Welcome to Everest—Hope You Brought a Jacket!

The day before, the classroom had been quiet—just the hum of the projector and the scratch of pencils as Leo, Jack, Aisha, and Emily took notes. Mr. Carter, their teacher, was explaining mountain formation—just another normal day in their after-school

Geography Club

, where four students stayed behind to learn more about the world.

Then, the screen flickered. A green alien appeared, serious and official, asking the Geography Club for help. His name was Zogtron, and he had lost something—a mischievous alien child named Zaz, who could teleport anywhere on Earth. To help them track down the runaway alien, Zogtron gave the students something mind-blowing—a glowing teleportation device.

Was it a dream? A prank? It didn’t feel real. But when a breaking news report showed a strange green figure

sliding down Mount Everest

, the choice became obvious. Before Mr. Carter could stop them, the children

jumped through the portal.

Now, here they were, stepping through the portal for the first time—straight onto the frozen slopes of

Mount Everest

.

BAM!

Leo’s face

met snow

.

Jack tumbled forward,

yelling something that got cut off by the wind.

Emily landed

lightly

, brushing snow from her jacket. Aisha arrived last,

arms wrapped around herself, shivering instantly.

Leo

pushed himself up

, his entire body

shaking

. "I c-can't feel my f-face."

Jack

blinked at the icy wasteland around them.

"Huh. So Everest is… cold."

Aisha

WHIRLED on them.

“OF COURSE IT’S COLD, YOU LEMONS! We’re on top of the world, at 8,000 meters! The air is THIN, the wind is FREEZING, and we are COMPLETELY UNPREPARED!”

Jack raised a frozen finger. “Technically, we’re not at the summit, so not 8,000 meters—”

Aisha

shoved him.

Emily, meanwhile, calmly pulled out her

sketchbook

, despite her fingers turning red. “It’s beautiful.”

And it

was

. The sky above them was

crystal-clear blue

, stretching into infinity. Around them,

massive white peaks

rose like jagged teeth. The snow beneath them

sparkled in the sunlight

, and in the distance, a group of climbers

moved slowly up the icy slopes.

Leo squinted. “I can’t… breathe?”

Aisha sighed, shivering. “The air here has way less oxygen. That’s why real climbers spend

weeks

getting used to it before they go any higher. If we stay too long, we’ll get altitude sickness.”

Jack

wobbled slightly.

“Define ‘too long.’”

Leo

plopped down.

“I don’t think my body was built for this.”

Just as

Aisha opened her mouth to say "I told you so"

—

A shimmering portal

opened right next to them.

A black

box tumbled out

, landing with a soft

plop

in the snow. The portal

snapped shut

before they could react.

Jack

poked the box.

It

clicked open.

Inside:

Thick thermal jackets, gloves, and boots

.

Oxygen masks and tanks

.

High-tech alien climbing gear that looked suspiciously like superhero gadgets.

Leo’s teeth

chattered

. “I don’t know if we should be terrified or impressed.”

Emily picked up one of the gloves and wiggled her fingers inside. “Zogtron is watching us.”

Aisha pulled on a jacket, still annoyed. “Good. He should be.

Otherwise, we'd be popsicles in two minutes.

”

Jack grabbed the

alien climbing gloves

. “Oooh, what do these do?”

He pressed a

button on the palm

—

ZAP!

A tiny blue

energy field

flickered around his fingers. He

punched a snowbank

—his fist didn’t even sink into the snow.

Jack grinned. “

Best. Day. Ever.

”

Aisha facepalmed.

Emily pulled her new jacket tighter. "Alright. Now that we're not freezing to death...

let’s go find Zaz.

"