Editing's done! Here's a longer chapter in celebration!
I don't really remember if I've ever been to a carnival before. If I have, it was probably quite different from Monster Carnival. Well, after nighttime, I mean. Before that, it was relatively normal, including the town. Although it's the 1950s there. There's a dark brown apothecary, made of dark brown bricks. There's also an ice-cream store and a mechanic's, which both look really old-fashioned. And so do most of the characters, save Fierce Fox and myself (obviously). At least the sky was a beautiful blue and the trees contrast nicely in the background. To the right there was a carnival, so Fierce Fox and I headed that way. We ran into a boy.
"Who are you?" Fierce Fox asked.
"I'm Edgar- proud carnie apprentice." the boy answered. He has brown hair styled with bangs above the forehead. That 1950s look. He wears overalls over a striped shirt. Very 1950s. He's a major character in the island, sort of like Amelia on Monkey Wrench. And also like Amelia, he's a nice guy. A nervous frown was expressed on his face.
"You look nervous." Fierce Fox noticed, raising her brow.
"All these people are waiting for the carnival, but I don't think it's going to be ready in time." Edgar answered. He stared at me. "Uh… sorry, but… have I seen you somewhere?"
"Maybe." I said, biting my lip. I focused on the blue sky.
Fierce Fox sucked in her breath. "What can we do?"
"It would be a big help if you could talk to the other workers and see if there's anything they need," Edgar replied. "The carnival is this way." He walked off. Fierce Fox and I followed him. The carnival was set up on a corn field with many grassy hills. To the far right is a forest. We came to a game stall, which was a duck game. A bit scary. It had a red and white striped tent and a pool missing water. According to the carnie who runs it, it was a 'disaster'. Honestly, water is very easy to get.
"Alright, go to this mechanic's called Honest Gabe's," I told Fierce Fox. "Tell the lady there that you need the radiator hose and get the hose." Fierce Fox nodded, then ran off. The monsters aren't here yet, I thought. Nothing should happen if we split up for a bit.
"Darn, that Edgar!" the lady running the food stall complained. It sold fair food like cotton candy. "He can't get enough of my fried dough, and now I'm out of sugar!"
"Do you need some help?" I asked. The lady gave me the task of making sugar in laboratory. Excitement welled up inside me like a balloon. I skipped over to the apothecary, a grin plastered on my face. I passed Fierce Fox on the way. That was quick, I thought. "Hey. Give that hose to the Duck Stall guy. Then go over to the Balloon Game and get their darts. Go back to the mechanic's and sharpen the darts." My friend nodded and raced off. I arrived at the apothecary.
The apothecary is dark and full of medicines, tonics and more. It's basically an old-fashioned chemist. I spoke to the owner, whose name is Dr. Dan. He has a little secret, but we'll get back to that in the bonus quest.
I used Poptropican physics and said, "You could have just said that."
Of course, Dr. Dan knew what I was talking about. "Moot poot. I can't see a well enough reason to make them anymore. Say, could you help me fill in this order?"
"With pleasure," I responded. Dr. Dan handed me a formula to make salt, which sat with the sugar formula. Now I needed to make sugar and salt in a lab. Enthrallment tingled my spine. I leaped up a few shelves, reaching the ChemoBUSTER-2000. It's a microwave-like machine where you can make chemicals. I grabbed some materials off of the shelves and stuffed them into the ChemoBUSTER-2000. Then I began creating salt.
With a gun, I fired bubbles at chemicals. They split up and then joined together, creating new chemicals. These chemicals were called sodium chloride and H20. In other words, salt and water. The salt popped up in a bag. I was so cheerful I didn't complain about the table salt having a complicated name just to get a profit. I gave the salt to Dr. Dan. He said I could use the machine again to make sugar, so I did.
After that, I returned to the carnival. Fierce Fox was holding a souvenir cup with an unimpressed expression. I giggled at that and walked over to her. She was standing next to the balloon game.
"We can use that for something." I told her. We walked over to the fried food stall. I filled up the souvenir cup with cooking oil (bleh). I also gave the lady running it the sugar.
"You're a lifesaver, kid," the lady said, grinning. "On the house." She handed me fresh, hot, buttery fried dough. The smell wafted into my nostrils, making me grin. I could see why Edgar enjoyed it so. Speak of the devil…
"Is any of that fried dough ready yet?" Edgar asked, racing over. "I'm a demon for that stuff!" Totally not foreshadowing.
