The Case of the Haunted House--Part Sixteen
by HA
While Bo and the others were freeing Bart, Shirley and her group were searching for the bomb in the basement. It if was not for Shirley's flashlight, the room would have remained pitch black. As she pointed it around the basement, she found a number of unopened crates and boxes.
"At least our dragon-faced friend should've turned on the lights down here," Marcus remarked just as they were about to start their search.
Shirley shined her flashlight on the light switch near the door. "Try it," she recommended.
Marcus followed the beam of light up the stairs and flipped the switch on. A single light bulb lit up, relieving the darkness of the basement a little. Shirley turned off her flashlight, then started looking around the basement.
"Okay, I'm hoping that they get some bulbs with better wattage for this place," Marcus said as the search began, opening a crate with his staff.
"Marcus, if we don't find that bomb, we won't have to worry about new light bulbs," Lucy said, looking near a wall.
"So, Shirley, how did you know the bomb would be here?" Blake asked as he opened some boxes.
Shirley looked into a box and found nothing. "Remember Hades in the riddle? He was the Greek god of the underworld. Well, a basement is the space beneath a house, so it all fits."
Lucy opened a crate with her scarf and found some old clothes. "That's some good deduction there, Shirley," she complimented as she sifted through the clothes.
"Also, Number Eight mentioned that when the bomb exploded, it'll make it look like a sinkhole suddenly opened up," Shirley explained further. "That meant the bomb had to be under the house somewhere."
"Let's hope the bomb is here and not deep underground," Blake said, sorting through an old toy chest.
The search lasted about three minutes. Marcus headed for a lone crate near the far wall. He was about to open it when he heard beeping from it. He stopped and turned to the others. "Guys, I think I found it," he said, pointing to the crate.
Everyone joined him near the crate. "It's an electronic timer," Shirley said, recognizing the beeping. "We need to open the crate without disturbing the bomb."
"Leave it to me," Lucy said, pulling off her scarf. She stretched it out and it stiffened. "Better toss some clothes on the sides and someone get ready to catch the front."
Shirley and Blake threw some old clothes near the side of the crate. Lucy eyed the crate and focused her mind, then swung her scarf like a sword as she moved around the crate. A few seconds after she stopped, the side panels of the crate fell on the old clothes and the front panel fell forward. Marcus caught it in time, then he gently laid it on the ground.
Lucy returned he scarf to normal, then all four looked at the contents of the crate. A large silver ball sat at the bottom of the crate. Its front displayed a digital display similar to the ones on alarm clocks. It read "5:25" and it kept counting down before their eyes.
Blake reached for the crate's lid and removed it. "Okay, we found the bomb. Anyone here know how to defuse it?"
Shirley saw a panel below the timer. Noticing the four screws on its corners, she reached into her backpack and took out the correct screwdriver. She took out her flashlight. "Someone shine this on the panel," Shirley requested as she bent down in front of the bomb.
Blake took the flashlight and shined it on the panel. Just as Shirley started to unscrew the panel, Bo, Bart, Susan, Hiroshi, and Katrina ran down the stairs and joined in.
"So, did you find the bomb?" Bo asked.
"Shirley's unscrewing the master panel right now," Lucy said, watching Shirley doing her task.
Hiroshi looked at Katrina. "Uh, can you...? he began to ask her, but all he got in response was her shaking her head gravely. "Okay, scratch that plan."
Shirley finally removed the final screw. "Got it!" she shouted as she removed the panel. Suddenly, a bright flash shot out from the bomb. Blake covered his eyes quickly. Surprised, Shirley was thrown back and started to rub her eyes.
"Shirley!" Bo bent down next to his friend. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"My eyes..." Shirley said, seeing many colored blobs floating in her sight. "I can't see..."
"Must've been a little defense mechanism to make defusing the bomb harder," Blake theorized, shaking off the effects of the flash.
"Guys..." Hiroshi pointed to the bomb timer. Everyone gasped as they saw that the timer now read "2:00."
"Damn!" Lucy shouted in frustration. "When Shirley removed the panel, it cut the time in half."
"Looks like ENIGMA's making sure no one's getting out of this alive," Marcus said.
Hiroshi looked at everyone nervously as the timer ticked down. "Um, is there a bomb expert in the house?"
Bo looked around him. "Well, is there?"
"He's outside right now, and we can't communicate with him," Lucy admitted. Hope started to die in the basement.
