The second chapter focuses on Tom Fletcher. It will guest star Hayden Christensen, my original character Dominic and the Pokémon they have used for the Pokémon Adventures story . Make sure you keep an eye out weekly for each chapters. PS, This story was written before his The Danger Game annoucement.
Hey, it’s Tom Fletcher from McFly and part of the awesome super group McBusted. Today’s the day when we’re set to perform on a special stage that resembles an arcade machine, just like during our MEAT tour. We may be musicians, but we do have a gaming side with us having our gaming sessions every now and then. Our fans did enjoy the MEAT tour, so we decided to recreate that tour.
Before I was ready for the tour, I was helping the lovely Giovanna with feeding our hens, checking to see if we could find any eggs that they had laid for our kids. It’s a pleasure to look after our animals with great care. They’re like a family to us. That said, I’ve accidentally tripped over an egg and opened the pen, which caused the chickens to escape! Giovanna and I have to run amok, chasing the chickens. We have to get Buzz, Buddy, Max and our dog Dennis to help (acting like a sheep dog or should I say hen dog?). I lost count of the number of times we bumped into each other! The chickens were scattered all over the place, including the duck pond. Our ducks, Jack and Vera, don’t seem to be happy to have gatecrashers to their pond, so they chased them off. At least they gave us a helping hand somewhat.
We eventually recaptured our chickens, though I had to dash out for my show. The frantic chase had eaten up my time, so I was going to be late for my very important date. There was no time to say hello or bye. Suddenly, as I was catching my breath, I spotted a U.F.O that looks like an arcade machine right above me. Its tractor beam pulled me upward. “No! Not now!” I yelled, twisting and pushing against the force, but I was helplessly drawn in and inevitably abducted.
I was blanked out for a moment until I was shine by a spotlight and saw the screen monitor that shows a shady figure, saying, “It’s Gaming Time! Welcome, Ladies, Gentlemen and Non-Binary Pals to Escape The Gaming Room! I am your host, Pluto! Tonight we have some very special guests taking part; it’s the boys from the best-loved boy bands McFly and Busted, who have formed together as McBusted!”
So it seems that I wouldn’t be the only one who’ll be late for the show...but no, I wasn’t having this and demanded, “I haven’t got time to play your silly games! I ask you to release us on the double!” “Now don’t be such a Party Popper! That would disappoint our audience, who expect the thrills of the escape room based on video game genres, causing our ratings to plummet! Once you’re in The Gaming Room, there’s no backing out unless you make it out alive to the next stage or get a game over! After all, it’s gaming time!” said Pluto.
So that’s how it is then; I have to comply if I were to get out of here for my show. I do admit that taking part in an escape room based on video games does sound fun, if only we were willingly signed up for this, rather than being forced into it. Still, I suppose I’ll have to see how it’ll turn out while focusing on getting this over and done with.
The room I was sent in resembles a wide area with tons of greenery (which is not surprising for many first-stage levels) and lots of obstacles, including blocks and giant loops. “Welcome to Super Hedgehog Brothers, which is a classic, beloved platform gaming franchise! All you have to do is make it to the castle, which is your end goal for each of the levels, while overcoming obstacles. It may sound simple, but it’s something that our audience can’t get enough of! You gotta go fast, but there won’t be a princess in another castle,” said Pluto excitedly. I can’t help but find the title very similar to two other popular video game franchises. Didn’t they have a rivalry at some point? Anyway, there’s no time to wonder as I’ll be McFlying and Busting my way out of here!
Use this theme for Super Hedgehog Brothers
So I went on ahead, and already I was finding myself breaking the item blocks by leaping towards them with my fist that gives me fruit, including cherries, strawberries, apples, melon and bananas. I think they give me health. Fruit is healthy after all, so I guess I have The Gaming Room to thank for giving me my five a day. There were also springs that jump me to high places, which makes them fun to use, wrap pipes that wrap me to different places (good thing that I fit them) and dash panels that give me a speed boost. I felt like I was faster than the speed of light, though I felt dizzy when I ran towards the loop (which has lots of fruit).
