Free Underworlds #1: The Battle Begins by Tony Abbott

L OOKING BACK , I TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED the school floor to crack open and flames to spew out all over the place.
    There were signs the whole morning that things weren’t normal anymore. But it’s just not something you imagine happening.
    The floor opening up like that.
    Smoke suddenly everywhere.
    And Dana Runson suddenly nowhere.
    I tried to help her, I really did. But she was gone in a flash. Just gone . I couldn’t believe it.
    Not then.
    Not until the red wolf and the crazy lunch ladies and the huge guy with horns and the army of metal dudes —
    Hold on. I’m telling this backward.
    Let me start again.
    Before the world flipped upside down and I lost whatever cool I had, this morning started pretty much like any morning.
    With my dad’s voice.
    “Owen Brown, get down here!”
    I leaped out of bed, splashed water on my face, and threw on my clothes. Then I raced to the kitchen and flopped down at the table next to my little sister, Mags.
    “Sorry,” I said. “I couldn’t sleep. I was worrying about the concert.”
    I play guitar in the school orchestra. We were doing a big benefit concert at the local college that morning.
    “You’ll be great,” my mom said. “Eat.”
    As she slid a bowl of oatmeal in front of me, my dad reached into his wallet. “Take a couple dollars for your collections,” he said.
    Besides the benefit concert, there are at least four collections going on every day at school. Flood relief. Earthquake relief. Hunger relief. Senior citizen housing. They’re all part of our H.E.R.O. program. H.E.R.O. stands for Help Everyone By Reaching Out .
    Which I know spells H.E.B.R.O. But that’s not really a word, so we skip the B .
    “Me, too,” said Mags, pushing a handful of pennies across the table. “I’ve colored Mr. Lincoln’s hair with a blue marker. So everyone will know they’re from me.”
    I slid the coins into my pocket. “Nine cents is perfect, Mags. We’ll meet our goal for sure.”

    “Yay!” she said. “Plus, you know what else? Dana comes home with you today!”
    Dana Runson is my oldest friend. Her mother (my mom’s college roommate) and father are teachers at the local college. They called last night to ask if Dana could stay here while they went to Iceland to do some research. I know, right? Iceland? Brrrr!
    Since Dana lives across town, her parents are dropping her off at school this morning, and she’ll come home with me and live with us until they get back.
    Beep-beep!
    “There’s the bus,” my mom said. “Hustle!”
    “See you later! With Dana!” I said. I grabbed my guitar case and tore out of the house to the corner. The bus driver was just beginning to close the door when I leaped on board.
    Cool move, right?
    Wrong.
    The moment I plunked down next to a tall kid listening to his iPod, I realized I had gotten on the high school bus!
    Was that the first thing to go weird today?
    Luckily, the high school was just across the street from Pinewood Bluffs Elementary. If I ran, I could make it to homeroom before the bell. So I pulled out the dollar bills my dad had given me and carefully folded each of them into airplane shapes.
    “You making origami?” asked the boy next to me.
    “Just saving time,” I said. “There’s a collection in school. I have to donate on the run.”
    He glanced at my face. “Hey, you’re that Hebro kid. That’s cool. Here.” He fished a dollar out of his pocket.

    “Seriously?” I asked. “Thanks!”
    He shrugged. “NBD.”
    Which stands for No Big Deal. But it should really be VBD, for Very Big Deal. Since the big power plant in our town closed down, lots of people lost their jobs. People in Pinewood Bluffs don’t have a lot to give.
    Errrch! When the bus finally stopped, I jumped off with the big kids. I ran around the high school parking lot, down one sidewalk and up another, straight toward the elementary school doors. I was totally on time!
    “Owen Brown — help!”
    And I stopped.
    Mr. Kenkins, the