Coiley, Multi, Danalleah, and Skittles stood there for awhile, trying to figure out how on earth they could continue.
"We can't turn around and try to find another way in," Multi said. "There is no other way in!"
"No way I can lift the bars myself," Coiley said. "The spikes are dug in too deep."
Skittles whimpered, and pawed at the ground. The tiled floor was too thick for her to dig through. As she was pawing, she suddenly realized some of the hexagons were loose.
"What the . . . . ." Multi started, as he noticed this as well. He picked one up and looked at it. "Call me crazy, but I think I have it."
"What?" Coiley asked.
"This is a long shot," Multi said. "But check under these loose tiles for something . . . . anything! Felicia might have overlooked something here."
The foursome got to work picking up the loose tiles, trying to figure out how exactly this would lift the gate.
"Look!" Danalleah shouted, lifting one of the tiles. "A hidden button in the floor!"
"Push it, Danalleah," Multi said. Danalleah nodded, and pushed the hidden button. Once she did, the gate raised.
"Hey, it worked," Coiley said. "Come on! We've got to find Felicia and stop her!"
The foursome then ran down the stairway in the floor, and found themselves behind yet another locked iron door.
"Oh brother," Multi groaned. "Why do I have a feeling the key to this door is in that fish tank?"
"That means we have to go all the way back to the other tower and get it," Coiley groaned.
"We might have to go back there anyway," Danalleah said, walking over to a window. "I found the missing crane button."
"Do we still have the crowbar?" Multi asked.
"Yeah, why?" Danalleah asked, opening her purse. She had cast a spell on the crowbar to shrink it so it would fit in her purse. When she took it out, she magically enlarged it before handing it to Multi.
"Anything that's boarded up is just asking to be investigated," Multi said, as he pried the boards from another window. Then he grimaced.
"Eeesh!" he groaned. "I think I've just found the dungeon!"
"I wonder how long those guys have been down there?" Coiley asked, looking at the skeletons that were chained to the walls.
"Well . . . . ." Multi sighed. "You up to some digging, Skittles?"
Skittles barked. Skeletons or not, she had work to do, and she was the only one who could fit through that little window. She crawled into it, and began sniffing around for anything useful. She finally came up with some sort of tool. It looked somewhat like a screwdriver, but it had a sharper point on it.
"What is it?" Danalleah asked.
"I . . . . think it's an ice pick," Coiley said.
"No, it's an awl," Multi said, as the group started walking back up the stairs. "My dad has one like it. He's a real tool buff. This will definitely pop that balloon that's tied to that key in that fish tank."
"But there's still a problem," Coiley said. "How do we sink that fish and raise that balloon?"
"Maybe we'll find out how once we get that bridge off the conveyer belt," Danalleah said. "And speaking of bridges, Multi."
"Right," Multi said, handing Danalleah the awl for the time being. Then he duplicated himself forward to bridge the gab between the towers. Once they were across, they made their way back to the factory, and into the control room. Coiley put the button in it's spot, and began pushing them.
"We need to get the hook to catch the bridge," he said. "Then we'll just pull the lever to lift it."
Coiley pushed the buttons to maneuver the hook in position to catch the bridge. Once he got it, he pulled the lever, and the bridge was lifted from the belt. Once the bridge was lifted, the belt started running, and a strange mental object came out.
"We'd better check that out," Multi said, and the group ran down to the belt to see what in the world this thing was.
"Looks like a metal glove . . . . . or something!" Danalleah shouted.
"Wait a minute, I've got an idea!" Coiley shouted. "See these nuts? We can use them to sink that weird fish in the fish tank, pop the balloon with the awl, and get the key to the door in the other tower! All we need is a wrench!"
"Here's one," Multi said, snatching a nearby wrench laying on the floor. Coiley took it from him, and began unscrewing the nuts. While he did that, Multi picked up a bicycle chain laying nearby.
"I'm going to go attach this to the cycling puppet out there," he said. "I can't bridge that gap every time we need to go back and forth between towers. It'll wear me out."
"Good idea, Multi," Danalleah said, as Coiley handed her the last of the nuts.
"Hey, look," Coiley said. "Another door."
