Not including the bonus quest 'cause it's boring :P
...
The woman, grinning, held out a camera and pointed it at the girl. "Happy Birthday, Al! Smile!" The girl did not smile. The woman raised her brow. "Come on Alice, it's your birthday! Ten years old! Double digits! Isn't that exciting?"
"Yeah," the girl sighed. "Growing up. Stress. Very exciting."
"Don't be so negative!" the woman laughed nervously. "You'll be fine. Everyone's been- or will be- like this."
"Fine," the girl grumbled. "Yeah, things are gonna go great. Probably gonna flunk everything." She sighed unhappily. "Why was I thinking about being a hero? You were right, Mom. Being a hero is stupid. It's for dreamers. I wanna be a scientist, Mom. I wanna see the real world."
Alice's mother sighed. "A-alright, Sweetie. If you say so."
ALICE
Fierce Fox and I ran over the concrete road, arriving at the grey, tin building that is Mission Control.
"We get to go to space again," I said. "Like in Astro Knights Island. Except we don't have to fight any aliens and cyborgs or save any princesses. But we do have to save someone, though. This lady named Salerno." I sighed. "But we won't catch her anyway. She'll go off to find an extraterrestrial species."
"Should we tell them that?" Fierce Fox asked, shrugging. She seemed more friendly, more approachable. "Like how you told Greg about his twenty bucks in Wimpy Boardwalk."
"I'm afraid the problem's a little more complicated than retrieving some teen's twenty bucks," I replied, shaking my head. "Let's go into Mission Control."
I'm into science, but not so much space. Still, seeing a control room was pretty cool. There are papers scattered on the floor, and large computers everywhere. Screens cover the walls, showing scales, the weather, a diagram of the rocket ship, and an ill pilot on said rocket ship. Despite the relaxed appearance, the Space Program had no money, and the two crew members were doing the work of fifty people.
"Yeah, we need to save this dump." I whispered to Fierce Fox.
"Why isn't anyone keeping an eye on Hatcher?" a voice grumbled. It belonged to the director, who stormed into the chaotic mess with a frown. "He looks like he's about to lose his lunch!"
"Uh… we'll take care of that." I said, winking at Fierce Fox.
"And who are you?" the director asked, staring suspiciously at us. His eyes flickered over me. "Hey, your face is familiar. Have I seen you somewhere?"
"Maybe," I answered briefly. "Anyway… we'll deal with Hatcher." Fierce Fox and I left before anymore questions could be asked. I sighed. "Man, this whole hero thing is confusing me and giving me a headache. I don't think I want to talk about it now."
"Me neither," Fierce Fox replied. She chewed her lip. "I think you know why."
"Yeah," I mused. "I think I do."
Hatcher looked quite green when we saw him in the ship. I handed him a bottle of ginger ale we 'borrowed' from an old astronaut. After swallowing it, Hatcher burped. His skin returned to a tan colour.
"You guys are lifesavers," he thanked us. "I've never been in space before. I guess I am a little nervous." He sighed. "Could you girls do me a favour? I think I, uh, left my wallet in my car." He handed us his space helmet and exited the small, triangular space that is the cockpit of the ship. The door shut behind him.
"Hey!" Fierce Fox yelled. I gestured to a buzzing headset. She sighed and put it on. Her face became inquisitive as she listened to the headset. Then it became horrified.
"Me?!" she screamed. "I don't know how to- what? Oh no, I don't think the prophesied hero will be able to either." I groaned at that.
"Come," I sighed. "Let's sit down." We sat on leather seats. I sat on the passenger seat, while Fierce Fox sat on the driver's seat. Thank goodness, since I couldn't drive, even in Poptropica. I stared at Fierce Fox. "Just follow their instructions. If they're not direct enough, I'm here." She nodded and tuned into her headpiece. Meanwhile, I tried to relax. But my brain and nerves were too active, and they wouldn't settle down. The rumbling ship didn't really help with that. So I used reverse psychology and thought about the stressful hero business.