"Back to work, trainee!" the lady ordered. I gave Edgar a friendly shrug before he ran off. Fierce Fox and I headed right to the Ferris wheel. It was a nice Ferris wheel… apart from the demonic clown face in the middle. And the fact that it was going too fast. The blue carriages whooshed past my head, making my hair blow in the wind.
"Looks like them people are going to be mighty disappointed, but I can't let 'em on this thing." the carnie there told us. I turned to Fierce Fox.
"Go right and into the forest. There'll be a lever there. Grab it and come back." I instructed. Fierce Fox nodded and headed off. I was too much of a coward to go with her, so I waited. Fierce Fox soon returned with the lever. I plugged it onto the Ferris wheel's machinery; it slowed down. The guy thanked us.
"You did it!" Edgar cried, running over. "We can open the carnival!" And the scene cut to dusk. The beautiful colours of dusk splashed the sky, and the carnival was alight. Now, technically, this is the part where you're supposed to do the dart-sharpening. However, I'd gotten the order of events wrong, and had told Fierce Fox to do it earlier. Surprisingly, it worked, and there was no problem with the darts. And we had the souvenir cup filled with oil.
"Hey, I gotta ask," Edgar approached Fierce Fox and I as we stood near the food stall. "How did you know about the darts?" He stared at me. "Wait… you're the prophesied hero, right?" He gasped. "Wow! The prophesied hero's here, at the carnival! This is crazy! Nice to meet you."
"Uh… you too," I said. It felt a bit weird, this whole hero thing. Especially with people treating me like that. "Anyway, my friend and I are gonna go play some carnival games now, so…"
"Oh, sure!" Edgar said cheerfully. "Have fun!" Fierce Fox and I jumped up one of the grassy hills.
"He's a nice guy," I told Fierce Fox. I shrugged. "Besides, you know how people react to me."
"Good point." Fierce Fox replied, a small frown visible on her face. We arrived at the next carnival game: the Weight Guess. Like the name, this guy guesses your weight. If he does it incorrectly, you get a prize. With my instruction, Fierce Fox went to the apothecary and grabbed something small but heavy… so we could cheat and win the prize. That prize was a bouncy ball.
With the prize in our possession, we headed down to the Test Your Strength game. It's one of those games where you hit a marker with a hammer and see how strong you are. The game was a scam, since something in it was absorbing the strength. Like a spy, I swapped this out with the bouncy ball. Fierce Fox smashed the hammer onto the marker. She surpassed the top.
"Such strength!" the carnie running it exclaimed. "We should pump iron together some time. Until then, keep this hammer as a token of my admiration." She let Fierce Fox keep that awesome stone hammer. Then we went back to the Ferris wheel. Surprise surprise, there was a crisis. And that crisis was that the Ferris wheel had stopped and two kids were trapped on it.
"Just where did you find that lever, a heap of junk?" the Ferris wheel carnie asked. "We've got to grease these gears or those kids will be stuck up there all night!" Luckily, we had the cup of oil. I placed it in the gears; they started rotating and whirring. The Ferris wheel did a similar thing. The kids were brought to the ground, safe and sound.
"That's the last time I let my boyfriend pick the ride!" the girl exclaimed. "Now we're going on the Tunnel of Love." She and her boyfriend left to do so. I hoped it wouldn't be a repeat of Vampire's Curse Island. And by that I mean the romantic business at the end. Unfortunately, that very thing occurred. The carnie at the Tunnel of Love was witness to that. And not only witness, but a complainer.
"Hey, can you two give me a hand?" he asked. I nodded. "We have a strict 'hands-to-yourself' policy that these teens need to obey. We'll teach them a lesson. Go to the Haunted Lab and get yourselves some masks. You'll need this." He handed us a flashlight. Then, me sighing reluctantly, Fierce Fox and I headed over to the Haunted Lab. The Haunted Lab has always managed to creep me out, no matter how many times I play Monster Carnival.
The only reason I entered with Fierce Fox was because I felt like I wasn't contributing enough. Even with the flashlight, it was very dark. There were trees with faces from my nightmares, barrels of toxic waste, monsters, doors, and creaky stairs. The wall was tearing up, patches of cream coming through the dark wallpaper. There were pictures on the wall of scary heads. Chills raced up my spine.
Fierce Fox, in the lead, charged up the stairs. I stayed back, bending my knees. My eyes were widened as I scanned the area, looking for trouble. Logically I knew there wasn't any, but fear isn't logical. It's quite the opposite. Thankfully, we reached the masks. There was only one, unfortunately. Oh well. Fierce Fox could scare those teens.
