(1) I like both lol.
(2) Seriously though, the statues look like they're from that island.
I hoped things would get less weird after the whole mysterious person incident. Of course I was wrong.
I mean, most people were acting pretty normal (thank goodness), but some were huddled in small groups, glaring at me when I was nearby. I guessed it was some of Chrissi's gang, plotting my downfall. Not a very positive thing to think about.
At lunchtime, I logged onto the school computer and booted up Poptropica. It almost felt weird to see Fierce Fox behind a computer screen again. I wondered if she was thinking about me at that very moment, as I led her into her impressive, golden blimp. It flew over the grand, crashing oceans, and docked on Counterfeit Island. I decided I was going to do a crash course of the island, before I actually visited it myself.
I was entering the Underground tunnel when I heard a mocking tone behind me.
"Alice, are you playing Poptropica?" It was the new boy, who'd come a few months ago. I exited the blue screen and spun around in my chair.
"None of your business." I replied, in a stern tone, furrowing my eyebrows. The boy chuckled.
"Isn't that a kid's game?" he laughed, folding his arms. I rolled my eyes. Two can play this game.
"Says the guy who watches My Little Pony." I pointed out, with a mischievous grin. (1)
He flushed. "I don't watch that stupid horse show!"
I snickered. "Yeah, that's why I saw you watching it yesterday in Science. You looked like you were enjoying yourself."
The boy let his arms hang by his side. "So... what's your username in Poptropica?"
Fierce Fox and myself arrived on Counterfeit Island. We landed in a garden, which has neatly trimmed bushes; lush green grass; polished footpaths; a metal-green statue of a Poptropican pampering herself. Fierce Fox followed me past all these and to Downtown. We entered a place called Bobo's Clown store. It's a store with an optimistic atmosphere: it sells many bright, plastic hats, clothing items, and anything you would find in a young child's mind.
I grabbed a green balloon, feeling slightly weightless. One of the times where Poptropican physics really confused me. Fierce Fox was confused too, but not about physics.
"What's up with the balloon?" she asked.
"It's about to create one of Poptropica's greatest legends." I explained, with a glint in my eye. Fierce Fox shrugged and trailed after me. We arrived at the Countryside, which is surrounded by trees that belong in Autumn. Soft grass is beneath our feet. Underneath some of the trees were two kids. I noticed they're a little shorter than us, so I inferred Fierce Fox and myself were probably young adults/teens (although I'm not actually a young adult myself).
Anyway, I handed the balloon to the kid in front, who was a boy. "Here you go, kid." I said. He grabbed the balloon, and it suddenly lifted him into the sky, destroying every bit of Earth physics I knew. The girl, who had a red a balloon, rushed off.
"Uh..." Fierce Fox stared at me. I chuckled.
"Balloon Boy," I explained. "Come on. We've got some trash to dig through." Fierce Fox raised an eyebrow. I sighed and led her back to Downtown, and then to the outside of one of the grey apartments. A trash can had its lid slightly ajar. Now, I knew that I wouldn't get sick by sticking my hands in there- thanks Poptropican physics- but I still felt disgust grip me. So I let Fierce Fox do it.
Fierce Fox managed to snatch two tickets from the revolting mess. She was happy at first, but then I explained one of the tickets had to go to a tourist.
"Really?" Fierce Fox complained, folding her arms. I patted her shoulder.
"Never mind," I assured. "I'll be able to handle this on my own."
Fierce Fox followed me into the 'Web Browser Internet Cafe', which is something my world needs. A guy outside the building was talking about Balloon Boy; I winked at Fierce Fox. The cafe has brown walls; brown chairs and tables; a dirty, white floor. Coffee cups are printed on the wallpaper. A tourist was standing near a computer on a desk.
I approached the tourist, holding out the tickets. But he did something I didn't expect. He grinned at us and said, "You two keep the tickets, no problem! I think you two need to be together." I thanked him politely, while giving a concerning look to Fierce Fox. That's not supposed to happen!
"Well, at least we get to go together now." Fierce Fox pointed out, as we headed towards the Underground Tunnel. I shook my head.
"But... this isn't supposed to happen. He's only supposed to give one ticket!" I exclaimed, with anxiety. Is this part of whatever's going on? I thought. I wasn't sure... But I knew I was definitely nervous.