What do I know about this hero business? I thought. Well, I know that it involves a prophecy- me, saving Poptropica... right? I don't know. I guess Zeus will try to stop me or something, causing Poptropica's downfall. He and his new girlfriend. But who is she, and what is she doing? I think it's Louisa. But if it is her, how'd she get here? How did she get in contact with Zeus? I didn't know anything. Since the next island was Super Villain Island- Zeus' official return- I hoped I'd find some answers.
"Cripes!" Fierce Fox shouted, zapping me out of my thoughts. I realized we were in space, and golly, is it beautiful. The sky's ink-black, full of twinkling diamonds known as stars. Colourful, rotating spheres float around- planets can be quite spectacular when their inhabitants aren't trying to kill you. I was admiring a spinning galaxy when an asteroid flew past my peripheral.
"Asteroids!" the director's voice called out in the ship. "Don't let them destroy the ship!"
I faced Fierce Fox. "Dodge the asteroids. That's all you've gotta do." She nodded and gripped the steering lever. With her fabulous piloting skills (I bet Amelia would've been proud), she avoided the large asteroids. I was extremely helpful and stared out the window. I gazed at Poptropica, which looks annoyingly yet comfortingly similar to Earth. It's like a piece of home… a piece of home I didn't need to see.
"Don't pat your backs yet, ladies," the director said sternly. "That first asteroid damaged your fuel tank. Grab your toolkit and patch it up." So, with that, we were sent outside. Somehow we were wearing spacesuits, despite not putting any on. Our suits were connected to the ship via a long, grey hose.
"I'll get the toolkit," I told Fierce Fox. I swam through the cool air. It felt like swimming without the water. I quickly glanced down at Earth below us, before reaching the toolkit. Once I got it, I passed it to Fierce Fox, explaining what to do. She swam below the ship and patched it up. When she was finished, we went back inside. The good news was the crew was putting on autopilot (only now, guys?) so we didn't have to drive anymore. The bad news was it was going to take a few hours, and we'd have to do something hard once we arrived at the moon.
To pass the time, Fierce Fox and I discussed serious things like the prophecy. Just kidding! We talked about silly things to keep our minds off the future. Like our favourite islands (Fierce Fox said hers was Super Villain Island, because it was dangerous), and I told her my favourite was Mythology, though ironically I was a big supporter of science. And then I told her about how Marcus reacted when I told him about entering Poptropica. He was kinda surprised, obviously didn't believe it at first, then he was intrigued. But he understood, and that was all that mattered.
Finally, we arrived at the moon. We had to take the lunar lander down. And let's just say I am not good at the lunar lander. Fierce Fox was- unsurprisingly- so we landed easily. We climbed off the lunar lander and set foot on the grey, stony moon.
"One small step for man," I quoted. "One giant leap for mankind." Fierce Fox rolled her eyes at me. I shrugged and pointed to the PASE Moon center. We entered through a heavy door and passed an airlock. The inside of the building is white and clean. Circuity lines the walls. Fierce Fox and I entered a room called the barracks. Admittedly, I didn't know what barracks were, so I had to look them up.
The barracks is this room about three levels. One level has bunk beds. The others have information and research. In an army situation, it's basically an accommodation for soldiers. Though this wasn't a war, it's similar in design. Fierce Fox and I climbed a ladder and came to a computer. Using some pro hacking skills, we managed to open the vehicle bay doors. Then we headed to the vehicle bay. It's basically a giant laboratory, stuffed full of… well, vehicles, and batteries that'd make my world jealous. Well, sort of.
I admired the sleek, grey walls; trunks of items; various machines. There are also quite a lot of platforms and solar panels. Fierce Fox and I worked together to move the solar panels into the correct position so the sun would come down and splash on them. The energy would move over to the rover and charge it up.
