Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Welcome Back, Ash! I Hope You Like What We've Done with the Place. Ash Kapoor had been away too long. Although she had kept up with her friends since moving away, she hadn't seen Woodsword Middle School in a while. There were a lot of little changes, which she noticed right away. The gardening club had been hard at work, and flowers were in bloom in little gardens all over the school grounds. The school's ancient, rusty weathervane had been replaced with a shiny new model in the shape of an atom. (That had to be Doc's doing.) While riding in on the bus, she had even spotted a beehive! But the important things hadn't changed at all. For example, her friends still gave the best group hugs. "Okay, enough hugging!" said Morgan, pulling free from their group embrace. "We've got to update Ash on everything that's happened." "Brace yourself," warned Jodi.

"So it isn't good news," said Ash. "Has the Fault gotten worse?" "That's an understatement," said Theo. "The last time we played, the Overworld was ninety percent Fault." "But that's not the worst of it," said Harper. "Our VR goggles were destroyed in the flood." "Oh no!" said Ash. "So there's only one left?" "No," said Morgan. "All five were wrecked." "But Doc made six of them," said Ash. "Remember?" She dug around in her backpack. "I took one with me, when I moved." Grinning, she pulled something from the pack and held it out for them all to see. "And I brought it with me." Everyone's eyes went wide. They all started talking at once.

"I can't believe we forgot…." "Ash to the rescue…again" "…have a real chance now." "…corn dogs for lunch." Morgan, however, was quiet. His lower lip trembled with emotion. Then he leapt forward, his arms held out wide. "One more hug, everybody!" he cried. "Come on! Everybody get in on this!" Ash smiled. It was good to be back. For a moment, it felt like she'd never left. But then there was a tremendous crash. It echoed through the gymnasium, so loud and sudden that Ash nearly dropped the headset right out of her hands. "Careful!" said Morgan. "I've got it," said Ash. "But what was that sound?" "It wasn't thunder," said Harper. "It sounded like a train hit the school." "Or a ravager," said Po. "Which I actually had a dream about last night." He gasped. "Does this mean I'm psychic?!"

"No," said Theo. Po gasped again. "I knew you'd say that!" Ash noticed that Doc and Ms. Minerva were hurrying out into the hallway. "We should follow them," she suggested. "If we want to see for ourselves what just happened." Jodi led the way. She put on a pair of sunglasses, popped up her collar, and stepped lightly on her feet. Ash recognized Jodi's "spy mode" immediately. But there was no need to be sneaky. Plenty of other students had wandered into the hallway, curious about the noise. Doc and Ms. Minerva were both running ahead. "So much for no running in the halls," Po said.

The teachers came to a stop before a closed classroom door. Ash wondered how they knew this was the source of the sound they'd heard. Then she saw water seeping out from beneath the door. It pooled in the center of the hallway. "My lab!" cried Doc. Ms. Minerva pushed the door open just as Ash and the others caught up. Ash peered around the teacher. Her jaw dropped at what she saw. A tree had fallen outside and crashed right through a window in Doc's laboratory classroom. Rain poured into the opening, and sodden leaves and fragmented branches littered the tabletops. At least one microscope lay broken on the ground.

Ash had never seen such destruction in a classroom. It was as if Woodsword was under siege. And the storm wasn't finished yet.