Cyborg

Virtual Kombat (VK) is over. Thanks to Scott and his friends’ heroics, the deadly game’s grip on society has finally ended, and people have regained a new sense of purpose outside the violent video game. For a time, all seems well for Scott, who has strengthened his relationship with his friends and devoted himself to real-life martial arts training. However, a past danger quickly finds its footing in the form of Vince Power, the original creator of VK, who has sworn revenge on Scott and his crew. 

Everything changes when Vince releases Virtual Kombat 3—a new and improved VK that brings the fighting to real life. The main catch is that Scott and his friends are the new targets for thousands of players controlling deadly robots called borgs. With a hefty reward for their capture, Scott and his friends fear for their lives as they run, hide, and fight against Vince’s new tyranny. Will they overcome this new challenge and stop Vince? Or will they succumb to real-life VK? 

Cyborg is the riveting final installment in the Virtual Kombat Series, wrapping up Scott’s adventure with a battle of life and death. The story continues the series’ intense focus on VK and its effect on a dystopian world, and the plot remains packed with action-oriented sequences and adrenaline-pumping fights. Scott returns as the book’s main protagonist, and his admirable leadership and courage remain as influential and inspiring as in the last two volumes. However, he continues to suffer from a stale and clichéd characterization, making his character appear lifeless and unchanging toward many of his situations. 

Like its predecessor, Cyborg tells its story with high-leverage, fast-paced narration. Most of the plot resembles a Hollywood blockbuster, where the characters repeatedly engage in exciting fights, chase scenes, and tense situations. This narration also resumes the series’ distinctive violence, frequently describing crushing blows, large explosions, and teeth-clenching injuries in detail. For example, Scott and his friends’ battle in the streets incorporates high-speed action and graphic fights: “Side by side, I fight with Pac-Man against the borgs. I use my tae kwon do skills and my exo-suit’s strength to rip out vital wiring from one borg, damage the circuits of another, and throw a third borg into a nearby building. Pac-Man smashes and pounds everything in his path until a borg with a laser sword slices off his left arm. He’s about to lose his head too, when a cleaner droid darts out of nowhere and collides with his attacker head-on.” 

Alongside the action scenes, Cyborg presents a lesson about the power of teamwork and the importance of training. The majority of Scott’s issues involve fighting an army of dangerous robots—a challenge that can’t be accomplished by Scott alone. Fighting side by side with his friends teaches him the importance of having each other during difficult circumstances, especially when facing physical and mental challenges. In addition, Scott’s training with his martial arts teacher, Sifu, shows its benefits when he flawlessly executes a “spinning hook-kick” on a borg thanks “to [his] extra training.” These two developments teach readers that teamwork and hard work can overcome even the most difficult hardships. 

Overall, Cyborg is the thrilling final conclusion of the Virtual Kombat Series that pits Scott against his toughest challenge yet. Its brisk narration will keep readers hooked from the first page, and its characters demonstrate important lessons through their teamwork and training. Unfortunately, Cyborg continues the series’ lack of exposition and cliché situations, making the final book feel unoriginal and stale in some sections. To make matters worse, the book’s swift telling becomes repetitive and boring, especially when the majority of the book’s action scenes revolve around the same enemies in the same places with the same outcomes. Yet, despite its shortcomings, Cyborg has its place in the literary world, being a perfect story for an action-loving generation of reluctant readers. 

