- Teenagers are disappearing and all of them have visited Combat 300, a new laser game centre. When Luke and Clyde go along to the centre they are doing well at their game when they too disappear. Sarah Jane and Maria investigate but are confronted by Kudlak, the centre's manager.—don @ minifie-1
- At a laser tag arcade called Combat 3000, a teenaged boy fights his way through the arena to a long corridor. Upon entering the room at the end, the door slides shut behind him and he is teleported away. In a security booth, a female alien voice demands more children. The alien man at the station promises it will be done.
Three days later in town, Luke is attempting to tell a joke to Maria. Despite his extensive research on the subject, he is still struggling with the execution of genuine humor. While they walk, they are accosted by a man outside Combat 300 who offers them discount vouchers to play the game. Inside the office of the arcade, the man, Mr. Grantham, assures the alien man that their attendance will be up with the fliers passed out. The alien, Kudlak, does not care for Gratham's platitudes, and simply demands more children be brought. At the Metcalf house, Sarah Jane talks to Mrs. Metcalf about her missing son, Lance, in the hopes that her newspaper story will raise awareness of his disappearance. He was supposed to meet his friend Brandon, but never showed up, and Mrs. Metcalf is worried sick.
In the Attic, Clyde is attempting to teach Luke proper use of slang terms. Sarah Jane asks the kids about Lance, but they tell her that he did not socialize much at school, referring to him as The Corporal (i.e. Lance Corporal). Sarah Jane angerly tells them that his father was killed in action in the military, and the joke about his name was in poor taste. Clyde tells her Luke came up with the nickname, and Luke admits that it was supposed to be funny. Upset at thinking he might have unintentionally caused Lance to run away, Luke leaves. Clyde goes after him, and Sarah Jane asks Maria how he is adjusting, and about Lance's friend, Brandon. They go to speak with him at diner arcade. He tells them that Lance did not make it to their meet up, and was followed by a freak, instantaneous storm. Asking Mr. Smith for a cross reference, they discover that twenty-four children have gone missing under identical conditions. To test her theory, Sarah Jane and Maria build a machine that fires energy particles into the air, which makes the clouds release bean-sized shells. Mr. Smith identifies them as a byproduct of teleportation.
Clyde catches up with Luke and talks to him about the situation. He encourages his friend to not feel responsible for an honest mistake, and offers to explain any subject Luke wants. Luke asks Clyde about the purpose of games, specifically the flier of the war-oriented Combat 3000. Rather than explain verbally, Clyde takes Luke to play and discover for himself. At the laser arena, Kudlak confronts Grantham about the disappointing returns for their efforts, and threatens him that his mistress will not be pleased, and demands stronger children. Before the next game starts, Clyde explains the rules for Luke. As the game begins, Grantham and Kudlak observe from the monitors. At the attic, Mr. Smith triangulates the source of the mysterious storms to Combat 3000, and they decide to investigate. After a few moments of floundering, Luke picks up on the game and quickly climbs the scoreboard, him and Clyde ending up first and second respectively. This gets the attention of Kudlak and Grantham. After the match, Grantham invites the boys to participate in the more exclusive Level 2 round. Menawhile, Sarah Jane and Maria arrive, and are told by the attendant at the front desk that the entire block has been going downhill since the reclusive Mr. Kudlak and the sleazy Mr. Grantham took over. Slipping past her to the offices, they look around for evidence linking them to the missing kids.
Luke and Clyde enter the arena for Level 2 against a host of school athletes, and are told to make it to the final chamber first to win and be sent to a laser tag world championship. The boys work as a team, and together they fight their way through the arena, which greatly impresses Kudlak. However, the camera feed is interrupted by an alarm tripped by Sarah Jane and Maria, and Kudlak sends Grantham to investigate. Grantham bursts in on the trespassers, and upon hearing their suspicions, threatens them with an alien gun. In the security booth, Kudlak reports on Clyde and Luke's progress, and the voice of the Mistress tells Kudlak to send them to her. Kudlak opens the door to the corridor, and the boys make their way through as the opening closes behind them. Sarah Jane uses the sonic lipstick to short out Grantham's earpiece and stun him as they run away. They find the security booth, and are just in time to watch as Luke and Clyde make it to the final chamber and be trapped inside, before they are teleported away. Having snuck up behind the women, Kudlak tells the horrified Sarah Jane to be proud of them.
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