Shantae: Tangled Tales

Tale 2: "Trouble Brewing"

Moonlight snuck through a small window in the dark clouds that seized the skies above Sequin Land. The glare of the moon gently coaxed Poe from his slumber. When Poe found his senses, he realized that he had yet again fallen asleep in the pumpkin patch just outside the grounds where the Zombie Caravan had set up camp.

Poe stared up at the moon, captivated. But before long, his gaze began to wander. He caught sight of three moths dancing in the air nearby. "What are you three doing up so late?" Poe said with a smile. "Come to say goodbye?" He sighed. "I'm going to miss this place. I wish we could stay just a little longer . . ." Poe's eyes drifted back to the sky. The moonlight grew dimmer as the window in the clouds began to shut. "But she's still out there . . . somewhere. And somewhere's not here."

Just as the moon finally surrendered to the clouds, the moths scattered. A sudden chill ran down Poe's spine. He felt the presence of eyes watching him from somewhere behind the cover of the darkness. With his heart racing, Poe clambered to his feet. His eyes darted in every direction. "H-hello?" he called out, "i-is someone there?"

"Hi, Poe."

Poe froze at the sound of the voice. Slowly, he turned around to find a figure standing at the edge of the pumpkin patch. Poe hobbled forward. "Rot-Rottytops?"

His sister smiled. "Who else would it be?"

Poe ran to her as fast as he could. He clasped both her hands between his own. "Rottytops!" he said, tears welling in his eyes, "i-it's really you! Me, Abner, the Caravan, Shantae—everyone—we've all been looking for you! We never gave up hope. Not for a moment! And—and now you're here! We missed you so much. So, so much."

"Poe, why are you crying?" Rottytops said, smiling as she wiped away the tears from under her brother's eyes, "you act like I've been gone for weeks."

"But . . . you have been gone for weeks."

"What—what are you talking about? It was just the other day. I-I was in Scuttle Town . . . with Shantae . . . just the other day."

"Rottytops . . . that was three weeks ago . . ."

"Three weeks . . . no . . . was I—was I really in there for that long?"

"'In there?' Where is 'there?'"

Rottytops broke eye contact. She let out an uneven laugh. "It's . . . kind of hard to explain . . . out loud, that is . . . because it's . . . not really a place. It's more like . . . a lot of places. All at once."

Poe stared at her blankly.

"I-I knew I wouldn't be able to explain it right. B-but it's wonderful, Poe! You're going to love it! I-I can't wait for you to join. Abner, too. And everyone! That—that's actually kind of why I'm here. I mean, things aren't quite ready yet. But we're close. Very close. It's so exciting!"

"Wow . . . that, um . . . that all does sound . . . exciting, I guess . . . uh, anyway . . . why don't we head back to the Caravan, huh? See Abner. Get you some coffee, maybe? I-I made sure no one touched your favorites while you were gone . . ."

"Oh . . . no, Poe. You . . . you really shouldn't be drinking that stuff."

"Coffee?"

"Yeah . . . no . . . coffee. Coffee's not good. It's just not."

Poe hesitated. His smile faded. "What—what are you saying? We have to drink coffee, Rotty. If we don't, we'd end up turning . . . you know . . . turning into those . . . monsters."

"They're not monsters, Poe. No, no, no. You see, they're actually really great! They just get . . . confused. That's all. But they're not confused anymore. Because they understand. I-I helped them understand! Then they helped me! And—and not just the real zombies, either. There are—are so many others . . ."

Poe, holding his elbows tightly at his sides, spoke through shallow breaths. "Rottytops . . . tell me . . . when was the last time you had coffee? It couldn't have been—you couldn't have gone this whole time without coffee . . . right?"

"Look, I told you. It's not good, Poe. It was stopping me. It's stopping you. All of you. It's stopping you from being who you really are. It's stopping you from being free. Free . . . like me!"

Poe found himself leaning away from his sister. He had no words to respond.

"So, Poe . . . I, um . . . I wanted to tell you—I wanted to let you know that everything . . . everything that's about to happen . . . it might not be . . . fun. Not at first. B-but it's the only way."

"What's about to happen?"

"You'll—you'll see," Rottytops said, looking down. "I-I have to go now."

"No . . ." Poe said, shaking his head, "no . . . no, please . . . please, don't go."

"I have to."

"But the others . . . Abner . . . they—"

"I promise we'll all be together again soon," Rottytops said with a smile, "very soon."

Suddenly, Poe heard a scream. "What was that?" he asked, looking into the distance. When he turned back, Rottytops was gone. "Rottytops?" Poe shouted, "Rottytops!"

Poe spun around, looking for any sign of his sister. Instead, he was met by more screams. They were coming from the direction of the Caravan.

Poe took off toward the screaming, soon to find himself in the middle of chaos. Most members of the Caravan were digging through their belongings, tossing everything aside, in desperate search of something. Others were huddled together, sobbing.

Poe looked on at the scene in horror. He didn't notice his brother standing before him until he grabbed Poe by his shoulders.

"Poe!" Abner shouted, "Poe! Snap out of it!"

"Wh-what—What happened?"

"It's gone. The coffee, Poe . . . it's gone. All of it."

~~