A/N: Holy smokes, next chapter is the last island chapter. 0_0 The ending will be slightly anticlimactic - it will be luring more to the sequel. More information about the sequel will be revealed later. For now, enjoy this chapter.
Also, I just want to say Home Again takes place before Poptropica Worlds is released, so Alice doesn't know about it yet (I'm not sure if I said that before). Alright, that's all for now. Happy reading!
Curious thoughts began to flood my mind. I hadn't thought about the end before, strangely. But now it was staring me straight in the face - after next island, it was the end. What would happen? Would I leave Poptropica forever? Would I stay in Poptropica and never return? I didn't know. I didn't want to leave Poptropica. It was my home. But at the same time, my house… it was my home too. My mom, Marcus, school… I didn't want to leave all that behind. Poptropica was merely a computer game, after all.
But, for me, it had been so much more. A source of comfort when Dad died. And now it was somewhere where I was special. I thought about the hero business. Was my trouble over? It seemed the whole Zeus-shenanigan was the big highlight of my heroism. What would happen at the end? I didn't know. I felt scared. I sighed. I was tired of being scared. Fear had controlled my life since I couldn't get over a loss. I was crushed. And, even though I had gotten better, I was still crushed. I took a deep breath.
It was time to grow up and move on.
It was time to be brave and face whatever came at me head-on.
Fierce Fox, a boy named Timmy Failure, a girl named Corrina Corrina and myself were standing in front of a house, covered in stinking garbage. A polar bear was to our left, eating garbage out of a bin. A garbage truck was to our right - the obvious cause of the mess.
"I'm going to need a seriously long shower." I grumbled to myself.
"At last, I have proof of your misdeeds, you nefarious huckster!" Timmy Failure spat at Corrina Corrina. He's a boy with blushed skin; frail hair; a red scarf; a white shirt; blue pants; boots. His shirt was covered in mud and a banana peel was covering his right eye. He's from a book series of the same name (yes I have read it). And no, this is not the end (well technically it is but what I mean is it's not the part where we get the medallion). Unlike other Poptropica islands, the end is shown first, and then the story starts.
"What are you talking about?" Corrina Corrina asked. She has pale skin; black hair with a red ribbon; a pale blue jumper; a black skirt; white shoes. Her clothes were covered in muck. "I was trying to help you!"
"Save it for the magistrate," Timmy scoffed. "You'll be in shackles for the rest of your natural life!"
"I don't have time for this," Corrina Corrina snorted. "Good luck washing off the garbage stink." She stormed off.
"Joke's on her," Timmy said, facing us. "Garbage stink is the ideal olfactory camouflage." I stared at him. He had a cartoonish, drawing-like appearance, similar to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid islands. Go look the Timmy Failure books up if you want exact details. "That kind of advanced detective technique is why I was able to solve this case in the first place, totally unassisted."
"Wait just one minute," Fierce Fox spoke up. "You didn't solve this case by yourself."
"Of course I did!" Timmy retorted. "I'm the greatest detective alive. My case notes prove it."
"That's not how I remember it," Fierce Fox retorted, looking away. "That's not how I remember it at all…" Cut to black. The screen read, earlier. Fierce Fox and I appeared on a street, which is full of cartoonish buildings. We headed left, passing a bush. Inside that bush was Timmy Failure, his head poked out.
"You two!" he whisper-shouted. "Newcomers! Step lightly. There are evil doings afoot."
"Such as?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow.
"Someone stole my pants!" Timmy exclaimed. Oh no, how evil, I thought sarcastically. I mean, hey. I've dealt with a lot worse than someone's missing pants.
"We'll… be careful, I guess." Fierce Fox replied, shooting me a look. I shrugged.
"You'll need to be more than that," Timmy told us. "Since you two are new around here, you're the only people I can trust. Will you help me collar the criminal?"
"Far be it from us to stand idly while a pants thief terrorizes this fair city." I answered, giving Fierce Fox a small wink.
"Great," Timmy replied. "We'll have to split up, but I'll leave pages from my detective log around town to help you two out. To investigate, you may want to investigate my former business partner. His loyalty is in question." He gave us his detective log. Inside was a page about his polar bear, Total, that apparently came over from following Timmy's cat bowl when he saw it in his former icy home. He was originally Timmy's 'business partner' but Timmy decided he was insufficient and fired him (though Timmy still calls him his partner for whatever reason). The detective incorporation Timmy runs is called Total Failure Inc., which apparently does not fail, despite the name. If it were me, I would call it something else, but who am I to judge?
