The next morning, after breakfast, Sarina launches the teens from Animal Jam and sends them soaring back into cyberspace.

"Good morning," Sarina greets. "I have multiple pieces of news for all of you. Which would you prefer to start with? Good? Bad? General?"

"General," Leonardo says.

"I have found a way to get all of you into Annalise's Minecraft server in time for her contest stream." Annalise's relief is evident as Sarina adds, "Don't worry, I will record the whole thing for you. If you like, I can edit it as well?"

"Uh, sure, if you're up for it," Annalise says.

"Excellent. Now, for the good news," Sarina continues. "I've got a reading on Circa and have locked on to her digital trail. I have uploaded the scans to your suits and you should be able to follow her without my guidance, should the need arise."

Donatello reaches to his suit and presses a button, making a small map pop up in the corner of his visor. Sure enough, there's a trail leading away from him labelled "Circa".

"I've got sights on her," he reports.

"Okay, so what's the bad news?" Raphael asks.

"This is just speculation, but from what I've noticed, Circa may have some powers that I did not take into consideration. One is deleting coding, and the other may be retrieving anything she wants from the depths of the Internet, even if that thing has been erased."

Annalise raises her hand. "Actually, she tried to post one of my deleted videos a few weeks ago," she says.

"Classic example of 'once it's on the Internet, it stays on the Internet'," Destiny mutters.

"Alright, so that is a sure thing," Sarina says. "The other power, deleting coding, is what I am concerned about. I have noticed her erasing things from the websites she's passed through and when I try to reverse the effects...long story short, I am unsuccessful."

Michelangelo frowns. "So what's the big deal?" he asks.

"In the process of sending all of you into cyberspace, your bodies were broken down and reformed into computer coding," Sarina says. "I'm sure you can guess why that is a major concern."

Casey's face pales. "We could get deleted?"

"Yes. Your organic bearings may offer you some durability, but there is no guarantee. Be on your guard."

"Aw, dude, that's so whack," Casey grumbles. Nobody offers their two cents at his comment. He pretty much summed it up in the simplest of terms.

"We'll destroy her before she gets the chance," Leonardo declares. He reaches to his chest and presses a button, pulling up his map. "For now, let's follow her trail." The group follows his lead.

As they go, Sarina's voice sounds in Donatello's visor. "Donatello, if something happens to me, I am sorry," she whispers.

He looks around and judging by the straight-faced expressions of his companions, she's only speaking to him. "Nothing is going to happen to you," he insists, eyes narrowing. "I won't give Circa the chance."

There's a beat of silence before she speaks again. "Just...look out for yourself, darling. I love you."

His shoulders sag a little and he dons the faintest of smiles. "I love you too."

"Incoming website!" April's voice sounds suddenly, making the group jolt to attention. "Hold on!"

Right on cue, the bright lights around them twist and shake before they're plunged into blackness. The weightlessness that they felt before entering Animal Jam returns and they free-fall for a moment before landing.

As the world comes into focus, the only sound is Casey mumbling, "Please don't let me be a bunny, please don't let me be a bunny..."

Michelangelo gets to his feet first, his eyes widening in awe. The world before them is completely made out of 16-bit pixellated blocks and when he looks down, he finds that he's been made to look like a blocky version of himself.

"Minecraft?" Annalise gasps from behind him. "Sweet!"

He turns to look at his teammates, finding that each of them has also been transformed into a Minecraft version of themselves, complete with blocky cyberspace armour. Annalise has the look that he recognizes from the times he's watched her gaming videos, Casey looks exactly like himself, and Destiny looks like a regular old human.

"Before any of you ask, I've sent you into Annalise's game server," Sarina says. "In a few minutes, I will be sending you to the Hub. Until then, Annalise, please give everyone a crash course in how to play."

Annalise nods. "Sure thing." As soon as Sarina has disconnected, Annalise turns to the group. "How many of you have played Minecraft or at least seen it played?" Michelangelo and Casey are the only ones who raise their hands. She sighs. "Okay, so basics, we're about to go into a Survival Games match. It's like the Hunger Games."

"That's that thing where kids kill each other, right?" Destiny asks.

"Yup! Basically, we'll all start on a podium. When the timer hits zero, you run for the cornucopia in the centre where all the loot is or you run off into the woods. There are more chests there. Allying is fine, but..." She chews her lip. "Since the other winners will be there and we need to blend in, I think I should stay away from you guys. Besides, I'll be doing a running commentary."

"What happens if we die?" Donatello asks.

"You respawn back in the Hub, usually, or you can spectate. I think Sarina will just send us back here." She clasps her hands together. "Okay, now other stuff..."