We got to the Underground Tunnel Tour location. Basically it looks like a hill with a metal-bar gate, surrounded by broken pillars. A lady with a green beret was standing outside it. I handed her the tickets.
"Bonjour! Would you two like to take the tour?" she asked, in an amiable tone. We nodded. "When you're ready to start the tour, just ahead inside." We did such thing. Inside has an appearance like an old jail: the walls are made of pale cobblestone, broken pillars, and tombs. Spray-painted skulls are on the walls, as well as metal pattern designs. I felt a little shiver up my spine, though I knew this was nothing compared to the Underworld in Mythology Island.
We slid down a few ropes and jumped over stone walls and platforms. We eventually reached a dome-shaped room, with skulls underneath it. I instructed Fierce Fox to slither up a hanging, electric light, and grab a piece of paper hanging off a wire. She did such thing. It was added to her inventory for a puzzle later on.
After that we exited. The exit, however, is outside a sewer, underneath a harbour. A guy- who strikes me as shadowy- was waiting outside. I could see a scar under his sunglasses, and shadows cover half his face.
"Psst," the guy whispered. "Come here," Fierce Fox and myself approached him. He scanned the area nearby. "You're that... Girl from another world or something, right?" He asked this while looking at me.
I frowned. "How do you know? What's going on? How does everyone else know?"
The guy kept his voice to a whisper. "I'm not really supposed to tell you. That's another person's job. But I do wanna say stick with your friend over there- things are getting more dangerous. Anyway, I think ya know what to do now."
Great, I thought. More confusion. Can this get any better? I folded my arms and let out an irritated sigh. Fierce Fox just shrugged at me. I grumbled and ran my fingers through my hair, stormed past the man, almost forgetting to pick up a piece of paper on a rock. After grabbing that, Fierce Fox followed me past some old boats on the dock.
"So," she questioned, holding her arms. "What's up with all this... Well..."
"I don't know," I grumbled, trying not to sound too angry. "I don't know anything, yet everyone else knows everything. It feels like I'm in another dimension... well, I am, but one I don't know at all."
"Well, they did say we need to stick together," Fierce Fox kindly pointed out. "So at least we know some things."
"Yipee." I replied sarcastically. By then, we'd reached the museum, which has a great, dome roof, and is made of marble. With my direction, Fierce Fox climbed up to the roof and grabbed another piece of paper. Then, the two of us went to the grand, glass doors. A woman with straight, black hair stared at me. I could tell she knew who I was and I knew who she was. I urged Fierce Fox inside.
We spent the next five or so minutes moving paintings around to become security guards. Interesting experience to have with your Poptropican, I must say. The assistant curator was impressed and allowed us into the Forgery Detection Lab for our training.
The Forgery Detection stage was easy- for me, at least. I had to help Fierce Fox and give her all the answers. Which is what I do anyway. It was actually kinda fun, and reminded me of my science classes. Especially the part where we tested paint samples. I found that more fun than I thought I would.
We both got the job successfully, and the assistant curator handed us keys to the storage room. To get there, we had to go into the statue room, which seems to be the biggest foreshadowing clue to Mythology Island (2). The statues are perfectly sculpted, and the wallpaper is fancy and red. However, we didn't have time to gawk at the statues. We went to the supply room, which unfortunately is much less fancy than the statue room. But it did have a piece of paper, so we got that.
The shadowy man, shadowy and dark as the current night sky, was waiting for us when we returned to the docks. Before we spoke to him, I swiped a piece of paper from a boat's deck. The puzzle- or picture- of a dragon was complete now that we had all the paper. Then we popped in front of the man.
"Good luck, you two." he said warmly. We didn't reply and instead faced the place where we exited the Underground Tunnel. It was pretty easy to hop through the tunnel, and using the complete picture, we managed to escape the tunnel through a drain.
The tunnel's exit took us back to the supply room; it was almost pitch black. I used the keys to click the door open. It led us into a corridor, where a guard was roaming around outside. In a very quiet tone, I ordered Fierce Fox to avoid being noticed.
After sneaking past the guard, we got back into the statue room. Little red lasers were sprinkling down from the ceiling; we needed to circumvent them. We did that by hiding behind the statues, which is a... tradition, I guess, shared between Poptropica Islands. Once we passed that, we got into the main art archive.
