An Averyverse Mystery
Click the Button Above If You Haven’t Read Part 5 Yet
Avery and the hooded woman had reached the bottom of what seemed to be a never ending staircase.
“What is S.U.S.?” Avery asked with growing concern.
“The Society of Undiscovered Sirens”, the woman replied, removing her hood. “I’m Liz”.
“We are a society of women that has been here for generations, longer than this town has existed”, Liz continued. “We try not to interfere unless needed, but we’ve been watching your situation closely, and knew we had to step in”.
“Are we underground?” Avery asked, looking around as they walked down a long corridor.
“Underwater”, Liz replied. “At the bottom of Stillwater Bay”.
“I can’t believe this”, Avery gasped.
“Well, believe it”, Liz said confidently.
Avery fell silent, trying to take it all in.
“We were trying to call for reinforcements, but CaTS struck sooner than we thought they would”, Liz went on.
Avery suddenly thought she knew what Liz was talking about and asked “The invitations with the mermaid stamps?”
“Yes”, Liz replied. “The S.U.S. signet”
At this point, they had reached a door at the end of the long corridor. Liz pulled out a key from somewhere in her robe, put it in the lock and turned it until it clicked. Turning the key back, removing it, and putting it back in her robe, Liz opened the door, and indicated to Avery to go through.
Avery stepped into a large room, full of tables and bookshelves. There were maybe 15 other women with hooded robes, quietly milling around the room, working on various things.
“This is the Great Hall, where we do our work”, Liz explained, as Avery gazed in wonder.
“Wait here”, Liz said to Avery before walking up to one of the other hooded women in the room. They had a quick exchange that Avery was unable to hear, and the other woman handed Liz a piece of paper. Liz then returned to Avery, and they continued walking.
“We intercepted this”, Liz said suddenly, and handed Avery the piece of paper she received from the other member of S.U.S.
Avery unfolded the piece of paper and read what it said…
“Report to me immediately if Avery or the CCC get up to anything suspicious!”
“What is this?” Avery asked.
“It’s a message from Laura to one of the men you work with at the Stillwater Bay Beacon”, Liz replied. “One of them is spying on you. Unfortunately, we’re not sure which one.”
A year ago, this news would have been shocking to Avery. Today, it’s just a typical afternoon.
Liz led Avery through another door into another hallway. This one was lined with doors on either side of the hall. They walked until Liz stopped at one of the doors. She gave it a quick knock, then opened it and walked through. Avery wasn’t sure she should follow, but did anyway.
Once inside, Avery looked around what appeared to be a cozy bedroom, before realizing they were not the only ones in this room. Sitting at a small table, reading a book and sipping an herbal tea, was Dani, alive and well.
“Dani!” Avery shouted joyously. “You’re ok!”
Dani stood up to give Avery a hug. “Luckily, S.U.S. pulled me out of the fire, and nursed me back to health”, Dani said. “I’m glad you’re here”.
The joy on Avery’s face faded quickly. “The town is in trouble”, she told Dani. “And so is the CCC”.
“Then we have to go help!” Dani replied.
“Before you both go, there is one more thing I need to show you”, Liz said ominously. She then led the two women back out into the hallway, turned and walked past a few doors, before stopping at one on the other side of the hall labeled “Med Bay”. She opened the door and walked inside.
Avery and Dani followed. Inside, there was a man asleep on a bed, with bandaged stumps where his right arm and left leg should have been.
“I know this man”, Avery said. “The Snitch. I thought he died, eaten by sharks”.
“He was in a coma, but he woke up this morning”, Liz explained.
Liz explained that the Siren Dolphin Patrol (SDP) had found him after the shark attack and rescued him. S.U.S. doctors brought him back to health, but aren’t sure what to do with him now.
“We may need him”, Avery said. “Watch over him for now, and we’ll figure out what to do with him later”.
At that, Dani thanked Liz for everything she and S.U.S. had done, before she and Avery started making their way back to the never ending staircase, to head back up to Stillwater Bay.
They emerged from the old lighthouse near the docks, and walked up the street, heading towards the center of town.
The fountain had just come into view when both women stopped and stared in horror. Avery and Dani couldn’t believe what they were seeing as they took in the state of the town. The town where Avery had lived her whole life. The town Dani had grown to love this past year.