"You can usually find him at my house, waiting for someone to leave food unguarded." Timmy Failure told us. He climbed out of the bush. His underwear was quite… atrocious, one could say.
"Oh!" Fierce Fox exclaimed. "I didn't realize you meant the pants you were wearing!"
"Oh, come on," Timmy scoffed, winking. "Don't draw attention to it." He walked off. Fierce Fox gave me a look.
"Let's go find ourselves that polar bear." I sighed.
We headed left and passed through a park. Above a swing set was a pole; I grabbed it (naturally). We headed a little more left and came to a large, red-brick mansion. A gardener that looks like Mario from Nintendo was cutting away at a hedge, making an elephant. I jumped onto the hedge with his permission; the trunk fell off. He got upset and let us have his gardening shears. Nice (well, not for him, but for us).
We went right and entered Timmy's house, which is a nice, normal, beige house with a tiled roof. Inside is normal too: fluffy carpet; neat kitchen; bedrooms upstairs; a closet to the left; a roomba zooming along the carpet. A large, fluffy polar bear was in the kitchen, gazing longingly at the cupboard.
"If you want anyone to be your friend, give them food." I said jokingly to Fierce Fox, as I leaped onto the roomba. I eyed the fridge. "It always works."
"Depends what type of food, know-it-all." Fierce Fox replied, raising her brow.
"Well, for Total, it doesn't matter," I said, jumping onto the fridge. It's funny how it's perfectly normal to jump on fridges and other objects in Poptropica. "He'll even eat garbage." I looked at the cupboard. The door was locked with a lock I could cut with gardening shears. So I did that: I got some crispy rice treats (rice crispy treats). I gave Total one - now he would pretty much follow me anywhere. Food logic as I discussed above.
After grabbing a pen from a shelf, Fierce Fox and I went upstairs. We entered Timmy's blue bedroom. I gave Fierce Fox the honour of pushing a random scarecrow out the window.
"And that's not important?" she asked.
"Yes, but it doesn't really matter." I assured her. We headed outside and found the scarecrow, who is known as Garbanzo Man. We picked up Garbanzo Man's mask, which is a paper bag. Fantastic, truly. All three of us headed right, reaching an apartment building in construction. I decided to let Fierce Fox have some more fun and gave her the Garbanzo Man mask. Before I continued instructing her, I tipped over a garbage can. Total laid down on the ground and began consuming the contents, his bouncy belly exposed. A trampoline for Fierce Fox to get onto the building.
"Climb up until you can jump onto the roof of the bank," I told Fierce Fox. "When you can, enter the bank and jump down. Put the mask on. Scare the kid at the bottom and grab his video camera. Don't forget to grab stuff on your ascent up the apartment building." Fierce Fox gave me a nod and began scaling the building. I watched, almost laughing. It was almost funny. Suddenly I felt sad. My adventures were almost over. I wondered if Fierce Fox knew. How could I tell her?
Now we had almost everything (except Total, who had left for some reason). We headed right and came to a zoo. Nearby a silver cage surrounded by green bushland and holding a tiger was a red bucket. I picked it up. A little more right was a little sewer-like cage with a female polar bear. She was hitting a beach ball back and forth; it was being carried by wind from a fan. Now it was time for a puzzle. I pulled out the pole and put my brain to work.
I had to hit a red button which controlled a fan and the breeze of the ball. I had to get the lady polar bear to hit the ball in my direction. It was timing-related. Fierce Fox peered over my shoulder, turning up her nose at the sight of a puzzle. It was slightly agitating. But I managed to complete it and get the beach ball.
We stopped at Timmy's house and used the rice crispies to get Total to follow us. Well, that was before Timmy showed up.
"Not so fast!" he exclaimed. "I won't let you abscond with my partner that easily."
"He was just standing here," Fierce Fox retorted. "He wasn't doing anything."
"That's exactly the problem," Timmy told us. "He needs to be watched around the clock so he doesn't slack off in the kitchen all day."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow.
"Easy, with the Lazy Bear 2000," Timmy answered. "I'm far too busy to make it myself, so I'm delegating the responsibility to you two. Here are the instructions." It wasn't the most… complicated invention. It was basically a box on a camera. Written in black marker on the box is Lazy Bear 2000. Really genius. The good news is we had everything except the box. The better news is I knew where to get that box.