Bart stepped forward with determination all over his face. "I'll do it."
Bo stared at Bart. "What? Are you nuts? Remember the last time you tried to defuse a bomb?"
Bart knelt down before the bomb. "Look, it's my fault we're all here. I'll make sure we get out of this alive." He turned to Susan. "Susan, help me out with spotting the wires. Blake, keep shining that flashlight on the wires. Bo, get me Shirley's wire cutters."
Shocked by Bart's sudden take-charge attitude, Bo dug through Shirley's backpack and pulled out a pair of wire cutters. "I hope you know what you're doing," he told Bart as he handed them over.
"That makes two of us, Bartman," Hiroshi said with apprehension.
Bart took the wire cutters and looked over the area Blake illuminated with the flashlight. He mentally counted seven wires altogether. Susan joined him on his side. "Susan, can you tell me from left to right what the color of the wires are?"
Susan noted the wires quickly. "Um, red, white, blue, green, yellow, gray, and black."
"Thanks." Bart looked over the wires, wondering which one to cut.
Hiroshi was panicking. "Cut the red wire! Cut the red wire!"
"Bart, you'd better make a choice," Blake recommended, eyeing the timer. "You've only got about a minute left."
"What about the dragon man?" Bart heard someone say softly. Startled, he paused for a moment.
"Fifty seconds!" Hiroshi shouted.
"What about the dragon man?" the voice repeated in Bart's ear.
"I understand," Bart said to himself after some thought. "What did Number Eight look like?" he asked the others suddenly.
Hiroshi thought for a moment. "Short, fat, and ugly, especially with that mask," he said finally.
"What colors were on him?" Bart asked.
Everyone thought for a moment. "Um, definitely green," Bo said. "That mask of his was mostly green."
"Thanks." Bart quickly went for the green wire and snipped it. The timer kept ticking down.
"Well, that helped," Hiroshi said, worried. "Thirty seconds left."
"I guess Number Eight didn't want it to be too easy," Shirley said. "You'll have to cut another wire, Bart."
"Okay," Bart said, watching the timer. "Any other colors?"
"White," Lucy said. "His clothes and mask hair were white."
Bart cut the white wire. The timer still kept ticking down. "Any other colors?"
"I recall some red," Shirley said, rubbing her eyes to make the blobs in her vision go away. "Especially around his sleeves and cap."
Bart cut the red wire. The timer still ticked down. "I need more colors," he informed his friends.
"More?" Bo said, exasperated. "How many wires do we have to cut to stop this thing?"
"Try yellow," Blake told Bart calmly. "Those eyes on his mask were yellow."
"Twenty seconds left!" Hiroshi reported.
Bart proceeded to cut the yellow wire. The timer still ticked down. "Any other colors?" he asked everyone.
Everyone tried to remember Number Eight's image again. "Okay, we've done his mask, his clothes, his hair, and his eyes," Lucy recalled. "What else could there be?"
"We can try his fan," Marcus said.
"Um, what color was that?" Bo asked. "I forgot."
As everyone argued over what color should be next, Lucy glanced at Katrina, who responded by shaking her head. "Guys, we'd better come up with something quick," she warned the others.
Just as Hiroshi was about to report that the time was almost to ten seconds, Marcus slapped him on the back of his head. "You're not helping," he said as his friend rubbed the slapped area.
Bart stopped for a moment as he stared at the remaining three wires. Blake noticed how calm he was despite the little time left.
10...
"Bart, there's ten seconds left," Lucy warned.
9...
"Bart, we're running out of time!" Hiroshi exclaimed.
8...
"Susan, which wire is this?" Bart asked without a trace of panic in his voice, pointing to the gray wire.
7...
Susan looked at the gray wire.
6...
Bo looked at Shirley. "Shirley, I have to tell you something," he said nervously in a low voice.
5...
Susan reported to Bart. "It's the gray wire, Bart."
Shirley turned to Bo, her vision still recovering from the flash. "What is it?" she asked him.
4...
"What?" Hiroshi cried out, hearing Susan. "Cut the black one! Cut the black one!"
3...
Marcus slapped the back of Hiroshi's head again.
2...
"Thank you," Bart said, opening the wire cutters over the gray wire. Susan placed her hand on his.
1...
"Been nice knowing you guys," Hiroshi said, closing his eyes.
Bo took Shirley's hand and looked into her blue eyes. Bart closed his eyes, cut the wire, and hoped for the best.
