It was way too early. At least that's how it felt to Kota as he sat on his bed leaning against the wall. They had made it back without being caught but with only two hours of sleep he knew today was going to be long. Furthermore, he was still trying to process what they had found.

He glanced around taking in the various forms of his brothers. They were scattered around the room. Casual conversations could be heard but for the most part it was quiet. Kota could tell he wasn't the only one feeling exhausted. Nathan was doing a pretty good job of hiding it but Victor looked like he was minutes away from falling asleep, and Luke appeared to be on some sort of a sugar rush into order to stay conscious much to North's dismay.

They had a while yet before classes started but the four of them needed to debrief with the others before. They were just waiting on the two oldest members of their family to join them. Mr. B and Doc had to get an apartment near the campus of the school since they were posing as teachers. Though, they weren't complaining.

The dorms were not the best of living conditions. Thankfully they had been able to only room with each other. North and Silas were a floor above, Victor, Kota, and Nathan who shared this room while Luke and Gabriel were across the hall. They had to pull some strings for the three of them to room together but one bunk bed later and here they were.

Kota observed his brothers making sure besides exhaustion nothing else was wrong. It was part of his responsibility. He had a good view of pretty much everyone from the top bunk. He had just finished a quick check of each person when a random knock sounded on the door. Silas opened it allowing Mr. B and Doc to enter.

"Report," Mr. B commanded once they were settled. Kota took a breath and then began describing the abandoned factory, the elevator, the super computer, and the virtual world they had found.

"I'm calling bullshit. You guys are playing a fucking prank on us right?" Gabe asked but was only met with serious looks.

"It's real. I'm currently trying to go through this code but it's complicated and will take a while," Victor said.

"You stated that you had found some code indicating that a person could be transported into this virtual world?" Mr. B asked. Victor nodded.

"I volunteer as trib-," Luke started but North's hand on his mouth forced him to stop.

"You're not getting transported to a virtual world, dumbass. Who knows what could happen to you?" North stated angrily before taking his hand away.

"Yes, that is what the code indicates."

"This some weird Sci-fi shit. This stuff doesn't fucking happen in real life!" Gabe exclaimed again having trouble comprehending how something like this could be possible.

"At least we have an explanation for the weird power surges," Silas stated finally speaking up.

Kota could see both sides of the argument. He was undeniably curious about the virtual realm but they needed to make sure it was safe. He shared his opinion with the others.

"I concur. We need to make sure it is safe before we even consider sending anyone in," Mr. Blackbourne stated.

"So what are we going to do send a piece of paper through?" Nathan asked. Kota shook his head.

"It needs to be something living."

"Why?" North asked harshly. Unfazed, Victor responded.

"To make sure the trip won't kill you."

After all was said and done it was agreed that Victor, Sean, Kota, Luke, and Nathan would be heading back to the factory that night in order to test the system. They just had to get through the day which was easier said than done.

Luke was so excited he couldn't keep the bounce out of his step as he headed into the classroom followed closely by North. He was pumped to go back to the mysterious factory and enter the virtual world. Nothing could bring him down from his high.

"Northie! Did you miss me?" an annoying nasal voice screeched from across the room. Luke groaned. He spoke to soon. A figure darted across the room and plopped themselves down on North's desk situated directly behind Luke's.

Luke turned in his seat to take in the all too familiar Jade Hendricks, the headmaster's daughter. Her clothes left no mystery as to what was underneath even though most would rather they did. This girl for some reason had decided to attach herself to North much to his dismay.

"No, Jade. I did not," North stated his voice harsh. This girl couldn't take a hint so there was no point in dropping them.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true," she said leaning toward him. North's eyes widened in alarm so Luke decided to take action. Quietly and efficiently Luke tilted North's desk with his foot just enough so that Jade fell over catching the floor with her hands. Instant laughter filled the classroom as Jade's face turned colors Luke didn't even know was possible. With a huff, she got back up to her feet and escaped the room as fast as possible.

"Thanks," North told him quietly. Luke smiled back as his brother and winked. It was just what brothers do.

It wasn't until lunch that the younger seven met back up again. They sat at a table near the edge of the space in order to observe anything they needed to. The room was loud, really loud but that seemed to be the norm here at Ashley Waters Academy.

North was the last one to make it to the table his shirt pulled to one side and his face dark. Immediately, Kota noticed.

"North, report," he commanded keeping his voice down.

"Jade, tried to corner me again. I swear that girl doesn't understand the meaning of the fucking word no." Everyone let the subject drop as lunch continued. It was towards the end of the period when a shadow fell over their table.

"Where are your uniforms?" McCoy asked them harshly. McCoy was the deputy headmaster but no one ever called him that to his face. Luke figured he probably didn't like the deputy part. They all shared looks before Kota turned to answer.

"This school doesn't have uniforms," Kota stated the obvious. McCoy huffed in frustration his eyebrows pinched together. He seemed to be in a perpetual state of frustration.

"I know that. Your academy uniforms," he clarified stressing academy.

"We don't have uniforms," Kota replied.

"I was told you would be wearing uniforms," he exclaimed his voice rising.