After grabbing the mask, Fierce Fox and I exited the Haunted Lab. We headed over to the Tunnel of Love. Before entering, Fierce Fox placed on the mask. I told her what to do; she went inside. A few seconds later, the teenagers were running out, screaming for mama. I giggled. I stopped giggling when I saw some residents talking about something suspicious.
"Where did all the carnies go?" a man asked.
"They all ran into the woods!" a woman replied. Fierce Fox gave me a look. I sucked in my breath.
"Come on." I told her. I led her into the forest, which is sort of like the one on Twisted Thicket. There's an abandoned roller-coaster and a creepy Poptropican face, both covered in vines. We passed those and headed through the trees. There are quite a lot of bushes, trees, mushrooms, and a dirt floor. Twisted Thicket's beauty is unparalleled, but it's not the same for its scariness. By far, Monster Carnival surpassed that. Somehow, I don't know how, but it did.
Anyway, Fierce Fox and I followed trinkets that the carnies had dropped to reach them. A little while later, we arrived at a clearing. More trees than before surround it, and the scene's darker, intensifying my fear. The carnies were standing before a twisted tree stump, their eyes googly. A hooded figure was standing on the tree stump.
"Found them, now what are they all doing out here?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow. I shushed her.
"The hour has come, my children!" the hooded figure declared. "Become your true selves and serve me!" With that word, the carnies turned into… monsters, of all different shapes. I felt chills down my spine. And I got even more when the hooded guy said, "And now, you will bring me the prophesied hero! Dead or alive, I care not! Bring her to me!"
"Uh…" Fierce Fox gave me a look. "We'd better go."
"Yeah…" I said, fear brewing in my belly. The hooded guy was sending the monsters to kill me. Great. Now I was dead. Life doesn't get much better than that.
By the time we got to the edge of the forest, the sky had darkened to black with splashes of green. The Ferris wheel was even more terrifying than before- scratch that, the whole carnival was terrifying. This was not a normal carnival. It was a monster carnival (obviously). Shivers made my whole body shake. We arrived at the end of the carnival, near the Haunted Lab. Edgar ran up to us.
"We've got to do something!" he cried. "All my friends have been turned into monsters," He looked at me. "And they're coming after you!"
"What should we do?" Fierce Fox asked, tapping her foot.
"Ringmaster Raven will know what to do!" Edgar replied. I held up my hand.
"Actually… he's the bad guy," I explained. "He's… trying to hypnotize everyone… and capture me."
"What!" Edgar cried, shaking his head. "No way! He's a good guy!"
"He really isn't," I insisted. "He's going to hypnotize you, too." My heart clenched in fear.
"I… don't know if I can believe you…" Edgar admitted. He frowned. "I just want to help my friends."
"We can," I insisted. I smiled at Fierce Fox. "This… t-this is Poptropica. We'll save the day." We can only try, I thought. My fear was growing stronger. It always does. Despite how calm I may act, my fear is always overwhelming. And it gets in the way, too.
"But how will we do that?" Edgar asked. I tapped my chin.
"I think we have to defeat Ringmaster Raven, by kidnapping him or something," I answered, with a shrug. "I'm not totally sure."
"I can do that easily." Fierce Fox bragged. I tried not to roll my eyes.
"So… we kidnap and defeat Ringmaster Raven?" Edgar asked. He sounded a little unsure. "But what about the monsters on the way? Or… what if the plan doesn't work?"
"Well, there's three of us," I replied. Suddenly, an idea flowered in my head. I gasped. "I know what to do! Listen in, guys."
Edgar and I edged our way to the tent. It was a typical circus tent: red-and-white-striped pattern with flags on top. Ringmaster Raven was waiting inside near some colourful, circus-like cages and seats. He was wearing a bird beak mask; a flowing red cape; a top hat; black clothing with buttons. Very sinister.
"Ringmaster, it's terrible!" Edgar complained. He was a relatively good actor. "They've all turned into monsters!"
"I know exactly what to do," Ringmaster Raven replied. He eyed me in a creepy way. "I'll need the prophesied hero for this."
"Sure," I replied. I winked at Fierce Fox, who was hiding in the shadows. "But you'll never get the chance. Now!" My friend raced forward, clutching the hammer. She swung it at Ringmaster Raven. Edgar looked away. But Ringmaster Raven had dodged the blow and was standing on top of the cage.