She rattles off what she can remember about food, cooking, armour, and weapons. Leonardo and Donatello pay the most attention, laser-focused on her every word, while Raphael and Destiny just kind of watch and nod, more eager to get going to the actual battle. Casey and Michelangelo goof off with each other, playing games like bloody knuckles and rock-paper-scissors.

"One last thing, this game doesn't have complex fighting," Annalise says. "So I suggest that when you do come across someone, just go wild with smacking them. Even if we have far more control than the others."

A countdown appears in the corner of their visors above the message "until Hub transport." Five, four, three, two...

They all feel a rush of air and their stomachs lurch, the world turning into nothing but pixellated dirt around them. Another brief message flashes by, too fast to read, before they pop back up in a floating city, clouds dotting the sky and people milling about between separate areas, labels written in blocks above each of them.

"Uh...wow," Leonardo mumbles. He looks behind them, paling at the sight of how high off the ground they are.

Annalise is undeterred. If anything, she seems bored. She squares her shoulders and dons a smile, turning around to look up at the sky.

"What's up, donuts? It's Annalise, back with the long-awaited Survival Games special!" she narrates. "Are you excited? 'Cause I'm excited! Let me tell you, life has been crazy, so I'm just happy to sit back and play some Minecraft."

Michelangelo can't help but find himself in awe at how swiftly she can switch to charisma mode. She makes looking perky and happy seem easy. As she talks, he realizes that them standing around her looking lost is suspicious and turns around, nudging his closest brother and motioning for them to follow. The group shuffles off, leaving Annalise to do her commentary.

As soon as they're far enough away, Leonardo gathers them in. "Okay, so, teams," he says. "I say what happens, happens. This game seems simple, as far as battle tactics go."

"Any of you going to try and ally with Annalise?" Raphael asks, giving Michelangelo unsubtle side-eye.

Michelangelo huffs. "Well..."

"Whatever happens...happens," Leonardo reiterates. "It all depends on placement once we're on the platforms. I—"

Annalise goes running by them. "Let's go get to that server!" she says, making her voice just a little too obvious as she looks at them.

They hurry after her, following her into the mountain labelled "SURVIVAL" in wood blocks. They watch Annalise as she goes up to the server board and locates hers, dubbed "DeepFriedDonut Private Games". There are thirty slots available and about fifteen are already taken.

Annalise disappears as soon as her hand smacks the name. The others follow suit and after another rush and a wall of dirt, they pop out in a wooded area, standing atop stone platforms all arranged in a circle. Michelangelo searches the growing number of players, locating his brothers all the way across the circle. Annalise is five spots to his left, Destiny is a few spaces from her, and Casey is next to Raphael.

Michelangelo finds himself lingering on Annalise. She's still narrating to herself while more and more of the other winners pop up, expressing excitement in the chat boxes at the base of their character skins. Usernames hover above them.

there's like 30 people here, wut happened to 24?

Idk probs a hacker

Doesn't bother me! :DDDD I just wanna play with Annalise!!!

Lmao four of those dudes have like the same skin. nice

The centre of the cornucopia is loaded with chests and Michelangelo can already see Casey and Raphael's hungry gazes, their bodies just itching to run. Above the chests, a countdown appears. Fifteen seconds until the start.

The orange-masked turtle makes brief eye contact with Annalise as she stops narrating and she smiles at him. He returns it and looks back at the cornucopia. Does he have a strategy? If he was just playing this game, he would absolutely run for the middle and go ham, but it feels a lot worse when he's actually here.

Ten seconds.

He could go for it. After all, Sarina is probably going to interfere if they come across any real danger. The only danger he knows of in here is Circa and she, thankfully, is nowhere to be found.

Five seconds.

He looks at Annalise again and decides that he'll follow her lead. She may not be a real-life fighter but she knows a thing or two about Minecraft. In here, she is the master.

The clock hits zero and everyone bursts off their podiums. Annalise makes a dash for the trees and Michelangelo hurries after her, abandoning the pandemonium of the other players behind him. He can just see Annalise's username bobbing ahead of him.

As he goes, he notices a chest hidden up a tree and reaches up, popping it open. Inside, he finds a stone axe, some pieces of meat, and a leather chest-plate. Putting it on and donning his axe, he keeps running until he finds Annalise. As soon as she sees him, she stops and turns around.

"Oh, I see a turtle dude! PizzaNunchucker!" she greets. She talks as if typing something as words appear in her chat bar. "Want...to...ally? With me?"

He frowns a little and almost questions why she's acting like that when he reminds himself that there's a YouTube video in the making and she has to act like she's playing the game the way she always does.

Michelangelo replies with a simple, "Ya!"