“Have fun in the world of gaming while you can, as there are baddies to take care of. No platform games are complete without enemies after all!” said Pluto as there were a lot of robotic enemies that made their way, including those that resembled turtles and crabs, and I lose fruit every time I get hit by them. I’m losing my vitamins!
But I can fight back by using items that give me temporary power-ups. They include fire balls that I shoot out, an arm cannon that shots out laser beams (I shall call it Tom Blaster!), red and white high top shoes that gives me the ability to spin (though just like when I was running on the loop, I felt dizzy after using it. I’m not made for spinning!), a yellow star that made me invisible, crushing any enemies that gets in my way (until it wears off) and a vacuum that sucks my enemies and grants me their ability (including the turtle’s shell that I can toss – let’s see how they like it!)
Even if I don’t have any power-ups, I can use my psychic powers that control time and space, including my Time Stop that slows down enemies, Spacial Distortion to alter the space surrounding my foes and my glowing spheres that are shaped like planets; Planetary Spheres.
With all of these power-ups, I was confident that I could take on this gaming escape room challenge with ease, and the castle was up ahead as I bragged to Pluto while walking on the bridge, “It looks like I’ll beat this game of yours in no time!” “Well, you'd better watch out, as we have plenty of obstacles for some more thrills!” said Pluto as there were several enemies on the other side of the bridge that attacked the bridge, which caused it to give way. To my horror, I was falling towards the spike trap. Quickly, I used my levitation to get me out of the spike trap, but a pesky flying tortoise enemy had dived into me, causing my levitation to wear off. Such a convenience indeed!
Use this theme for All Mighty Man's theme
But just like when a hero arrives at the most convenient times, our local hero, All Mighty Man, aka Dane, has swooped in, grabbing me and saving my fall. “As long as I am here, then you have nothing to fear! For it is I, All Mighty Man!” said Dane. “Couldn’t have arrived at a better time”, I said to him. “Now it looks like we have an uninvited guest gate crashing our game!” said Pluto as Dane had placed me on land and helped me to take out the enemies with his mighty moves, including All Mighty Punch, All Mighty Laser and All Mighty Charge, as he said, “Sweeping evil with justice!” “Giving them justice for causing me to fall to my near-death!” I said, helping him out by trapping the enemies in a gravity field using Gravity Trapper before some of them could sneak up on Dane. “Now that is cleverly talented of you”, said Dane as he finished them off while they were stuck in mid-air. I felt flattered by his praise. With our combined teamwork, we cleared the path towards the castle, clearing the level and moving onwards towards the next area.
Use this theme for Super Hedgehog Brothers again
We arrived at an icy area surrounded by water. Ugh, nobody likes these kinds of levels. Pluto rubbed it in, saying, “You'd better be careful while treading in thin ice, or you’ll end up in hot water”. That pun of his rubbed me the wrong way (as I’ve just mentioned an idiom myself). Dane kept his optimism, though, saying, “As long as we keep our cool and walk on the ice carefully, we can avoid going into the water”, said Dane. I guess he’s right about that. Maybe it wouldn’t be a big idea after all.
Before we moved on, I asked him what brought him here. Dane put on a serious face as he gravely said, “My comrades were kidnapped. I’ve heard that they were sent here. They mean so much to me as fellow allies, so I have to find them as soon as possible”. I showed some sympathy and said to him, “I’m sorry to hear. I’ll help you find them. I think my band mates were sent here too, and we have a show to go to”. “Thanks, and I’ll help you find your band mates, getting you all out of here”, said Dane sincerely.
Back to The Gaming Room, we carefully walked on the slippery paths so that we wouldn’t fall into the water, collecting some fruit and items along the way, including a flying cap for me and a mushroom for Dane, which temporarily made him big. “Remember to consume those vitamins! You’ll be as big and strong as me!” said Dane, who crushed the icy blocks that were up ahead, knocking out several enemies along the way. “Well, I’m born to fly!” I said as I flew with my flying cap to avoid the large gaps and taking down my enemies from above (referring to the song that Danny and I sang at The Royal British Legion – I hope he and the others are doing ok with their escape room).
