Annalise loses track of how long she and Casey spend in the tunnel, guided only by the fairy lights stretching before them, spurred by remnants of the battle at their backs. The sound of the fight faded long ago, but Annalise can't shake the shivers it gave her.

As they walk, they test their communicators. Nothing but static. Annalise zones out at one point, just trying to calm herself down, and she's faintly aware of Casey whispering into his headset. He's begging to be let through. He's asking April if she can hear him now. He's promising that he'll come home.

Annalise wishes there was someone on the outside other than her mom who would be heartbroken if she didn't come back. Maybe James would miss her, although she hasn't been able to hang out with him in a while, and maybe some of the kids from the photography club would notice her absence. The more she thinks about it, the more she wishes for the chance to truly learn to appreciate the friends she has outside of the turtles.

"Hey...look," Casey says, reaching out to nudge her and startling her from her thoughts. He points into the distance when she listens, where the faintest pinprick of light can be seen. "Is that...?"

"The exit!" she gasps. "We're almost out!"

Casey is already running and Annalise races after him, forcing her feet to move even when her lungs start burning and she gets a stitch in her side. The urge to get into somewhere flooded with light is enough to keep her going.

Casey, far ahead of her, disappears into the pool of white ahead of them and Annalise is quick on his heels, her vision going completely blank for a second. She blinks rapidly as she jolts to a stop, breathing hard, and everything clears after another second.

Before her is a clump of four floating islands surrounded by clouds; giant chunks of dirt that bob through the sky like buoys in the ocean. Far below them, Annalise can see a real ocean, also dotted with islands.

The floating islands that she finds herself on are paved in cobblestone and connected to each other via metal bridges and ropes tied to pegs. The one she stands on has a movie theatre with a "Wheel of Loot" advertisement and a building labelled "Haute Couture Clothier Shop". The island in front of her has a "New You" store and the final two islands have nothing but an arcade and a billboard advertisement for a graphic novel.

"What...is this?" Casey asks, turning around to face the blonde. He blinks at something behind her head. "Is that a blimp?"

It is indeed a blimp, one that reads POPTROPICA in big blue letters. Annalise's eyes widen.

"I know this website!" she gasps. "I used to play it all the time. It's a mystery, puzzle-solving game with different islands to visit. Oh man..." She looks around, smiling wider. "It's been so long..."

Casey puckers his lips, then nods. "Oh yeah...I think I played it when I had free time in elementary school. Like when we got set free on the computers and it was the only site that wasn't blocked by admin," he says, wiggling his fingers as if typing. He sighs. "Man...nostalgia. I think my character was named Comical Puck or something."

"Cool! I think mine was Silly Penguin...mostly because that was the only name I liked and I was tired of changing it," she says.

"Welcome to Poptropica!"

Casey and Annalise snap out of their reminiscing to find a redheaded woman in an old-timey pilot outfit smiling at them. She waves at them and they hesitate before returning it, to which her smile gets bigger.

"I'm Amelia," she greets. "It's so good to see new adventurers. Anything I can help you with?"

Casey looks at Annalise and she shrugs before shuffling closer to the woman. "Uh, hi, did you happen to see any of our friends? They're, uh, turtles...?"

Amelia blinks. "I see lots of people here! Poptropica is full of adventures and fun and people having a grand old time!" Casey sighs and Annalise opens her mouth to speak again, but Amelia aims her hand at the arcade. "I did see some players enter the arcade over there, though."

"You catch their names?" Casey asks.

"Of course! I introduce myself to everyone who comes through here!" Amelia grins even wider. "Their names were Fast Turtle and Orange Clown!"

Annalise gasps. "Mikey and Leo! It's gotta be them!"

Getting excited, Casey nearly shoves Annalise aside as he runs to Amelia. "Was that it? Was there anyone else?" he demands. "Don't leave me hanging, dude!"

"I saw two others wander by. I believe they went into the shop. One was very eager to get moving. I believe they were called Purple Rock and..." She stops as she makes a thinking motion, eyes aimed upwards and hand on her chin as she taps her foot. "Ah! Yes! His name was Short!"

Casey snorts with laughter. "Oh, man, Raph probably flipped his lid!"

"Let me know if you need anything else, and if you're ready for an adventure, just climb on your blimp and head off! Safe journeys!" Amelia chirps.

Annalise and Casey dash off towards the shop. Just as they reach the door, it swings open and Donatello and Raphael walk out. Both pairs stop, stare, and Raphael exhales heavily and throws his arms around Casey.

"Thank shell," he mutters against the boy's shoulder.

Casey returns the hug, grinning. "Bro!"

