Hidden Mysteries

Things Get Puzzling

"Just stick with us and you all should be fine," Silver Spoon says to us, sword at his side as he leads us through the caverns. "Just watch your step, it's kind of dangerous in places like this."

"This place is really creepy," Balloon shudders, glancing around. "Who keeps a journal down here?"

"Well, it'd be a smart move, putting something that could potentially end the world in a cave in a small Ohioan town," I point out, kicking a stone. "Besides, it's not like there's anything dangerous down here, Merripen aside."

"Well...that depends," Candle butts in, placing her hands on her temples.

"What do you mean, Candle?" Test Tube asks tentatively, grasping at Fan's hand, squeezing it slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"I sense...something awry," she replies, closing her eyes and rubbing at her temples. "Coming from this very cave. I don't know what their intentions are, but we are not alone."

"Oh, for cripe's sake," Silver mumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Candle, do you know where this...other person is, specifically?"

"I believe...in the next area ahead."

Silver rushes forward, his sword drawn, only to look around in confusion as we approach behind him hesitantly. "What the...where are they? Candle's intuition is never wrong..."

"Uh, I think I know where they are," Fan says slowly, staring up at the ceiling.

"I beg your pardon, Fan?"

Fan points up to the ceiling, and I look up and gasp. Trapped in some sort of giant bubble hanging on the ceiling is a slightly bruised Lifering, slamming and pounding on the sides of the bubble like his life depended on it, gasping and panting.

"Oh my god," I whisper, covering my mouth in shock. "Balloon, that's..."

"Dad?" Balloon shouts, tears pricking at his eyes. "Dad!"

Lifering paused, his hands pressing against the bubble's surface as he stared down at us. "Balloon? Balloon, is that you?"

"Hang on, Lifering!" I cry. "We'll try to get you down! S-Somehow!"

"Easier said than done, I'm afraid," Candle sighs, staring up at Lifering's bubble. "We don't truly know what those bubbles are made of, but it takes an extremely powerful force to destroy one. I suppose maybe if we had a weapon that could at least make a crack in it..."

"What kind of weapon?" Fan asks, gesturing wildly at the bubble. "Look how high that bubble is! We can't throw that far, and even then, we don't have anything strong enough!"

"Maybe we can make one!" Test Tube exclaims, digging in her bag and pulling out the telescope she had brought with her. "Fan, you still have that taser you borrowed from me, right?"

"Uh, yeah? It's here." Fan hesitantly pulls it out of his pocket. "Why—"

She snatches it from his hand, twisting out the telescope's eyepiece and shoving the taser in its place, little sparks shooting out. "And there! That should do it..."

"What are you doing?" I back up slightly, eyeing the handmade weapon in Test Tube's hand.

"Saving Balloon's dad, that's what!" she cries, aiming the telescope-taser at the bubble. "Hang on, Mr. Lifering! We got you!"

Test Tube pressed the button on the taser, and a large beam shot out of the weapon, knocking her back as it fired. The bubble shattered into pieces and dissipated, Lifering screaming as he fell through the air. Candle brings her hands together, breathing in sharply. Her hair turns a bright magenta, glowing as light surrounds Lifering, slowly and steadily starting to lower him to the ground.