Author's note: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I'm actually on vacation in Greece right now, and Internet has been spotty.

Chapter 2

Back at the Tunnel of Love, the sound of Myka's Farnsworth announcing a call broke the comfortable silence Myka and HG had been sharing as they enjoyed the scenery and the feel of each other's hands.

Myka let go of HG's hand to reach into her pocket and pull the Farnsworth out. It was Claudia. "Myka! Hey! I've found some info on what you might be dealing with." A pause. "Are you on a ride? Is that harp music?"

HG leaned over until she was visible to Claudia. "The Tunnel of Love." Myka gave HG a look, and Claudia raised an eyebrow. Myka turned back to the screen and floundered as she explained. "We might as well enjoy the rides while we're here. HG was feeling nostalgic. And who knows where the artifact is? It could be in here for all we know."

"Okay, okay. I wasn't accusing you of anything. I'd totally hit up some rides if I were there. So, anyway, I did a little digging in the ol' Warehouse archives, and I found a few artifacts that match the facts."

Claudia turned the Farnsworth toward her computer screen to show Myka and HG the artifacts as she named them. "There's Faraday's Bunsen burner, which was last seen in London in 1921; a battery designed by Alessandro Volta, which is in a museum in Italy, and the curator swears it's there and hasn't been touched; and Johann Bessler's wheel, which caused a riot in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1897 and then disappeared."

She turned the Farnsworth back to her face. "So that's all I've got. Find anything yet? Aside from a dark tunnel typically used by couples to make out?"

Myka yelled at the screen. "Claudia!" Claudia gave her best attempt at an innocent look. "No. No, we haven't. We haven't been here that long, though. We still have a lot to check."

Claudia turned around as Artie came rushing into the office looking frazzled. She turned back to Myka. "Well, looks like I need to deal with Mr. Eyebrows, so I'll leave you to it. Call if you need me for anything."

"Will do, Claud. Thanks." Myka and Claudia both closed their Farnsworths.

Claudia turned around to face Artie again. "Dude, what's going on? The vacuum cleaner attack you again? I swear I didn't program it to do that."

Artie, still out of breath, leaned against a table. "The monkey escaped."

Claudia wasn't sure she heard him correctly. "The what?"

Artie was getting annoyed. "The monkey." Claudia ignored his annoyance and tried to draw further explanation from him. "We have a monkey?"

Artie walked over to Claudia and dragged her out of her chair. He explained the situation as he pulled her toward the warehouse floor. "It's not actually a monkey, per se. It's the first cymbal-playing mechanical monkey ever created. And sometimes it likes to wake up and wreak havoc, activating artifacts and setting off every alarm it can."

As he finished, they reached the warehouse floor, and the monkey let out several cymbal clashes from its perch on top of a shelf as it dashed off toward the center of the warehouse.

As Myka shut the Farnsworth she turned to Helena, and Helena gave her a reassuring smile. "Myka, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable..." Helena began, but Myka cut her off. "You don't. At least not in a bad way. But we need to finish this case first."

Helena smiled. "Righty ho then. Shall we call Pete?" The boat emerged from the tunnel as HG asked the question, and they both exited the ride.

Myka pulled out her Farnsworth and attempted to call Pete. After two tries with no answer Myka grew exasperated. "Ugh, Pete! Answer your freaking Farnsworth!"

"Maybe he's on a ride and can't hear it," HG suggested. "Perhaps we should just go find him." Myka closed her Farnsworth. "Yeah, you're probably right. Let's go." The two set off toward the other side of the park.

"So I make you uncomfortable in a good way?" HG asked with a sly grin as they walked. Myka let out an embarrassed laugh. "HG. Helena. You know we've been dancing around it for weeks now. If you don't know by now that I'm interested, well..."

HG quickly reassured her. "Oh, I think I have a pretty good understanding. And the feeling is mutual, you know." Myka grinned. "Good. Because that's an awful lot of flirting if it weren't." HG laughed.

As they were reaching the left side of the park HG reached out and touched Myka's arm in order to pause and say something.