Once that was finished, we climbed aboard. I sat next to Fierce Fox, admiring the cool little rover we got to drive around.
"Alright," I began. "I know where Salerno is, but because of physics and stuff, we still need to get the tracker."
"I'll get that," Fierce Fox offered. "I… need to make it up to you for yelling at you on Wimpy Boardwalk…"
"But… what about the splitting up business?" I asked. I tapped my chin. "Well, it's not like there's gonna be many enemies here. Okay, then. We can split up." I beamed. "Oh, and thanks for the offer. You don't need to."
"Nah, I want to," Fierce Fox replied, smiling. "Just tell me what to do."
I arrived at the greenhouse. It's a semi-sphere-shaped building, covered in glass windows. Inside, plants are growing everywhere, and there are piles of food and objects lying around. Oh, and there's no gravity. Vents shove out hot steam, which I needed to cover up with corks. So, carrying a cork under my arm, I flew up to the first vent and blocked it with the cork. I repeated this with the other corks (kinda boring, but not as boring as the bonus quest), and finally, I could go to the top.
I waited for Fierce Fox to arrive. She soon did. I noticed her irises were purple. This was because she needed to enter somewhere later on. I gave her a nod and led her past the corked vents to a section at the top. It's full of suitcases. Salerno was hiding behind a collection of such suitcases, wearing a blue spacesuit.
"Come out Salerno," Fierce Fox ordered. "We've come to take you home."
Salerno swam out, appearing a little dazed. But the energy in her eyes was like fire. "I can't go yet. Not when I'm so close to finding the last alien structure!"
"How can you be sure they were built by aliens?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow. Good point.
"Carbon dating showed the artifacts to be older than the moon itself!" Salerno cried. "They were 'placed' here!"
"There must be another explanation." I said, speaking up. I mean, I am the science whiz here.
"They're radioactive," Salerno replied. "If only I had the Geiger counter, I would have found the last one by now."
"I really think you should come with us." Fierce Fox insisted.
"Never!" Salerno cried. She smashed the airlock open and flew out the window. However, she dropped her keycard. We couldn't grab that, since we were busy trying to avoid being chucked out the airlock. Finally, it closed, and things stopped flying around.
"She got away!" Fierce Fox grumbled. I slid along the smooth floor and picked up the keycard.
"Oh, we'll see her again," I replied. "Very soon." I struck a pose. "To the Foxes at Manchester mobile!" Fierce Fox groaned at that name, while I chuckled. We raced out of the greenhouse and climbed into said vehicle. Fierce Fox flipped around her lighting staff and pointed it at Salerno, who was driving away in her own rover. Fierce Fox stepped on the accelerator, and we chased after Salerno. We drove for a little bit, before pulling over at another building.
Fierce Fox used her purple eyes to get us in, while I used the keycard. We were faced with a bunch of conveyor belts. Using levers to change their position, we passed them. Well, we had to use them quite a lot, since there were many platforms we needed to get onto. After that, we exited the crystal-white, technology-filled room, and entered another laboratory. (There are three labs, I think. PASE knows what's up)
I ignored my urges to admire the awesome lab and instead focused on retrieving the Geiger counter. Fierce Fox pushed a pole onto a platform, so it created a slide. I leaped up that slide, then shoved the Geiger counter down it. It landed on the rover, which the director had kindly signaled for us.
"Finally, we've got the edge!" the director exclaimed. "Maybe you can find the fourth artifact and draw her out of hiding." I nodded. Fierce Fox and I climbed onto the rover. Using the Geiger counter, we drove south to a strange purple stone, which was embedded deep in rock. I placed the rover's hook over it. Fierce Fox drove it out. The stone was raised, letting out a shining, purple light, like a beacon.
"What is that thing?" Fierce Fox asked.
"You'll see," I answered. "Come on."