Dark times had fallen on Stillwater Bay. Laura’s attack was almost a complete success, except that Avery managed to get away. The town was left empty, the streets scattered with bodies and debris. The Cunning and Treacherous Six returned to Malevolent Mountain, and they weren’t alone.
The CaTS, along with the aid of hypnotized Aaron, managed to secure the remaining members of the CCC, and bring them back to their lair to be imprisoned, and eventually killed. The hypnotized townspeople followed the CaTS to their lair, and were also imprisoned before their trances wore off.
Sitting around their evil conference table, the CaTS looked pleased with themselves.
“Avery will try to come and save her friends, and when she does, we’ll finally get her”, Laura shouted in excitement. “We’ll kill her, and those crime-stopping Canadians, and any Stillwater Bay citizen still alive”.
The group of villains then all started laughing so maniacally and loud, even Jeff (who had been watching movies that feature villainous people), that the prisoners on the other side of the lair could hear them, and shook with fear.
Back in Stillwater Bay, Avery and Dani finished searching the deserted and dismal looking town, looking for anyone who could tell them what happened, but they both came up empty handed.
“How are we going to find them?” Dani asked, frustrated.
“I have an idea”, Avery replied. “Let’s go.”
Avery and Dani made their way back into the old lighthouse, and back down the never ending staircase and long hallway, until they reached the locked door. Not knowing what else to do, she knocked, and hoped someone would answer. A minute or two passed…
Suddenly a small round window, previously invisible in the door, opened and an eye peered through briefly, then the small window quickly closed again. The lock clicked loudly, the door opened, and a hooded woman motioned for them both to come in, nodding with a warm smile.
Avery started to ask where Liz was, but before she could get the words out, she saw that Liz was already walking through the Great Hall towards them.
“I didn’t expect you’d be back so soon!” Liz said jokingly with a slight smirk.
“We need to talk to The Snitch”, Avery responded.
The three women made their way back to the Med Bay to talk to Konstantine. Still weak from the coma, he sat up in his bed and looked at them. “What do you want?” The Snitch asked.
“We need your help”, Avery said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Avery went on to express her gratitude that Konstantine had helped her at the docks, and apologized that he was injured as a result, but also reminded him that it was really his fault to begin with for getting involved with such villainous people. The Snitch nodded in agreement.
Avery then went on to explain that the CCC and the townspeople have all been taken by CaTS, and they desperately needed to find them before it was too late, so perhaps if Konstantine helped, they would consider being shark food punishment enough.
“So, will you help?” Avery asked nervously.
“Yeah, of course”, The Snitch responded. “You didn’t have to say all that nice stuff, I woulda told you anyway. It’s kinda what I do”.
Konstantine drew them a detailed map showing the entrances to the evil lair within Malevolent Mountain, one of which is a cave along a river.
Liz suggested Avery and Dani use the cave entrance, and told them she would provide them with a boat to travel the river. Avery and Dani thanked The Snitch for his help, and followed Liz to retrieve the boat. Liz told them to row out of the bay, and then follow the coast until they found the river.
Avery and Dani got in the boat and started paddling out of the bay.
At this same time, back in Laura’s Lair, the CCC were having mixed reactions to their imprisonment. Mark was napping, curled up on the floor. Myles was very grumpy. And April was feeling curious.
April had been scanning the entire room the whole time she had been there. Without drawing too much attention to herself, she made her way to the wall. It was a completely flat metal surface, cold to the touch. April pressed her hand to the wall, and started walking around the room.
Suddenly, she stopped. The wall was warm under her hand here. April pulled a hairpin out of her hair and bent it open. She ran the end of the pin up and down the warm spot in the wall, and just like that, the pin pushed into a small spot in the wall and a small door slid open. A control panel.
April felt a rush of excitement. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do it yet, but she knew that she was one step closer to getting everyone out of this prison, and with that, April started studying the wires and buttons in front of her. She pushed and prodded until finally…the prison door started to open.
With the door now open, April rallied the townspeople, explaining that this was their chance to escape. “Try to be quiet and careful”, April said. “And remember, they may be dastardly and devious people, but there’s more of us than there are of them”. She then pointed towards the door. “Let’s go!”