"Very clever!" he sneered. "You know what's happening, don't you? You fool! You can't stop me with your pathetic plans!" He laughed darkly. "Edgar, Fierce Fox, seize the hero!"
"Wait, what?!" I questioned. Fierce Fox and Edgar roughly grabbed me around the waist. "Fierce Fox!? What?!"
"This is why you should never split up," Ringmaster Raven cackled. "While she was alone, I hypnotized her to be my slave. Edgar too. Now they're both under my control… and soon you will be, too!"
"No!" I shouted, clenching my fists. I struggled in the grip of Fierce Fox and Edgar, but they were pretty strong. They kept me above ground, their hands digging into my sides. Their eyes had gone googly, which almost released a sob from my throat. My poor friends. What had I done?
My captors locked me onto a chair. This crazy bird-laser was aimed right at my face. Its beak was opened; the engines were whirring inside. Fear was now not only clenching my heart, but my entire body. Fierce Fox was standing on one side, Edgar on the other.
"While Edgar hypnotizes you, Fierce Fox and I will be taking care of the rest of town!" the ringmaster cackled. He removed his mask, revealing a long nose and bird-like marks on his face. He nodded at Edgar. "Goodbye, hero!" Then he and the hypnotized Fierce Fox exited.
"No!" I shouted. I turned to Edgar. I remembered the fried dough. "Hey, Edgar! Want some fried dough?" I was able to move my hand enough to get out the fried dough. I passed it to Edgar. He stuffed his face, his googly eyes clearing.
"Mmm, fried dough…" he said. He blinked. "Huh…? What happened? Where am I?"
"You were hypnotized!" I answered. "Ringmaster Raven somehow hypnotized you and Fierce Fox. Now those two are going to hypnotize the whole town!"
"Oh no!" Edgar exclaimed, raising his arms. "We've got to stop them!" He freed me from the chair by pressing a button on the machine. "Where are they?"
"At the apothecary, I think," I replied. I shivered. "C'mon, maybe we can still catch them." Edgar and I raced out of the tent and to the apothecary. It was boarded shut and all the lights were off. It didn't look like anyone was inside. More chills crept down my spine.
"Where could they be?" Edgar asked, also seeming stressed.
"Let's go back to the carnival." I suggested. So we ran back to the carnival. It felt odd to run so much. But I was too nervous to really care. The monsters were all there, standing in front of their designated stalls, games and so forth. No sign of Fierce Fox or Ringmaster Raven. I bit my lip.
"They're not here, either," Edgar said, shaking. Then, his eyes widened. "Wait, I think I saw something enter the tent!" He raced ahead. I followed him, eyeing the dark sky. In the distance, glowing eyes stared at me. I looked away and focused on running. We entered the tent again. The townspeople were standing in a cage, defenseless. The bird-laser was aimed at them, with Fierce Fox at the wheel. Ringmaster Raven was cackling.
"Stop!" I yelled, Edgar and I dashing in.
"You may have escaped, but once they're all hypnotized, you'll have nowhere to run!" the ringmaster sneered. He nodded at Fierce Fox. "Go!"
"NO!" I shouted. I bent my knees and leaped up to my partner/friend. I shoved her down. "Fierce Fox, don't you remember me? It's me, Alice!" I showed her a medallion. "We've completed islands together! I'm your voice!" Fierce Fox blinked a bit, then her eyes returned to normal. Relief flooded through me.
"What… happened?" Fierce Fox asked, scratching her head.
"You were hypnotized!" I answered. Fierce Fox got to her feet and glared at Ringmaster Raven.
"Fools!" Ringmaster Raven bellowed. "You will never defeat me!"
"We'll see about that!" Fierce Fox spat. She spazzed her fingers on the keyboard, causing a laser to launch itself at Ringmaster Raven. He yelped and fell backwards, landing on the floor. When he awoke, his eyes were googly. Fierce Fox jumped down and landed right next to him. "You are my slave!" she commanded.
"I am your slave..." he answered.
"You will never hurt anyone ever again." Fierce Fox continued, her glare piercing. Edgar and I eyed each other.
"I will never hurt anyone ever again…" Ringmaster Raven repeated.
"And to make sure, from now on, you will believe that you are… let's see… a chicken!" Fierce Fox finished, grinning.
"I'm a chicken! Cluck cluck!" Ringmaster Raven cried. He flapped his arms and bopped his head.