After our power-ups had worn off, we arrived at a large, wide-open area filled with numerous enemies and platform blocks. The ice was so slippery that even Dane had trouble keeping his balance while fighting the enemies. “Guess the bigger they are, the harder they fall”, said Dane, making a lighter joke, though I guess I can see for myself.
The enemies, including the flying tortoises and crabs, were a pain, diving into us or firing their weapons at us, often causing us to slip. I sent out my Jolteon as backup, firing its Thunderbolt to shoot them down. Electric types are super effective against Flying types after all. “Thanks for the help. Your Pokémon shall help to prevail justice!” said Dane just after Jolteon helped to defend him from an incoming flying tortoise. I agree with him. He returned the favour by protecting Jolteon from a flying tortoise that was about to dive into it using All Mighty Punch.
There were still a lot of reinforcements that were persistent, even with Dane and Jolteon helping me out. “We aren’t going anywhere at this rate!” I ranted as I’ve fired my Time Spheres towards the enemies. “You just gotta chill out! Our audience loves the struggle after all,” taunted Pluto. There must be a way we can eliminate them all at once. That’s when I spotted a block that says ‘Kapow’. I picked it up and tossed it onto the ground. The shockwave has blasted away the enemies, but it has also caused the platform blocks to drop onto the ice, which has shattered the ice. “What have you done?!!” cried Dane as the ice underneath us broke apart.
Oh no! We gotta act fast or else we’ll drown! I returned Jolteon to its Poké Ball so that it wouldn’t get caught in danger. I saw one of the blocks on the water surface and had an idea. “Let’s gather these blocks to form a raft!” Dane seemed impressed with my creative idea and said, “Good thinking there! Allow me to do my bit!” as he quickly flew towards the fallen platform blocks that were shattered about, using his superhuman strength to carry multiple platform blocks while I gathered the ones that I could find nearby.
We were doing a good job, working together to assemble the platform blocks into a raft, which is just like building Lego. Dane also handed me some platform bars that we could use as paddles. I then tripped over one of the blocks and almost fell into the water, but Dane quickly grabbed me in time. “I won’t let you fall! You gotta keep on going to reunite with your band mates and for your show!” said Dane reassuringly. “How about we make things more interesting by sending you elsewhere?” said Pluto, who teleported Dane. This means that I was on my own, much to my dismay, but I can’t afford to waver with the ice breaking apart fast, so I used my Time Stop to give myself extra time to gather some remaining platform blocks for my raft.
As soon as my Time Stop had worn off, I got onto the raft and paddled with the platform bars just before the ice drifted apart. I can see the castle up ahead, so I fought against the current. “Now it looks like this is changed from a platform game into a river rafting game. I’ll give you credit for turning this around, but don’t expect it to be smooth sailing,” said Pluto as aquatic enemies, including those that resembled squids or metallic piranhas, leapt out of the water, firing ink-like bombs or launching towards me.
Well, they aren’t going to get in my way, so I fought back by firing my Time Spheres at the squid’s ink-like bombs and used my Gravity to freeze the metallic piranhas mid-air before they could get to me. I was occupied fighting them that I didn’t notice that I was drifting towards a waterfall. I paddled as fast as I could to get away from the waterfall, but the current was too fast, and I inevitably drifted towards the waterfall, seemingly falling towards my doom.
I thought my game was over...until someone grabbed my hand. The next thing I knew was that it was James Bourne who rescued me while driving a kart. “You need a lift, mate?” he said casually. I couldn’t be gladder to see my fellow bandmate, even if he is from Busted, but regardless, he is a good friend who has helped us McFly guys to rise to fame. We embraced warm smiles as we held each other’s hands, gazing at each other before hopping into his kart.