"Now that we've established the feeling is mutual, I would love if we could do something when we get back to Univille. Just the two of us? Dinner, perhaps?" Myka smiled broadly. "I'd love to." HG returned the smile. "Wonderful! Now, let's find this artifact quickly."

"Righty ho then," Myka said in her best attempt at an English accent as she grinned. HG feigned hurt. "Are you making fun of my accent?" Myka laughed and reassured her. "No, no. I love when you say that. I love when you say anything in that accent, actually."

HG looked proud. "Well, then," she said as she walked past Myka and then looked over her shoulder. "Come. No dawdling."

Back at the Warehouse, Claudia was frantically trying to control a monkey-activated Fiji mermaid from the top of a ladder while Artie yelled directions from the ground.

"Claudia, grab its tail! Don't let it bite you! No, don't do that! It's going to get away! Grab its tail!"

Claudia stopped what she was doing and glared down at Artie. "Artie. Dude. I can't do this with you yelling at me, so either shut up or get up here yourself." Artie grumbled something in a voice too low for Claudia to hear but acquiesced to her request.

Eventually Claudia was able to grab the mermaid and drop it into a neutralizer bath ready and waiting on one of the shelves. She climbed down from the ladder and brushed her hands off on her jeans. "I really hate that monkey."

Artie grunted. "Not as much as I do. Come on. I think it went this way." Artie started walking toward the center of the warehouse, and Claudia followed behind him.

After winding around several different sections, Artie and Claudia rounded a corner and came upon the artifact version of Leena's B&B, entirely the same as the last time Claudia had encountered it except for a small, cymbal-playing monkey standing in the open doorway. It let out a shriek and ran into the B&B, the door closing behind it.

Claudia held up her hands. "Oh, no, no, no. I am not going back in there. The monkey can just live there."

Artie, although sympathetic, was determined to complete this mission. "We can't just leave it there. It won't stop until it's activated every single artifact in here."

Claudia started to protest, but Artie interrupted. "No buts. Come on. Let's catch it before it wrecks something else." He headed up the front steps and toward the door. With a sigh, Claudia followed.

Myka and HG were starting to become concerned when there was still no sign of Pete after 3 additional Farnsworth calls and numerous yells of his name.

After checking that Pete wasn't at the bumper cars, Myka sighed and sat down on a bench. HG sat down beside her and Myka turned to face her. "So that's both the indoor and outdoor roller coasters, the log flume, and the bumper cars with no evidence of Pete. That just leaves the haunted house."

"Maybe he encountered the possessor of the artifact," HG suggested. "And didn't call for help?" Myka responded. "I hope he's not hurt." HG murmured her agreement. They looked at each other, and with a silent understanding, stood up and walked toward Nightmare Manor.

As they walked up to the entrance both Myka and HG drew their Teslas in preparation for any malicious entities. They sat down in a car, and as it slowly rolled toward the entrance Myka commented, "I really hope he's in here. I don't know where else to look if he isn't." HG shifted her Tesla to a better position in response.

The same booming voice that had greeted Pete before made its announcement to Myka and HG, causing them to both jump in unison. Then the car turned a sharp corner just as before, and a zombie reached out for them. Myka groaned. "I hate haunted houses." HG put her hand on Myka's leg in comfort, which caused Myka to jump again.

As the car approached a coffin, the lid slowly opened. However, this time it didn't contain a vampire. Rather, it contained an unconscious Pete. Myka and HG yelled out at the same time. "Pete!"

Myka was able to wriggle out from under the safety bar first. She jumped out of the car and ran to the coffin. HG followed suit and kept guard with her Tesla.

Myka shook Pete and yelled his name as he slowly came to. "Ow! Okay, you can stop now! I'm awake." Myka kept her hands on his shoulders. "What happened? How did you end up in a coffin?"

Pete shrugged. "Hell if I know. The ride broke down, I got up to investigate, and next thing I know you're trying to give me shaken baby syndrome."

As he finished talking, the lights in the haunted house turned off, and the ride came to a stop. Having experienced this before, Pete was wary. "Again? Come on!"