END OF PART SIXTEEN
by HA
While Bo and the others were freeing Bart, Shirley and her group were searching for the bomb in the basement. It if was not for Shirley's flashlight, the room would have remained pitch black. As she pointed it around the basement, she found a number of unopened crates and boxes.
"At least our dragon-faced friend should've turned on the lights down here," Marcus remarked just as they were about to start their search.
Shirley shined her flashlight on the light switch near the door. "Try it," she recommended.
Marcus followed the beam of light up the stairs and flipped the switch on. A single light bulb lit up, relieving the darkness of the basement a little. Shirley turned off her flashlight, then started looking around the basement.
"Okay, I'm hoping that they get some bulbs with better wattage for this place," Marcus said as the search began, opening a crate with his staff.
"Marcus, if we don't find that bomb, we won't have to worry about new light bulbs," Lucy said, looking near a wall.
"So, Shirley, how did you know the bomb would be here?" Blake asked as he opened some boxes.
Shirley looked into a box and found nothing. "Remember Hades in the riddle? He was the Greek god of the underworld. Well, a basement is the space beneath a house, so it all fits."
Lucy opened a crate with her scarf and found some old clothes. "That's some good deduction there, Shirley," she complimented as she sifted through the clothes.
"Also, Number Eight mentioned that when the bomb exploded, it'll make it look like a sinkhole suddenly opened up," Shirley explained further. "That meant the bomb had to be under the house somewhere."
"Let's hope the bomb is here and not deep underground," Blake said, sorting through an old toy chest.
The search lasted about three minutes. Marcus headed for a lone crate near the far wall. He was about to open it when he heard beeping from it. He stopped and turned to the others. "Guys, I think I found it," he said, pointing to the crate.
Everyone joined him near the crate. "It's an electronic timer," Shirley said, recognizing the beeping. "We need to open the crate without disturbing the bomb."
"Leave it to me," Lucy said, pulling off her scarf. She stretched it out and it stiffened. "Better toss some clothes on the sides and someone get ready to catch the front."
Shirley and Blake threw some old clothes near the side of the crate. Lucy eyed the crate and focused her mind, then swung her scarf like a sword as she moved around the crate. A few seconds after she stopped, the side panels of the crate fell on the old clothes and the front panel fell forward. Marcus caught it in time, then he gently laid it on the ground.
Lucy returned he scarf to normal, then all four looked at the contents of the crate. A large silver ball sat at the bottom of the crate. Its front displayed a digital display similar to the ones on alarm clocks. It read "5:25" and it kept counting down before their eyes.
Blake reached for the crate's lid and removed it. "Okay, we found the bomb. Anyone here know how to defuse it?"
Shirley saw a panel below the timer. Noticing the four screws on its corners, she reached into her backpack and took out the correct screwdriver. She took out her flashlight. "Someone shine this on the panel," Shirley requested as she bent down in front of the bomb.
Blake took the flashlight and shined it on the panel. Just as Shirley started to unscrew the panel, Bo, Bart, Susan, Hiroshi, and Katrina ran down the stairs and joined in.
"So, did you find the bomb?" Bo asked.
"Shirley's unscrewing the master panel right now," Lucy said, watching Shirley doing her task.
Hiroshi looked at Katrina. "Uh, can you...? he began to ask her, but all he got in response was her shaking her head gravely. "Okay, scratch that plan."
Shirley finally removed the final screw. "Got it!" she shouted as she removed the panel. Suddenly, a bright flash shot out from the bomb. Blake covered his eyes quickly. Surprised, Shirley was thrown back and started to rub her eyes.
"Shirley!" Bo bent down next to his friend. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"My eyes..." Shirley said, seeing many colored blobs floating in her sight. "I can't see..."
"Must've been a little defense mechanism to make defusing the bomb harder," Blake theorized, shaking off the effects of the flash.
"Guys..." Hiroshi pointed to the bomb timer. Everyone gasped as they saw that the timer now read "2:00."
"Damn!" Lucy shouted in frustration. "When Shirley removed the panel, it cut the time in half."
"Looks like ENIGMA's making sure no one's getting out of this alive," Marcus said.
Hiroshi looked at everyone nervously as the timer ticked down. "Um, is there a bomb expert in the house?"
Bo looked around him. "Well, is there?"
"He's outside right now, and we can't communicate with him," Lucy admitted. Hope started to die in the basement.
Bart stepped forward with determination all over his face. "I'll do it."