"Locked, and there's no keyhole, either," Multi said, trying to open it. Then he noticed some sort of hole on the door. "Looks like something's missing here."
"And whatever's missing might unlock the door," Danalleah said.
"We'll investigate it later," Multi said. "To the tank!"
"Okay, gang, let's go fishin'!" Coiley shouted, and our heroes went back down the hall to that weird fish tank and that even weirder mechanical fish.
"Ugh, that thing freaks me out!" Danalleah shouted, backing away from the tank.
"So how do we do this?" Multi asked.
"Here's an opening," Coiley said. "I think we put the nuts in here."
"Then what?" Danalleah asked, handing the nuts to Coiley.
"Well . . . . maybe push the big red button," Coiley suggested.
"It's worth a try," Multi said. "Lock and load, Coiley."
"Roger, Multi!" Coiley shouted, and he loaded the nuts into the opening in the tank. The minute he did, the light bulb attached to the mechanical fish lit up, a bell was heard, and the fish swam toward an opening, and opened and closed it's mouth as if it were feeding.
"Oh, I get it!" Multi shouted. "Push the button when you see the bulb light up, Coiley!"
"Right!" Coiley shouted. The bulb lit and the bell chimed, and Coiley pushed the button. One of the nuts fell through the opening, and the fish grabbed it. Coiley had to "feed" it a couple more times before the balloon reached another opening. Multi took the awl, and stuck it into the other opening, popping the balloon, and releasing the key.
"Got it!" Multi shouted, grabbing the key. "Let's move!"
The group ran back out to the balcony, and Multi attached the bicycle chain to the puppet there. It began pedaling, and a bridge of sorts appeared between the two towers. The foursome ran across, went down the steps, and Multi unlocked the door.
"Now where are we?" Multi asked, looking around the room, which was filled with iron objects, and a huge stove of sorts, as well as another puppet.
"Looks like a weapon room," Danalleah said. "An armory . . . . I think that's what it's called."
"Looks more like the ol' village smithy to me," Coiley said, and he bounced over to the puppet. "A wind up doll. It probably melts metal into this bucket, and then it drains into this mold."
"Hmmm," Multi said, picking up a wooden disc. "The Puppet Master's logo. I bet this goes to that locked door back in the factory."
"We'll go back and check it out once we're finished in here," Coiley said. "I think we should stick together on this. If we split up in this creepy place, we'll just be asking for trouble."
The others agreed and they began searching around the room.
"Hey, look at this," Danalleah said. "I found a mask."
"Wonder where it goes?" Coiley asked.
"Beats me," Multi said. "Let's get back to the factory. I'm dying to see what's on the other side of that door."
"Oh, Multi, did you have to say dying?" Danalleah groaned.
"Sorry," Multi said, a bit sheepishly. And once again, the foursome made their way back to the factory. Multi's hunch was right, though. That wooden disc with the Puppet Master's logo on it fit the hole in the door perfectly, and it unlocked. The foursome looked inside and saw several heads.
"Eeek!" Danalleah shrieked.
"It's okay, Danalleah, they're just doll heads," Coiley said.
"I feel like I'm in an episode of The Twilight Zone," Danalleah said. "Or one of those late night horror shows Fluey's always watching."
"Either that, or a Stephen King novel," Coiley commented, looking at a bucket in the room. "I wonder what that weird bucket is for?"
"Well, whatever it's for, it's not gonna move," Multi said. "The rail's cracked. We need to find some bolts to fix it first."
"Come on," Danalleah said. "Let's keep moving."
"How?" Coiley asked. "The blacksmith shop or whatever it is, is a dead end."
"There's got to be a door hidden there somewhere," Multi said. "We've just got to find it."
And with that, the foursome walked back to the other tower and the smithy puppet's room. Skittles then suddenly barked, and went into her pointer bit on the floor.
"Look at this," Multi said. "Theater masks, and it looks like one's missing."
"Not anymore," Danalleah said, pulling the mask she found earlier out of her purse. She placed it in the empty spot, and, as soon as she did, the eyes of the masks began glowing, and they opened up a panel in the floor, revealing a set of stairs going downward.
"As Alice in Wonderland once said," Coiley said. "Curiouser, and curiouser."
"And creepier and creepier," Danalleah cringed.
