Louisa wasn't coming to school anymore.
She was fine and well one day, the next day she simply wasn't there.
Maybe she's sick, I thought to myself, but I couldn't help a bad feeling in my gut.
Chrissi didn't seem to be at school either. Usually I'd be relieved about that, but… something seemed off.
If only I could put my finger on what…
Immediately I felt a chill as Fierce Fox and myself landed on S.O.S. Island.
We were standing on a slick iceberg; ahead of us was a large, grey cruise ship called the S.S Pequod. It was a nice ship, apart from the fact it was sinking and people were trapped inside.
"Help!" a lady cried, running up to us. "The ship is sinking and people are trapped inside!"
Wow, that's what I said, I thought.
Now, normally, if I came across a situation like this, I'd call 911 then run for safety. But this is Poptropica. Of course we had to risk our lives and go into the sinking ship.
"This big chunk of ice is blocking the entrance." Fierce Fox said, gesturing to a chunk of ice, covering the ship's door.
I pointed to a large ball made of ice, sitting on the ship's roof.
"Push that ball down, and it'll crush the ice." I instructed.
Fierce Fox nodded, and did just that. The ball indeed crushed the ice chunk, giving us a clear entrance.
We headed inside the ship. There were fluorescent lights on the dark stairs, water sloshing at my feet. Fierce Fox and I entered through a door that said 'Bridge'. Inside there, we passed various things, such as a mermaid statue and a boat model.
Fierce Fox and I headed up a ladder, and came to a space full of fizzing wires. There was a computer there, alongside a bunch of wires and buttons. The captain - Captain Boomer (yes, that's really his name) - was standing there, trying to send out a signal.
"Any survivors on board, please press your emergency call button!" he said.
Fierce Fox and I approached him.
"You need to get off this ship!" Fierce Fox told him.
"Don't you know the captain always goes down with the ship?" Captain Boomer shrieked. "Most of my passengers escaped, but some are still on board. Go and rescue them! I have turned on the emergency door controls." He pulled a dial. "There we go. They should be open."
"Thanks," I turned to Fierce Fox. "Let's go and rescue those passengers."
"So, what's the deal with this place?" Fierce Fox asked, as we walked past the various rooms in the ship.
"Alright, basically, Captain Boomer - that's the guy we just spoke to - was chasing his 'mortal enemy'- the white whale, which by the way is an actual white whale, and not a weirdo villain with a weird alias," I told her. "Um. Anyway, while he was doing that, he smashed the ship into an iceberg, and it started sinking. However, he says that the whale sunk the ship by slamming into it, which it really didn't. He only said that because the whale 'bested' him."
"Oh, okay," Fierce Fox replied. "And our job is to rescue everyone, right?"
"Precisely," I confirmed.
We stopped in front of Room 6, which was the only room we could enter. We headed inside, and heard a cry.
"Help me whale!" a boy named Ishmael cried. "Help!"
He wore an 'I heart whales' hat. He was trapped in a bunch of boxes, making him immobilized. Fierce Fox and I shoved the boxes off him.
He beamed. "Thanks for saving me! My leg was stuck under all that junk."
"What are you doing?" Fierce Fox asked him.
"I'm calling that friendly white whale to come save us." he told us.
"And you're right to do that," I said, with a smile. "But the whale won't come until later, Ishmael."
"How… how do you know my name?" Ishmael asked, his baggy eyes widening.
"Um… I just know things," I replied. "Anyway, we're getting out of here."
"Wait!" Ishmael cried. "I need to get my whale caller first!"
He walked over to the back of the room, where there was a whale caller. He picked it up, and faced us.
"And… hey, how do you know the whale's coming?" he asked. "I'm not saying that's a bad thing - it's the best thing ever - but, like... how do you know? Are you psychic?" He gasped. "Can you speak to whales?!"
"Like I said, I know things." I explained.
Then Ishmael's eyes lit up. "Wait… you're that hero or something, right?"
"Yeah, that's me," I replied grimly. "The hero, blah blah."
"Wow, so you've come to save us, and use your awesome… uh, hero powers to summon the white whale!" Ishmael cried. "Don't you have powers or something? I mean, rumors are going around that you bet some… what was it, a villain that wanted to take over Poptropica. But still, awesome!"
Fierce Fox and I gazed at each other, sweating.
