B AJO+Hex present AIDE S

Transcription

1 BAJO+Hex present AIDE S

2 To Quasar and 8bit, my fabulous fluffy floofs, always at my side B To Gandalf and Merlin, my two feline overlords. Your nightly kitty hugs bring the most wonderful warmth to my life H For Remi, may life never send a blue shell your way C.K. Scholastic Australia 345 Pacific Highway Lindfield NSW 2070 An imprint of Scholastic Australia Pty Limited PO Box 579 Gosford NSW 2250 ABN Part of the Scholastic Group Sydney Auckland New York Toronto London Mexico City New Delhi Hong Kong Buenos Aires Puerto Rico Published by Scholastic Australia in Text copyright Stephanie Bendixsen and Steven O Donnell, Illustrations copyright Chris Kennett, All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Written by Steven O'Donnell and Stephanie Bendixsen. Title: Speed zone; illustrated by Chris Kennett. ISBN: (paperback) Series: Pixel raiders; 3. Target Audience: For primary school age. Subjects: Video games--juvenile fiction. Fantasy fiction. Other Creators/Contributors: Kennett, Chris, illustrator. AIDE S Speed zone BY BAJO + HEX ILLUSTRATED BY CHRIS KENNETT Typeset in Delicious and Bender. Printed by Griffin Press. Scholastic Australia s policy, in association with Griffin Press, is to use papers that are renewable and made efficiently from wood grown in responsibly managed forests, so as to minimise its environmental footprint / 1 A scholastic australia book

3 the story so far...: way to turn them back to normal, like Angela who was de-spawned in DIG WORLD... So, basically, everyone in the virtual reality world is counting on Rip and Mei. Rip and Mei had no time to process what was happening. Only a few moments ago, they were saying goodbye to DRAgon LAnd a world full of quests and magic. While there, they d made strong friendships and fought against Megalava s minions to reunite the dragon clans. Rip and Mei had been stunned to learn that the strange and mysterious wizard, George, was the designer of the Pixel Raiders game. He revealed that Rip and Mei would need to find the medallion in each level of the game and unite them to be able to escape. They hoped to rescue the other BETA testers, stuck in the game like them, including their enemyturned-friend Brayden (who was not happy about being left behind in DRAgon LAnd). Or find a 4 Now they are in Level Three a new game world. A racetrack looms ahead. Sitting in the front seats of a rickety old dune buggy, with the other competing cars already zooming off into the distance, Rip and Mei know that winning is really, really important. So they had better get the car started... NOW! 5

4 GO! Mei gripped the wheel tightly. Rip! I don t know how to drive this thing! she cried. All around them was the roar of engines, and the loud cheers of strangers as they watched the rest of the racers zoom ahead and out of sight, down a seemingly endless dusty desert track. Just hit accelerate and we ll work out the rest later, snorted Rip as he excitedly tapped his hands on the dashboard. I don t know how to turn it on! Mei replied, frantically clicking and pulling every button and lever she could see. I ve never driven a real car. Let alone one with all these buttons and things! Mei was struggling with a large lever that wouldn t budge. *CHHHSHHH* WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON T PULL THAT! *CHHHSHHH* a gruff voice barked into Rip and Mei s helmets. Hello? Rip asked, tapping his helmet. Who s in my head? *CHHHSHHH* This is pit leader Alpha. But you can call me Fixet. STOP PULLING THAT LEVER OR YOUR WHEELS WILL FALL OFF! *CHHHSHHH* Hi, Fixet! My name is Mei. Please tell me how to drive this thing... quickly! Mei urged. 6 7

5 *CHHHSHHH* Very funny. Everyone in this world knows how to drive! Hey! I said, DON T PULL THAT LEVER! *CHHHSHHH* Hi, Fixet, I m Rip. Rip was doing his best to be polite as well. We re not from around here. So if you could tell us how to turn on the engine that would be a great start. *CHHHSHHH* You re serious?! I can t believe this. Bad news, Crew, we ve got a bunch of NOOBS on our hands! Fixet seemed to be addressing his pit crew. OK, NOOBS, listen up. Pull the small green lever, and then when you feel a click, press the big red button. *CHHHSHHH* Mei pulled the lever, and then hit the big red button. The engine roared to life. A large hovering megaphone barked an announcement above the engine noise. 8 LADIES, GENTLEMEN AND CREATURES! THE SPEED ZONE CHAMPIONSHIP CUP IS IN PROGRESS! WE RE LOOKING AT THE CAR POSITIONS ON THE DESERT CLIFF RACETRACK! 9

6 Rip and Mei started to panic. Fixet, PLEASE TELL US WHICH ONE MAKES IT GO! Mei yelled. *CHHHSHHH* Acceleration? That s the pedal on the right, obviously. But we ll get to that. First you GO! Rip blurted. Mei slammed the right pedal down and they were both thrust back into their seats as the dune buggy shot forward with a AND THE GATORS ARE IN THE LEAD! WHAT AN EXCITING RACE... 10