James explained that he was in the middle of a race, trailing behind, which is when he spotted me. “Of course, you come first before any trophy”, said James. I blushed hearing that, though, nevertheless, I helped him out by helping him to toss items, including shells and banana skins, towards his opponents, helping him to get ahead of them (James’ Leafeon helped him out too, swiping the other racers with Leaf Blade if they got too close to our kart). Pluto noticed this and said, “It looks like we have an extra passenger, folks!”
We were about to head towards an obstacle that involved missiles fired at us from the ceiling. “This is the part when it’s a pain!” ranted James. There was something else that dropped from the ceiling, which was piles of debris, followed by Harry Judd, who fell on our seats. He noticed the missiles and defended us by firing his Healing Blaster at them. “Hope you don’t mind me dropping in!” said Harry. Well, I have no idea how he dropped in like this, but hey, I couldn’t argue with his timing, plus we have another one of us reunited. “I suppose we owe you one, Harry”, I said, but we were nevertheless grateful for his help. “Now it looks like we have a third wheeler”, said Pluto.
Thanks to both of our help, James has won the race. “And we have a winner for our Hedgehog Kart!... And um...I guess those two have technically passed their gaming rooms,” said Pluto, who sounds perplexed. “Alright, the game is over! Now, please be so kind and let us get out of here for our show!” I demanded. “Not so fast, as I have set up a boss stage for you three!” said Pluto as he summoned three Roman soldiers with strange-looking outfits. The one I’m up against resembles a goddess with bright white colouring who goes by the name Juno. “If you wish to go towards the light, then you have to beat this boss!” said Pluto. So James, Harry and I have to fight these bosses separately, with the fights based on the games that we played. I sent out my Jolteon to help out. The sooner we beat them, the sooner we can get back to our show, hopefully with the other band members.
Use this theme for the boss battle
Fighting Juno is rather...blinding with her dazzling light that stings my eyes. While I was blinded, she fired a barrage of light balls towards us. “And let there be light!” said Pluto, rubbing it in. They say not to look directly at the sun. If only I had brought sunglasses. I was thinking of a way to avoid her blinding light when I noticed the platforms above. So Jolteon and I jumped on the platforms to avoid her incoming light and fired our attacks towards her, including my Astro Beam and Jolteon’s Thunderbolt (who fired it at the incoming light balls to intercept them).
“That was some bright thinking there, but don’t think that’ll win every card!” said Pluto as Juno fired a beam of light towards me, which nearly knocked me off the platform. As I got myself back up, she then summoned rays of light from the ground towards me. It’s certainly a battle of attrition at this rate. I’ll have to keep up with the speed of light myself.
That’s when I spotted some item blocks that I could make use of, though some were high up or were further away. I noticed some springs and wrap pipes that I could access. Of course, Juno wasn’t making it easy for me as she continued to fire rays of light towards me, but Jolteon helped to defend me from the rays of light by firing its Thunderbolt at them. Thanks there, Jolteon! This helped me head towards the spring (while collecting some fruit that gives me health), which led me to a platform with an item box, revealing a winged cap. I’ve used it to fly above Juno’s attacks and fire my Planetary Spheres towards her. So you could say that I am flying high!
I got hit by one of her light balls, which caused me to lose my power-up, crashing towards a platform. Luckily, though, this is the platform where it has a wrap pipe that’ll take me to the platform where the item block is located, so I didn’t hesitate to go into the wrap pipe with Jolteon catching up to me.
“No matter where you go, you cannot escape the light!” said Pluto as Juno fired large sphere projectiles, which are explosive when they hit near us, causing us to trip over. It’s as if she is trying to knock us off the platforms. Well, that’s not going to happen as there is no stopping me now (referring to our charity cover song here)!
Jolteon tried to counter the light sphere projectiles with its Thunderbolt, but they still caused a blinding explosion upon impact. I thought it’s better to avoid them, which is rather hard to do with their speed. But luckily, I’ve spotted those dash panels that give me a speed boost, helping me to avoid Juno’s attacks and to get to the item block (while collecting more fruit along the way). I obtained the arm cannon, allowing me to fire my Tom Blaster towards Juno!