Fierce Fox and I went over to the mansion. On a hedge shaped like a giraffe was a box. Timmy was there too - he found the box before us. The box was on the giraffe's head. To get the box, we had to throw the beach ball at Timmy's face. It rebounded and hit the box, knocking it off. Timmy wasn't sure if that was what he had in mind. I didn't really think so either.
Anyway, we had all the things we needed for the Lazy Bear 2000. Fierce Fox and I assembled it. It wasn't very hard to assemble, let me be honest.
"Nice work," Timmy said, entering the house. "Now we'll be able to catch my slumbering partner in the act." He gave us a grin. "I've got another lead for you. A classmate of mine has been acting friendly - a little too friendly. I'd like you to check him out." This classmate of Timmy is named Charles "Rollo" Tookus. Apparently he is not very intelligent, even though he has a 4.6 grade average. According to Timmy, that's because he studies obsessively. Studying. Not my favourite thing in the world, but it's something I do.
Fierce Fox, Total and I went over to the park where I got the pole. Charles - who, no offence, is quite large - was stuck in the slide.
"Help! I'm stuck!" he yelped, his legs sticking out.
"There must be a way to get that boy out of there…" Fierce Fox said, looking at me. I nodded and went to the top of the slide. I threw a crispy rice treat inside; Total jumped in after it. This caused Charles to come flying out, but Total to become stuck. So now we had to free Total. And that was by freaking Charles out. Because when he's freaking out over a test, Charles' head bobbles and an earthquake starts.
"I heard there was a pop quiz scheduled for tomorrow." I told Charles.
"A pop quiz?" Charles asked, looking anxious. "Oh no! Do you know what subject?"
"English." I answered. After Science, English is definitely my favourite subject. I find writing not especially difficult and even fun in small doses.
"That's my worst subject!" Charles exclaimed. His head began to bobble.
"Yeah, and wait until you find out about the time limit!" Fierce Fox added in.
"Why, what's with the time limit?" Charles asked, looking even more nervous.
"It's only ten minutes long." I answered, grinning at Fierce Fox.
"Ten minutes?" Charles asked, vibrating even more. Total's nose was bouncing up and down. "What if I don't answer all the questions in time?"
"There's one more twist you won't believe." I said, feeling a little mean. Well, it was for Total. That polar bear is rather adorable.
"What else could there possibly be?" Charles asked, stunned.
"This test will go on your permanent record!" I answered, smiling. That would make even a confident student shiver in their skin. Charles' face had gone purple and the world seemed to be shaking. Total popped out of the slide and landed next to us. A piece of paper also popped out.
I took a deep breath. "Oh, sorry, I was thinking of next week."
The shaking stopped. Charles breathed out in relief. "Oh. What a relief!" I picked up the piece of paper. It was from the detective log. It was about a girl named Molly Moskins, who Timmy 'needed' for whatever reason. She has mismatched pupils, which makes it a little hard to look her in the eye. And she's shoe-obsessed. Said girl raced over to us, distress expressed on her face.
"Where's Timmy?" she asked. "Where, oh where? I need Timmy's help!"
"Is there anything we can help with?" Fierce Fox asked, smiling.
"You two don't look as brave as Timmy, or half as good-looking, but beggars can't be choosers." Molly answered (strangely, it almost felt good to be insulted in such a way).
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Fierce Fox said, her tone becoming bitter. "What do you need help with?"
"It's my cat, Señor Burrito!" Molly told us. "She's stuck in the vending machine at the bowling alley!" (Señor refers to someone who is male, but whatever).
"Why can't you just buy something from the machine?" Fierce Fox asked.
"It only takes coins, and I have bills!" Molly answered.
"We'll take the money and figure something out." I told her, holding out my hand. Molly gave me a look of disgust.
"Does that usually work for you?" she asked, scoffing. "I'll buy something - shoes, maybe - but I'm not giving away my allowance."
"Shoes?" Fierce Fox asked, giving me a look. "Timmy might have a pair stashed at his headquarters." So with that, we returned to Timmy's house. The roomba had stopped moving and was vibrating intensely. Fierce Fox and I watched the footage from the Lazy Bear 2000. It showed the roomba zooming across the carpet and consuming the key for Timmy's headquarters (which is a closet). I don't know why the key was just sitting around on the carpet, but whatever. We needed it back.
Fierce Fox had gotten a screwdriver from when she was climbing up the apartment building. We used it to open the roomba and get the Total Failure Office Key, which, like I said, is a closet. However, in this closet was a pair of red shoes. We picked them up. We headed back over to the park and sold them to Molly. She really liked them and gave us some money. Bingo.
