Mason and Carter Clover only agree on two things--their baby sister Isabella is a royal pain and their favorite video game, Zamora s Ultimate Challenge, is totally awesome. But fantasy turns to reality when Zamora s evil face appears across the brothers television screen. Claiming to have kidnapped Isabella, the queen challenges the boys to a daring rescue before she takes over their sister's soul. Zamora s plan is to use the baby as a human vessel to travel to Earth and dominate the world. Once the brothers figure out how to get inside the video game, they are hurled into the magical land of Boysen where they meet their helpful guides: a sage, a quirky mermaid, and a Pegasus (who flies them to each thrilling level of the video game). Racing against time, the brothers search for their sister, encountering a myriad of dangerous enemies including stinging fairies, haunted Master Souls, and brutish, knife-wielding pirates. Can they beat each level of the game while being hunted by a fire-breathing dragon, stalked by a robotic shark, and terrorized by acid-poop-bombing pterodactyls? Driven by the powerful bonds that unite siblings, Mason and Carter are determined to face their fears and will stop at nothing to bring Isabella home...but first they must survive Zamora s Ultimate Challenge!

CHAPTER ONE

The Disappearance

The little man, named Jemlock, drew his sword, richly decorated with jewels he'd earned during his many adventures. He pulled his arm back, ready to attack the fierce dragon hurling fireballs in front of him. The dragon's eyes closed to slits as he lowered his huge head level with Jemlock's. With every ounce of strength in his body, Jemlock struck once, twice, three times. His sword sliced through the dragon's chest, exposing the leathery creature's massive heart.

With a dreadful roar, the dragon reared up on its hind legs. Blood spewing from its neck, it crashed down on all fours, blowing an enormous flame at Jemlock, who fell to the ground, the flames burning his skin and stinging his eyes.

The dragon emitted a low, evil growl. Jemlock covered his head with his arms, burying his face deep into the forest grass. His beautiful sword lay at his side, useless to him now. The dragon stumbled to its feet and with one lunge, picked up the elf-man and swallowed him whole.

“Oh, man! No way! I was pushing the B button! The one that makes Jemlock use his special powers to heal himself,” Carter Clover yelled at his brother Mason, at the television, and their Beacon System 850. They were playing their favorite video game, Queen Zamora. “Did you see that? This stupid game cheats. I hate it! Let's play something else.”

“Get over it, Carter! Give me the controls. It's my turn. Besides, we haven't earned back the special healing powers. Remember? You lost them on the last level we played yesterday.”

Carter held the control away from his brother and made faces at him. Mason socked him in the shoulder, pushed him down, and tackled him. As they wrestled with each other, they failed to hear the pitter-patter of their baby sister Isabella's feet. Before they could pull themselves off of each other and pay attention to her, Izzy had unplugged their Beacon 850 System.

Carter noticed first. “Oh, my God! Izzy! No!”

Mason looked up. “Oh man, look what she's done.”

“We've lost everything! Everything! And we were halfway through. Now you've ruined it. We've got to start all over again. You're so stupid, Izzy!” Carter yelled.

Isabella began to cry, which usually meant their mom would be arriving any minute to see what the fuss was about.

“Come on, let's get out of here before Mom hears her and we get busted,” Mason said.

“She is so dumb. I don't know why Mom and Dad had to go and have her.”

“No duh! Bad judgment on their part,” Mason said, parroting one of their mother's favorite expressions. “Hurry, I hear Mom. Grab your board and we'll skate down to the park. Bring the latest Beacon 850 'zine. We can read the hints and codes from it while we're there, and the little goof can't bug us.”

“Boys!”

“Hey, Mom, we're going to skate over to the park. Catch you later,” Mason hollered.

“No, wait. Your dad and I have a meeting tonight at the school and the babysitter just canceled. I normally wouldn't do this, but I need you to watch Carter and Izzy. You're twelve now and old enough to babysit, and I believe we can give it a try. We'll only be gone for about an hour or so.”

“Oh, Mom!” Mason protested.

“Mason…wait a minute, do you two know why Izzy is crying?”

“Don't know. Maybe she fell or something. Okay, no problem. I'll watch them. But can we skate for an hour?”

“An hour, but not one minute longer.”

Mason winked at Carter, knowing that they'd pulled it off. Whenever Izzy tried to tell their mom that they'd yelled at her, she couldn't do it very well, since she was only two. Talking wasn't her strong point. Poopy diapers were, and Mason prayed he wouldn't have to change any while his parents were away that night.