"No time like the present, gang," Multi said.
The foursome went down the staircase and found some kind of hallway, lined with candles. There was a little room at the end of the hallway, but it was blocked off by a spider web, and the original Spider Baby.
"Ew!" Danalleah cried.
"I'm with you on that one, Danalleah," Coiley said. "What do we do?"
"That thing definitely is not going to let us pass," Multi said. "Give me the matches, Danalleah. I'll get rid of that creepy puppet and the cobweb at the same time."
"I don't think setting fire to the cobweb will destroy the Spider Baby, Multi," Coiley said.
"Trust me," Multi said, as he lit a match and tossed it onto the cobweb. As soon as he did, the cobweb shriveled up, and the Spider Baby took off running.
"Look," Danalleah said, walking toward the little room. "It's a puppet and a typewriter."
"And one of those tubes the spider babies were giving that puppet on the unicycle," Multi said.
"This puppet looks awfully familiar," Coiley said, as he touched the puppet. The minute he did, she began typing something on her typewriter, but it was out of paper.
"We'd better find some blank paper so we can read her message," Coiley said.
"There's another staircase over there," Multi said, pointing to the other side of the hallway. "Let's see where it leads."
The group went down the stairs, and found themselves in what looked like an old library. There were books all over the place. The group then began searching various parts of the room to see what they could find of use there.
"Eeesh!" Coiley shouted, as he got a look at a doll on the desk. There was a pencil stuck in it's eye, and pencil shavings in it's mouth.
"A doll's eye as a pencil sharpener," Multi commented. "Felicia, you are one sick lady."
"Hey, fellas!" Danalleah called out. "I've found what we're looking for! And that's not all I found!"
"Look at this bird," Coiley said. "It's missing his head!"
"Well, let's get this paper up to the puppet with the typewriter," Multi said. "We've got to find out what's going on here!"
The group ran back up the stairs, and Danalleah loaded the paper into the typewriter. Once it was set, the puppet began typing. Coiley took the paper out, and gasped.
"Holy horrific!" he shouted.
"What is it, Coiley?" Multi asked.
"Listen to this," Coiley said, and he began to read the puppet's letter. "Hello. This is Madam Zuzu writing. Felicia has found the book of the deceased and extremely evil Lord Adrian. You must stop her and return the children's souls to their bodies! You must find the book, first. You will find the answers there."
"That tube behind the puppet!" Danalleah shouted, suddenly. "It must have Madam Zuzu's soul in it!"
"We'd better find that book!" Multi shouted. "Come on!"
The foursome went back down into the library, and began scouring shelf after shelf, looking for "the book." But they had no idea what they were searching for.
"I wish that Madam Zuzu puppet was more specific!" Multi shouted. "What book does she mean?"
Suddenly, Skittles began barking, and she jumped on top of the desk with the doll pencil sharpener. Then she opened a drawer with her paws, picked up a book in her mouth, and put it on the desk.
"I think this is it, gang," Coiley said, as he opened the book. Multi and Danalleah gathered around to read it.
I've spent many years studying the human soul and how to use it for black magic. A soul can easily be stolen from any human, especially one that is asleep. A stolen soul may be stored in a glass jar until needed. However, if the soul is not returned to its body within three days, the soul will die. It is best to use children's souls first, as they are innocent, and their souls have more energy, though souls of adolescents, young adults, and others will work as well. Put them in my soul divider, and the light and dark will separate. When the light parts have melded together, perennial youth and beauty will be yours. You, my successor, shall finish what I've started. A special "soul crystal" fuels the device. It is the only thing that can overpower my device, therefore, I have locked it in a cave behind a huge stone near my castle. It can only be opened with four runes, which are also hidden from my foes.
"This has to have been written by Lord Adrian," Multi said.
"Look, here's a stone rune," Danalleah said. "I found another one earlier."
"Once we find the other two, we can unlock the soul crystal," Coiley said.
"Yeah, but there's a problem," Multi said. "The last page of Lord Adrian's book is missing, and it's the page that shows how to stop that machine!"
"Oh no!" Danalleah shouted.
"Come on," Multi said, closing the book. "We've got to act fast and put a stop to this before it's too late!"