Fierce Fox, Total and I travelled a long way back to the zoo. There's a chicken nugget stand there. As well as picking up a detective log page, we bought a hunk of chicken nuggets. And we got some change as well. Now we could go and buy something at the vending machine at the bowling alley. So we went over to said place.
The bowling alley is old with red wallpaper, a filthy carpet and shelves full of bowling shoes. And, of course, the vending machine at the front. Inside that vending machine, indeed, was a ginger she-cat: Señor Burrito. I used the change to buy her… and some bon-bons which came for free.
"I bet Total would go crazy for those." Fierce Fox commented, eyeing the bon-bons. I gave her a hearty nod. We returned to Molly and gave her Señor Burrito back. She was ecstatic.
"I was wrong about you two!" she exclaimed. "Next time, I'm coming to you two first!"
"Thanks," I replied. "We're called Foxes at Manchester if you're wondering." Suddenly, the garbage truck passed us. Timmy's blue pants were flying out the back like a flag.
"Timmy's pants are in the back of that truck!" Fierce Fox exclaimed.
"I'd say ask Timmy, but I think he's still on the tower." Molly told us, giving us a hint.
"It's up to us to investigate, then." Fierce Fox said, puffing out her chest. I gave her a nod. She and I ran left, chasing the garbage truck. However, we were not quick enough to keep up with it. There was something for us on the roof of someone's house, though. It was a page from the detective log. It explained what had happened to Timmy's pants. His mom had thrown them out because she saw them as trash. So really, there was no criminal. Only miscommunication. Wow.
Fierce Fox and I led Total over to the apartment building. We gave him garbage; he became a trampoline. The both of us headed to the top, where Timmy was waiting (climbing was the typical jumping and climbing).
"The pants could be in the trash truck." Fierce Fox told Timmy.
"I can see it from here, but we'll need some way to get after it!" Timmy replied. He looked thoughtful. "There's one solution: Crispin Flavius' car! I assume he's trying trying to top his lousy bowling record…"
"Got it." I said. I grabbed Fierce Fox's arm and we headed down. We returned to Timmy's house and got Total to follow us, using the good old rice krispies. We headed into the bowling alley. We couldn't get to the bowling itself since the attendant saw us as too young. Now it was time for something beautiful. I fed Total a bon-bon and he began dancing. Quite astonishing.
"Wow, that bear can dance!" the attendant said, watching Total in awe. Fierce Fox and I slipped past, arriving in the bowling alley itself. It's your typical bowling alley: wooden floor, pins, leather couches. I decided to let Fierce Fox bowl, since she was a natural at everything.
"Come to take a shot at the king, huh?" Crispin Flavius asked mockingly. He was standing by the bowling lanes, his black hair gelled back. He was holding a bowling ball.
"Excuse me?" Fierce Fox asked incredulously.
"I'm the greatest bowler in town!" Crispin replied arrogantly. "No one denies this."
"I bet I could beat you." Fierce Fox said, folding her arms.
"Ha!" Crispin laughed. "I'd hand you my car keys if you can throw a better game than me!"
"You're on!" Fierce Fox said fiercely (duh). And so the games begun. I watched from the side, eyeing the determination in Fierce Fox's eyes. She easily bet Crispin. It was inevitable. She was just too good.
"I can't believe you beat my record!" Crispin exclaimed. He sighed and held out his car keys. "Fine, take my car keys, don't scratch the paint." Fierce Fox accepted the car keys. We headed outside (we could get Total again later) and found Crispin Flavius' car - a red, 80's style vehicle. I couldn't drive that jeep on Cryptids Island and I was in no mood to drive a real car.
"After those pants!" Fierce Fox yelled, taking the wheel. I buckled up, taking a deep breath. We zoomed forward, exhaust coming out the back (not the nicest car I've seen). Suddenly, Fierce Fox accelerated too fast and crashed into someone's yellow wood house. Sweat rolled down my cheeks and I stopped breathing for a moment. I was reminded of the car crash when my leg was ruined and Dad…
"What in the blazes?!" the resident asked, coming out to survey the damage. "Why is that hoodlum Crispin's car in my living room?!" Fierce Fox and I were lying on the sidewalk, the red car leaking smoke. It was stuck in the house, sticking out. We stood up.
"Our ride is cooked!" Fierce Fox exclaimed. "Now what?"
"Well, this is no good," Timmy said, walking over. "We need a Plan B." He looked in the other direction. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but it's time to unleash…" He paused.
