Chapter 4

I started walking forward cautiously, stepping lightly before putting my full weight down. I walked clumsily, stumbling over the snowy expanse. "Doesn't look too dangerous." said the robot.

I turned, distracted, to the robot. At that moment, the snow beneath me crumbled. "Woah!" I yelled.

I grabbed the snow, trying to find handholds. The snow had fallen into a deep pit, and I was trying not to follow. I found a rock jutting out, and grabbed onto it. My heart was pounding, my face slick with sweat. The robot hovered beside me. "What can I do, Mistress?!"

If it is possible for a robot to look concerned, the mouse was that. My fingers slipping, I yelled, "Tablet!"

My tablet zoomed in the air towards me. Wow. Didn't know it could do that. I thought my robot would get it for me. I couldn't take my hands off the rock, so instead I yelled out, "Call Trisha!"

The call started, and I yelled to Trish, "Trish, if you don't get me out of this, I'm going to kill you!"

"I'm not supposed to help you with this. I'm so sorry." Her canned voice responded. "But I can give you advice. Every challenge you encounter will have some way to beat. Nothing is impossible unless you make it. And your robot can help. Just ask it what it can do. Good luck!"

I turned to my robot. "What can you do?!" I yelled.

He turned to me, stammering. "I-Im not sure. I just got p-programmed. And no one tells a-anything to a robot!"

I snarled. "I don't care! I'm about to die, so just start trying things!" My fingers slipped even more, legs in the air.

The gears in his face shifted to show a look of extreme concentration. A compartment in his stomach dinged, and a plate slid out. It held a pizza on top of it. "Hey, good to know!" The robot said cheerfully, then threw it into the snow.

Next, a sword flew out of his head, a purse out of his feet, and a pen out of his tail. I snorted, and my fingers finally let go.

I was falling, falling, falling. My entire life flashed in front of my eyes. So that's how it feels like. I thought just before a rope smashed into me, and I blacked out.

I woke up, body aching. I opened my eyes, looking around. I was still on top of the mountain, and somehow, not dead. "Mistress! Are you alright?" I heard. I turned, and saw my robot.

"I had to use a hook to get you out. I wasn't sure if I had gotten you, and hooks aren't usually meant to pull people out of pits. I think it slammed into you with too much force."

I nodded and stood up. "What time is it?"

My tablet zoomed toward me and a female voice came out of it. "It is 2 hours after this challenge started. It is 3:14pm. For more information please unlock me."

I walked forward blindly, and unbelieving. I could have just died! What were they trying to do to me? I looked forward and was surprised to see an ending. A ravine cut the cliff in half, and at the bottom I could see something, a circle with lights glowing inside of it. I searched back to what Trish had said. There will be a giant ravine to climb down at the end. I took a deep breath then searched for handholds. My robot hovered nearby. "Um, Mistress, I don't think you have to climb down it. I think you have to shimmy.

I smiled. Shimmy? "The ravine isn't that wide, so it would be easier to put your legs on one side and hands on the other, and shimmy down." He explained.

I nodded, understanding. I took another deep breath. This had been one of the worst days of my life, but also one of the best. My whole life I had been an adopted child that no one really seemed to care about. But here, I was part of something. And I had friends. Sure, they had just tried to kill me, but once I'm leader of The Four, I was sure things would get a lot harder. I sighed. They were just trying to help.

I nodded, walking up to the ravine. "I'm ready," I told my robot. Hey, I don't even know my robot's name. I should ask him. "Hey- uh, robot? What's your name? I need something to call you."

His robotic face fell. "I don't know my name. Like I said, no one tells a robot anything. Our owners give us names."

"Well what do you want your name to be?" I asked him, "I'll let you choose."

He zoomed around on his jet-rocket feet. "You would do that? Thank you so much! Thank you! I've always wanted to be a Charlie!"

I smiled. "Okay Charlie! Let's get down this ravine, shall we?"

I put one foot on the opposite side of the ravine and grabbed my side. I had never done this before, but I had seen people in movies climb down like this. I imagined that I was walking down the side of the cliff with my hands on the ceiling. "I'm walking sideways!" I laughed.

My mouse gave me a calculating look. "You're the only person I know who would think like that. Walking sideways?"

I smiled, having fun, even though I was 60 feet above the ground. "Well I'm different! And I am basically walking down the side of a wall. I'm putting my hands on the ceiling, see?" I pointed to the right side of the ravine.

Charlie nodded slowly. "Yes, I think she would make a good leader. Thinking differently is a good trait" he mumbled to himself.

I continued like that for a while, walking down, while Charlie kept trying out his newfound abilities. At one point a fridge expanded out of his stomach and almost made me fall down. "Hey!" I exclaimed, "careful with that thing! How does a fridge even fit in your stomach?"

He looked down at me and sniffed haughtily. "My stomach is bigger on the inside. I eat a lot, okay?"

I laughed. And before I knew it, I was at the bottom! "I did it!" I yelled into the darkness, pumping my fist.

It had taken me a while to finish this challenge and it was probably very late. "Tablet!" I yelled, "what time is it?"

My tablet responded in her canned voice, "It is 8:52, about 7 or 8 hours after this challenge started."

I whistled. This had taken me a while. I looked around for Trish and as soon as I was about to call out, Alex emerged from the darkness and ran toward me. "I knew you could do it Lia! You were amazing!" He smiled, then blushed.

I blushed too. "Thanks-" I mumbled. Is it possible that he likes me too? I thought.

He reached as if to take my hand, but stopped, looking embarrassed. "I'm supposed to take you to Trish where she'll give you another item."

I nodded and looked down at his hand, hovering near me. Smiling, I reached down and grabbed it. He flushed, startled. I laughed. "No need to feel so embarrassed."

Alex looked at me, eyes twinkling. "Lia, I cannot figure you out. You're so brave, but so afraid too. You're amazing."

I blushed looking at him. "See?" He pointed out, "you told me not to be embarrassed, and here you are blushing."

I laughed nervously, brushing my hair back. "Yeah, I've been told I'm different." I looked pointedly at Charlie.

Charlie frowned. "I meant a good different. And why are you two just standing there? I thought Trish wanted you."

I nodded, and started skipping in a direction, letting go of Alex's hand. "Uh Lia? It's this way." Alex pointed to a light in the distance, and the cliff behind started vanishing, since the challenge had finished.

I turned and walked toward the light, which slowly formed into a- dragon? The lights I had seen were its eyes. I looked around where we were and suddenly noticed that I wasn't in the training gym anymore, and it wasn't dark because it was night. I was in a cave, and it was dark because there was no way out! "Alex?!" I called out. "Where are you?" He had vanished!

"Stage 3: Monster Fighting!" I heard Trish's voice from an overhead speaker. "Sorry, Lia! But monsters are unpredictable!"