As luck and television science would have it, Eddie has prepared an electromagnetic device that will alter Cade’s gravity and allow him to pass through the portal. As the device warms up, he warns Cade that the portal back home might be in a completely different location, and gives him a magnetic frequency meter to find it with.

Cade runs through the portal, and emerges several feet above the ground in a ruined version of the amusement park. He lands on the ground hard, and breaks the magnetic frequency meter.

As he wanders around, he sees a young woman. She runs, but he catches up to her, taking away a small knife as he grabs her.

"Hands off or you bleed," a voice warns him. A horde of teenagers surrounds Cade, each of them carrying a makeshift weapon and wearing a blue cloth tied around one arm.

Cade introduces himself. The teens ask him if he is "the stranger" or a "Red."

After a moment’s thought, Cade tells them, "I’m friendly to the Blues."

Be all that you can be

The gang leader warns him not to try anything funny. His name is Peter, and he tells Cade that the Blues can use another brawler – they will give grub in return for service.

Elsewhere, the Reds plan their next attack. They haven’t won a match in five days, and they’re hungry.

Cade tells the Blues about Gary’s killing spree. Gary used to lead the Reds, but the Blues still admire the number of "post-mortems" he was able to rack up.

Gary was taken away by "the stranger." Dawn – the girl Cade first encountered – tells him that when she saw him, she was worried that he had come to take Peter away.

The kids have been in Playland for years. They are runaways, and don’t know who captured them and brought them to the amusement park.

The Reds begin their assault on the Blue camp. Peter snaps out orders to the Blues, and the two gangs are soon locked in combat.

Cade steps in and fires two shots into the air. The Reds scatter, and the Blues begin to celebrate.

They gather around a black obelisk and cavort. A chute opens on the obelisk, and food falls out.

The Blues gorge on it.

Food glorious food

The next morning, Cade inspects the feeder.

Peter tells him that it always feeds the gang after a fight. The Reds have one too, but it only serves gruel.

Cade has the situation figured out. He tells Peter that the gangs are being turned into walking time bombs, primed to explode into a killing frenzy when they are returned to the real world.

He asks for Peter’s help in finding a way back to normal reality, but Peter doesn’t want to leave. The savage world of Playland is better than the world of vicious parents and uncaring teachers he left behind.

Cade understands this – he came from the same background – but tells Peter "you have to save your fight for the real enemies."

"I will never work with the Red," Peter says. "Never."

Juliet on the balcony

Dawn stands up on the entrance platform of the roller coaster, bandaging the wounded hand of one of the sentries. She’s still worried that Cade is going to take Peter away.

"He can’t survive out there," she says. There are too many people that will want to hurt him.

Cade asks for her help in getting Peter and the rest of the Blues out of the park. "Right now it’s only sticks and stones," he says, "but sooner or later somebody’s going to die."

He tells her that the park is an experiment, and that the gangs are like lab rats. They have to escape, he says, and "a little teamwork would help."

She walks away, thinking.

The Reds eat their gruel, speculating on who Cade Foster might be. They hope he’s the stranger – if he takes Peter away, they’ll have a better chance of defeating the Blues.

Cade has been seen walking the midway with Peter. Ice, the Red leader, thinks it’s the perfect time to attack.

Henry – a geeky kid who has been supplying the doltish Red leader with his strategies – disagrees. They’re certain to lose any confrontation now that the Blues have a man with a gun on their side.

"Stop talking to me!" Ice shouts. "You’re driving me crazy!"

The Red leader suddenly thinks of a plan. He walks away with an evil grin.

Cade, Dawn and Peter are looking for a receiver. There’s a surveillance camera on top of the feeder, and it has to be transmitting to somewhere in the park.

As they walk, Cade tells the kids a little about the Gua. He doesn’t mention that they are alien invaders.

They find a likely shack on the midway, and Cade quickly picks the lock on the door. He enters, gun drawn, but there’s nothing inside but an old clown mask.

They check another building and find two bodies. Peter and Dawn identify them as two Blues who didn’t want to fight any more and vanished.

The Reds advance on the midway. As Cade works on the door of another shack, Peter hears them approach and goes to investigate.

Two ambushes, no waiting

He finds Henry holding a truce flag. As Peter approaches, a horde of Reds appears.

Peter has brought friends, though. The Blues charge the Reds, chasing them off and capturing Henry.

Peter hauls Henry back to Dawn and Cade. He wants to bleed the kid and get grub, but Cade tells him there’s something he’ll want to see first.

Inside the last stall is a Gua artifact.

"This is where they must have taken Gary," Peter says. As he finishes the sentence, the machine projects images of Gary on the wall.

Cade tells Peter to be careful. As he says Peter’s name, the machine projects pictures of Peter.

Happy fun bar

Cade tells Peter that the Gua are aliens. He’s figured out that the green bar at the top of the projection measures the violent tendencies of the subject.

Gary’s bar is full; he was released when he reached his full homicidal potential. Peter’s bar is three-quarters’ full.

Peter doesn’t really care. Cade may be after the Gua, but he’s after Reds, and he’s captured one.

As Peter gets ready to club Henry, Cade grabs him.