I spotted The Scream up ahead, and knew it was the thing that was going to get us busted. Suddenly fear flushed through my body. The face of the lady with black hair popped into my head. Something told me I should let Fierce Fox do this on her own, and avoid myself getting caught.
What did the man tell you? A voice- the woman's voice from the last island- asked me. Then I remembered- we had to stick together. And I knew that black-haired woman wasn't who she appeared to be. All the messages, the perplexing messages, were swirling in my brain like a hurricane. What was I to do? I wanted the mysterious woman- whoever she was- to tell me what to do. Please, I called, hoping she'd hear me. Help. She didn't answer. I guessed that meant I was on my own.
The next morning, we woke up in a jail cell. The black-haired woman- known as the investigator- was watching me. Let's just say it wasn't pleasant.
The investigator smiled sweetly at us. "Don't worry, I know you're both innocent. But I need to have a little conversation with Al- the blonde girl."
I gulped, and faced Fierce Fox. "Go back to the museum and to the security office. Go to the computer and take a picture of the shadowy man. Go to the Jazz Cafe and chase after the man. Then come back for me."
Fierce Fox raised her brow. "But didn't the man say we need to stick-"
"Go." I ordered, almost firmly, realizing I was denying what I believed the previous night. Oh well. Fierce Fox sighed and dashed off, leaving the investigator and I alone.
"Well," the investigator took a step towards me. "If it isn't Alice, the girl from another world."
"What's going on?!" I demanded, clenching my fists. "How do you know about me?! Who told you?!"
"Patience, Alice," the investigator said, as she approached me. I took a step back. "Your questions will be answered sooner or later."
"By whom?" I demanded, with a scowl.
"I'm not going to tell you," the investigator replied, circling me. "You'll find out."
"No!" I growled, stomping my foot. "Tell me now! I don't like all these unanswered questions! I don't like what's going on! What's happening?!"
The investigator chuckled. "Oh, Alice. Don't get so grumpy. Hm, because I feel nice, I'm going to say there are two sides. Your side, and the other side."
"What?!" I cried, biting my lip. "Sides? What do you mean?"
"And unfortunately," the investigator gripped my shoulders. "I'm not on your side." Then she hit me over the head. Everything went black.
My eyes flickered open. I was tied up- scratch that- tied up in chains, in the Underground Tunnel. All around me was darkness, and the crumbling walls of the Underground Tunnel. Then I realized why Fierce Fox and myself needed to stay together- we needed to help each other.
"Help!" I cried in desperation. My voice echoed. "Somebody! Anybody! Help!" But nobody heard me and nobody came to rescue me. I was trapped. Screwed. I struggled against the chains, but they wouldn't budge. "Help!" I yelled, feeling hopelessness fall over me. No one was coming to rescue me. I was stuck. Then I heard the woman's voice in my head- Help is coming.
I didn't know what she meant. Suddenly, I heard someone enter the tunnel. Their footsteps pounded along the floor, becoming more audible as they came closer to me. It was none other than Fierce Fox, who'd come to rescue me. I was in shock.
"But how-" I spluttered.
"I got a calling," Fierce Fox explained, raising her brow. "Like the voice. This woman told me to come here and find you."
"A woman has been telling me things, too," I replied in curiosity, as Fierce Fox attempted to free me. "She opened the portal for me on Astro Knights so I could save you. She told me you were coming. She told me not to split up last night. I should've listened when I told you to go before."
"Who'd you think she is?" Fierce Fox asked, tugging the chains off me.
"I don't know..." I said, shaking my head. "But I have a feeling she's on our side," I leaped out of the chains. "Come on. Let's continue with the island."
Fierce Fox was up to the part where you have to travel to Early Poptropica Island. So together, we flew over on Fierce Fox's blimp and docked the island. We entered the Pop Art museum, and were greeted by an old woman, who handed us an old, bronze key. I thanked the woman. Then we left Early Poptropica and returned to Counterfeit.
I led Fierce Fox to the end of the island: a little cottage. It's a beautiful stone cottage, with a wooden roof. I opened the door and entered, spotting the Home Sweet Home sign over the fireplace. I climbed a few stairs to the second level. A frame was hanging on the wall, carrying a drawing that looked like it came from pre-school.
I peeled it down and revealed The Scream, which is what I expected. The Black Widow came and beat us up, which is also what I expected. But I didn't expect the next part.