Juno then teamed up with two other bosses that James and Harry were facing: Aura and Salacia. While Juno blinded us with her bright light, Aura and Salacia fired their hurricane and water sprout towards us, making it a typhoon! “Now that’s three times the fun to make it more chaotic! Our audience craves for more chaos after all!” said Pluto. “Not if someone gets hurt”, said James dryly. “Now that is so unfair!!!” yelled Harry.
This is getting crazy. I have to come up with something fast. That’s when I spotted a ‘Kapow’ block at a distance, surrounded by lots of blocks, which gave me an idea. “Hey, James! How about you give us a lift over there for Harry to break these blocks? That’ll be the key to stop those bosses,” I said. They both seem to understand the idea, with James saying, “Well then, let’s go fast like whoa!” and we gathered onto his kart.
James drove his kart at high speed, although Juno, Aura and Salacia weren’t making it easy for us with their pillars of light and typhoon heading towards us, but James bravely steered his kart away from their attacks. Jolteon, Leafeon and Umbreon helped out too by defending us by firing their attacks towards the pillars of light and typhoon. Harry then jumped off the kart and did his thing by breaking down the blocks with his pickaxe. I smiled at how our plan was coming together, which is just like how we come up with music, and when we performed together on stage to give our audience an enjoyable time, I had those two to thank.
However, James and Harry were about to get directly hit by the bosses’ attacks, so I quickly used my Time Stop to freeze their attacks. That helped Harry to give enough time to break the rest of the coloured block for me to grab the ‘Kapow’ block. It’s a good thing that I refrained from using my Time Stop earlier and saved it for this occasion, as I would have become fatigued if I had overused it.
As soon as the Time Stop effects had worn off, I slammed down the ‘Kapow’ block onto the ground near the three bosses, which toppled them over. “Alright! Now we can get the upper hand!” cheered Harry, firing his Healing Blaster while they were down. “Reaching the finishing line!” said James, firing his Psy Thunder. Juno got up and fired her beam of light towards me, but I leapt onto the platform to dodge it, hitting an item block that released a fireball. “Sorry, but it’s lights out for you!” I said, tossing the fireball towards Juno, finishing her off.
Juno’s helmet came off, which revealed a woman whom I happened to recognise. Her name is Madame Donna, a famous singer who is a gay icon, helping to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights and supports charities while having some top hits, including ‘The Way I Was Born’ and ‘Ula’. Dominic is a fan of her, just like us, McFly and Busted, and we liked her music too, even meeting her a few times during parties, but I never thought we would get to meet her like this.
I rushed over to her and said, “Madame Donna, are you ok?” “...You’re McFly? Never thought I would bump into you here,” replied Madame Donna, who sounded somewhat dazed, but she still kept her spirit high. I smiled at her humouring me. She said that she must have been brainwashed into becoming one of the bosses of The Gaming Room and is a friend of Dane. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though I wasn’t going to let Pluto get away with brainwashing a fellow singer, saying to him on the screen monitor, “You have some nerve putting us singers in your so-called game! If you have an issue with us, why don’t you face us directly?!” All Pluto said was, “Congrats on passing your gaming challenge. You may proceed to the next area if you wish to make your way out.”
James, Harry, and I headed toward the exit door. It was time to reunite with the other bandmates and break through this game. We couldn't miss the show—especially for my Galaxy Defenders!
To be continued- As you will have guessed, Super Hedgehog Brothers is a combination of Super Mario Brothers and Sonic The Hedgehog.
- Other Platform games that are referenced includes Pacman (with the fruit), Megaman (with the blaster), Crash Bandicot (with the shoes that spins Tom around) and Kirby (the vaccum that copies enemies' abilities).
- Madame Donna is a parody of Madonna and Lady Gaga. I've only heard a few of their songs but I am aware that they are gay icons so I had the idea of coming up with a parody of them.
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