The underpart of the mansion was still a dark hellscape. The heads of all the players hung, staring at Pomni and Twinkle as they walked in. Though, Twinkle was only creeped out when there was an empty crest. Her name under it, as if a warning...a premonition..a promise.
"Hey, you ok Twinkle? I know this place is pretty damn creepy." Pomni pulled Twinkle's attention away from the empty mantle.
"Yea no. I'm fine-" Her ears perked up, her voice lowering.
"Quick, I hear Jax coming."
The pair hurried around the area, it turned out Caine had reset the map. So the key to the elevator was hidden again. Though, Twinkle's night vision eyes made finding it much easier. Jax threw open the door dramatically.
"HA! Ya can't run- from me?" Jax looked around. He had expected a basement. Not a recreation of the upstairs manor. His eyes slowly looked over all their heads, it sent chills down his spine.
"Didn't know Caine could make something like this. Huh, respect." His ears twitched, picking up on quick footsteps. Running into the next room, he caught the two going down the elevator.
"See ya later f(beep)er!" Twinkle yelled as the door closed.
"F(BEEP)!" Jax scrambled over, looking down he only had two minutes now.
The girls made it to the celler, but Pomni stopped. In front of the corpse, was a stairway.
" That- that wasn't there before- That- leads to hell-" Twinkle looked down, staring into the green below.
"Well, it's a good day for hell." Twinkle didn't hesitate, she went down. Pomni stared horrified. In her hyperventilation, she didn't hear Jax come up behind her. Him snacking her flag, along with the buzzer made the jester jump; falling down three steps.
"HA! Get caught b(beep). Now, take me to the fox." Jax held up the vacuum threatening, but Pomni was more afraid of the green glow.
"Jax..I-I can't- can't go back down there again- you can't breath, it's dark- Jax?" Jax walked a little further, picking up a white sheet.
"Can't breath huh? Through what?"
"There-there's this green fog, and if you breath it in you'll basically be possessed! It hurt so badly" Pomni held herself, staring down the stairs as Jax looked at the timer. 1:21 left.
"Come on, I got an idea." Before she could decline, Jax grabbed Pomni and dragged her into the depths of hell.
Twinkle stared into the hall of fog, her ears picked up every whisper. The voices grew almost louder, but not as loud as Pomni's scared voice was.
"Sh(beep) sh(beep) sh(beep)" Twinkle remembered what Pomni told her. The mind twist, bone cracking experience of being taken over. She couldn't die in The Amazing Digital Circus...with only a little time left, she took a large breath and leaped into the fog.
Jax, being right behind her pulled Pomni up.
"Here, fold this over your mouth." Pomni stared at him.
"The f(beep) what?! No! I'm not doing that!" Jax looked desperate now, the clock was ticking. Taking a breath, as if to hype himself up; he folded the sheet.
"Jax don't tell me you're gonna do this." Pomni was concerned now. She'd never seen Jax so nervouse before.
"Oh shut up. I'm going in" Holding the folded cloth over his mouth, he walked into the fog. Breathing was hard, but he didn't seem to turn.
"Jax! Be carful!" Jax heard Pomni's call, but he was to focused on finding the fox. With thirty seconds left, he had no time to waste.
Twinkle was half way through the hall, she had settled behind a large bolder. It seemed to be a broken piece of the almost beautiful underground structure. Her lungs started to contract, desperate for the air she was denying them. As she held on, her white patters started to move. The white spirals slowly spun around her limbs, the spirals coming undone. They made ribbon like marks, moving like snakes. As they moved, they started to glow. The longer she held her breath, the brighter they got. The brighter they got, the more Jax saw. He darted over to the bright light, contrasting against the green. As he turned around the boulder, he stopped. Staring down and Twinkle curled in on herself, glowing and shaking. Jax couldn't help but stop. The buzzer, sounding the end of the game blared across the manor. Twinkle slowly looked up, a small smile playing on her puffed lips; her tail wagging behind her. Jax slightly lowered the cloth from his face, making Twinkle's eyes widen in fear.
"Beautiful-" Jax mouthed before his eyes widened too, but not in fear. His eyes were now dull and wider than normal. Falling to the ground, he started wiggling and constricting into himself. Making garbled and cracking noises, a small laugh started escaping from him. Without thinking, Twinkle lunged at the rabbit. Without letting out her breath, she bit down on his neck and started running back to the entrance.
Pomni stood there, worried but hopeful as she saw the bright light. Yet, as she heard that laugh; a pit in her stomach appeared liked a meteor. Twisting her neck, Twinkle threw Jax past Pomni, making him hit the wall. The fox let out a large breath, panting once she was in the clear air.
"H-ow do we sa-ve him?!" Twinkle looked up at the jester, who was freaking out.
"K-kinger just kinda hit me to snap me-me out of it!" With that, Twinkle ran over to the laughing Jax. Similar to how a domestic dog would preform CPR, she started jumping on him with her front paws. This just made Jax laugh a crooked and distorted laugh.
"Hey Twinkle toes~! HAHA! Or should I call ya Bitsy~? HAHAHA!" Twinkle's eyes pricked with tears as her paws met with his face, then his throat. The hit to his throat made a puff of green smoke pop out, leaving the rabbit back to normal.
