The Pillars of Ponderay by Lindsay Cummings

spare.”
    Birdie went first, and a few minutes later, all of Hydra was decked out in their new gear.
    The clothes stuck to Albert’s skin like glue. It was weird, but he felt like he was about to be some kind of space hero or underwater traveler. He was sweating in minutes, and he hoped the temperature inside the Pit would be better suited for this kind of gear.
    Tussy nodded in approval and motioned for Albert and his friends to enter the Pit. As usual, there were two orange platforms, one on either side of the Pit. This meant Hydra would already be competing. No warm-up, no practice, just full-on head-to-head from the start.
    Albert looked across the Pit. Hoyt’s team was piling onto their platform, wearing similar outfits in shades of orange.
    â€œYou know, I think I’d almost rather be back in that cooking class right now,” Leroy said.
    Albert sighed, but he felt the familiar weight of his Master Tile around his neck. He had to be a leader.
    â€œWe beat them last term,” Albert said, facing his friends, “and we’ll do it again now.”
    Birdie and Leroy nodded, then all three of them walked back to Tussy.
    â€œThis training will be quick and dangerous,” Tussy said, filling them in on what she’d apparently alreadyshared with Argon. “We’ve calculated that we have seven days—just one week—before the situation in Ponderay becomes so dire that we’ll have to send in another team. At the end of those seven days, whoever has the highest score on the leaderboard will become the Ponderay First Unit, and along with Professor Asante, will enter the Realm to try and find the Means to Restore Balance.”
    â€œWait,” Leroy said. “Professor Flynn said we’d be competing to be a backup unit to the Ponderay First Unit. Now we’re competing to become the Ponderay First Unit? What happened to the old First Unit since this morning?”
    Tussy sighed. “They quit.”
    â€œThey quit ?” Albert, Birdie, and Leroy said in unison.
    Tussy nodded. “Like I said, this is a terrible Imbalance we’re facing, and we don’t totally know what we’re dealing with since no one’s entered Ponderay in decades. Not everyone is brave enough to stick around and put their lives on the line. Anyway, now we’re replacing them, and seeing as you three did so well last term, you’re first on our list of prospects.”
    Tussy crossed to the bleachers and stood at the ready while Albert and his friends piled onto their platform.
    â€œThis is just great,” Leroy said. “The First Unit actually chickened out!”
    â€œDidn’t we see them last term?” Birdie asked. “Wasn’t their leader, like, totally fearless?”
    â€œApparently not.” Albert shrugged.
    Tussy clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “All right, Balance Keepers, enough standing around. Let’s begin!” She blew a whistle, and their platforms began to sink.
    The last time they’d been in the Pit it was full of all sorts of Calderon things: tall twisting spires, hanging vines, and suspended barrels that spun like King Fireflies.
    But today, as their platform reached the floor, Albert had no idea what he and his friends were in for. Right now, the Pit was empty. Just a big, deep hole in the ground. Albert hopped off of their platform, and Birdie and Leroy followed suit.
    The ground was the same, at least. That strange, trampoline-like floor that acted like it wanted to suck Albert’s feet under.
    Overhead, Tussy blew her whistle, and suddenly the ground started to tremble.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Leroy asked.
    â€œWho knows.” Birdie shrugged.
    Albert was too busy watching to say anything at all.
    Across from him and his friends, ten holes appeared in the floor, at least three feet wide each. There was a big boom that almost made Hydra topple over.
    Faster than a bullet from a