Bo stared at Bart. "What? Are you nuts? Remember the last time you tried to defuse a bomb?"
Bart knelt down before the bomb. "Look, it's my fault we're all here. I'll make sure we get out of this alive." He turned to Susan. "Susan, help me out with spotting the wires. Blake, keep shining that flashlight on the wires. Bo, get me Shirley's wire cutters."
Shocked by Bart's sudden take-charge attitude, Bo dug through Shirley's backpack and pulled out a pair of wire cutters. "I hope you know what you're doing," he told Bart as he handed them over.
"That makes two of us, Bartman," Hiroshi said with apprehension.
Bart took the wire cutters and looked over the area Blake illuminated with the flashlight. He mentally counted seven wires altogether. Susan joined him on his side. "Susan, can you tell me from left to right what the color of the wires are?"
Susan noted the wires quickly. "Um, red, white, blue, green, yellow, gray, and black."
"Thanks." Bart looked over the wires, wondering which one to cut.
Hiroshi was panicking. "Cut the red wire! Cut the red wire!"
"Bart, you'd better make a choice," Blake recommended, eyeing the timer. "You've only got about a minute left."
"What about the dragon man?" Bart heard someone say softly. Startled, he paused for a moment.
"Fifty seconds!" Hiroshi shouted.
"What about the dragon man?" the voice repeated in Bart's ear.
"I understand," Bart said to himself after some thought. "What did Number Eight look like?" he asked the others suddenly.
Hiroshi thought for a moment. "Short, fat, and ugly, especially with that mask," he said finally.
"What colors were on him?" Bart asked.
Everyone thought for a moment. "Um, definitely green," Bo said. "That mask of his was mostly green."
"Thanks." Bart quickly went for the green wire and snipped it. The timer kept ticking down.
"Well, that helped," Hiroshi said, worried. "Thirty seconds left."
"I guess Number Eight didn't want it to be too easy," Shirley said. "You'll have to cut another wire, Bart."
"Okay," Bart said, watching the timer. "Any other colors?"
"White," Lucy said. "His clothes and mask hair were white."
Bart cut the white wire. The timer still kept ticking down. "Any other colors?"
"I recall some red," Shirley said, rubbing her eyes to make the blobs in her vision go away. "Especially around his sleeves and cap."
Bart cut the red wire. The timer still ticked down. "I need more colors," he informed his friends.
"More?" Bo said, exasperated. "How many wires do we have to cut to stop this thing?"
"Try yellow," Blake told Bart calmly. "Those eyes on his mask were yellow."
"Twenty seconds left!" Hiroshi reported.
Bart proceeded to cut the yellow wire. The timer still ticked down. "Any other colors?" he asked everyone.
Everyone tried to remember Number Eight's image again. "Okay, we've done his mask, his clothes, his hair, and his eyes," Lucy recalled. "What else could there be?"
"We can try his fan," Marcus said.
"Um, what color was that?" Bo asked. "I forgot."
As everyone argued over what color should be next, Lucy glanced at Katrina, who responded by shaking her head. "Guys, we'd better come up with something quick," she warned the others.
Just as Hiroshi was about to report that the time was almost to ten seconds, Marcus slapped him on the back of his head. "You're not helping," he said as his friend rubbed the slapped area.
Bart stopped for a moment as he stared at the remaining three wires. Blake noticed how calm he was despite the little time left.
10...
"Bart, there's ten seconds left," Lucy warned.
9...
"Bart, we're running out of time!" Hiroshi exclaimed.
8...
"Susan, which wire is this?" Bart asked without a trace of panic in his voice, pointing to the gray wire.
7...
Susan looked at the gray wire.
6...
Bo looked at Shirley. "Shirley, I have to tell you something," he said nervously in a low voice.
5...
Susan reported to Bart. "It's the gray wire, Bart."
Shirley turned to Bo, her vision still recovering from the flash. "What is it?" she asked him.
4...
"What?" Hiroshi cried out, hearing Susan. "Cut the black one! Cut the black one!"
3...
Marcus slapped the back of Hiroshi's head again.
2...
"Thank you," Bart said, opening the wire cutters over the gray wire. Susan placed her hand on his.
1...
"Been nice knowing you guys," Hiroshi said, closing his eyes.
Bo took Shirley's hand and looked into her blue eyes. Bart closed his eyes, cut the wire, and hoped for the best.
END OF PART SIXTEEN