We followed the purple beacon. It led us to a place where it crossed over with a red beacon. Fierce Fox pulled over. We stood under where the beacons crossed. A pile of moon-dirt was under our feet.
"Well, this is where they cross," Fierce Fox mused. "What now?" Then Salerno ran over, carrying a shovel.
"You two did it!" Salerno cried. Her face became a frown. "You're not still going to take me home, are you?"
"Well, as long as we're here…" Fierce Fox answered, me nodding. Salerno grinned and began digging. Suddenly, the ground shook. We looked around in panic. Fierce Fox cried, "What was that?!" Then, the ground opened beneath us. We dropped into glowing, purple light.
When my eyes opened again, I spotted a bronze, circular, open door, with weird alien designs. Fierce Fox, Salerno and I passed the door, then came to a section of pictures on strange, purple walls. They showed drawings of dinosaurs and spaceships coming to alien planets, which was quite odd.
"Look at the picture," Salerno breathed. "They've been waiting for us." We continued, arriving at a wall full of alien symbols, that looked like hieroglyphs (and would also appear on Mission Atlantis). Salerno sighed, "I don't know if this is safe. But it's too late to turn back…" I swallowed. My eyes settled on a robot creature, whose back was bent over. It was holding a circle, which was actually a deactivated portal.
"There's a switch over there," Salerno pointed to the right. "Go see what it does." I nodded at Fierce Fox. She raced over to a pink screen with more hieroglyphs. She pulled the switch: the portal activated. Salerno gasped, "I think it's a portal to their world! I've got to go through!"
Fierce Fox started, "It's too-" But I interrupted her.
"Good luck, Salerno," I sighed. "Find the aliens for us."
"Thank you," Salerno nodded. "I'm glad you understand. Goodbye, and good luck, girls. Send my regards to Mission Control." She leaped into the portal. A large, diamond-blue beacon sucked her away in a flash of light. Fierce Fox and I gaped, before my Poptropican gave me a glance.
"What happened?" the director's voice buzzed out. "I haven't been able to reach you two. Do you have Salerno?"
"She's gone." Fierce Fox answered.
"But we'll hear from her again." I added, winking at Fierce Fox.
"Alright… then," the director replied. He sighed. "Let's just get you two home."
"You did good, kids," the director told us, once we arrived at Mission Control. "Thanks for trying to bring her home." He turned to me. "Though you said she'd be contacting us. Are you sure?"
"Yep," I answered. I pointed to a large screen. "Have a look." The director turned to the screen. There was an incoming message. One of the guys answered it. It showed Salerno with a bunch of aliens in the background. She waved a poster saying, 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED'.
"She did it!" the director exclaimed. "She really did it!" Then a man wearing a tuxedo entered the room. The director raised his brow. "Director McNabb!"
"I'll tell you what she did," Director McNabb- director of the Space Program- replied. "That heroic woman got people excited about space again. The president just called and promised whatever money we need to keep the Space Program going." He grinned at us. "And for you two, a special commendation." He handed Fierce Fox the medallion and me a free pass to visit the rocket ship anytime. I wasn't sure if I'd use it, but I guessed I could give it to someone else. That seemed pretty good.
~THIRD PERSON~
"It is nearly time," Zeus mused, storming around the lab. He faced the girl, who wiped her forehead. "Are you ready, girl? I'm sure my training was suitable for you."
"Yes…" the girl replied. "I am."
"Glorious," Zeus said, with a small smirk. "The others will be too focused on Alice's demise, so they won't notice you. By the time they do, it will be too late. Poptropica will be mine!"
"But what if I'm not the hero?" the girl asked nervously.
"Don't talk nonsense," Zeus grumbled. "The other girl's death will force you to be the hero. Nothing will change that. Now, go. Go to Erewhon, and prepare for her arrival, for it'll surely be a big one."
Louisa sighed. "Revenge it is, then."
Athena leaned back in her throne, sighing deeply. "Father, what are you hiding?"