Home Again

Back Lot

THIRD PERSON

He was at last defeated. Poptropica was safe. He and his acquaintance had cursed the prophesied hero and her Poptropican, even manipulating magic on Twisted Thicket in an attempt to make Fierce Fox betray Alice out of jealousy. But now he was defeated, and his acquaintance was gone. The chaos was over. Or was it? There were some unanswered questions. For one, who had started the earthquake on Nabooti Island?

Athena knew it wasn't Hades, and Zeus did not wield such power. Poseidon wasn't to blame, either. So who had done it? In fact, who had cursed the zomberries on Zomberry Island to chase Alice? It wasn't godly power, so who had done it? Maybe it was the voice. Or something else. Athena knew it had been a long time since a new island had appeared. Perhaps the voice had been doing something else. But what? Even a goddess like herself didn't have the answer.

Athena knew this was a strange timeline. There were many different timelines and alternate universes, with different Poptropicans as the heroes. They were connected through the common rooms. And the islands followed the same path in every universe, no matter what hero. But this universe was different, due to Alice's arrival. If Alice could affect it, could she affect others? Athena tapped her chin. Zeus' threat had only affected their universe- and possibly others- but if a higher power got to Alice or another human... it could affect every timeline.

The goddess shivered. She couldn't make such rash judgments. Not yet, anyway. There was still time.

ALICE

"Look, celebrities!" a guy holding a camera cried as we landed on Back Lot Island. He gasped. "Is that the prophesied hero?!"

"Let's go." I whispered. Fierce Fox and I dashed past the people and entered a green talent agency. It has slightly crumbling, pale walls, and large fans blowing down air. People are queued up behind a desk. Fierce Fox and I approached the woman behind the desk, who's a former actress. But we weren't supposed to know that yet.

"You're... you're a natural!" the woman exclaimed, eyeing Fierce Fox. "You've got the look of a star!" She turned to me. "And you're the prophesied hero! So well known around here. I bet you could be a great star, too." Yeah, right, I thought.

"Us?" Fierce Fox asked. "Stars?"

"Just pay me a thousand dollars each for your set-up fee and we'll get started." the woman replied.

"We don't have a thousand dollars!" Fierce Fox cried, eyes wide.

"Hmm," the woman said, tapping her chin. "If it's money you need, I heard Harvey Scoops is looking for help with his gossip rag." So that's what we did. We headed out to the sunset-lit street, puffy clouds dancing in the sky. The street- Sunrise street- looks like it came straight out of Hollywood, including this giant, Chinese-themed theater.

Fierce Fox and I spoke to Harvey Scoops, who was standing outside the gates of the Grand Majestic studios. He gave us an old camera that needed film. If you don't know what film is... look it up. Fierce Fox and I got some film, and climbed up this large, wooden, greenish-blue building, near the studio. We stood on a ledge, when suddenly there was an earthquake. We fell off the ledge and landed in the studio.

"Arf! Arf!" a dog barked nearby us. We'd landed on a set that looks like it came from a fairy-tale. There are butterflies hovering around, and a fairy-tale castle.

"I don't think we're in Poptropica anymore!" Fierce Fox cried, which is a reference to the Wizard of Oz.

"Nope, we're still here." I replied, getting up. Fierce Fox followed me over to Soundstage 1. It's a big, metal shed, with many props standing around outside. An organized-looking woman- called Sofia- was also there.