Iris's POV:
After school, we lugged our mountain of homework to my house. As if I wasn't in a bad enough mood already, then I got to drag a million pounds of homework back to my house, which was an hour walk. Needless to say, by the time Bailey and I practically feel through the front door, we were soaked in sweat and thoroughly grumpy.
My mom heard us come in from the kitchen, where she was baking cookies. The smell of cookies made my stomach growl. Bailey giggled at the sound of my stomach, until her stomach growled even louder. I poked her stomach and grinned. Mom came out of the kitchen cheerily.
"Hi, girls, how was your da-" she stopped abruptly when she noticed our bedraggled state. "What on Earth happened?" She demanded. I scowled.
"Our substitute teacher was an unfair jerkface. He got Bails and I in trouble for no reason and now we've got a mountain of homework that's due Wednesday!" I said quickly, "I'm not sure how we'll get it done in time for our Keepers-in-training lessons and duties!" Bailey nodded.
"What she said," she mumbled distractedly, making a beeline for a fresh pan of cookies. Mom opened her mouth to warn Bailey that they were too hot, but she was too late. Bails had already taken a huge bite of a piping hot cookie. Mom and I laughed as we watched Bails hop around flapping her hands and shrieking, "HOT! HOT!! SO FREAKING HOT!!!!!!!"
I set my homework down on the dining room table, next to a pile of dishes. I walked over to a pan that had cooled off and grabbed a cookie, taking a huge bite of the warm, chocolatey goodness that was my mother's baking skills. Bailey finally calmed down and we all stood and talked and what a jerk Mr. Cooper was and how chocolate makes everything better.
At some point in this conversation, my dad's robot assistant had come into the room to clear the dirty dishes from the table. I turned to get another cookie, just in time to see the machine trying to wash my homework with soap and water.
"NO! NO! I AM SO DEAD!" I cried, trying to save what little homework I could, but I was too late. It was all just a soggy, inky mess.
"It'll be okay, sweetie, calm down," Mom said reassuringly, but I shouted over her.
"DAD! YOUR ROBOT ATE MY HOMEWORK!!!!!!!!"
Bailey's POV:
I watched as the robot devoured Iris' homework with soup and water, chuckling. "I can't believe a robot ate your homework! Explain that to Mr. Jerkface Homework-Giver!"
Iris glared at me. "Shut up Bails! What am I gonna do now?"
I laughed, and grabbed a cookie to go. "Thanks for the cookies Bella! See you later Ris, I'll be in the lair if my Dad calls me! Remember, we have KIT lessons in the Lair tonight!"
Maybe I should explain. My family and Iris' family share a house. We pay the mortgage and rent stuff together. The basement has been converted to a place Iris and I like to call 'The Lair' that is basically our own personal hangout. Beanbag chairs, junk food, you name it.
Dragging my homework behind me, I opened the door to the basement. The stupid bag weighs a ton! Then, I realized that to get to the Lair, you have to go down stairs.
Down stairs? With this thing? No way!
I grimaced, contemplating what to do. Finally, I decided to suck it up and lug the heavy thing.
No stairs get the best of Bailey Summers!
What happened next was over in an instant. I tumbled down the stairs, head over heels, and landed with a humongous crash on the bottom, clutching my head.
...or not.
I groaned, the weight of my books restricting my air flow. I heard the faint sounds of my brother and Iris running down.
Iris took one look at me, and burst out laughing. When she finally calmed down, she glanced at me again and cracked up.
I have such an amazing best friend.
My lungs were begging for air, and within seconds I passed out from lack of oxygen, but not before switching. Everything was hazy for a moment, and then I woke up in fiction form.
"Bails?"
From my mobile screen, I could see Jonathan frantically shaking my shoulders. Iris was still doubled over in a hysterical laughing fit, and Jonathan had moved to reprimanding her instead.
As KITs, or Keepers-in-Training, Iris and I can switch between human and character form, or human and word form. Our human form is always there, but it kind of goes into automatic shut down. If our fiction forms are trapped by special beams called filament lasers, then we can't switch, and then we will be dormant. Forever. We also have video game forms, and if we run out of lives... Well, let's just say, we can't run out of lives, or its bye bye Iris and Bailey.
When we switch, we have no control whatsoever of which device we are transmitted to. We will always be transmitted to a device within a fifty foot radius. If there is no device within a fifty foot radius, then we can't switch at all.
When our bodies go dormant, it's called SDM, or Shut Down Mode. If we get trapped by filament lasers while in SDM, then we could be stuck in what's called Permanent Fictional Syndrome, or PFS.
I've been in PFS before, and that's when Iris and I were forced to tell our parents. Iris' parents, Bella and Mark were worried, but overall cool with it. My parents, however... Not so much. I nearly lost electronic privileges.
According to the FWKA, or Fourth Wall Keepers Association, our "little stunt" nearly ruined the Keepers. The Grand Keeper nearly kicked us out of the Keepers League. But they couldn't, because we are the children of the best gamers and authors in the world, and they can't change that or our powers.
Iris is the daughter of video gaming record holder Mark Cosentino and world famous author Bella Cosentino. I'm the daughter of international video game legend Jake Summers and best-selling author Anne Summers. We both have KIT powers unlike no other, according to the Grand Keeper and Grand Keeperess.
When a Keeper is in fiction form, they can see the outside world, but it looks and sounds hazy, kind of like underwater. Speaking of water, if water gets on the Keeper server, then everyone loses their powers, and anyone in SDM goes into PFS.
Suddenly, I could see the books being lifted off my human body. My chest began rising and falling softly, indicating that I was breathing again, but I couldn't be sure. One can never put too much trust in one's powers, it would be a fatal mistake. But, I decided to take a chance and try to switch back. If I fail, then I don't know what happens. Neither Iris nor I had ever tried before.
Everything went hazy, and I popped back into human form, sitting up to see both my family and Iris' staring at me.
"Bails, what happened there?" My brother's voice was laced with concern.
Then, I realized that Jonathan and Kara, who seemed to have just arrived, knew nothing about the Keepers of the Fourth Wall.
Oh boy...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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~Sophie & Kaylee Cat
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Breaking the Fourth Wall
Adventure"Keepers of the Fourth Wall, unite!" Six words that shake two worlds. Meet the Keepers of the Fourth Wall. Their job is to keep the fourth wall in check using their powers. The Keepers are a secret group of powerful human beings with even more power...