Ishmael continued talking to us as we arrived outside the ship to the other survivors. They were situated on the ice, surrounded by medics and warm drinks.
"And I've heard you've bet tons of villains!" Ishmael squealed. "Like, the Chupacabra! Or was it El Grande Mustachio? Anyway, there was this evil robot that was trying to take over humanity, and you bet him, too!"
"Um… yeah." I said.
I had never felt so awkward...
"I had friends helping me out, like Fierce Fox," I told Ishmael. "She's awesome."
"But she's not the prophesied hero." Ishmael said, which made Fierce Fox express a sour glare.
"But she's still a hero," I sighed. "And as heroes, we need to save more people."
"Cool," Ishmael nodded. "Just tell me when the whale comes, Miss hero lady!"
"Of course," I sighed.
Unfortunately, the ship had taken on water, which was so wonderful for Fierce Fox and me. We re-entered the ship, and headed to the Ballroom, which was probably once a beautiful room, judging by the glittering chandeliers and glass windows.
But it wasn't so fancy anymore, thanks to the water everywhere. There was a lady named Starbuck (yes, like the chain cafe) stuck on a chandelier.
"Help!" she cried. "I can't swim!"
"This way," I ordered Fierce Fox.
We jumped down some wooden stairs, and slipped into some cool, blue water. I found a bottle of alcohol, and shook it so the pressure built up inside. I aimed it at the window (I was starting to get better at aiming again, I think), and let the cork fly off. It smashed the window; the glass broke and water rushed in.
Starbuck leaped onto a floating raft, and with my instruction, Fierce Fox pushed her to the wall. I launched another cork with my bottle; more water filled the room.
Fierce Fox helped Starbuck out of the ship, me following behind. Starbuck complained about not winning her tour director's gold award or something, but thanked us anyway. We rushed off before she could start talking for ten hours.
To our absolute delight, the ship had turned on an angle, and was now nose-diving into the sea. Just fantastic.
We returned to the ship, except this time, we had to climb up the mainframe. Fierce Fox held onto my arm, sighing as I almost flailed backwards a few times.
We eventually managed to enter the ship. We had to do a little more jumping (great), and reached an open vent. It led into the ballroom, which was turned on its side, and, of course, under water.
Jellyfish were bobbing around, electricity sparking around them. Bubbles swirled around my body as I swam upwards, passing a fallen whale statue. Fierce Fox was way ahead, and was already next to the chandelier.
We did some more climbing, blah blah, and reached this wall of pipes. Y'know the drill when you see puzzles in Poptropica - solve 'em!
We came to the next room after that, which was also full of pipes. Except they were much larger, and filled the entire room, instead of just being on the wall. They created platforms, which meant more jumping and climbing. Lucky me.
"You look exhausted," Fierce Fox grimaced at me.
I groaned. "Don't even tell me about it."
Eventually, we arrived at a wall of steam; a lady called Stubb was behind it. She was trying to fix the ship, although that was quite impossible. But she lived up to her name - she was stubborn (bad pun, I know), which made it harder for us to save her.
Stubb explained to us that she was going to turn a valve, which was going to unleash pressure in a pipe. We needed to get to the other wheel before the pressure built. The wheels were situated in the room; Stubb had the green one.
I told Fierce Fox how to handle the green valve, while I explored the room and found the blue valve. I turned the wheel, and saw water in the pipe. Immediately, adrenaline and fear took over.
I had to get to that valve. So I raced over pipes, water, and various walls, searching for the blue valve. I found it shortly, though I felt mentally exhausted afterwards. I told Fierce Fox to do the same thing with the yellow valve.
Soon, we were finished with the valves, and returned to Stubb.
"Thank you so much!" Stubb exclaimed. "The steam's gone now, so I can fix the ship."
"Oh, uh, the Captain told me to come down here and tell you to leave." Fierce Fox sweat beaded.
"Well, if Captain Boomer says so…" Stubb shrugged. "Let's get out of here!"
We returned to the healing camp and Fierce Fox confessed to Stubb her lie. Stubb wasn't too happy, but then realized we saved her life. So in thanks, she gave us her wrench.
Meanwhile, surprise surprise, the ship sunk deeper into the sea, conveniently after we spoke to the next rescued passenger.
We got back to the ship by swimming through icy water. Then we jumped onto - you know what? I'm just going to fast-forward the jumping scenes to the point where we met our next passenger.