Donatello waves at Annalise, although his expression doesn't lift to anything happier than relief. He looks past Casey, then around at the scenery, and frowns. "Where's Destiny?"

Raphael and Casey separate as Raphael's brow furrows. "Yeah..." he says. "Wasn't she with you?"

Annalise swallows hard. "She...was," she admits. "She—"

"Guys!"

The four of them turn around to see Leonardo and Michelangelo running toward them. Leonardo has a few bruises and scuff marks on his face and shell, while Michelangelo looks unscathed. Annalise nearly flies into Michelangelo's arms, the momentum making them swing around in a circle before coming to a stop.

"Thank God," Annalise breathes, squeezing him as tight as she can.

"Lisey," he returns. "Lisey, Lisey, Lisey..."

Leonardo looks at everyone and within seconds, his face mirrors the confusion of his brothers. "Destiny..." His attention latches on Casey and he starts toward him. "Casey, where is she?"

Annalise and Michelangelo separate, adding two more stares to the hockey player and Casey can't look Leonardo in the eye. "I don't know," he says. "Circa set some monsters on us and she said she'd fight. She told us to go, Leo."

"And you listened to her?!" Leonardo exclaims.

Casey's eyebrows furrow. "I couldn't convince her! She hardly listens to you!"

"So she's just gone?" Michelangelo asks. "Desti-bear's gone?"

"No! She's gonna come back," Casey snaps. He grits his teeth, hands shaking. "She's gotta...she promised she would."

Donatello steps in. "Circa's still around and if she caused the monsters, then I'm sure she's got Destiny. She's probably somewhere in this game, so if we can all calm down and think—"

He keeps talking and the boys listen to him, but Annalise is focused on something far below them. Nestled amongst other islands with simple names like Survival and Mythology is an island shrouded in thunderclouds. A broken statue of a Poptropican female with curly brown hair adorns it, her body still standing but her head laying beside a bleak apartment building. The name tag is nothing but ones and zeros.

Annalise reaches out and tugs Donatello's arm, making him stop his nattering. "That island isn't part of Poptropica," she says, pointing down at it. "It's..." She shakes her head. "It's not normal."

Leonardo eyes the island, then looks to the ever-smiling Amelia standing on the bridge. He purses his lips, dark eyes glinting, and he jogs over to her. When he taps her shoulder, she springs to life and grins at him.

"Hello, Fast Turtle! What can I help you with?" she asks.

"That island," he says, jabbing his thumb at it. "What do you know about it?"

For the first time, Amelia's smile disappears. "Oh...that's Enigma Island. It just showed up, but so far no adventurer has been able to beat it. The boss is far too difficult, but..." She leans closer to him. "Apparently, the prize is more than just a medallion."

Leonardo looks over his shoulder and Annalise says, "Medallions are your reward for beating each island. Part of the game."

"Oh," he says. He turns back to Amelia. "And...how do we get to Enigma?"

"Simple! Just climb on your blimp and fly over!"

She motions her hand to the giant yellow blimp and goes back to her regular self, standing and waiting with a smile on her face. Leonardo thanks her anyway and jogs back to his team. He motions to the blimp, arches an eye-ridge, and they nod.

"Let's move," Leonardo says.

----------

The island is just as stormy as it looks on the outside. The team climbs out of the blimp, which surprisingly had no trouble carrying all of them, and surveys their surroundings. A few dreary buildings line the only street and a few Poptropicans wander back and forth in their spaces. When the group passes the windows, their reflections are Poptropica avatars, and Donatello takes a second to touch the tuft of brown hair that his reflection says he has.

"Interesting," he mumbles. "The other Poptropicans must see us this way."

Raphael walks up to a blond boy in a blue polo shirt. "Hey, what happened here?" he asks. The boy says nothing. Raphael reaches out and shoves his shoulder. "Hey, buddy, I'm talking to you!"

The boy stares at him. "It's so terrible what happened. Not like I can do anything about it."

He goes back to walking back and forth. Raphael turns around, his expression confused and slightly offended as he flails his hands once. Annalise raises her hand a little.

"He's an NPC. Most of these guys have just a few lines to say. If they're important to the plot of the island, they'll say more," she says. "Otherwise, they basically tell you generic stuff." She eyes the bland boy. "I...also think they respond to touch. In the game, you have to click on them to get them to talk."

Hearing this, Michelangelo jogs up to a crying woman on a bench and taps her shoulder. Immediately, her tears stop and she speaks. "That poor girl. I can't imagine what it would be like!" she exclaims.

She goes back to crying. Michelangelo shrugs at the others. "Guess she's just upset?" he suggests.

"I bet that girl she mentioned is important," Donatello says.

