The first thing our heroes did when they reached the library was check Lord Adrian's book. Sure enough, the missing page fit perfectly. On the page was a drawing of a weird apparatus, with an arrow pointing to it. The caption underneath the arrow read "place crystal here." Underneath that there was a drawing of the crystal, a plus sign, a jar with a human figure inside of it, an equal sign, and the human breaking out of the jar.
"I think I get it," Multi said. "We place this crystal in this weird machine, and the stolen souls break out of something, and return to their rightful bodies."
"I think I know where the crystal is," Danalleah said. "We just need one more rune."
"What are these strange symbols drawn on the page?" Coiley asked.
"I don't know," Multi said. "Come on, let's go fix that owl and see if there's another hidden door or something."
The foursome walked over to the shelf where the headless owl stood. Multi took the head, and fastened it on the body. Nothing happened.
"Wait a minute," Danalleah said. "Look at his feathers."
"Some of those symbols are the same as in the book," Coiley said.
"Coiley, get over there and call out the symbols to us," Multi said. "We'll push them as you call them."
"Roger, Multi!" Coiley shouted, and he bounced over to the book. "Ready?"
"Ready!" Multi called.
"Okay, circle, square, circle with a dot in the middle, line, diamond, and starburst."
Multi pressed the indicated feathers as Coiley called them. Once he was finished, the owl's eyes began spinning, and a door in it's base opened.
"The final rune!" Danalleah shouted, and she grabbed it. As soon as she did, the shelf began opening.
"I knew there had to be a secret door in here," Multi said. "Come on, let's check this out!"
The foursome went through the door and found themselves in the main hallway of the castle.
"How about that, a shortcut," Coiley said.
"A shortcut's not the only thing we've found," Multi said. "Here's a combination lock. I bet it goes to the safe we found in the bedroom."
"First things first," Danalleah said. "We've found all four runes, so now it's time to get the crystal."
"I hope you know where it is," Coiley said.
"I do," Danalleah replied. "Where we crashed. There was this little cache there, but I couldn't open it. I'm pretty sure it's the hiding place Lord Adrian was talking about in that book of his."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Multi asked. "Let's go!"
The foursome then ran down the hall, rode the elevator to the ground floor, ran out of the castle, and back to the site where their balloon had crashed. Danalleah stood on her toes in order to reach the cache. Then she took the runes out of her purse, and placed them in the slots below the little door. Once they were in place, the little door opened, revealing the crystal. Coiley reached up and tried to remove it, but he couldn't.
"It's stuck!" he shouted. "How do we get it out?"
"A pickaxe would probably do it," Multi said. "But where are we gonna find one?"
"Looks like we've got to go back through the castle and search the rooms again," Coiley sighed.
There wasn't anything else the group could do, so they made their way back to the castle. After searching all the rooms they had been to before, they went upstairs to the roof. Multi and Coiley went into the bedroom while Danalleah went to the top of the stairs to see what was up there.
"Here's a pickaxe, Multi," Coiley said, as Multi moved the bed curtains out of the way for a minute.
"Fluey's still here, thank goodness," he said. "Come on, we'd better get that crystal and . . . . ."
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
That shrill scream was followed by a loud thud coming from up the stairs. Skittles went into guard dog mode immediately, she and the boys raced out of the room, thinking Danalleah might be in trouble. They found her laying in a heap at the top of the stairs.
"Hollerin' hi-fi's!" Multi shouted, as he pulled Danalleah into an upright position.
"Do you think Felicia caught her and stole her soul?" Coiley asked.
"No, no, I think she just fainted," Multi said. "Something must have scared her pretty badly. See, she's starting to come around now."
"Mmmmph . . . ." Danalleah moaned as she began regaining consciousness.
"Are you all right, Danalleah?" Coiley asked.
"The . . . . the lock . . . . on the door . . . ." Danalleah stammered. The boys looked at the door, and they could see why Danalleah was so freaked out.
"Sizzling stereos!" Multi shouted. "That lock looks like . . . . like a pair of clasped hands!"
"And it looks like a couple of fingers are missing," Coiley said, beginning to feel a little queasy.
"Ew, ew, ew, ew!" Danalleah cringed.
"Come on," Multi said. "Let's go get the crystal now, and worry about how to unlock this one later!"
The others agreed, and ran back to the balloon crash site. Multi took the pickaxe and picked the crystal out of the stone it was stuck in.
"All yours, Danalleah," he said.