"He just told you we fucking don't have any," Gabriel commented before he could stop himself. McCoy glared at him harshly but Kota noticed a slight gleam to his eyes now. It seemed that Gabriel just gave McCoy exactly what he wanted.

"I will not be talked to that way. Detention, Mr. Coleman," he stated before walking away without a second glance. Kota watched him go knowing he was a potential suspect. Something about the man just didn't sit right with him. He was always too quick to abuse his power whenever he got the chance.

"Gabe," Kota started but was interrupted by the other boy.

"I know," Gabriel huffed. "I should have kept my fucking mouth shut." Before Kota could talk to him more the bell rang dismissing lunch. Although Kota agreed it would have been better if Gabe hadn't spoken up, he also knew how McCoy was looking to get any of them in trouble. One of them would have fallen into his trap at some point. It was only a matter of time.

The rest of the day continued about the same. All of the boys were very glad when the last class of the day let out. Gabriel was forced to attend the afternoon detention but Silas and North had managed to get detention themselves so at least he wasn't alone. They hid away in their rooms for the rest of the afternoon until dinner. Dinner was better at least. No one bothered them but no one missed the looks they were beginning to receive thanks to McCoy's announcement concerning their uniforms.

Soon enough, Luke was silently sneaking out of his and Gabe's room. He chuckled silently glancing back at his roommate who was currently hanging halfway off his bed fast asleep. Luke hurried along making sure to stay out of sight. He was the last one to arrive at the base of the bridge.

"You guys ready?" he asked cheerfully approaching the group. They all nodded and headed inside. Sean couldn't contain his awe at seeing the hologram of the virtual world. They headed down to the scanner room.

"What now?" Nathan asked. Luke tuned out the conversation catching a glimpse of something on his shirt. He gently picked it up before turning to the rest of the group.

"Look, I've got a hitchhiker," he exclaimed showing them the red spotted insect crawling on his hand. Kota shared a look with Sean and Victor. Victor shrugged.

"That would work," he stated looking back to the bug. Luke glanced down at his little hitchhiker in realization.

"Looks, like you're going to be going on an adventure little buddy." Luke placed the insect into the scanner while Victor and Kota headed back upstairs. Suddenly the doors closed and then all they could do was wait.

Victor sat at the computer typing away. The program was scanning the insect and then it would move on to virtualizing it. Victor hit the final key and waited. A window popped up displaying the bug's information. Not wanting to waste any more time, Victor started the return process. Hopefully, their new friend would make it back okay.

Once his part was done, he and Kota headed back down to the scanner room. They entered just as the scanner opened. Sean crouched down in front of his gently picking the insect up. They all breathed a sigh of relief watching it crawl around Sean's hand.

"You know what this means?" Luke asked a smile making its way across his face as he glanced at Nathan.

"We get to go into a video game?" Nathan replied looking just as excited.

"It's not a video game. It's a virtual world," Victor clarified.

"Is there really that much of a difference?"

"There's no villain to defeat or levels to complete," Kota pointed out. Not wanting to start an argument they let it drop.

"Okay, boys. I'll stay here with Victor just in case anything happens. Be observant and be cautious," Sean warned them. They all nodded their understanding. Sean and Victor headed back up to the computer room as the other three turned to face the scanners. They stepped inside and waited. Soon enough the door closed. There was no going back now.

"Okay, I'm starting the virtualization process now," Victor stated connecting his headset before typing away on the computer. "Scanning Kota, transfer Kota. Scanning Luke, transfer Luke. Scanning Nathan, transfer Nathan. Virtualization." He went through each one of his brothers before hitting the final key. A digital map appeared on the computer. Victor could make out the geography of the world but he couldn't see any detail. His brothers were represented by three blue markers.

"Can you guys hear me? Are you guys okay?" Victor asked into his headset. He and Sean held their breath as they waited for a response.

Nathan was afraid that the process might hurt but he honestly didn't feel anything but some wind in his face. Instinctively he had closed his eyes or he would have noticed how high he was materializing. His eyes flung open as he fell toward.....a forest floor. He reacted fast enough and tucked into a roll when he made contact with the ground.

Once he was back on his feet he glanced around. There were trees everywhere but they weren't like regular trees. They seemed to be hovering in mid-air surrounding each of the different green pathways that lead everywhere he could see. He didn't see an end in any direction. Below the path was nothing. It looked like the place was floating. Wait, there was something down there, really far down there. It almost looked like an ocean but it was sort of off-white or pale yellow color.

Red at the edge of his vision caught his attention. What was he wearing? He had on some sort of black body suit that was missing an arm. It had a red material handing at his waist and red details everywhere. But what really caught his attention were the two giant blades positioned at either hip. He touched them gently surprised at how solid they felt. He didn't feel any different than if this were the real world.

Movement down the path drew his attention up. Kota and Luke were approaching quickly. Well, at least he was pretty sure that was Kota and Luke. They too had gotten costume upgrades.

Kota was in a green tunic which had a large circular collar paired with khaki pants and forest green glove traveling up to his elbows. Attached to his back was one of the biggest bows Nathan had ever seen. His arrow carrier was attached the back of his hips.