The Stillwater Bay citizens started out the prison door, and into a large hallway. The wall on one side of the hall was exposed mountain rock, but the rest was the same flat metal as the prison walls. They tried to stay quiet as they moved, but they weren’t sure where they were going.
It didn’t matter anyway, as at that moment, Jeff was watching the escape take place on the security monitors, and sounded the alarm. An obnoxiously loud horn started blowing over and over and over again, while red lights started flashing from various points around the lair.
Dani and Avery had arrived at the cave entrance into the lair just in time. They had just finished putting the paddles in the boat, and securing it to the cave dock, just as the alarms started sounding, and they assumed they set them off. They looked at each other in panic.
Knowing they had to move quickly, and there was no way around it, Avery and Dani ran into the cave, towards the blaring horns and flashing lights to save their friends, and the town. Once they reached the lair’s main hall, they saw that the freed townspeople were in a state of chaos.
The citizens of Stillwater Bay had panicked when the alarms sounded, and proceeded to run right into the main hall, interrupting the CaTS at their conference table. Not knowing how to get out, they were all now just running around and screaming, causing the villains to scatter.
Dani spotted Ramsey D! and Aaron pushing their way through the crowd. They were making their way towards a microphone for the loudspeaker.
“I’ve got to stop her and save Aaron”, Dani said, and without hesitation, crouched down, and quietly disappeared into the crowd.
Avery decided she wanted to get to a higher point, so she could see everything, and hopefully be able to find her friends. She spotted a ladder across the room and began moving towards it, carefully. On her way to the ladder, she came across Mike, the firefighter, and showed him the exit.
“Start getting people out of here”, she told him, and then proceeded to make her way across the room, finally reaching the ladder. She started climbing up to a suspended catwalk above her. She made it most of the way up the ladder, when she looked down to see Ramsey was almost to the microphone.
Avery watched in fear as Ramsey picked up the microphone, while Aaron was holding off chaotic citizens. However, Ramsey and Aaron didn’t see in time that Dani had reached the mic first, and as Ramsey lifted it to start singing, Dani ripped the wire from the wall. Surprised, Ramsey dropped the mic.
Dani, now holding the microphone by its loose wire, swung it over her head and struck Ramsey with it, knocking her unconscious. Aaron, still under his deep trance, turns to Dani. Not wanting to hurt Aaron, Dani runs down a nearby corridor, and Aaron chases after her.
Still looking down from the ladder, Avery hoped Dani and Aaron would be alright, but she had to keep going. She finished climbing up and onto the catwalk. From here, Avery looked down into the crowd, searching for the CCC members, and their villainous counterparts.
Finally, Avery spotted Salty Pete and Dr. Lawrie pushing their way through the crowd, but she also saw April and Myles following closely behind them through the same crowd. Avery continued searching, looking for any sign of Laura or Jeff, and she still had not seen Kubey-Doo.
Elsewhere in the lair, Aaron had chased Dani into the kitchen. Dani was trying to reason with Aaron, but he could not hear her through the hypnotic spell. Doing a quick inventory of her surroundings, Dani came up with a plan. Dodging Aaron, she moved around collecting what she needed.
She poured three ingredients into a bowl, and popped it in the oven, quickly turning a knob. Within moments, the smell of baking sauce, meat, and cheese started to fill the room. Suddenly, Aaron shook his head, confused.
“You’re making lasagna?” he asked.
Dani smiled.
On the other end of the lair, April and Myles had followed the pair of arsonists all the way to their equipment room. As the two evildoers equipped their flamethrowers, April and Myles silently moved into the room behind them. April pulled out the emergency supply of raisins kept tucked in her bra.
Moving as quietly as she could, April was able to dump some of her raisins into each of the flamethrowers’ gas tanks. She stepped back, and then cleared her throat loudly, drawing the arsonist’s attention. They both turned to look at the detectives standing there.
With their usual maniacal laughter, Salty Pete and Dr. Lawrie raised their flamethrowers, ready to set the room ablaze. Unfortunately for them, April’s raisins were clogging the fuel lines, so they couldn’t produce any flames. While they looked over their equipment in confusion, April and Myles left the room.
Using her hairpin again, April opened the control panel outside the equipment room door. She poked and pressed at the buttons until the door slid closed, locked.
“That should hold them”, April stated proudly.
Myles nodded in agreement.
