I peered over the edge of the blimp as we travelled over the salty, blue seas. It felt so good to be up here again, the rush of adventure all around you. I grinned at Fierce Fox, who nodded back at me.
The blimp touched down on the island.
We landed on a rocky terrain; rocks were supporting buildings, as well as dirt, mud and trees. A lady handed Fierce Fox and myself a badge each.
"Howdy, and welcome to Caldera State Park!" she said. "Take these visitors badges so the bears know you're not supper, ha ha."
"Great…" I said. I didn't understand how a badge could drive bears away, but whatever. This was Poptropica for goodness' sake.
Poptropica… once again excitement raced through me.
"I'm back," I mumbled. "I'm… really back."
"Yeah," Fierce Fox glanced at me. "I noticed."
I blushed. I still made stupid mistakes, even as an older kid.
"Anyway," I cleared my throat. "Let's do this." I held out my hand. "Together."
"If only you were like this a long time ago…" Fierce Fox grumbled. She took my hand regardless.
"It will be better this time," I told her. "I promise."
We walked into the visitor center: an old building made of oak. Inside was merchandise, food, facts about the location, all the normal things you'd expect to see in a visitor center. There was even some pretty interesting info about super volcanoes. And perhaps, slightly terrifying.
We went a=up a few levels, checking out some things about a scientist and the American bison. We also saw some stuff about a geyser. There was a statue of an elk without antlers at the end too. Those antlers we needed to find.
"Where on Earth would antlers of all things be?" Fierce Fox asked.
I led Fierce Fox to a small building under construction. On its slanted, tile roof was a pair of antlers. I have no idea how and why they were up there, just accept it.
We gave the antlers back to the visitor center; in return, we were made Honorary Junior Rangers for the day. In other words, we could access places normal people couldn't.
"Okay," I said. "Now we're ready to go underground. Just one more thing."
We had to speak to these scientists so we could get a sick-looking belt, and so it would be easier to move underground.
"Trust me," I told Fierce Fox. "This is gonna get interesting."
"Two tourists are trapped inside!" a guy outside the caves explained to us. I eyed the thick rock and felt the heat of the geysers. I bit my lip.
"Are you still giving tours?" Fierce Fox asked, which was kind of odd.
"No visit to Caldera State Park is complete without a tour of the caves!" the guy replied. "Come on in!" He went inside. We followed him. Inside, the cave was dark (obviously) and the rocky walls were covered in grass.
"This cave was discovered by Dr. Vincent," the tour guy said. "There were rumors he'd gone mad, claiming he'd seen that there were strange creatures living within in a city deep beneath the park." He pointed at a tent in the upper right corner. "We call that area up there 'Vincent's Apartment'. It's where Vincent spent a lot of his time in between his trips down below."
"And then he disappeared…" I mumbled. He wasn't lying, of course. In Poptropica, weird things happen all the time.
Anyway, then we needed to save two elderly women who were stuck behind a rock. I know they were old, but still, they're Poptropicans. They should've been able to jump over the rock themselves. Oh well.
"Time to use this." I said, clipping the belt around my waist. Fierce Fox did the same with hers. Our belt dragged the conveniently cube-shaped rock into the conveniently cubed-shaped hole. The tourists walked over to us.
"Finally, we can leave this cold and dreary place!" the first one, Hazel, exclaimed.
"I say we go somewhere even more depressing: your house." Beatrice, the other, replied.
"Cram it, Beatrice!" Hazel snapped. The women left.
"Alright," I said. "Now they're gone, the fun starts here."
Fierce Fox followed me to the entrance. Nearby the roof were some rocks, which I used my belt to drag myself towards. It was kind of scary but fun at the same time? Fierce Fox gave me a thumbs up as she landed next to me on the platform. We ran right, passing Vincent's Apartment.
We arrived into a darker, deeper part of the caves. The ground was full of conveniently shaped rocks and holes. My friend and I worked together to pull the rocks into the holes so we could cross. We went down another level, coming into an area with more water. We covered up a flowing spring with another rock. Then we found some people exploring the caves, dangling on rocks. Using the power of the belts, we made our way up to the people.
"I wouldn't go much further if I were you," a woman warned us. "Bad things happen to people deep in those caves."
"I've seen worse." I shrugged, winking at Fierce Fox.
My accomplice and I passed those guys, and arrived at a cavern. It was big and spacious, full of ledges and rocks. In the bottom right was a machine of some kind. It looked similar to a rocket with a large battery attached to it.
"Hmm…" Fierce Fox touched the battery. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. I knew this would happen, but I was scared anyway. I grabbed onto Fierce Fox's arm as the ground split and cracked open and we fell down.
