Hidden Mysteries

Things Unfold

It's here! The Hidden Mysteries season 2 premiere! Buckle up everyone, because after this, things are gonna get wild!
Warnings for talk of character death/violence! Nothing actually happens in this chapter, but just in case!

The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, revealing the inside of the structure where they had originally entered, Tea Kettle, Lifering, and Nickel glancing over as Baseball, Suitcase and Balloon stumbled out.

"Kids!" Tea Kettle rushed over to the rest of them. "Are you all alright? Did you make it okay?"

"Mom," Balloon mumbled, grasping at his mother's apron. "T-Test Tube, she—she managed to get us all on the elevator, but then Merripen...they..." He trailed off, his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold back tears.

"Oh...oh, no." Tea Kettle's voice went quiet, bending down to wrap her arms around her son. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry."

Fan was silent, tears running down his face as he stared down at the elevator floor, slowly picking up Test Tube's glasses with shaky hands, holding them as delicately as he could, almost as if they were made of porcelain. Paintbrush and Lightbulb glanced down at the glasses themselves, Lightbulb's distraught, grief-filled expression looking completely out of place on her face, while Paintbrush looked completely numb.

Several others glanced over to look at the three of them, but before anyone could say a word to any of them, Lightbulb collapsed to the floor, a loud scream full of anguish and grief escaping from the normally upbeat girl's lungs, tears streaming down her face as she began wailing, mourning the loss of one of her best friends in the world. Paintbrush fell to their knees, wrapping their arms around her and hugging her tightly, Fan quickly following suit.

"Why?" Lightbulb sobbed, her vision blurred from her tears. "Why did he do that to Test Tube?! She...she didn't deserve to—" She couldn't even bear to finish her sentence before she erupted into more sobbing, but everyone unfortunately knew what she meant to say.

"...you're right, Lightbulb," Paintbrush said coldly, moving to stand up. "Test Tube didn't deserve that. She was forced into working for Merripen against her own will, and she sacrificed herself so we could all get away. And I don't know about you, Lightbulb, but I'm not going to let her sacrifice be in vain."

"What? What are you saying, Paintbrush?" Silver Spoon asked tentatively, staring at his child with slightly wide eyes.

Paintbrush took a deep breath, looking at their parents. "Mom, Dad, I might not know as much about this Merripen person as you guys, but I want to help you defeat them, for good. I know it's probably dangerous, but...I can't just stand aside and do nothing. Especially after what just happened."

"Y-Yeah, Painty's right," Lightbulb agreed, wiping her face on her sleeve. "Test Tube wouldn't want us to just sit around and do nothing. She would have wanted us to stand together and fight that jeebweezer!"

"Are you two saying..." Fan said slowly, releasing his sister from his hold so she could stand next to Paintbrush.

Paintbrush nodded confidently, a determined look on their face as they shared a look with Lightbulb. "Lightbulb and I want in. We might not have the cool 'inner flame' stuff that Mom, Suitcase, and Balloon have, but we've got guts. The guts to fight Merripen and avenge our friend!"

Suitcase blinked slowly, an idea clicking into place in her mind. Yes, she was still fatigued, but she could still see...

"Paintbrush is right," she said, slowly moving to stand up on her own. Everyone moved to look at her, puzzled expressions on their faces.

"What? What do you mean?" Balloon questioned, staring at Suitcase quizzically.

"Maybe we all don't need inner flames to help stop Merripen," she explained, gesturing at everyone as she stumbled to the front of the room. "I mean, Tea Kettle's such a good fighter, she managed to take on several shadow sentries at once, even after being kidnapped. And Lightbulb might have ideas that others might consider unconventional, but they could prove to be extremely useful. And think of what other strengths other people might have to offer to our cause if we told them what was going on!"