"Oooohhhh . . . . ." Danalleah said, as she picked it up. "This is a powerful crystal for sure! I can feel it."
"How can you feel power?" Coiley asked.
"It's a witch thing," Danalleah said, shrugging. "Come on! Let's get back to the castle!"
The group ran back to the castle and up to the bedroom as fast as they could. While Coiley and Multi fiddled with the safe, after sticking the lock back on it, Danalleah went to check on Fluey. She took his hand, and stroked his hair. It was about all she could do. Then she walked over to the boys.
"Have you figured out the combination yet?" she asked.
"Yeah, I just got it," Coiley said, as the safe clicked. He opened it, and took a look inside. There was half a white mask, a doll, and what appeared to be a finger.
"Oh gross!" Danalleah shouted.
"Yeeeesh . . . ." Coiley said, making a face. "How much you want to bet this is the missing finger from that weird lock upstairs?"
"Ugh," Multi grimaced, as he picked up the finger. "Well . . . . . I don't think we have a choice."
"Eeeeuuuwwww!" Danalleah shouted. "Please, Multi, let me stay here with Fluey. I don't think I can handle this lock, I really don't! Ooooh, it's so disgusting!"
"Well, I don't think you should be alone," Multi said, and then he turned to his puppy. "Impossi-Pup, guard dog mode!"
Skittles saluted, and barked. She wasn't going to let anyone, or anything come near Fluey and Danalleah, that was for sure. Multi and Coiley then left them in the bedroom, and ran upstairs to that ultra creepy clasped hand lock.
"Yeccchhh," Coiley groaned, as Multi slid the finger into place. Once he did, all the fingers moved.
"Aaahhh!" both he and Coiley screamed. Nervously, Coiley poked the fingers, and they moved again.
"Oooohhhh boy . . . . ." Multi said. "This is how we get in. We have to figure out the right combination so we can get those hands to unclasp."
"I think I have to agree with Danalleah," Coiley said. "This is disgusting!"
Multi agreed, but there wasn't anything they could do, except poke at the fingers on the clasped hands until they found the correct combination. Once they found it, the door opened, and the boys ran inside. They saw a strange machine, as well as Felicia strapped down to a table, unconscious.
"I guess this is the soul transfer," Coiley said. "Thank goodness she's unconscious!"
"Yeah, we'd better throw this thing in reverse before she wakes up," Multi said. "Or else we're cooked!"
The boys then practically ran over to where they needed to put the crystal, but as (bad) luck would have it, the Spider Baby was sitting there, blocking the way.
"Uh oh," Coiley said. "If we don't get rid of that thing, we'll never save Fluey, or our sisters, or all the other girls' souls in time!"
"I'll get rid of it," Multi said, handing Coiley the crystal, and raising his shield.
"Take that!" he shouted, giving the Spider Baby one good and hard whack with it, which caused it to go flying across the room, right into the wall. The Spider Baby then broke into pieces due to the force of the impact.
"Come on, Coiley, we've got to hurry!" Multi shouted.
"Right!" Coiley nodded, and placed the crystal into the machine. Then the two Impossibles stood back, and waited.
In a flash of blinding blue light, the machine began to vibrate, and a large tube suddenly exploded. Several pieces of glowing blue mist filled the air, and flew out the windows. The machine was destroyed. Multi and Coiley then saw Felicia, and noticed she too began changing. Her hair was turning from black to gray, and her face became old and wrinkled.
"She's definitely showing her age now," Coiley said. "Two hundred plus, I'll bet. What should we do with her?"
"Leave her there for now," Multi said. "She's still unconscious and strapped down to this thing. I want to check down in the bedroom."
Coiley agreed, and the two Impossibles ran down the stairs. As they did, they saw the souls of thousands flutter off in various places. One fluttered directly into the castle bedroom, and the boys followed it. It flew directly into Fluey's mouth, and the minute it did, his eyes started opening. He yawned, sat up, and stretched.
"Man, what a nightmare!" he shouted, rubbing the side of his head. Suddenly, something slammed into his chest, knocking him back down on the bed. It was Skittles, and she immediately began barraging her dark-haired friend with puppy kisses.
"Okay, okay, Skittles!" Fluey shouted, laughing. "Take it easy, girl! I'm happy to see you, too! Come on, Skits, ease up, will ya?"
"Oh, Fluey, you're all right!" Danalleah shouted. Once Skittles was finished with him, Danalleah pulled him into her arms, and held him tightly, giving him the biggest kiss she could muster. Immediately, Fluey wrapped his arms around Danalleah, and held her close.