"Could she be Destiny?" Casey asks, a hopeful expression on his face.

"Let's hope," Raphael mutters.

Leonardo races down the street, tapping NPC Poptropicans as he goes, and they all spout similar lines about their sorrow at the state of their town or the fate of the girl.

"Before that witch showed up, this town was happy! Or...well, it was less rainy."

"Maybe this day would be better if my coffee wasn't cold. Sigh..."

"Woof woof, bark, bork."

"What made you come to a town like this? Are you here to help Black Paw?"

Leonardo whirls back around as the last NPC stares at him, blinking expectantly. It's a woman with a tattered shirt and bags under her eyes, but other than that she's just as normal as the avatars around her. The other teens hurry to catch up to Leonardo as three speech bubbles pop up above his head, offering three different responses.

"Leo," Raphael says as his brother starts to speak, motioning to the bubbles. "Pick one of those. I bet she only responds to them."

Leonardo looks up, reads the first bubble, then looks back down. "Black Paw? Who's that?"

The NPC frowns. "She's the previous adventurer that came here, but she disappeared. I fear that the Riddlemaster may have taken her."

Leonardo asks the question on the next bubble. "Who's the Riddlemaster?"

"They are the one who speaks in riddles. Challenge them and you may earn riches beyond belief. Fail them and you never return. So many people have been lost since they arrived." The NPC pauses, sorrowful. "Black Paw said she would bring them back, but...she hasn't returned. She was our only hope."

"Don't worry, we'll find her and your people," Leonardo promises, and Annalise laughs when she realizes that he didn't even look at the third bubble yet he still said something similar to what's written on it.

The woman brightens. "Oh, thank you! We will make it worth your while!" She points down the street, where a broken street sign directs passerby to the Riddlemaster's lair. "Just head north. You will find them there."

Very few words are exchanged as the teens head north, wordlessly understanding their mission. Leonardo leads the pack, walking like the only thing on his mind is murder and he's been sent on a mission to fulfill those wishes. Annalise wonders if he's imagining Circa's head on a stick, then shudders.

They emerge onto another piece of the island. The ground is littered with overgrown shrubbery and weeds. The rain is coming down a little harder and the angry sky rumbles in anticipation, and down a trampled foot trail is an open doorway framed by ivy-covered walls that entice the team closer.

Inside the doorway is a courtyard. At the far end is a cage with a large rod extending up into the sky, small sparks coming off the tip, and trapped within is a familiar figure.

"Destiny!" Leonardo shouts, already running to her.

The bars keep him at bay; he can't even reach her when he shoves his arm through the gaps between them. Destiny lays on her side, limp, unresponsive, and Leonardo feels his knees go weak at the sight of her beaten form. Her cybersuit is gone, tossed aside, and it's cracked and stained with blood, leaving her in the jumpsuit that goes underneath. Most of her body has sustained only small cuts that reveal green coding on a black backdrop beneath, but the most concerning thing is the gaping wound in her midsection. As she lies there, getting paler by the second, that same black and green coding oozes onto the cage floor.

If it weren't for the quivers of breath shaking her wings, she'd look no better than a corpse.

"We...we have to get this open," Leonardo says, stumbling over his words as he searches for the door. "Des...Des...we're coming. Hold on a little longer. Raph! Help me!"

Raphael hurries to his side, trying to find the opening, but he's as unsuccessful as his brother. The only things they find are ten different locks and there is not a key in sight. The sky rumbles.

"Well, well, well, the lost boys of Neverland found their way home." They look up to see Circa perched on the wall behind the cage, legs crossed and hand propping up her head. "Black Paw has seen better days. Poor puppy..."

The boys whip out their weapons and aim them at her in tandem while Annalise steps back, a deer in headlights. Circa's golden blue hair sparks and her smile gets wide enough to eat a banana sideways.

"Let her go," Leonardo utters.

"No, no, no, that's not how you play the game," Circa says, pouting as she shakes her head. "What kind of Riddlemaster would I be without a challenge?" Her pupils flash red. "Do you wish to challenge me?"

"If it'll free wolfie, then hell yes!" Casey shouts.

"Very well!" She snaps her fingers and ten flat-topped pedestals appear, spread out before the cage. Inscribed on each of them is a riddle. "Each of these riddles reveals a key that you must find. Find all ten of them and Destiny is freed! Fail, and...bye bye. Game over."

She wiggles her fingers at them, her computer-fan giggle boring into them. Donatello finds five pairs of eyes on him and swallows hard, shaking out his limbs as he takes a deep breath.

"Let's do this," he says, his voice deep and raspy.

Circa grins. "Begin!"