“NO WAY!”
“Come on now, Steven. We worked on this for so long, and now you’re quitting?” asked John.
“But is it safe?” asked Steven, taking a few steps back.
“Yeah, what if something goes wrong?” added Melvin.
“Everything has its risks… hey, we wouldn’t know unless we try, right?” said John.
“I’m not stepping into that thing, that’s for sure!” Steven raised his voice.
“Oh, come on! Don’t tell me you guys are scared?”
“Scared? Ha! You kidding? Fine then, let’s go!” said Steven.
“No way I’m scared when you guys are not!” said Melvin.
“Hey, we’re in this together, man. Chillax...” John tried to calm his friends. “Look, if something goes wrong, I will hold full responsibilities. Besides, I had preparations for this if our project succeeded. One: Time will stop here once we enter the portal. And two, anything could happen in a fantasy world. However, it will be quite random there because with our mix-match of the games used for programming earlier, I’m not quite sure what will happen.”
The boys stood silent in a line, facing the portal for a moment, taking a deep breath.
“Ready guys?” John asked his friends and they nodded. “On the count of three...”
“One… two… THREE!” the teenagers counted.
Without further ado, they rushed recklessly and without hesitation into the portal.
“Whoa...” Steven gasped as they floated through the purple void.
“Look!” Melvin shouted and pointed a finger when he saw a bright light heading towards them.
“Get ready, this may hurt a little...” said John.
“Wait, what do you mean, hurt a little?” asked Steven.
However, Steven never got his question answered as the light grew brighter towards them. Soon, everything went blank…
John woke up. He sat up, and noticed that he was greeted by the filth of dirt, forming a path down a valley straight to a town. He looked around, observing the area, and saw his friends lying nearby in front of a decent everyday house, still out cold. He got up, patted the dirt off himself and walked towards them, checked their pulses, and was relieved they were still alive. He raised his head and saw the house, a line of white wooden fence on the right that goes along the cliff from the house down the valley, and the scenery of the town.
“Wow!” John gasped. He never seen a town as beautiful and clean. He walked towards the door of the house while still admiring the scenery. When he reached the door, he was surprised to see words written on the door.
The Prodigies:
Javelin Lightspear, Saberblade Excalibur, Magistrike Kinesis
Stay out if you’re not one of them, unless you have an invite!
“These are...” he gasped.
“Uh… John...” John heard one of his friends moaned. It was Steven’s voice.
“Glad you didn’t die,” John joked.
“Well duh! I assured you that we would not die so easily in a fantasy world!” Steven got up and patted himself.
“Yeah, right. Like you’re really assuring!” mocked Melvin, also awaken.
“Put a sock in it, Melvin!”
“Guys, before you go on a rampage together, check this out!” John pointed a finger and told his friends to join him.
They walked along eyeing to each other.
Gee, I hope that they don’t turn the whole place into a battlezone… John thought.
“So, what’s this you’re gonna show us? A house?” asked Steven.
“No, look at the door!” said Melvin, pointing at the door.
“What in the world? These are the names from our gaming accounts! And ‘The Prodigies’ is the name of our gaming clan!” Steven raised his voice.
“Yeah, all of them are from ‘Three Tribes’.” John added.
“John, did you do this?” asked Melvin, unsured.
“To be honest, I have no idea… Like I said, anything might happen. For example, THIS!”
“You know guys, something tells me that we should use those names. “Cause I think that the peeps who live here don’t have ‘proper’ names like us,” Steven scratched his chin.
“You know, you may be on to something, Steven.” said John. “However, let’s wait ‘till there’s actually someone to introduce themselves to us. If they actually used a funny name, let’s go will your suggestion, Steven.”
“Yes, Javelin!” said Steven and Melvin, trying to tick him off.
“I said WAIT, you buffoons!” John raged.
“Looks like we struck a nerve there.” Steven turned to Melvin.
“Agreed.”
“I don’t know what to say...” John became pissed. He turned the doorknob and walked into the house. “Come on, this house’s built for us!”
Without hesitation, Steven and Melvin followed in.
The interior of the house was just as the boys expected. A living room, a kitchen, a dining table with some chairs, three bedrooms, an empty room, probably as a work area, two washrooms and a door to the back.
“Ah… feels like home...” Steven lied on the couch.
“We should sleep in this room,” John suggested the largest bedroom with a triple decker bed.
“What do you mean ‘we’?” asked Steven.
“Yeah, that’s gross!” saided Melvin in disgust. “Are you gay?”
“Yes, Steven. I meant ‘WE’! And Melvin, I’M NOT GAY!”
Steven and Melvin laughed.
“No, seriously. Are you gay?” Melvin repeated the question.
“I’m not going to answer that...”
“Hey, John. Why us in a room?”
“We sleep in one room, one will be a guest room and another for drastic measures.” John rubbed his hands evilly when he mentioned ‘drastic measures’.
“Steven, I don’t like his face...” Melvin whispered.
“I know, same here” he replied softly.
“Hm, what was that?” John asked.
“Oh, nothing. We were just saying that we should check the back,” lied Steven.
“Good idea. I’ll go first.” said John, heading to the back.
“Nice lie,” praised Melvin.
“Thanks, let’s catch up with John.” Steven got up and went to the back with Melvin.