"Don’t you get it?" Cade asks. "That’s what they want you to do."

Cade has a plan to get out. Peter reluctantly agrees to trust him.

They let the Henry. He returns to the Red leader with Cade’s request for a meeting.

Ice has no interest in a meeting, and he likes Playland. Henry tells him he should go.

The Blues wait restlessly for the Reds. They haven’t stored any food, and they’re hungry.

"If we don’t spree," one of the gang members says, "we might lose some brawlers to the Reds."

Morning comes. The Reds have agreed to a meeting.

Dawn wonders if the outside world is really as beautiful as Cade said it was. Peter tells her that it is ugly, and always will be.

The Reds prepare for battle. Ice thinks the planned meeting is a trap. The Blues don’t trust the Reds, and are also coming armed.

The meeting begins peaceably enough. Cade tells the gangs how they’ve been manipulating.

Ice is bored. Peter tells him to let Cade "chirp."

Cade tells them about the portal, and that they must join forces in order to find it and escape.

"Never!" shouts Ice. When Dawn tells him to listen to Cade, he calls her a "footwarmer."

Peter draws his slingshot, telling the Red leader to "take it back or brawl." Both gangs get ready to fight.

Cade gets between the two leaders. Ice accuses him of tricking the gangs so he can get the feeder for himself.

Henry tries to talk sense into the Red leader, but Ice slaps him down. He invites the Blues to join his gang.

"We can find a way out," says Peter.

Ice tells the Blues, "You’re post-mortem if you listen to him."

Several Blues switch sides. The Red leader tells Peter to go back to his camp and prepare for a brawl.

 So much for diplomacy

Back at the camp, Peter is furious. He’s lost some of his best brawlers.

"We’re going to bash tonight," Peter tells Cade. "You want to stop me, you’ll have to use the gun."

Cade wants to go to the Reds and speak to them again. Peter orders him not to, but Dawn tells Peter to let him try.

Peter hits Cade. Cade refuses to hit back, and Peter hits him again.

Cade walks away. The feeder begins dispensing food, but as the gang starts to eat, a sentry whistles.

 Piggy's revenge

Henry has come to the Blues. He says that Ice beat him up, and that he wants to escape the Reds.

Peter won’t take him in. Dawn is shocked – he’s always taken in Reds that wanted to change sides before.

"Don’t make me go back," Henry blubbers. He throws himself against Cade, saying he wants to go home.

As Cade comforts him, Henry grabs Cade's gun. He points it at Cade and cackles, "Now I have the power."

"Stay back!" he yells as Peter takes a step toward him.

"This is my set," Peter says. "You won’t tell me what to do."

He advances on Henry. Henry gets ready to shoot Peter.

"Wait!" Dawn shouts. She puts herself in front of Peter just as Henry pulls the trigger.

Henry stares at her dead body for a moment, then points the gun back at Cade. "I’ll do it again," he warns the gang.

My dinner with Smith & Wesson

The Reds eat well that night. Henry tells Ice that he didn’t want to shoot Dawn, but that he felt good when he did.

Cade and Peter have fled, but Henry knows Cade will be back for his gun. He tells the gang that they must hunt Cade down tomorrow so that the feeder won’t be disappointed in them.

Ice disagrees. "I say we stay," he says.

Henry points the gun in his face. "I don’t care what you say," he tells Ice.

Cade wants to continue exploring the building with the Gua artifact. Peter just wants to get revenge on Henry for Dawn’s death.

The Reds begin the hunt.

Peter and Cade reach the stall. Peter goes inside, but Cade pauses, and the Reds surround him.

Cade quietly palms his penknife.

They lead him back to the feeder. Peter watches from the shadows.

The most embarrassing deathtrap ever

At the feeder, they tie Cade to the roller coaster track. Half the gang climbs into a roller coaster car and ride it toward him.

Peter goes to the Gua machine. He calls Dawn’s name and stares at her picture.

He asks Dawn to forgive him. He tries to smash the machine.

The roller coaster hurtles towards Cade. He saws at his bonds with his penknife, and leaps off the track just in time.

Henry shoots at Cade, but Peter tackles him and takes the gun away. He gets ready to blow Henry’s head off.

"This isn’t the way," Cade tells him. "Show some respect, put the gun down."

"Kill him!" Ice shouts. The rest of the gang takes up the chant.

Cade gets between Peter and Henry. He tells Peter, "You want to kill someone, kill me."

Peter orders him to move out of the way. Cade refuses.

Peter can’t shoot him. Cade takes the gun away.

It was cunningly hidden

Peter has found the way out. It was right next to the Gua artifact.

They take the kids to the shack and send them through one by one. Cade sends Peter through last.

He takes a last look at the artifact and dives through the portal.

 All’s well that ends in a riot

The kids emerge from the laser tag attraction. An excited Cade tells the Eddie that the kids may finally be able to provide some testimony about the aliens.

The kids are busy grabbing food from the concession stands, though. A horde of cops descends on them and subdues them.

As the cops beat the kids senseless, Cade muses that the aliens didn’t need Playland to turn kids into monsters. Humans do that just fine by themselves.