We woke up in a strange place full of purple rock and beautiful pink crystals that glimmered.
"What happened to the interferometer?" Fierce Fox asked, rubbing her head. "Maybe we can drill through there to get it back. We should see if this thing still works."
"It's missing parts." I replied.
"We'd better find 'em then." Fierce Fox grunted. I nodded. We jumped over a dark purple wall which was lined with glowing crystals and rocks. We reached a platform, which held a battery. I picked it up with a grin. We then bounced across some ginormous, glowing green mushrooms, like in that trash Galactic Hot Dogs Island. Our journey went deeper into the cave, passing pits of bubbling mud and more crystals. Down at the bottom, we found the engine. I grinned. It was going well.
So far.
I couldn't help but notice something out of the corner of my eye…
Deeper still into the cave, we found the drill. We returned to the big machine and patched it all up. And yet, deeper down we went.
We arrived in a location that reminded me of Poseidon's domain on Mythology Island, or the giant ship from Mission Atlantis. Maybe a mix of both. The designs on the smooth, grey rocks were beautiful, and shimmering, blue crystals stuck out of the walls. The light was shining down on a golden statue of something that looked like a tiger's head. As lovely as it was, I've seen enough Indiana Jones (and the ending of the island) to know as soon as we touched that thing, we'd die.
Which is exactly what happened to poor Fierce Fox…
Luckily, she was revived. Thank game logic.
Using the power of belts and general knowledge, we passed a series of traps and (almost) died. I slid a rock underneath a platform, saving Fierce Fox from getting crushed. She sighed at me, but seemed grateful.
We ran down a slope, reaching the end which was a pit of lava. We both used the power of belts to drag a rock into the lava, so we could jump across. A boulder came rushing down the slope.
Fierce Fox made a face. She grabbed onto my arm tightly, just in case I fell off (thanks Fierce). She leaped onto the rock, and then onto the other side. We slipped down a small crack, just as the boulder landed in the lava.
"Jeez," Fierce Fox breathed in. "These people aren't a fan of us, huh?"
"Yeah…" My eye twitched. "No surprises there."
After putting a rock on a button, we passed through another gate. Then we got to my least favourite part of the island, the sun puzzle. I was not a puzzle person. It took ages for us to solve the damn puzzle. [A/N: Not joking, it took me 40 mins…]
We entered a small room. As well as a lot of other riches, standing on a pedestal was the interferometer.
"There it is!" Fierce Fox said. She raced up to it, holding out her hand. As soon as she touched it, these strange creatures that looked like anthropomorphic moles appeared. Two knights, holding staffs approached us.
"Intruders!" they exclaimed. "You are not one of us! We must make your presence to King Mondo!" They forced us out of the room, their staffs digging into my back.
We were brought to a room with two shimmering thrones, belonging to the king and queen of the strange mole people. Forks and spoons were sticking out of their thrones.
"Intruders!" the queen Bondo growled. "You have one chance to make an offering and prove why we should not cast you to the Chthonians!"
"How about this?" I held out the souvenir badge we got at the start.
"Ooh!" Bondo exclaimed.
"We were just visiting the park when we ended up down here," Fierce Fox jumped in. "See?"
"Ah, you bring a treasure of the topsiders!" Bondo gasped. "You are friends!"
"As friends, please allow me to explain the plight of my people." Mondo jumped in. "For thousands of years we have lived peacefully under the Earth. Until our only enemies, the Chthonians, awoke from hibernation and declared war!"
"But why?" Fierce Fox asked.
"We do not know," Mondo answered. "We have fended off their attacks for nearly a century, and cannot withstand much more."
"The Chthonians' war strikes the very Earth!" Bondo exclaimed.
"That explains all these tremors," I said. "If you don't stop fighting, the super volcano could erupt!"
"We cannot stop. Not until we are free of the Chthonian menace." Bondo said assertively. The ground beneath us suddenly rumbled, as if protesting.
"They're coming!" Mondo shouted. The guards began to panic, and I grit my teeth. Fierce Fox made a face.
"We're worm food!" one guard shouted in panic.
"We will have independence!" Mondo exclaimed. "We won't let our freedom be taken away-" He was interrupted as a terrifying worm-like creature sprung out of the ground, spaghetti coming out of its mouth. It almost looked like a Weedle from Pokemon and the Flying Spaghetti monster had a baby. It grabbed Mondo and took him away.
Fierce Fox gasped in horror. I bit my lip.
"Run! Go!" Bondo ordered us. We glanced at each other and nodded. We raced across the rocky floor, away from those creatures. Fierce Fox was keeping a grip on my arm as we jumped from platform to platform. I almost fell off a few times; I would've if Fierce Fox wasn't there. She was just as strong as she was back on Poptropica. But this time, I wasn't going to sit around and pity myself. I leapt after her, gritting my teeth.