From the catwalk, Avery could see the last of the townspeople being led to safety. Out of nowhere, Avery hears footsteps walking towards her on the catwalk. In a panic, she stands to see who it is.
“Avery?!” three men say in unison.
Avery was standing face to face with the staff of The Stillwater Bay Beacon. “What are you still doing here?!” she asked.
“This is big news!” Gino, her editor, responded, somehow in a quiet shout.
Avery looked at them all suspiciously, not sure who to trust at the moment.
“I know one of you is a spy for Laura”, Avery stated angrily.
“What?!” Gino asking, appearing confused.
Avery studied his face, and then the senior journalist, Alexander’s, and finally the photographer, Jim’s. Before Avery made any conclusions, Jim lunged forward and pushed her over the railing.
With a scream, Avery held onto the catwalk as she fell over. Dangling high above the cold metal floor below, Avery feared this was the end, and then a hand grabbed her wrist. Avery looked up to see Gino holding on to her, feeling relief. He pulled her back up onto the suspended platform.
Once she had her footing again, Avery frantically looked around, but Jim seemed to have gotten away. Avery and the two men climbed down the ladder. Once they were back on the ground, Avery showed the Beacon staff how to get out, and regrouped with the CCC.
Avery, Aaron, Dani, April, and Myles stood in the middle of the main hall of the CaTS evil lair.
“Has anyone seen Laura?!” Avery asked.
“Where’s Mark?!” Aaron asked.
At that moment, a loud mechanical sound started whirring above, causing the group to look up.
Above the large vat of magma, a platform was slowly dropping out of the ceiling, revealing Laura and Jeff standing there, holding Mark, gagged and wrapped in locked chains.
“Did you lose something?” Laura asked, chuckling to herself.
Avery and the CCC gazed up in horror.
“Jeff, begin the self-destruct sequence”, Laura said calmly.
Jeff lifted a control he was holding in his hand and pushed a large red button. A robotic voice started speaking over the loudspeaker…
“SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED. 60 SECONDS UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT”.
“I don’t think you’re all getting out of this alive, but I am”, Laura boasted, and then laughed in evil pleasure. “Let’s go Jeff”.
Jeff pressed another button, and the platform started to rise back into the ceiling.
“We’ll stop you!” Myles shouted up at them.
“Try it”, Laura responded. Then, without leaving a moment to realize what was happening, Laura pushed Mark off the platform. Avery and the CCC could only watch while, almost as if in slow motion, Kubey-Doo fell into the vat of magma, immediately vanishing into the hot liquid.
“NOOOO!” Dani screamed. “He was a treasure!!!”
“SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED. 30 SECONDS UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT”.
“We have to get out of here!” Myles shouted.
“There’s nothing we can do”, Aaron told Dani, keeping her from running to the magma vat.
Avery quickly led the CCC to the exit, the alarm still sounding loudly, the lights still flashing, and now, also the robotic voice on the loudspeaker…
“SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED. 10 SECONDS UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT”.
The group ran past the boat and out of the cave.
The group kept running, hearing the sounds of explosions behind them. Once they thought they were far enough away, they stopped to look back as the mountain collapsed in on itself, smoke and debris billowing in the air.
Standing safely now, the group all looked at each other with a sad relief.
Epilogue:
A couple months have passed since the showdown at Malevolent Mountain. There had been no sign of any of the villains who appear to have escaped. The town and its citizens also seemed to be returning to the status quo.
For Avery and the CCC, however, nothing would ever be the same again. The CCC didn’t quite recover from the loss of Kubey-Doo. Myles and April both decided to retire from their detective work and stay in Stillwater Bay. Myles ended up buying the malt shop, Classic Fountain Spouts, while April has become Stillwater Bay’s most successful real estate agent.
Aaron and Dani have decided to return to Canada and rejoin their old detective team, The Maple Leaf Mystery League, where their former partners, Velma and Norbert, were happy to have them back.
Avery decided she had a new calling, and quit The Stillwater Bay Beacon. April sold her the small empty storefront under Avery’s apartment. Avery hired Konstantine as her assistant, and his first duty was to hold the ladder steady while Avery hung the sign outside her new office:
“Avery Jordan: Stillwater Bay Detective”
“Alright”, Avery said to Konstantine as she finished hanging the sign. “Open for business”.
Averybody Writes 
Leave a comment