"...yes?" Fierce Fox asked.
"Silence!" Timmy said, holding out his hand. "Let me have this dramatic pause." Fierce Fox and I looked around for a bit before Timmy spoke again. "...The Totalmobile!"
"The what now?" Fierce Fox asked, raising her brow.
"It's for dire emergencies," Timmy explained, sounding dramatic. "But it's hard to imagine a more critical moment than this." Yeah, sure, I thought, secretly rolling my eyes. Timmy held out a page from the detective log. "These are the instructions. Gather the necessary equipment and come back to me." The page showed a diagram of a wagon being pulled by Total, who was chasing a bucket of chicken nuggets being held up by a fishing rod. The fishing rod was connected to the wagon. The wagon had 'greatness' written on it in black marker.
There were a few things we needed. One was Total, who was inside Timmy's house. After consuming a packet of rice crispies, he began following us. We headed to the left, back to that mansion. The angry Mario-like gardner was still there, his arms folded. I gave Total a bon-bon; his silly dancing antics distracted the gardner. Now that the gardener was distracted, we could take his red wagon.
"Is that everything?" Fierce Fox asked, taking the wagon.
"Yes." I said, giving Total some crispy rice treats to follow us. We headed over to Timmy, who was in his street. I said, "The Totalmobile is ready. We just need to put it together."
"Only one problem." Timmy said, looking anxious.
"What now?" Fierce Fox asked impatiently.
"She who must not be named!" Timmy exclaimed. "She's after the trash truck too!" The garbage truck passed us. A girl on her bike was following it. It was the same girl we saw at the beginning (or end?) of the island - Corrina Corrina - except without the muck (which is something that would happen).
"Oh, so maybe we don't even have to go through all this effort." Fierce Fox said, grinning.
"Quite the contrary!" Timmy retorted, wagging a finger. "We have to get there first! Let's go!" With that, all three of us crammed into the red wagon which was pulled by Total. We raced along the road, Corrina Corrina right beside us. The garbage truck was ahead. Garbage was flying out the back, becoming an obstacle. Total didn't even notice; he was too busy staring at the chicken nuggets in a bucket.
Fierce Fox was driving, thank goodness. I was hanging on for my life, even though this was nothing compared to other things I'd done. Fierce Fox avoided the lumps of garbage like she did it for breakfast. We zoomed back and forth, lumps of clothes, banana peels and other things flying towards us. Thank goodness Fierce Fox was a good driver. That stuff looked disgusting.
"You won't beat me this time, Corrina Corrina!" Timmy yelled at his foe. The truck zoomed ahead, then stopped.
"The truck's stopping!" I yelped. "Watch out!"
"Nonsense!" Timmy retorted. I gave Fierce Fox a glance. "Faster Total!" Us and Corrina Corrina increased in speed. We crashed straight into the garbage. Hot, yucky mess went all over the place. Everyone was drenched in the revolting mess and Total was consuming bin fulls of the stuff. I sighed irritably. However, Timmy was wearing his pants. He seemed happy about it.
"My pants!" he cried. "My wonderful, flattering pants!"
"There was probably a way to get them back without all the drama." Corrina Corrina pointed out logically.
"Don't give me the innocent act," Timmy retorted, glaring at Corrina Corrina. "I know what you've done."
"Excuse me?" Corrina Corrina asked, glaring straight back at Timmy.
"Clearly, you stole my pants and planted them in order to get credit for solving the case!" Timmy answered. He had the same look he did at the beginning/end of the island. "At last, I have proof of your misdeeds, you nefarious huckster!"
"What are you talking about?" Corrina Corrina asked, with the same tone she had at the beginning/end of the island. It was that scene all over again. "I was trying to help you!"
"Save it for the magistrate," Timmy scoffed. "You'll be in shackles for the rest of your natural life!"
"I don't have time for this," Corrina Corrina snorted. "Good luck washing off the garbage stink." She walked off.
"Joke's on her," I quoted. "Garbage stink is the ideal olfactory camouflage."
"Yes, very much." Timmy agreed, nodding.
"Let's not go through all this again," Fierce Fox sighed. "Just give us the darn medallion."
"If that's what it takes to get you two to leave, so be it," Timmy said, handing us the medallion. "May we never meet again." I gave Fierce Fox a look. It was then I knew I had to tell her about the end. Somehow. I didn't know what would happen, but it was good to be prepared. I sighed. I didn't know how she would react, either. We would see.