Sexual Content 

• None

Violence 

• Scott and his friend, Java, fight each other and practice their moves in a martial arts hall. The fight ends when Scott attempts to execute his “spinning hook-kick” but mistimes it, causing him to hit his head on the floor and black out. He awakens shortly afterward. “My opponent’s fist comes shooting at me like a bullet. I duck to the left. She aims a roundhouse-kick at my head.  I lean back and her foot misses me by a fraction. Her eyes narrow as she fires more punches at me. I block a back-fist…counter her attack with an elbow-strike…duck under a hook-punch…then go for a body blow. But she moves too fast for me to land a hit.” The fight scene is described over two pages. 
• Scott fights his nemesis, Stick, and his gang in one of the street alleys of the city. The fight ends when Stick’s blazer, an electrified knife, is stopped by Java’s EMP gun, causing the boys to flee the area. “Stick’s gang grab me. But now I can see, I’m able to fight back. I drive one boy into the ground with a shoulder-throw. I elbow another in the face. A third gang member tries to punch me, but I block his fist and knife-hand him in the throat. He stumbles away, choking.” The fight scene is described over five pages. 
• A borg, a large robot equipped with laser beams and blazers, chases Scott through the city. Scott escapes the borg by running into the sewers. “I dive behind an Auto-Taxi. The borg’s laser pulse blows the roof off. Before a second shot blasts the taxi to pieces, I make a run for it, zigzagging between the traffic. Cutting across the next road, I duck into a dark alley and find a dumpster. I hide in its shadow, hoping to lose the borg.” This chase scene is described over three pages. 
• Scott is attacked by a borg and nearly dies, but Java’s EMP gun saves his life again. “I try to run, but it smashes me in the chest, and I collapse to the ground. My ribs bruised, I can hardly breathe. I lie helpless, unable to move as the borg raises both fists to crush me with a hammer-blow.” This fight scene is described over two pages.  
• Two borgs attack Scott and his friends in the street, but they collide with other city robots, allowing the kids to successfully escape. “At a crossroads we turn the corner but come face to face with two more borgs. One of them picks up an empty Auto-Taxi and hurls it at us. We dive aside as the taxi smashes into the pavement. The other borg blasts several rounds with its pulse-rifle, and the taxi explodes in a ball of flames.” The chase scene is described over four pages. 
• Vince Power, the cyborg antagonist of the book, ties his twin brother, Pentium, to a chair and then crushes his skull with two metal fists. Pentium dies. “He places his metal fists on either side of Pentium’s head, whose eyes bulge wildly in terror. Then Vince slams his hands together. There’s a sickening crunch that reminds me of the coffee cup exploding, and I have to put my hand over my mouth to stop myself vomiting.” 
• After Vince kills Pentium, two borgs attack Scott, but Scott escapes by getting into Pentium’s exo-suit, a superpowered metal suit comparable to Iron Man, and jumping out of the building. “The two borgs are back on their feet in fighting stances, as if they were playing in VK. I raise my fists to defend myself. But being new to the suit, my movements are jerky. I have power but not full control yet. The first borg fires off a side-kick and I try to block it. But I’m too slow, and the powerful kick knocks me off my feet. I stumble backward and crash into the office window. The glass shatters, and I tumble out. The building flashes past as I plummet to the ground far below…” The fight scene is described over four pages.  
• When Scott and his friends attempt to hotwire some borgs and take control of them, four enemy borgs attack them in the street. Scott and his friends destroy two of them and then hotwire the other two. “Java cries for help as the fourth and final borg grabs her. Without an exo-suit, she’ll be crushed like an ant. I run over and knock the borg to the ground. Pac-Man leaps on top as I try to pry open its steel claws. But the robot is incredibly strong. Java starts screaming. I strain with all my might. My exo-suit boosts my strength, and I’m able to free Java from the borg’s deadly grip.” The fight scene is described over four pages.  
• A swarm of wasps, yellow and black machines with rotors, attacks Scott and his friends’ secret hideout in the subway. While most of Scott’s friends escape successfully, Cookie, one of his friends, is stung multiple times, left behind, and assumed dead by the others. “The Wasp hovers over her shuddering body. I bat it away with my steel arm, but more and more drones pour into the platform. Cookie is stung again and again. I’m protected by my suit, yet the swarm still drives me back.” This chase scene is described over two pages. 
• A borg attacks Scott inside a martial arts hall, and Scott completely destroys it using his exo-suit. “On cue, a gunmetal borg strides into the hall. I charge at it, all my anger and rage coming out in a barrage of punches and kicks. My exo-suit inflicts so much damage that I’m like a wrecking ball. The borg stands no chance and is torn to pieces. I stand over the remains of it, trembling.” 
• Scott and his friends, Stick and his gang, and two borgs fight each other inside a martial arts hall. During the fight, Java uses a blazer to burn out a tracking device inside Scott’s arm and then forces Stick to swallow it. The fight ends when Stick flees the hall, causing the borgs to follow him. Stick is presumed dead a few pages later. “Before I can protest, Java stabs the blazer’s laser tip into my flesh. I scream as she cuts out the tracker and then seals the wound with the flat side of the blade.” This fight scene is described over four pages.  
• Scott and his friends use hotwired borgs to fight other enemy borgs in the street. They defend their truck that fuels the hotwired borgs, but the battle comes to a halt when Vince Power appears in the street. “Side by side, I fight with Pac-Man against the borgs. I use my tae kwon do skills and my exo-suit’s strength to rip out vital wiring from one borg, damage the circuits of another, and throw a third borg into a nearby building. Pac-Man smashes and pounds everything in his path until a borg with a laser sword slices off his left arm. He’s about to lose his head too, when a cleaner droid darts out of nowhere and collides with his attacker head-on.” The fight scene is described over four pages.  
• Scott and his friends fight one final battle against Vince Power and his army of borgs. With the help of the city-bots, they defeat Vince Power by dumping his cyborg body into a scrap-crusher. Vince Power dies. “I pick up a discarded laser sword to end it once and for all. But before I can, a city-bot dock-loader grabs Vince and dumps him in a waiting scrap-crusher. Vince’s broken figure is powerless to stop the crusher’s jaws from closing on him. He lets out a distorted scream as his cyborg body is turned to scrap metal.” The fight scene is described over ten pages. 

Drugs and Alcohol 

• None 

Language 

• Pac-Man, one of Scott’s friends, exclaims, “What the hell is it anyway?” when he sees a borg for the first time. 
• When Java thinks that Cookie has led a borg to their hideout, she shouts, “What the hell, Cookie?”  
• A girl named Vixen shouts, “What the hell’s gone on here?” to Scott after she sees the carnage of broken robots in the street. 

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content 

• Sifu, Scott’s martial arts teacher, prays at a Buddhist shrine in honor of the late Cookie. “He lights a candle upon a small Buddhist shrine and begins to pray in her memory.”