The Clover brothers were opposites in lots of ways, except for a few. All three children had curly hair, as black as a groundhog's burrow at midnight, and eyes that were turquoise blue. Their skin was very fair, so they needed to put on very good sunscreen lotion whether it was rain or shine. Unfortunately, since they lived in sunny Southern California, it was typically shine, which meant their mother made it a daily ritual of slathering on the sunscreen.

Mason Clover was the analytical one. He made straight A's in school, was a no-nonsense kind of kid who wore glasses, and was an excellent gymnast. He'd been doing gymnastics for the past three years, since he was nine. He was preparing for the state competition coming up in three months.

Carter Clover was not nearly as serious as his older brother. Not one for studying, at least not willingly, his parents had to threaten him constantly with consequences to get him to do his homework. However, what Carter lacked in study skills, he made up for in creativity. He was a budding artist. He painted oil on canvas, sculpted clay into wonderful statues of horses, dogs, and cats, doodled on every free piece of paper lying around, and spent much of his time painting at his easel and mixing his favorite watercolors. He particularly liked to paint garden scenes. He'd learned about the extraordinary artist Claude Monet, when he was in kindergarten, from his teacher, and from that day he'd decided he wanted to be like Monet. Carter had made it quite clear to the world and his parents--especially when they hounded him about his school work--that he was only answering his calling to become a famous artist and, possibly, a race car driver, too.

As different as the boys were, and as much as they argued, there were a few things they agreed on completely. The first was that the invention of video games deserved an award for being the greatest of all time. They loved their games, and would play hour after hour if allowed, even forgetting their gymnastics and art.

However, their parents were not of the same mind, and they restricted the boys' video play times to thirty minutes a day, except weekends. They were allowed an ultimate three-hour play on Friday nights if they'd earned it, meaning Mason had to be nice to his siblings and do his chores. He could be quite lazy when it came to chores, constantly complaining that he was too tired from gymnastics.

For Carter, earning video game-playing privileges simply meant getting his schoolwork done, and doing it so it was readable. Saturdays and Sundays they were each allowed an hour.

Every second they got to play was pure pleasure. The other thing the boys totally agreed on was that their lives had been much better before their sister came into their world. She cried too much, messed up everything, chewed on their video games, and worst of all, their parents were constantly carrying on about how smart, how cute, how sweet, and how funny she was. The little brat was totally obnoxious, and drove the Clover brothers crazy.

Free of their whiny sister, the boys skateboarded down to the park, where they scoured their Beacon System 850 magazine, picking up hints on Queen Zamora's Ultimate Challenge. They'd made it through the first Zamora game, conquering the evil Queen Zamora, but this game was way more difficult. With the new system they got for Christmas, the game was complete in 3-D. It was so cool. The object of the game was to get through the various levels to the evil, magical queen and attack her by laying siege to her castle.

In turn, the land of Boysen and her Island of Desmal, that she diabolically controlled, would be saved and all their inhabitants freed from her evil rule. But it was much harder than it sounded. In each level the boys had to outwit a particular beast, whether a raging tyrannosaurus rex, a mechanical jaw snapping shark, or an enchanted fairy with a poison-filled stinger, and earn an award to advance them.

And now, with Izzy turning off their machine before they could save it, they would have to start all over again. It had already taken them two months to get halfway through the game.

“What a bummer that she did that,” Carter said. “Life would be so much easier without a little sister. She's always messing with my paints, and now the game.”

“Yeah. That's for sure. She's definitely a pain in the you-know-what. Speaking of the little monster, we better get back before we get in trouble. Mom said only an hour.”

The boys got home in time, just as their mom was setting out grilled cheese sandwiches, salad, and some baked beans for them. “Now, boys, I have to meet your dad. I need you to clean the kitchen for me when you're done, and get your homework finished. Carter…” She raised her eyebrows looking at him suspiciously. “You've both played your time on the Beacon 850, and no painting until your homework is finished.”

“I know, I know, Mom,” Carter replied.

“Okay, good. Now you have both Dad's and my cell phone numbers, so call if there are any problems. Don't answer the door or the phone unless...”

“Unless we hear your voice on the machine. We'll be fine. Remember, I'm almost a teenager,” Mason said.

“How could I forget?” Mom replied.

“Where's the brat?” Carter asked.

“Carter, don't call her that. She's your baby sister and she adores you. She's upstairs. She must be exhausted.” Their mom put her hands on her hips. “Interestingly enough, she was crying her eyes out about the time you left to go skating. Something tells me it wasn't from a fall the two of you suggested. But I'm sure you guys wouldn't know anything about that, would you?”

“No, uh, uh,” the boys said in unison, shaking their heads.