I was a stronger person now. A better person.
I yelped as a Chthonian nearly consumed my whole body. Luckily I just avoided it. Fierce Fox gave me a look, and we kept going.
"You've gotten better," she told me.
"You've always been better." I retorted, but still appreciated the compliment.
We eventually managed to escape the Chthonians and returned to Bondo.
"We led the Chthonians away and circled back," Fierce Fox said. "What now?"
"Now I must gather my people and gird for the next attack." Bondo answered.
"What about King Mondo?" I asked.
"I… cannot spare a single one of my people to mount a rescue attempt." Bondo replied solemnly.
"We can't leave him behind!" Fierce Fox retorted. "Alice and I will rescue him!"
"You must travel to the Earth's core, where the Chthonians live," Bondo said grimly. "But be warned: facing our enemies will be no easy task." She opened a door behind her throne, revealing a passage to the core of Earth. You know, all the cool people have one of those.
"This can't be much different from the Underworld." I grunted. Fierce Fox made a face at me, then entered the passage. I followed her.
We ran across a bridge full of unstable blocks. The heat was making my palms sweat. I kept my head focused, following my friend. We made it to the bottom layer; a pool of lava with a platform heading across it. Fierce Fox and I jumped onto the platform, riding across. Once we reached the other side, we slid down some vine ropes. A Chthonian was hanging out at the bottom; we avoided it. We climbed through a few tunnels, coming across a few more of those horrible things. Seriously, they were screeching and everything.
After avoiding one more of those disgusting things, we went through another passage. I jumped onto a platform, Fierce Fox behind me. We made it across another lava lake. On the other side, we found a bunch of admittedly pretty eggs covered in silk. King Mondo was wrapped up like a fly in a web.
"Do you see those vessels?" Mondo asked. "They're Chthonian eggs!"
"Just like the one in your treasure trove." Fierce Fox said.
"We've been so foolish," Mondo shook his head. "They just want their babies back!"
"I think we know how to get the Chthonians to let you go," I said. "Wait here."
"Where else am I going to go?" Mondo deadpanned.
We went back the way we came. Fierce Fox stood next to the egg, which was nearby the thrones.
"We need to take this," Fierce Fox declared.
"We cannot part with such a precious stone." Bondo argued.
"This is no stone- it's a Chthonian egg!" Fierce Fox replied.
"I think if we return it, they'll leave us alone." I added.
"Of course!" Bondo gasped. "How could the mole people have been so blind? Take the egg!"
I didn't respond to that because… well. Fierce Fox and I headed back down the passage, all the way back to Mondo. We gave the chthonians back their egg, they released King Mondo. Hooray. Queen Bondo appeared, overjoyed to see her king.
"You're safe!" she exclaimed.
"Indeed I am. And thanks to our friends here, the war against the chthonians is over." Mondo replied.
Suddenly, the Earth rumbled.
"What is it? Another attack?" Fierce Fox asked.
"No," Mondo sounded terrified. "The supervolcano is erupting!"
"What do we do?" Fierce Fox asked. (Seems kind of obvious, doesn't it?)
"You both must hurry to the world above," Bondo answered. "We can stop the eruption, but only if we seal the Earth behind you!"
"Seal the Earth… won't you be trapped down here?" I asked.
"It is where we belong." Mondo replied.
"Go!" Bondo insisted.
Fierce Fox grabbed my arm, and we raced off. The boiling lava urshed us forwards; we raced through the core of the Earth again, grappling onto vines. Fierce Fox had a look of determination in her eyes, and so did I. We continued heading upwards, headed into the area full of blue rocks and traps. Lava was coming through cracks in the walls.
I almost burned my hand on some lava; my hand stung from the impact. I continued following my friend, forcing energy into my body. We raced up past the place with the beautiful crystals, lava dripping out of the walls. Fierce Fox was incredible at dodging as always, and I was starting to improve. I cheered myself on, feeling… empowered. Determined. I was stronger.
I was better.
Then I saw something in the darkness… following me…
I almost fell off a platform into the lava. Luckily Fierce Fox was there to grab my arm and hoist me up. She gave me a look.
"Sorry…" I mumbled. "I just… thought I saw something…"
We eventually reached the top, by bursting out of a geyser (which I can now add to the list of strange experiences I've had). Everyone congratulated us and gave us the medallion, but didn't believe in the existence of the mole people. Their loss, I guess.
I smirked at the mole arm that reached out and grabbed some souvenir badges.
…
I couldn't get my mind off that figure… what was that?
I sighed. I was never away from danger, no matter where I was.