Black Widow had tied me up in a totally different room, like a panic room. I was surrounded by thick metal, and my body was wrapped in chains; I was practically being strangled by them. There was no one around me. The only reassuring thing was a single light hanging from the ceiling.
"You're all mine," Black Widow entered the room, with a wicked smile. "They couldn't catch you, but I did! I will be rewarded."
"What are you talking about?" I gasped in horror, as Black Widow approached me.
"Sides, Alice. They oppose each other, but they both want the same thing- you." she hissed, her presence sending chills up my spine.
"Sides?" I questioned. "They want me? Why?"
"Why do you think?" Black Widow asked menacingly. "You, in a way, are the voice. Of course we want you."
"But how did you find out about me? Who told you?" I demanded, struggling against the chains.
"Hmm, you may or may not know them," The Black Widow replied, caressing my chin. "But for now, you are mine! You're worth as much as all the art in my gallery! HA HA HA!"
"No!" I cried, in perplexion and fear.
"And there's nothing you can do about it! You can't stop it Alice. Nobody can!" Black Widow cackled, making my brain hurt. I was sick. Sick of worry. Sick of confusion. Danger was around me- and heck, I still didn't understand what was going on! Did I have some sort of secret fan club?
"What's 'it'?" I wailed, as Black Widow continued to circle me. Suddenly, I heard banging on the doors. People were trying to get in!
"Surrender, Black Widow! We're calling the cops!" someone yelled, as they banged their fists against the secure door.
"Never! She's mine now!" Black Widow cackled, with a sickening grin.
"Don't make us call the big guns!" somebody else cried. I raised my eyebrows. The 'big guns'? Who's that? My head started to pound.
"Bring it on, then! They'll never get to me!" Black Widow sneered, laughing. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. The walls began to shiver like jelly, and my chains were jingling. There was an earthquake, and it was coming straight for me. I wasn't sure if I was more scared of the earthquake or 'the big guns'. "Cures!" Black Widow complained, as the floor began to split. She faced the door. "You win this time, but you won't next time!" Then she disappeared up a vent, where I heard her getting beat up by somebody.
Thanks to the earthquake, the door sort of exploded open, revealing the shadowy man and Fierce Fox. They rushed over and speedily untied me, sending blood back into my arms and legs. I freely wiggled them around, before Fierce Fox clutched my arm.
"We have to go!" she ordered, in her iconic fierce tone. I wanted to ask how on Earth they managed to summon an earthquake, but it wasn't the right time- our lives were on the line. So instead, I raced along with them to escape Black Widow's lair.
We dodged falling parts of the roof, and cracks in the ground. Black Widow's crew was also escaping, and they appeared to be just as terrified as us. I noticed that a lot of the stolen art was getting covered in debris.
"What about the art?" I cried, pointing a finger at it.
"Never mind the art! We have to go!" the man yelled back. We continued shoving through falling debris. All I could see was fear, and feel my heart racing. Oh, and debris. Fierce Fox kept a tough grip on my arm, and it seemed to be my only guidance. My brain was a mess, and I was losing my reflexes. It killed.
It felt like forever when we finally escaped Black Widow's lair. It was strange enough to mention that once Black Widow's crew left, Fierce Fox called out something and the earthquake calmed down. I didn't understand it. Did she have superpowers or something?
On the bright side, Black Widow had been caught by the cops and was taken away. And we didn't die in the earthquake. Although all these new worries were driving me crazy. I had so many questions, and no proper answers. It felt like I'd gotten my leg problem all over again.
"How'd you start that earthquake?" I asked Fierce Fox, as we made our way to the museum. "Do you know what's going on?"
"Not exactly," she answered. "The man told me he 'knew some people', then he... Made this weird calling, and the earthquake started. Oh, and he warned me to be careful."
"But... what's this all about?" I persisted, folding my arms. "'Sides'? 'Stick together'? 'Be careful who you trust'? This is outrageous!"
"Like I said, I don't know," Fierce Fox said, shaking her head in shame. "I guess there's just something out there."
I groaned. "Go get your medallion in the museum." I gazed up the sky, biting my lip. Whoever's up there, if you can hear me, please tell me what's going on. It's scaring me.
You must find that out yourself. We cannot help you all the time, something replied. Then it vanished, much to my frustration. Great.
I only hoped my world had more answers.