“Right. I didn't think so. Well, anyway, I fed her and put her down. If she wakes up crying, you need to go in there and take care of her.”

“No problem, Mom. It's all cool,” Mason said.

“Counting on it.” She winked at them and went around the table to give each of them a kiss goodbye. “Eat all your dinner,” they heard her say as she locked the door behind her.

Once they heard the car pull out and the garage door close behind her, they picked up their plates and headed straight for their room. They knew there would be serious consequences--their mom's favorite saying--if they got caught eating in their room. But Queen Zamora's Ultimate Challenge was calling, especially after reading up on the new hints and codes in The Beacon System 850 Magazine at the park. They also figured their folks owed them that much. The video game rule was such a dumb one. After all, their parents were the ones who'd decided to go ahead and have another baby. If they had to watch her, then they should be entitled to more play time.

“I can't wait to try out these hints,” Mason said.

“Yeah, especially the ones when we get to the Enchanted Forest,” Carter replied.

“No kidding. That level looks so cool. And the fairy princess is hot.”

“Dude, she's a cartoon and a girl. You're weird.”

“She's technically not a cartoon, but a three dimensional character, and she's still hot.” Mason smiled.

“Yeah, well, you're still weird.”

“And you're a geek.”

“Whatever. I'm first,” Carter said as they sat down in front of their TV.

“No way. Izzy set us back and I can get us to the higher levels way faster than you.”

“C'mon.”

“Carter, just let me get through the first three levels and I'll let you do one.”

“Flip a coin.”

Mason rolled his eyes, but agreed knowing his brother could be bullheaded and they could argue about this all night long. He could beat him up and win, but Carter would definitely tell Mom, and then he'd be super busted. So flipping a coin was the only solution. He reached into his pocket to find a quarter. As he did something caught the corner of his eye. There was a flash on the television screen. He turned to face it. “Did you see that?”

“What?”

“The TV. I swear it looked like lightning coming out of it.”

“Dude, you're losing it. Flip the coin.”

Mason shook his head and placed the coin in his hand. Just before he flipped it, loud, shrill laughter came from the TV. Both boys turned to look. Then they looked back at each other their eyebrows raised. “What the…” Mason muttered.

“What was that?” Carter's voice shook.

“I don't know.”

They faced the screen, and a bright flash appeared. They covered their eyes. The laughter started up again, and a face took shape on the screen. It was the freakish face of Queen Zamora, who looked like a shriveled up cross between a vampire and a prune. She was dark red, almost purple in color and her face had wrinkles all across it. She had razor sharp teeth and eyes so black and evil looking that Mason, who was not typically afraid of much, took a step back. “Hello boys,” she cackled.

The two of them froze, fixated on the image on the screen.

“I was waiting for you. I know how much you love a challenge, and I also know how much you can't stand that whiny brat sister of yours. So, I've done you a favor.” The boys looked at each other.

“Yes, I've taken little Izzy off your hands. She now lives here with me, and soon, when the planets align and the volcanoes flow and the oceans are torrid, it will be ripe for me to take over her soul and body. Then I can come into your world. I can be human. Won't that be fun? You'll have Queen Zamora for a little sister!” She threw back her head and laughed even louder than before.

Mason's stomach clenched like he wanted to throw up. He had to do something. “You give her back! Give her back right now!”

“Never! If you want her back you'll have to come get her, and that, my boys, will be your Ultimate Challenge!”

Carter ran into Izzy's room, refusing to believe she was missing. “Mason! What kind of stupid trick is this? How did you do it? Come on, stop!” Carter saw that their baby sister was not asleep in her crib, and he started to cry. He ran back into their room and said, “She's not there. Where did you put her?”

“I wouldn't do anything to her.”

“Of course she's not there, didn't I just tell you that? She's really quite curious, and if she can figure out how to come through to the land of Boysen, then you can too,” Queen Zamora said.

With that, the screen abruptly went blank. Mason choked back his own tears. “Stop crying,” he ordered Carter. “We have to save her.”

“But how?”

“I don't know.”

“We have to figure out a way to get there.”

“I'm scared,” Carter said.

“I'll go alone.” Mason pulled his shoulders back and stood straight as a soldier ready for battle.

“Oh no you won't. I'm not staying here alone. I'm going, too.”

Mason nodded, relieved his brother had decided to go with him. The boys sat down in front of the TV and the Beacon 850 System, studying it, trying to figure out how to get to the land of Boysen to save their baby sister from the vicious wrath of Queen Zamora. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Recommended to book clubs by 0 of 0 members.