Home Again

Zomberry

I sighed and entered our clean kitchen. The desks are polished and white, carrying fruit bowls and the microwave. The sink is near the window that never opens. We were going to get that window fixed, but we never did for some reason. Oh well. There are plenty of other windows.

My mom was at the sink, washing the dishes. She seemed relaxed. Probably because I wasn't dead. I cleared my throat. She looked up.

"Hey, Mom," I fiddled with my fingers. "Um... when I was in... Poptropica... Louisa, before she... y'know... said something about Dad... that there was something I didn't know about him, and... he killed her mom on purpose. She... said he was a bad guy."

Mom tensed. "I... well... that's true, Alice. There... are things your father didn't tell you. But he didn't want you to know. Not until you were older, anyway."

"I'm older now," I said, looking up. "Was Dad a bad person?"

Mom started scrubbing a pot. Her fingers were shaking. "Um... er... well... I... he was... I guess you could call it, 'bad person'. But not when you were around! He wasn't bad around us! Never!"

"Mom..." I sighed. "Just tell me. I've gotta know."

Mom sighed deeply. "Your father was a criminal, Alice. He'd been to jail."

The thing I dislike most about Zomberry Island- apart from the zomberries- is how dark it is. Even the starting location is very dark. And bright at the same time, due to all the police cars. It's also similar to my world, and sort of hits 'home base', I guess you could say. Fierce Fox and I approached the police.

They told us that inside of the Fort Savini Tunnel- this giant, brick, garbage-filled tunnel- was blocking out zomberries, since there'd be an outbreak. The police were pretty cowardly, so their director sent Fierce Fox and I to deal with the zomberries. He gave us a flashlight and a clue notebook.

"This will be our only portable light source for a while," I said to Fierce Fox. "Even though it sucks."

"What happened?" Fierce Fox asked as we entered the dark Fort Savini Tunnel. We had to climb over a school bus to get in there. Luckily Poptropican physics made it easy.

"Well, the people of Eastman ate these blueberries and got infected." I explained. "Thanks to this smoothie company. Our job is to cure them and confront the head of the smoothie company. But we'll get to that later." My eyes widened as I leaped over a lorry. "Zomberry! Jump over it." We did just that. The zomberry boggled his crazy eyes at us, rubbing his purple skin. We went deeper into the tunnel, eventually coming to the end. However, zomberries were blocking it. So I picked up a car key, used it on a car, and scared the zomberries away with light. Yes, the zomberries were afraid of light.

We arrived on a street. It's just as dark as the rest of the island, with the occasional street light. Above our heads is an apartment being built. It has many layers, which have things on them such as bricks. Fierce Fox and I scaled to the top, finding a crane. With my instruction, Fierce Fox swapped around some platforms using the crane, so we could reach a lunchbox. In that lunchbox was a subway pass. I grabbed that. Then we headed to the subway.

The subway's like a normal subway. There are train tracks; signs on the walls; posters; security passes. What wasn't so normal was the zomberries. Fierce Fox and I avoided the purple creatures and went through security, using the pass. We came to the train platform which is quite dark. I grabbed a light hanging down from the ceiling, then we headed across the tracks. I bumped into a zomberry, feeling a strong sensation of fear. I ran backwards, away from the zomberries. Fierce Fox stared at me.

"It's what happens when you run into them," I said, shaking my head. "Come on." We headed forward and found the train. Fierce Fox moved a rock from its wheel; it moved forward. Then we exited the subway and headed to a different apartment. This one's actually built, but is crumbling. I fiddled with the fuse and switched some of the lights on. Then, via the roof, we entered the building.