It was Saturday at the McClary house. Nick was in his bedroom with his best friend Darryl, his crush Sonny, and Sonny's cousin Frankie. Nick wasn't particularly happy that Frankie had to join him and his friends, but Frankie was very protective of Sonny and he didn't want her and Nick being together. Sonny was aware of this, and since Nick was her friend, she had to make sure that Frankie didn't bully him.

"Now Frankie, you promised to be nice to Nick, remember?" Sonny asked Frankie.

"I remember." Frankie said unhappily. Meanwhile, Nick was feeling impatient. Today, Super Maria Sisters IV had come out for the Stupor Nontendo video game system, and Nick hoped to be one of the first to get it. For months, he had saved up his allowance to buy it, and he had given it to Mel, his father, and asked Mel to go to the Videocade video game store.

"Oh, where is Dad with my video game?" he asked.

"Calm down, Nick, I'm sure he'll be here any minute." Darryl assured Nick. As if on cue, Mel knocked on the door.

"Nick, are you in there?" Mel asked Nick.

"Yes, Dad." Nick told Mel. He opened the door, and to his relief, he found Mel with a copy of Super Maria Sisters IV in his hand.

"Here, Nick, here's your video game, Super Maria Sisters IV. Sorry it took so long, there was a huge line at the Videocade. A lot of people wanted this game. I was lucky to have gotten one. It must be the last one." Mel told Nick, who was overjoyed to have the game.

"Thanks, Dad. I've been wanting this for a long time now." Nick told Mel.

"You're welcome, Nick. I hope you and your friends enjoy the game. I have to get back to work now." Mel told Nick.

"Don't worry, Dad. We will." Nick assured Mel. Nick opened up the game box, took the cartridge out, and placed it into his Stupor Nontendo. He switched the power on, and he, Darryl, Sonny, and Frankie saw the title screen. Things looked promising thus far. Unfortunately, as soon as Nick pressed the Start button, things went downhill from there. The graphics looked flat and outdated, worse than how the original Super Maria Sisters trilogy looked on the regular Nontendo video game console.

"Heh, those graphics look like something your baby sister drew!" Frankie told Nick, who was trying not to let the disappointment get to him.

"Be patient, Francis. I'm sure the gameplay will be great!" Nick told Frankie, which made him angry.

"Nobody calls me Francis!" Frankie told Nick as he held up his fist. Sonny was quick to notice this.

"Frankie, you promised!" Sonny told Frankie, who was fuming and trying his best to calm down. Nick was holding the first controller and Darryl was holding the second. Nick was playing as Maria and Darryl was playing as Luisa. Unfortunately for them, the gameplay of Super Maria Sisters IV was very slow and choppy, as if Nick and Darryl were playing an early beta of the game. Because Nick was much better at playing video games than Darryl was, Luisa lost a life to a turtle on the first level. However, it wasn't long before Maria lost a life trying to jump over a gap. Nick usually had no problem with his player character jumping over gaps in other video games, but Super Maria Sisters IV was so choppy and slow that Maria lost a life.

"I can't believe it! I lost a life, on level one!" Nick exclaimed.

"What are you, four?" Frankie teased. Nick was determined to get through the game no matter what Frankie said. It wasn't long before Luisa lost all her lives and Darryl got a Game Over. Nick tried jumping the gap again and again, but the game was so choppy and slow that he couldn't. Soon, Maria lost all her lives and Nick got a Game Over. He could hardly believe it.

"I lost." he said unhappily.

"Heh, and on the first level, no less! Face it, Nick, you stink at video games!" Frankie told Nick.

"No, I don't! It's the game's fault! The original Super Maria Sisters trilogy on the regular Nontendo was better than this game! I spent $49.99 on this game! Six months of allowance down the drain! It wasn't supposed to be this way! I tell you, things would be very different if I made my own video game!" Nick complained, but then suddenly, he got an idea.

"Wait a minute, that's it!" He exclaimed, and he ran right to his closet.

"Oh, no! I don't like where this is going!" Darryl exclaimed as Nick rummaged through his closet.

"What do you mean?" Sonny asked Darryl.

"You might want to close your eyes." Darryl told Sonny. At that point, Nick found his magic glove. He ran up to his television set with the glove in his left hand.

"Everyone, I need absolute silence. I have to concentrate." Nick told Darryl, Sonny, and Frankie. Darryl and Sonny both had their eyes closed, but Frankie watched in anticipation. He didn't know about the power of Nick's magic glove and thought Nick was about to do something that would make him look stupid (or to him, more stupid than usual).

"I wish I had the ultimate video game! I wish I had the ultimate video game! I wish I had the ultimate video game!" Nick chanted as he pounded his right hand into his glove. The wish started to take effect, as all his game consoles turned themselves on; his original Nontendo, his Stupor Nontendo, and even his Zega Nemesis. Suddenly, Nick, Darryl, Sonny, and Frankie all got sucked into Nick's television. They all screamed as they fell through a portal that led them to a video game world, specifically a grassland. When Nick landed on the ground, he was dressed in a red long-sleeved shirt, blue gloves, blue overalls, brown shoes, and a red cap with the letter N on it. He was also armed with a hammer. Darryl, who was dressed in a green long-sleeved shirt, yellow gloves, indigo overalls, gray shoes, and a green cap with the letter D on it landed next to him. Darryl was also armed with a monkey wrench.

"Nick, where are we?" Darryl asked Nick.

"Darryl, we're in Video World!" Nick told Darryl.

"You mean, we're inside a video game?" Darryl asked Nick.

"Of course. Look, I'm dressed like Maria from the Super Maria Sisters, and you're dressed like Luisa!" Nick told Darryl.

"Yeah, except we're both boys. It's like we're a gender-flipped version of the Super Maria Sisters!" Darryl exclaimed. Suddenly, Sonny landed next to the boys. She was dressed in a pink princess dress and a gold crown with sapphires and rubies.

"And Sonny, you look like Prince Papaya, except you're a princess." Nick told Sonny. At that moment, Frankie landed next to Sonny. Frankie was more or less his normal self, as he had his sleeveless black shirt, green camo pants, and black boots. He was not happy to see Nick and Sonny admiring each other, and he snatched Sonny away from Nick.

"Hands off of my cousin, McClary!" Frankie yelled. He turned to Sonny.

"Don't worry, Sonny, I'm gonna take you somewhere far away, somewhere that McClary kid will never find you in a million years!" Frankie told Sonny, and he spotted a gigantic castle in the distance.

"That castle will do nicely!" he said, and he ran towards it with Sonny in tow.

"Help!" Sonny exclaimed.

"We can't just sit here, Darryl! Come on, we gotta rescue Sonny from Francis before my wish wears off!" Nick told Darryl, who gulped nervously. The two boys had a long journey ahead of them.

Will Nick and Darryl rescue Sonny from Frankie, or will Nick's wish wear off before they can get past Level One? Find out in the next chapter!