Luke was in some sort of ninja get up. Material hung down to his calves, a mixture of light blue, navy, and black. A black piece of material covered half of his face leaving only his eyes showing.

"Can you guys hear me? Are you guys okay?" They heard Victor ask.

"Yeah we're all fine. Can you hear us?" Kota replied.

"Loud and clear. What's it like?"

"It is leaning towards being a video game," Nathan stated still trying to understand the outfits. He guessed his wasn't too bad.

"Why do you say that?" Sean asked.

"We have different outfits on and weapons," Kota replied.

"Why do we even need weapons?" Luke asked playing with a throwing star he pulled from his outfit. Nathan shrugged so far he didn't see any signs of anything being here but them.

"I don't know. Hopefully we won't need them," Kota replied as they started walking. They kept Victor updated on anything new they saw. They came to a fork in the road but that wasn't what caught their attention. A small brown creature was positioned in front of where the paths split with its back to them.

"Hey there buddy," Luke cooed at it approaching slowly.

"Luke," Kota warned. He didn't like this. Luke ignored him and continued forward. The creature whipped around suddenly. They all jumped slightly. Kota focused in on the strange symbol on the face of the creature. Before they could react a red light burst from the creature hitting Luke in the shoulder. He fell backwards letting out a cry of pain.

Victor panicked hearing Luke's painful cry. A picture of Luke's avatar appeared on the computer screen. The number of life points decreased making Victor's stomach drop.

"Luke you just lost twenty life points. Be careful! I don't know what will happen to you if you lose all of them."

Luke scrambled away from the creature. Nathan charge forward pulling out his swords. The ends glowed with a bright red light. He swung at the creature but it dodged and started firing. They all took cover but knew it wouldn't last long.

"Victor what is this thing?" Nathan asked. Victor typed away trying to find an answer. Suddenly a red flag popped up on his screen near the three blue ones.

"Apparently it's called a Kankrelat. I don't have any other information." Nathan groaned and momentarily slipped from his spot. A sharp pain radiated in his side.

"Nathanl!" Victor exclaimed.

"That fucking hurts!" Nathan shouted. "Tell me again how this isn't like being in a video game." Before anyone could answer Nathan charged forward slashing at the creature. He hit it multiple times but it still kept coming. Finally he stabbed it right in the center of its symbol. The creature teetered and then finally exploded.

"It was like a stinking cockroach. You couldn't get rid of it," Luke stated leaving his hiding spot.

"It appears the way to defeat them it to hit their symbol," Kota observed walking over to where the creature had disintegrated.

"I guess that's why we need weapons," Nathan added putting his swords back in their holders. The red light immediately faded.

"Are you all okay?" Sean's voice asked them.

"Yes, we are all fine," Kota replied after surveying the group. He was confused but overall free from injury.

Victor breathed a sigh of relief knowing his brothers were safe. He opened his mouth to talk to them but immediately closed it again taking in the five approaching red flags. Guess he had spoken too soon.

"Guys, you are going to want to move now. You have five more heading straight at you." Kota immediately took the lead as they swiftly moved back the way they had come.

"This way."

The feminine voice stopped them in their tracks. They glanced around but didn't see anyone. Suddenly a small figure steps out from behind one of the trees. She was smaller than them wearing a white, light pink, and dark magenta dress over dark gray leggings. A pink ribbon held part of her blonde hair back.

"This way," she stated again motioning behind her to a path they hadn't noticed before. They glanced at each other not knowing what they should do. The noise of the approaching monsters made up their minds for them. She started down the path and they raced after her.

Nathan glanced behind them taking in the four cockroaches in the distance. His stomach dropped when he realized they were gaining. He stopped and pulled out his blades again. Before anyone could stop him he whirled into battle taking out all four. They got a few hits in but it didn't slow him down. Panting he turned to meet up with the others when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back and then nothing.

Kota was furious. Nathan rushed right into the fight without thinking about anything. He was so preoccupied with the four small creatures he missed the block creature sneaking up behind them. The creature was a perfect cube coming at them on tiny legs. It swiveled on its base, the different faces of the cube rotating. Kota tried to warn him but the red laser hit its mark and right before their eyes Nathan disintegrated. The girl tugged the two of them on as their minds panicked.

"What is that? Is he okay, Victor?" Kota asked pushing past the panic that wanted to freeze him in his tracks.

"It is apparently called a block. I don't have any other information on it just like the last one," Victor told him as Sean ran to the elevator.

Sean raced in a frenzy down to the scanner room. Suddenly one of the scanners closed and then reopened. Laying in the floor of the scanner was Nathan. The panic finally started to subside when Sean noted his moving chest.

"Hey, Doc," Nathan stated groaning as he pushed himself off the ground.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I lost a fight, but besides that fine." They headed back up to the computer room just in time to hear Victor inform the others of his condition.

Kota and Luke could not put into words how relieved they were. They rushed along behind the girl until she stopped outside of a weird looking tower. The top portion of it was white giving off a pure glow. The bottom look like it had tree roots growing up it. There wasn't a door in sight.

"Come on," the girl stated heading for the tower. Kota cringed as she was about to run....she ran into the tower like it wasn't even there. He