"Boy, Dani, are you ever a sight for sore eyes!" he shouted. "I was afraid I'd be stuck in that sleep forever!"
"You mean you knew what was going on?" Multi asked. "Even though you were in a coma, you knew what was happening?"
"Well, sorta," Fluey said, letting go of Danalleah. "I saw that Spider Baby of Felicia's snatch Phyllis's soul right out of her while she was asleep. I was just about to call you guys when she snuck up behind me, grabbed me, dragged me to this weird flying contraption, and tied me up. She didn't steal my soul until we got to this creepy castle. When we got here, she explained her plot as she was untying me, and I tried to make a run for it the minute I was able to, but she managed to catch me. Then she told me if I didn't cooperate, she'd steal my soul, and she tried to kiss me . . . . yeccchhh! It took a lot of self-control not to punch her lights out, but I wouldn't let her near me. I pushed her off, but before I could run, she bopped me upside the head, and everything went black after that."
"Well, at least we've foiled her plans," Multi said. "Come on. She's in the upstairs room, waiting for us to take her in."
"Let's go," Coiley said, and the quintet left the bedroom and climbed up the stairs to the laboratory. When they arrived, they found Felicia was gone.
"Holy ectoplasm!" Coiley shouted. "She must've woken up and escaped!"
"Darn it!" Multi shouted, snapping his fingers. "We should've put the cuffs on her, but we figured since she was unconscious . . . . ."
"No big deal, Multi," Fluey said. "You're only human, after all. Mistakes happen. Hey, listen, fellas, switch over so we can do the quick change thing the old way. Our little Puppet Queen nabbed me before I had a chance to grab my transformer. Maybe we can still catch her."
Coiley and Multi nodded, and took their transformers out. Then they pushed the buttons on them to switch back to their rock 'n roller forms. Then, in a swirl of psychedelic colors, all three Impossibles changed to their superhero identities.
"Think you can transport us back to town, Danalleah?" Coiley asked.
"I'll try," Danalleah said, and she waved her hands in the air, over herself, the boys, and Skittles. They faded out of the castle, and faded back in on the street in front of Mrs. Fettuccine's house, by what was left of the Impossi-Mobile.
"Holy Mesopotamia!" Fluey shouted, getting a look at the car. "What the heck happened to the car this time?"
"It's a long story," Coiley sighed. "But at least your spell worked, Danalleah."
"Yeah . . . ." Danalleah said, slowly, and a bit breathlessly. "But . . . . that took the . . . . . wind right out of me. I don't think . . . . I'll be able to . . . . help you guys . . . . . track down Felicia. I think . . . . I need . . . . a recharge."
Danalleah then fainted. Fluey caught her before she could hit the ground, and lifted her into his arms.
"Hey, man, I think I could get used to this!" he shouted.
"That's not funny, Fluey," Multi said. "Come on. Let's take her to Mrs. Fettuccine's."
The boys then walked up to Mrs. Fettuccine's house, and rang the bell. It opened a few minutes later, and Mrs. Fettuccine appeared, looking much more calm than she had when Coiley, Multi, and Danalleah first met her.
"Hi, Mrs. Fettuccine," Coiley said. "I hope your daughter's awake now, since we solved the mystery."
"Oh yes, she is," Mrs. Fettuccine said. "Oh, I can't thank you boys enough! I'm forever in your debt!"
"Just doing our job, ma'am," Multi said. "But we were wondering if you could do us a favor. We're not quite finished yet, and our friend, Danalleah, sort of exhausted herself getting back here to town, so we were wondering if you'd let her rest here while we finished up the case."
"Oh, certainly," Mrs. Fettuccine said. "I'll show you to the guest bedroom."
Mrs. Fettuccine led the boys down the hallway to the guest bedroom. Fluey put Danalleah down on the bed, and she started coming around.
"Oooh . . . ." she moaned. "Those big spells take a lot out of me."
"It's okay, Dani," Fluey said. "You stay here and recharge, and we'll go track down Felicia."
"And since we're going to be busy with that," Multi said, "you can call Big D and let him know what's going on. We're going to need a couple of agents to give us a lift back to Megatropolis."
"All right," Danalleah said, gripping Fluey's hand. "Good luck, guys."
"Thanks," Fluey said. Then he turned to Multi and Coiley. "Okay, fellas, let's hit it."
"Rally ho!" the Impossibles shouted in unison, and they were off to track down the Puppet Master's demented daughter.
