… straight into a robot sentry.
BOOM!
Everything went black.
When I came to, I was lying in the graveyard behind our base. I felt a little achy, but nothing near the level of pain you’d feel when getting hit by a real-life laser beam, thank goodness. Just sort of tingly and winded. Rising to my feet, I watched the counter in my field of vision slowly tick down from sixty to zero—the time I had left before I could revive and play again.
I couldn’t help feeling a little discouraged. I mean, that whole run had been awesome. I dashed, I zip-lined, I outwitted my enemy and leapt to freedom. All to get blasted by a stupid tank. All to end up back in the graveyard without the orb.
It was almost as bad as my last soccer game.
Finally the clock ticked down to zero and the revive chime rang in my ears. I was free! But as I ran back into the base, ready to make another attempt, the buzzer sounded, indicating a score.
Not ours this time.
I sank to my knees, frustrated. Well, that was that. So much for our awesome plan. So much for our lead. We were now tied one to one. The next score won the game.
And we had no advantage left.
“Okay, that isn’t great,” Starr muttered, checking her wings. They seemed to be working again, at least.
“Your top-secret plan didn’t work?” Josh asked innocently.
“Maybe it would have if we’d had some backup,” Starr shot back. “Instead of half the team running off on a waste-of-time side mission.”
“Waste of time? I don’t think so.” Josh nudged Lilli. “Show them, Speedy.”
Lilli grinned, holding up two glowing white balls the size of baseballs. “Anyone for a power-up?” She tossed one, then the other, to Josh. He caught them easily.
“Nice!” I cried, proud of my sister, even if Josh was still the most annoying guy on earth. “What does it do?”
“It disrupts electrical impulses,” Josh explained. “Which means if we throw one of them out onto the street, everything electric stops in its tracks.”
“Like the sentries, for example,” Lilli added, her eyes shining with excitement. “We can take them out entirely.”
“Okay, I got to admit, that’s handy,” Starr said grudgingly. “Those things are no joke.”
“Yeah, but does it help us win?” I asked. “I mean, taking out the mechs helps us, but it also helps the other team the same way.”
“Not if they’re already dead,” Lilli said proudly.
“What?”
“We’re going to play defense.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s easy,” my sister said. “We don’t throw out the power-up right away. We wait here at the base, guarding the orb. The other team will have to fight their way here. Hopefully, the sentries will take most of them out on the way. Then we take care of any stragglers who happen to make it.”
“And while they all peace out to the graveyard,” Josh continued, “we throw the power-up, knock out the sentries, and make our run.”
Starr wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know…”
“Come on!” Lilli pleaded. “It’s a brilliant plan, and you know it.”
“Okay, fine,” Starr said. “We’ll give it a try. What do we have to lose, right?”
We had a lot to lose. Everything, really. But I did agree with my sister; it was a good plan. Josh might be a pain in the butt, but he clearly knew the ins and outs of his grandfather’s game. It was an advantage we couldn’t afford to refuse.
“T minus ten seconds,” chimed Rocky the Robot.
“Okay, positions,” I barked out. If we were going to do this, we needed to be prepared. “Josh—you’ve got the crossbow. So you go high. Try to pick them off before they enter the base.” I turned to my sister. “Lilli, you hide near the left entrance. If anyone comes that way, take them out. And, Starr, you can guard the orb. With your wings, you can fly around it, covering the most ground.”
“What about you?” Lilli asked.
“I’m the bait. I’ll bring them right to you.” I bounced in the air, practicing one of my leaps. “Just be ready.”
“Doors opening,” Rocky the Robot announced. “Gear up, Mech Heads! Welcome to tomorrow!”
Everyone scrambled to take their positions while I headed directly out the front gate, stepping into the ruined city. The robot sentries were still there—but they looked as if they’d been upgraded since the last round. More laser cannons. More electric eyes searching for a target. I shuddered as I thought back to the one that had taken me out behind the movie theater. While it hadn’t exactly hurt, it still felt really uncomfortable. Let’s just say I wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.
I dropped down behind a large chunk of cement, then slipped quietly to the next, watching and waiting for Team Blue to appear. It took them a while; they had to deal with upgraded sentries, too. But at last I spotted three of them sneaking behind the pharmacy, just out of the sentries’ range.
That would have been a good strategy last round, I realized. But ours was going to be better.
“Hey!” I burst out into the open air, waving my sword. “Over here! Come and get me!”
To my delight, they took the bait, charging in my direction. I waited for them to get close, then power leapt back toward our base. They followed, as I knew they would, walking right into our trap. Josh let loose a barrage of arrows. One of which hit its mark dead-on. I watched as the girl who had taken out Starr screamed and dropped to the ground, popping out of sight. I let out a silent cheer.
One down. Three to go.
The others stopped in their tracks, now wary. They dove behind cars to get out of Josh’s line of fire. I ran back into the base—heading to the left entrance, where Lilli was waiting, hoping at least one of them would follow me.
“How’s it going?” Lilli whispered as