Anyway, Fierce Fox and I swam through the ballroom again, which was not looking any better than before.
We arrived in the freezer room. And in the freezer room was our next passenger - the Cook, aka Flask. There was just one minor issue… he was trapped in an ice cube.
Fierce Fox and I had to push him out of the freezer area, and take him to this area where there was a furnace. That ship had everything.
I raced ahead, while Fierce Fox shoved the Chefsicle across the platforms. I used various objects such as boxes to create a clear path for Fierce Fox and Flask, straight to the furnace.
"Mmphh!" Flask cried, his voice muffled.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine!" I hated how shaky my voice sounded.
"How much further?" Fierce Fox replied. "My arms are getting tired."
"You'll be alright," I assured her. "Just a little more."
I heard Fierce Fox sigh, but she continued with her duty anyway. Soon, Flask was next to the furnace, and the ice flowed off him like a river. He sighed with relief.
"Thank you!" he cried. "Now, let's get out of here!"
For a fourth time, we returned to the iceberg, and the sink sunk deeper into the water (or basically did a one-eighty and its bottom was facing upwards). This meant Captain Boomer was in danger.
We headed back to the ship, staring at its flat, navy-blue underside. At least we didn't have to do anymore climbing; we simply had to enter through a hole.
Inside, there was a maze of pipes, bubbles and machinery, all underwater. Fierce Fox and I swam gracefully - just kidding - frantically through the sea of discarded ship parts, me occasionally (correction: frequently) banging into stuff.
Fierce Fox was ahead of me, though she had no idea where she was going. Since we couldn't speak underwater, I gestured to her with my hands to stay behind me. She reluctantly swam behind me, angrily wagging her hands.
We approached some deadly-looking fish ahead; slender bodies and sharp teeth. We swam through a tunnel of pipes (I got my leg tangled a few times, which did not give me good vibes), before we reached a clearer area.
A fish aimed straight for me, and chomped me in the side. Poptropican physics did their work; I felt sharp pain, but unlike Earth pain, it vanished as quickly as it came. Typically, Fierce Fox avoided the snapping fish, while I crashed into more pipes.
Sometimes I wondered why I was chosen to be the prophesied hero.
After we got bit a gazillion times (well, mainly me), we made it to our favourite place- the ballroom. Our old friends the jellyfish were there, and they were more painful than ever. I almost drowned a few times, and Fierce Fox had to carry me over her shoulders.
The next area (via the place where the emergency rooms were) was a winding, dark tunnel, full of octopi wearing metal hats, which conveniently had painful things on them like knives and forks. Don't ask.
Fierce Fox and I had to swim through that torture. And trust me, 'torture' really doesn't do the experience justice. I do not recommend getting your butt stabbed with forks.
The last area, naturally, wasn't any better than the others. This time, there were giant crabs, who absolutely loved to snap at poor Alice Kate Manchester, but weren't able to catch the nimble Fierce Fox.
We managed to get past those, and drop through a little section, which led us to Captain Boomer. He was trapped, broken pieces of the ship surrounding him.
"There's no one left on board," Fierce Fox cried. "Come on!"
"I'm afraid we're too deep now," Captain Boomer replied sorrowfully. "We'd never make it to the surface."
"I wouldn't say that," I said, somehow able to hold my breath without actually breathing. "You see, your 'mortal enemy' is going to rescue us, with this."
I held out the Whale Song Gadget, and immediately thought of Ishmael.
Whoops, forgot to tell him. Oh well. Maybe he'll be watching.
Captain Boomer started, "Maybe… but it wasn't his fault the ship sunk-"
"You sunk it," I finished. "When you were chasing after the white whale, you hit an iceberg."
"How'd you know that?" Captain Boomer asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Let's just get out of here," I said, pulling out the wrench. The device let out some sonar waves. We all waited in a tense silence, the cool water surrounding us.
Then, suddenly, the white whale burst through the side, and opened his huge mouth. We all landed inside his mouth, and for a moment, there was darkness. Then, I felt myself being launched out, and my butt hit solid ice. The whale disappeared beneath the waves, and I shook my head in awe.
"Wow, that was awesome!" Ishmael cried. "The whale did come after all!"
"Yeah," I mumbled, staring at my hand. "It really did."
Captain Boomed slumped down, looking off into the distance. I sighed.
This is what you get for being conceited...