There's a small beep in his ear. "Mikey, just an FYI, Sarina's only recording Annalise's audio. If you talk to her, it won't end up in the video unless you put it in the chat."

He grins. "Aw, sweet. Thanks, April!"

"No problem. Good luck!"

The rest of the game goes without much trouble, or at least, it almost does. Michelangelo and Annalise keep a constant eye out for other competitors as well as the usernames representing the rest of their team; so far, HockeyBoi16 and Hothead_Red are tied for most kills.

"Geez, they're really into this, aren't they?" Annalise comments. After a second, she remembers that she's technically on camera and adds, "People always seem to get more kills than me! I've gotta work on that!"

Michelangelo nods absentmindedly, noting that PurplePanicXX, Deepblue-seaturtle, and ChildOfD@rkness are all doing well too, although their kill counts don't measure up to the others. "If they're enjoying themselves, it's cool, right?" he replies with a shrug.

The crunching sound of approaching feet stops her from responding and they both turn around, raising the iron weapons they had found in chests earlier. The trees ahead of them release a few pixellated leaves before a few poof out of existence, leaving floating blocks of wood behind.

"What...is that?" Michelangelo whispers.

Annalise cracks a faint, wobbly smile as another tree disappears. "Uh...that was weird, guys," she says, inching closer to it. "Maybe my server is glitching? I don't know."

The trees directly ahead of them wobble and burst apart, revealing Circa herself, floating in midair. She is much, much taller than they imagined, since both of them thought of her as being smaller than a pixie, but now they can see that she is easily seven feet tall. Along with her height, the fact that she isn't blockified like the rest of the game makes her seem unreal and far scarier.

Annalise and Michelangelo let out something akin to a choking squeak as the virus crosses her arms over her metallic blue chest, eyes narrowed.

"Honestly," she murmurs, as if bratty children have shaved away her last nerve. "I should have expected Sarina to meddle in my plans, although I am surprised that you're here, Annalise." Her white pupils turn red. "You should have stayed home. It would be safer."

Michelangelo back-pedals, smacking his visor haphazardly in an attempt to contact home base as he reaches for Annalise's hand. He opens his mouth to say her name but stops when he sees that she hasn't followed him. She stares, white as a sheet, as the virus looms closer.

"Sarina! Circa's here!" Michelangelo screeches into his visor. "Sari?!"

"I am here. Just hold on, I'm doing my best," Sarina replies, somehow keeping her voice calm. "Annalise! I need you to run and find some way to end off your video so I can edit this. Mention that your computer is having issues."

Annalise snaps out of it, holding her axe up as Circa gets closer. "What about the other players?"

"Deathmatch begins in a minute. The remaining players will be alright, I'll make sure of it. Now, go!"

Annalise turns and races away, making Circa let out a low chuckle and go after her. Michelangelo finds his bow and arrows. He steels his nerve, plants his feet, and hopes that this game will let him fight with everything he has.

"Eat blocks, Rainbow!" he hollers. Her expression flattens, as if his words remind her of something, and she halts in her steps.

He fires the arrow and it soars straight at Circa's chest. He grins, perking up, and the arrow hits its mark. Circa jolts, her entire body turning red, and then it goes back to normal. She glares at him and he drops the bow.

"Well...heh..." He grins sheepishly as sweat rolls down his brow. "That wasn't what I expected."

Circa's frown grows as her hair flares around her like flaps of a frilled lizard. Michelangelo starts thinking of his last will and testament. "Rude," she hisses.

"Hold on, Michelangelo," Sarina says. "Teleporting you out in five, four—"

His eyes widen as Circa starts towards him. "Wait! I have to be here for Annalise!"

"Apologies, but you will have to trust me," Sarina states.

As Circa rushes at him, he disappears in a small puff of dust, leaving behind the various items he collected over the course of the game. Circa stares at the fallen items, eyes glinting, and she reaches down to scoop up a golden apple. She tosses it to herself as she turns and floats away.

----------

When Michelangelo reappears in the peaceful Minecraft world that they first arrived in, the first thing he notices is that his brothers and Casey are already there. The second thing is that they're no longer made of blocks.

"Mikey!" Donatello calls, hurrying over to him. "What happened? Sarina said something about Circa—"

"Yeah, dude, Circa appeared in front of Lisey and I," he replies. He doesn't spend a second longer than he needs to on his brother's face, focused on looking behind and around him. "She isn't here? And where's Destiny?"

A small burst of light appears from a few feet away and Destiny appears from it, shoulders heaving. As the others breathe a sigh of relief, she dashes over.

"Sorry, I was fighting this guy and Sarina couldn't teleport me until I won," she explains.

"Oh, so you won?" Casey asks.

