‘You’ve seen what my dragon can do,’ said Ant. ‘You’d better answer my question. Operation Wipeout: what is it?’
‘I can’t tell you,’ whispered the guard.
‘Oh yes, you can,’ Ant said, with as much menace as he could manage. ‘Quickly or I’ll set Pradahl on you.’
Pradahl was still puffing smoke left over from her final attack upon the rareio. It made her look awe-inspiringly fearsome, like some hellish steam engine.
‘All right. Just don’t say I told you,’ whimpered the guard. ‘Operation Wipeout is a way Kody Crunch has found to control people. It happens when a rareio jumps into you…’
‘SHUT UP!’ Kody Crunch and his deputy ran up behind Ant. They pointed their weapons at the boys. ‘Don’t listen to this idiot,’ Kody growled, nodding at the guard. ‘He’s in shock, he’s talking rubbish.’
‘But I heard you talking earlier,’ said Ant. ‘All the time you’ve been in the Parkworld “investigating”, you had no intention of killing the rareio, did you, Kody Crunch? You were just studying it. And all because of this Operation Wipeout.’
Even though he could only see Kody’s avatar, Ant saw the way he flinched when his name was spoken.
‘So you know it’s me?’ said Kody.
‘Oh yes,’ replied Ant.
‘Not such a nice guy after all, huh? You would have left my … the frozen gamers in hospital for years!’ shouted Griff. He pointed his lightning rod at Kody but before he could use it, a strong beam flashed from the deputy’s and knocked it from his hand.
‘How much have you heard?’ asked Kody.
‘Enough,’ said Ant.
Kody looked from one boy to the other, as though weighing up what kind of risk they posed. He walked up to Ant and laid the tip of his lightning rod on Ant’s chest.
Pradahl responded immediately. She rose into the air, spreading her wings around him and baring her teeth in a warning snarl.
Kody and his deputy both turned their weapons on the dragon and fired. She was hit in the neck and chest and fell to the ground in a slack, lifeless heap.
‘Pradahl!’ cried Ant. He bent down. There was no movement, not a breath in her body. ‘You’ve killed her!’ he yelled. ‘She wasn’t attacking you, she was just trying to protect me!’
‘Don’t you understand yet?’ The shadow of Kody Crunch fell across Ant as he cradled his dragon’s head. ‘This is all just a game, kid. It’s not something to get worked up about. Even Operation Wipeout. It’s just part of a game. Now let’s discuss how we can solve this problem about what you think you heard.’
Ant placed Pradahl’s head gently on the ground and looked up at Kody.
‘What about the players in hospital? Was that part of your game?’ he snapped.
He felt Griff’s hand on his shoulder and heard Griff mutter ‘Come on!’ Ant’s legs had turned to jelly but he managed to stand and walk away.
Kody came after them, his voice changing to the persuasive one he used in his adverts. How could he make this situation all right again? What did the boys want, maybe some vouchers for free games? How would they like to become testers for new Crunch Hut games that weren’t even on the market yet? How would they like to star in his adverts and become famous? Think how jealous their friends would be!
‘Let’s get away,’ said Griff. They began to run down the hill. Griff called out, ‘Ready? One … two … three…’
At exactly the same moment, the two boys disappeared from the Parkworld. A split second later, they were back in the Dell.
Ant tore off his headset and flung it on the grass. ‘They got her. They killed Pradahl. How dare Kody Crunch do that to my dragon? How dare he?’
His heart was hammering and he felt like screaming with frustration, but the investigators might hear him and put two and two together. Calm down, he told himself.
‘I’m sorry, mate,’ Griff laid his hand on Ant’s shoulder. ‘Do you think it could be – you know – temporary?’
‘Nothing like that’s ever happened in Kismet. I’ve never seen her die like that,’ said Ant.
‘Look, I’m going to have to ring my dad. You saw what happened in there, Kody and his deputy unfroze as soon as we destroyed the rareio.’ Griff found his phone in his backpack and scrolled around the screen. ‘I’ve got four missed calls from Dad!’ he said excitedly. ‘Ant, I’m so nervous. I have to call him right now and find out what’s happening.’
This was the most important news and Ant tried to forget about Pradahl’s lifeless body back in the Parkworld. That was just a game, this was real life and real people’s lives at stake. He waited, almost too scared to breathe as he watched Griff talk to his dad.
‘Yeah? … Yeah? … She said what? What did the doctors say? … Yeah, sure Dad, I’ll be home in twenty minutes and then we can head to the hospital to see her.’
When Griff rang off, he was crying tears of relief and he and Ant hugged each other. His mum had woken up!
Their celebration was cut short when they heard footsteps crunching through the undergrowth. They grabbed their stuff, realising that Kody and his team would be searching the area for the kids who had just destroyed the rareio. Only it wasn’t Kody who stumbled out of the bushes but a really glum-looking girl.
‘It’s you, isn’t it?’ said the girl, eyeing Ant and Griff’s suits. She was wearing an ordinary grey Ray-Chay suit and carrying a headset. ‘You were in the Parkworld? I mean, if it wasn’t you, then sorry, just ignore me. But it was, wasn’t it? I’ve been right round the edge of the park searching. I didn’t realise there were two of you.’
‘Oh yes.’ Ant took a breath. ‘You must be the dolphin?’
She nodded. ‘I’m Rubie Zhu Jenkins. I’m in the year above you at school. You’re Ant. You’re
