The Crazy Adventures of Aqua Girl

Chapter 39 - Down The Rabbit Hole...And Out Again

"Sorry, did you just say something? I couldn't hear you over the size of your ego." I retorted at Quicksilver, who was peering down the hole. He glanced up at me as Blaze Boy stood in between us.

"This is no time for witty remarks and flirting, c'mon you two." Blaze Boy muttered, before climbing onto the first few rungs of the ladder and beginning the descend. With a quick glare in Quicksilver's direction, I lowered myself into the dark hole behind Blaze Boy, before Quicksilver joined us on the ladder as well. I felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole, into the unknown. But then again, Alice didn't have water superhero powers, did she? Soon, I felt my feet reach solid ground, but it was pitch black. I couldn't see a thing. Someone bumped into me in the darkness.

"Watch it." I scolded.

"Sorry, sassy pants." Quicksilver mused. I kicked out with my foot, and heard a grunt as my foot came in contact with his shin. Suddenly, a small flame rose from Blaze Boy's palm, who was standing next to me, and the room was dimly lit.

"Wait a second." I said, looking at a nearby bench and finding some paper. I rolled it into a baton and held the end up to the flame. It began burning brightly, and I could make out some details of the room. There were more industrial, grey shelves around the walls of the fairly large room, each one with a label. I padded over to the nearest shelf to examine the handwritten labels. Titanium, Vanadium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Cobalt. If my Chemistry Lab lessons at school, along with my own home chemistry set had taught me anything, it meant that inside these drawers were chemicals.

"Guys. Something weird is happening down here." Quicksilver exclaimed from the other side of the room. I walked over to join Blaze Boy and Quicksilver as they gazed at a glowing substance in a large container on a bench. What the heck was it? The substance was electric blue colour, similar to the colour of my super-suit, but it was glowing, like a neon light. The substance sat in the large container, bubbling and swirling, as if it was alive. This wasn't normal.

"This looks like the serum we saw." Blaze Boy noted, causing me to nod next to him. It did.

"We should try and get it into a smaller container, then get the heck outta here." I declared, standing up and shining our paper torch around the room.

"Check the drawer, Quickie." Blaze Boy told his annoying friend. In the blink of an eye, all the drawer in the room were open.

"Krypton? Hey, isn't that from Superman?" Quicksilver asked, peering into the drawer labelled 'Krypton'.

Oh dear.

"No, you imbecile! It's a chemical element!" I cried in desperation. Seriously, how stupid and idiotic can one person be?! Quicksilver smirked in reply as Blaze Boy got on his hands and knees and began crawling under a bench. What the heck is going on now?

"What in the world are you doing?" I asked, looking down at Blaze Boy's feet as the rest of his body was submerged under the bench. I heard a few grunts and a clang of glass, but then one of Blaze Boy's hands reached out to me, holding a sealed, glass container, that was about the size of a cup. Perfect.

"Well done." I muttered, taking the glass cup and sauntering over to the glowing blue liquid. I opened the empty sealed container, and handed the paper torch to Quicksilver, who had appeared at my side. Blaze Boy got up from the floor and walked over to help.

"You hold the container, and I'll pour it in." He instructed, beginning to screw the lid off of the large container holding the liquid. Soon, it came loose, and with a few groans from Blaze Boy, he began pouring it carefully into the container I was holding. I was mesmerised by the colour and glow of the liquid. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. After a few seconds, the container was full, so I screwed the lid on tight and we began climbing back up the ladder.

"Where is everyone? I thought bad guys had loads of cronies in their secret liars?" Quicksilver reasoned, as he waited for Blaze Boy and I to climb up the ladder.

"Good point." Blaze Boy murmured, as I climbed back onto the laboratory's floor. Quicksilver walked over to a sink on one of the benches and dumped the paper torch in it, before turning on the tap. The flame sizzled out, just as Blaze Boy stood up.

"Let's get out of here." He declared, before walking over to the door. He opened it with a swing of his arm, and the corridor was (luckily) empty. Clutching the container of liquid, I began padding down the corridor, listening for any signs of other movement, apart from Blaze Boy and Quicksilver's shoes behind me. As we reached the end of the corridor, I heard a voice from the other side of the rock. It was muffled, but it was definitely a man's voice.

"I'm a bit hungry." Quicksilver said, as he approached the rock behind me. I practically flew at him and shoved my hand over his mouth, and his eyes widened.

The male voice behind the rock paused, before coming closer. Blaze Boy carefully tiptoed up to the rock and put his ear to it.

"Hey, did you hear that?" I heard the man's voice say. I glared at Quicksilver and dragged him over to the wall by the rock, slamming his back to the wall and keeping my hand over his mouth. If I was about to die, I would be killing Quicksilver up in Heaven. This wouldn't be the last of me. All I could hear was the pitter-patter, pitter-patter of my heart, and the quick thudding of Quicksilver's as we anxiously waited for the voices to drift away.

"Heh, it was probably nothing. Come on, our shift's about to start." I heard a different voice say. The adrenaline pumping through my veins slowly dimmed as my ears picked up footsteps walking away, and Blaze Boy glanced back at me to acknowledge we were alright. I withdrew my gloved hand from Quicksilver's mouth.

"You nearly got us killed, okay? Just keep your mouth shut and stop smirking!" I hissed, as Quicksilver gazed at me.

"Whatever you say, sweetheart." He drawled. I kicked him hard in the shin (again) and turned my back on him as Blaze Boy slowly pushed open the secret rock door.

"We're all clear." As a trio, we rushed out into the other corridor and raced out into the large, open room, where Blaze Boy and I escaped from last time. Looking up, I noticed nobody had repaired the open air vent that we got out from.

"Hey, the air vent is still open." I said, causing Blaze Boy and Quicksilver to gaze up.

"It's an easy way out." Blaze Boy exclaimed.

"I can't fly, guys." Quicksilver muttered, making me groan. 

"How about Aqua Girl flies out up there, as you've got the liquid, and I'll get out by foot with Quickie?" Blaze Boy reasoned. I nodded, and was about to take off when Blaze Boy put his hand on my arm.

"Can I come to your window tomorrow? How about at 10? Keep the substance safe." I nodded, realizing that Blaze Boy would want to be examining the liquid with me.

"Fine."

"See ya then." Blaze Boy said, beginning to run. Quicksilver winked at me before rushing off with his friend.

As I took off, still holding the container close to my chest, I only just realized I was double-booked. Both Aidan and Blaze Boy were coming to my apartment tomorrow morning. Now I'd really see if they were who I thought they were.

The same person.