She pouts. "No..." When Casey starts to grin, she aims a clawed finger at him. "Don't. I got distracted by the voice in my ears telling me about Circa!"

Leonardo pats the air with his hands, as if soothing it. "Hey, calm down," he says. "What's important is that we're all okay."

"Um, HELLO?! Annalise isn't here!" Michelangelo shouts, stamping his foot on the ground. "That means we don't have everyone and all of us aren't okay! Come on, Leo!"

Raphael covers his ears. "Mikey! Sarina is handling it, just shut up!"

"Guys?"

All six teens whirl around to see Annalise standing there, one hand lifted in a tentative wave. Michelangelo lets out a gargled scream of glee and tackles her in a hug that nearly makes her fall over.

"M-Mikey—"

"I THOUGHT CIRCA GOT YOU!"

"She didn't, I'm—"

He buries his face against her shoulder. "I tried to fight her off. I couldn't even make a dent...I'm sorry, Lisey."

She exhales in a breathless, halfway laugh and returns the hug. "It's okay. You tried," she replies.

As they separate, they become aware of Leonardo's low, urgent voice. "Sarina, do you have any intel? Is Circa coming for us?" he asks.

There's no response for a few seconds before, of all voices, Diaval answers. "You're safe. Circa's...waiting."

"Di, that's really ominous," Destiny says.

A pause. "Um...Circa's...dunno, not around? Isn't coming?" He makes a frustrated huff. "Dunno, okay? You're fine. Sarina said so."

"And where is she?" Donatello asks.

"Annalise's video. Said she's getting..." He exhales with a low hum. "Footage? Fixing it..."

Annalise gasps. "Right! She has to make it look like my computer was jinxing," she says. "Diaval, is there anything she needs from me?"

"Um..." he mumbles. "No. Letcha know if it changes."

"Okay, tell her thank you!"

"'kay." He clears his throat. "Uh...so, it's safe there. Dunno why, but think you've got it."

"Thanks, Wiz-Kid," Casey says. "Tell April goodnight for me!"

"'kay."

The headsets click off. The teens look at each other, unsure of exactly what to do. Diaval's instructions, as always, are notoriously vague. Leonardo pinches the space between his eyes and takes a few deep breaths.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to find some sort of shelter," he suggests. "Annalise, this is your server, so...maybe you know of somewhere we could go?"

"Well, I did build a house near a lake," she says. "If we can find it, we can stay there." She grins, bouncing on her feet. "Hold on, if this is in peaceful, then I can do...this."

She bounces in place twice before she goes sailing up into the sky, straight as a rocket. The others gasp and crane their necks back as she flies upwards, then stops in midair at around fifty or sixty feet up. Her echoing laughter surrounds them.

"How in the heck did you do that?!" Raphael shouts. Destiny looks between Annalise and her own wings with a frown.

"It's peaceful mode!" Annalise calls back. "You can fly!"

Destiny crosses her arms tightly over her chest. "I call hacks," she mutters, flapping her wings once.

"ME NEXT!" Casey and Michelangelo holler.

They bounce twice and sure enough, they go climbing upwards. Annalise cheers and claps for them and once they reach her altitude, they high-five. After that, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello are quick to follow. They stand around in the air, walking about as if on invisible walkways, with the world of Annalise's Minecraft spread out before them.

Destiny remains on the ground, her ears flattened and her face stuck in a fierce scowl. "Unbelievable," she mutters. "Seriously, they don't even understand the struggle of learning to fly, the work that goes into each movement, the—"

"Des, can you get up here?" Leonardo calls down to her. He has the faintest trace of an amused smile on his face. "It's pretty cool..." he sing-songs.

She huffs. "You're all cheaters!"

"It's a game! Loosen up!" Raphael retorts.

Destiny takes a long, strained breath, then releases it. She adjusts her stance, crouches, and flaps her wings. She soars up to meet them, but being unable to hover in one place, she resorts to awkwardly bobbing up and down in place or flying in circles around them.

"Where are we heading?" she asks.

Leonardo arches his eye-ridges. "You seem tired."

She frowns. "I'm fine." Sweat trickles down her brow and she flicks her hair as if to mask it.

"You can just stand in place," Donatello says, tapping his foot on the empty air.

She keeps beating her wings, her eyebrows forming a stubborn wall above her even more stubborn eyes. The others keep watching her, goading her with their expressions and body language alone, and she fumes as she starts to feel her exhaustion creeping into her bones.

"Fine."

She stops flying and after two rapid-fire jumps, she too hovers in place. She walks to the group, shoots a glare at any smirks shot her way, and motions for Annalise to lead the way. The blonde turns and starts bounding across the sky towards a distant mountain range. The others follow, eager for rest.