun, and every time an animal passed by the temple
door codes of Baja would pop up everywhere.
Peter realized that they were even made up of codes;
their bodies had turned into codes, each child had
different codes on them. Millie tried to read each of her
friends' codes before they disappeared, but it was too
late; there was not much to tell in that short period of
time. As the children walked through the second temple, it
was filled with huge flowers, vines and vegetation. Up in
the air, huge grasshoppers flew by and dropped poop on the
children.
"That was gross!" shouted Peter at the grasshopper.
A grasshopper swooped down and picked up a few of the
children and threw them on its back; then another came and
scooped up some more of the children and threw them on its
back.
"I think we are dinner," said Millie.
"I hope not," said Clara.
The grasshoppers made a sudden landing inside the main
walls of the second temple. As water plants sprayed bubbles
of water in the air at the grasshoppers, the water plants
caused the grasshoppers to lose their food. Peter and his
friends ran away as they were dropped to the floor by the
grasshoppers.
Once in the main hall, there was an eerie silence. It
was as if something was coming. The children stayed alert
and kept watch; when suddenly a huge spider, red in color,
with a silver stripe down its back, sprayed webbing from
its mouth, trapping some of the children. The first to be
caught were Peter, Jamyra, Clara, Robert and Zack.
The spider spewed its webbing, and all of the children
were caught in its web. The spider twirled the children in
more webbing to keep them from escaping, and then it went
after the remaining children. Michael's powerful wings and
Steve's magical flying shoes helped them to bypass the
spider. It sprayed webbing all over the temple walls, all
over the vegetation, and barely missed the children.
Millie became invisible and headed toward the web to
free her friends; while Steve, Nicholas, and Michael kept
the spider busy. Millie was afraid to climb the web, but
Peter encouraged her to get through it. Step by step, he
gave Millie the confidence to believe in herself so she
could climb the web. It was huge, and hundreds of feet up.
There were skeletons of men who had tried to cross before;
now they were nothing more than bones.
Peter told Millie to free Clara first, seeing that she
had a sword that could burn through anything. Once Millie
found Clara, she was about to cut her loose, until she got
a strange feeling. It was the spider behind her, but it
could not see Millie, only sense her presence. When Millie
turned around, she screamed so loudly that the spider
heard, and tried to catch the invisible sound.
"Hurry and free Clara, Millie," said Peter.
Millie quickly ran to where Clara was, and began
pulling the thick webbing off of her, layer by layer; until
Clara's hands were free. She reached in her pouch, and
pulled out the sword, calling upon the dragon of fire. Out
burst the dragon, roaring and burning the spider's web.
The other children were distracting the spider while
the dragon, Clara and Millie used their magic to free their
friends. Steve took off his shoes and let his feet grow to
produce toe jams, but that did not bother the spider.
Nicholas roared until the spider's ears hurt; it fell on
the floor in pain.
After Clara was free, she formed her saliva bugs, and
they came out in a swarm and attacked the spider. Yet, that
was not doing the job either; until Peter opened up a hole
and let it swallow the spider. There was nothing left of
the spider, only a hole into another dimension.
"Peter! We have to teach you how to close those
holes," said Clara.
That was one of Peter's faults; he could open a hole,
but could not close it. And many times his holes opened to
unknown worlds. But, now was not the time; the children had
to hurry and find Peter's father before the spell wore off.
After defeating the spider, a huge wooden door rose
up. There was nothing on the other side. It was eerily
similar to this side, so the children prepared for a war
again. As they cautiously walked through the opening, there
was nothing more than some statues that had spider webbing
all over them.
"There must be more spiders," said Peter.
As the children walked and walked, it seemed as if
they were ending right back where they started.
"It's a reverser," said Robert.
A reverser was a force field that sent you back to
where you started, but the children could not see it. Every
time they started to walk toward the opening, the reverser
pushed them back. Peter had the idea to split up and try
running. As they did so, they were all reversed and sent
back to start! This was proving to be a real challenge; and
the children had to rest for a while.
As Clara played around with her saliva flies, she
noticed that they would reverse back to her, which was
pretty cool. Now she had an idea to use the flies to guide
them. She sent the flies out, and they wove their way
through the reversal and made it to the other side. Animals
have more instincts than Clara and her friends.
As the children followed Clara's saliva flies, they
passed through the reverser. Once they got through it, they
looked back and saw that the reverser was nothing more than
some type of mystical pathway. Its reflection could only be
seen from one side; the reverser was nothing more than a
door made of some liquid that is invisible on one side and
visible on the other.
Nevertheless, Peter and his friends were on a mission;
they were now prepared to handle anything. And just as they
thought, the second temple was easier; the other side of
the reverser led them into a big area with nothing more
than sand, a few large dunes, and mountains. This did not
look good for the children, but from miles away they could
see the door to the other side; it glittered and glowed in
the sun's rays.
"We must get to that door," said Peter.
"It is not going to be easy," said Clara.
The children took off running through the desert,
kicking up dust and sand everywhere, and from the depths of
the sand a sand octopus rose up! It had at least a couple
hu
ndred tentacles, a massive head and deep black eyes, and
its body was covered in yellow and red fur. The children
had never seen a sand octopus before; this was a creature
that they only knew to be a fantasy.
Suddenly the creature attacked, tentacles came from
every direction, grabbing every child and throwing them up
into the air. Screams filled the air, and the children
fought and hit the huge monster, but this did little or no
damage. Since the creature was oversized and could not feel
their little hits, one by one the children danced through
the air on the octopus' tentacles; it was like riding a
rollercoaster with screams filling the air.
Millie tried to disappear, but was still in the grip
of the creature. Peter tried to create holes, but they did
not work here because the creature was already from the
deepest depths. Zack sent out his snot buggers and covered
the octopus' eyes with green slime. It worked for a little
while, but failed because the creature's eyes were so huge
that it took a lot of snot and buggers to glop up the eyes.
Sam made fart balls that were disgusting, not only did they
smell, but when they burst, they left slime all over the
place. Luckily it was mostly on the creature and not on his
friends.
The octopus let some of the children loose, due to the
nasty slime on its face and the smell. Once Millie was
free, she ran toward the magical door ahead and turned
invisible. Steve and Michael carried Peter and Jamyra,
because they were the only two that could take flight. Sam
chewed some of his gum, and threw it on the desert floor
where it turned into slime. The remaining children slid on
it toward the magical door.
Once the octopus removed the slime from its eyes, it
noticed that the children were getting away, and chased
after them. And oh, what a chase it was. The octopus dove
in and out of the sand, kicking dirt and dust into the air,
and every once in a while it brought up a treasure chest or
two. But no treasure chest could keep the children away
from the magic door.
As they slid on the slime gum, they could hear their
friends telling them to run. Millie was still working on
the codes of the door, trying everything to get it open.
Once she had cracked the codes, the door produced many more
magical doors, all with numbers on them. The children had
to choose one. Millie picked door number eleven. Peter and
the others waited for their remaining friends to get away
from the octopus, but it made waves of sand that sent the
children riding high through the air, as if they were
surfing.
"We're almost there!" said Clara.
As the huge tidal wave of sand came closer to the
magical door, each remaining child jumped off and into the
pathway to the magical door. Once in there, everyone rushed
through the door and shut it tight as the creature was only
inches away from catching them. Peter and the other
children took a deep sigh of relief, as they made it
through another temple.
Peter Carrot-top Page 18