"We stopped him!" Edgar said cheerfully.
"Just in time. Let's go get everyone out of those cages." Fierce Fox replied, smiling in relief. I was too. The scene cut to the next day. We were on the bridge near where the Ferris wheel was. The carnival was packed up and all connected by a big truck. All the carnies were normal, too. Fierce Fox and I approached Edgar, who was standing near the head of the truck.
"It sure feels good to no longer be under the Ringmaster's spell," he expressed. Fierce Fox nodded in agreement. "Running a carnival is a lot more fun when you don't have to worry about turning into a monster every night!"
"That's right," I said. I let my arms hang by my side. "So, what now?"
"It's the carnies' life for us. We're hitting the road," Edgar answered. "And we've got a brand new attraction!" He pulled the tarp off of a cage. Inside was Ringmaster Raven in a chicken suit. He clucked comedically. "Maybe we'll see you next time we're in town," Edgar continued. "Oh, and take this medallion. You'll never have to buy a ticket again!" He handed us the medallion.
I felt a little sad. "Well… see you, Edgar."
"Bye!" Edgar said, grinning. He climbed into the driver's seat; the trucks sped away. I waved a bit before the townspeople approached us.
"Thank goodness everything is back to normal!" the man exclaimed.
"I hope we don't have to wait another twenty years for the carnival to come back." the lady agreed. She and the man exited. They were replaced with the mechanic who works at Honest Gabe's.
"Dr. Dan is missing!" she cried. "Have you seen him?"
"Not since last night." Fierce Fox answered.
"He likes to take morning walks in the woods, but he's usually back by now," the mechanic continued. "I'm afraid he could be hurt." It wasn't exactly that. It was more like… he was actually a monster. We discovered this after we climbed over the creepy abandoned roller-coaster, which is deep in the woods. It's old and rusted, twisted in the ground by vines and roots. Dr. Dan was at the end, twitching nervously.
"You're… a monster?" Fierce Fox asked, her brow raised.
"Yes," Dr. Dan answered, shaking. "I've been hiding my true identity from the townspeople all these years."
"But why?" Fierce Fox asked.
"You saw how they treated Bird Boy!" Dr. Dan cried (Bird Boy is Ringmaster Raven- he was trying to hypnotize everyone because they kicked him out eons ago). "I couldn't let that happen to me. I've been working on a cure, but after last night, I can't go back into town."
"Maybe we can help." Fierce Fox said with determination.
"You can use my shop to make the chemical agent I need," Dr. Dan replied. "This is the recipe." He handed us a sheet of paper. "Hurry! I don't have much time." So, with that, we started creating the formula. The first ingredient was wild mushrooms, which were under the roller-coaster. Then it was diet cola (well, original cola, but there wasn't any) and some pickles from Honest Gabe's. Using those ingredients and the ChemoBUSTER-2000, we made a formula known as Chemical X.
With the formula, we returned to Dr. Dan. The formula, unfortunately, only made his condition worse. He now had a tail and horns.
"I don't understand," Fierce Fox exclaimed. "We followed the recipe: mushrooms, pickles, diet cola…"
"Diet?" Dr. Dan asked. "No wonder it didn't work. Everybody knows diet cola is a pale imitation of the real thing!"
"Some people prefer the low-calorie taste." Fierce Fox pointed out. I guess I couldn't disagree.
"I have no choice," Dr. Dan declared, head down. "I have to leave town. I can't let the townspeople know my secret." Then, the townspeople arrived: the kids, the man and woman and the mechanic.
"Dr. Dan!" the mechanic exclaimed. "There you are!"
"Stay back!" Dr. Dan yelled. "I've seen what people in this town do to monsters."
"Oh, Dr. Dan, is that what you think?" the mechanic asked with sympathy. "That we're here to hurt you? Everyone in this town loves you!"
"You cured my athlete's foot!" the man commented.
"Your compounds restored my Elan vital!" the woman added.
"And you're the best neighbour I've ever had," the mechanic finished. "We came out here because we were worried about you, Dr. Dan."
"You mean… I don't have to hide who I am anymore?" Dr. Dan asked hopefully.
"Monsters are the coolest!" the kids shouted. "Monsters, monsters!"
"I guess I won't need this after all," Dr. Dan said, handing us the Chemical X. "You're welcome to keep it. Maybe it'll do something for you." Then he followed the mechanic and everyone else. I smiled as my screen faded to white.