"Ah- f(beep) Twinkle-" Jax coughed as he leaned up.
"I'm- I'm sorry- I'm sorry sorry." Twinkle looked more than shooken up, the tears in her golden eyes were pure white like her patterns.
"Twinkle?" Pomni carefully put a hand on her shoulder, making the fox flinch.
"Hey, hey. You ok?" Twinkle nodded, right before everyone was teleported back to the main area. A large leader bored hung above the fire.
Jax: 2
Pomni: 2
Ragatha: 2
Gangle: 3
Zooble: 5
Kinger: 3
Twinkle: 6
"Holy sh(beep), I didn't think I had that much." Twinkle's tail wagged, looking up at her score. Jax, didn't have the same joy. He looked away, but Twinkle saw the disappointment he was trying to hide. Was winning that important to him? Why? What did he want so badly?
"Ok my little Ghost Busters! I have a special last round~! I can see if some of you are upset that our newbie has more points. So, lets do a six VS one finale! Twinkle, you will be the only hider. While everyone else is a seeker! Fifteen minutes will be on the timer this time~!"
Twinkle's ears lowered.
"Whoa wait, isn't that kinda unfair?" Ragatha spoke up.
"Who cares? Twinkle Toes over here has the most points!" Jax argued.
"Whoever finds her and gets her flag will immediately win! But if no one gets her, it's Twinkle's prize!" In a cloud of smoke, Caine disappeared. A sheet appeared back on Twinkle, and the clock for five minute hiding time started up.
"Run Twinkle!" Gangle called out, making the fox run.
Twinkle knew the basement would be the first place Jax or Pomni would look for her. The attick would be Ragatha's pick, then anywhere else is just delaying the inevitable. Twinkle panted under the sheet, freaking out. Frantically looking around, hearing the faint tick of the clock.
"Darling, are you alright?" Twinkle yelped, jumping back. Looking up, she saw a beautiful ghost woman. She seemed sweet, safe, and gave off a beautiful blue glow. Her white eyes piercing her own.
"Yea- I'm, I'm sorry. It's just, I cant find anywhere to hide!" Suddenly, Twinkle got an idea. "Miss, how detailed is this Manor? Do you know?"
The ghost woman thought for a moment. "Well, there is an outside but you can't get out. It's just a normal house. Why?"
Twinke's tail wagged. "And, what year was this built? Do you know?"
"Oh, well guess around early 19th century." Twinkle leaped up, giving the ghost woman a lick on her cheek.
"Thank you~! Thank you so much!" With that, the fox scampered away towards the staircase.
"Hm, what an interesting little creature." The woman rubbed her cheek.
The timer soon rang out, starting a fifteen minute one now. Everyone split off in their own direction. Twinkle's perditions were right. Pomni and Jax teamed up. They laid and waited in the basement for around three minutes. So when they didn't see any glowing, they moved on. Ragatha ventured up into the attick. She was hopeful when she found furr on the handle to the entrance, but looking she found no fox. Gangle and Zooble looked around the main areas. Peaking in each hole, cubby, and closet. There were five minutes left on the timer when everyone returned to the main area.
"AGHH! THIS IS BULL SH(beep)!" Jax slammed down his vacuum.
"This doesn't make any sense at all." Ragatha rubbed her neck in thought. Everyone was thinking when the ghost woman floated in.
"Oh, it's you all again. Hello." The woman waved as she came over.
"Hello again." Ragatha gave a small bow.
"Wait, have you seen a fox around here in a white sheet?" Zooble spoke up. The ghost woman giggled and nodded.
"She was asking me about the mansion. She asked how complete it was, then what year it was built"
Ragatha though, then gasped.
"Guys! I know where she is!" The doll raced away. Without hesitation, everyone followed her. The group went up to the top floor and back to the attick.
"I knew she had to be up here, I found furr on the handle. Im guessing she had to use her tail to open this" Ragatha explained as she pulled down the latter.
"Ok Velma, so where is she?" Jax retorted, earing a small giggle from both Zooble and Gangle. Everyone filed into the small area. The doll moved stuff around, and only when she moved a large painting did she laugh. Slightly cracked open was a crawl space door.
"HA! I knew it! Crawl spaces were built into homes starting in the 18th century! Thats why Twinkle asked when this place was built" Ragatha was very proud of herself. Everyone nodded approving, even Jax cave a small motion.
"Good job, but we still need to find her." Pomni pointed out.
"Let's go, we only have four minutes left" Gangle said, urging everyone along.
The crawl space was large enough for everyone to fit in single file; but only if they crawled. The flooring was dusty, with a few nails poking out. They all spent the rest of the time crawling around. Only as the buzzer beeped, did Jax find a opening. Falling through, he landed on his back; right into the staring area.
"Oh hey Jax, so close." Twinkle hummed. She was sitting on the small chair, using a fancy looking brush to groom her furr.
"F(beep)! How long were you here?!" Jax sat up.
"Well I was actually listing right above you guys when the timer started. Once I heard everyone start to crawl inside the space, I jumped down here." Jax stared in disbelief.
"You're one smart cookie..it's infuriating." Jax scoffed as he stood, joing the fox on the couch.
"Hey, Jax? What did you want Caine to build so badly?" Twinkle looked over to the rabbit.
"...."