Ivy and the Fluorescent Lightbulb

Chapter 20.1 - The Hideout

Ivy yawned as the vehicle slowed to a stop. I must've slept the whole time, she thought, peering out of the window.

An expansive ocean stretched from end to end of the horizon, glittering golden and orange in the evening sunlight. Waves crashed against sheer, white cliffs. "Woah!" Ivy gasped.

"Wow," Carbon echoed, stirring from his nap and rubbing his eyes. He stared at the view. "We've come all the way to the ocean?"

"Yup," Uncle Taner said from the back of the car. He pinched the bridge of his nose and yawned. Ivy noticed his face was drawn and gaunt. He looks exhausted, she thought in surprise. Didn't he sleep? "Did you all nap well?" he said.

"I didn't," Kronalia grumbled, sitting up from where she had been lounging.

"Me either," Syndria agreed, brushing her tousled hair.

"Yeah," Augaley said, stretching her hands over her head. "That was a lot of turbulence."

"All part of the journey," Uncle Taner said with a slow shrug. "Can't say I slept much either."

"Hey, Uncle Taner," Oak groggily said, who up until now was tiredly blinking and staring into space, "Is this the hideout?"

Uncle Taner, who had engrossed himself in multiple holographic screens at once, jolted and looked up."Huh?" he said. "Oh, no, the hideout is down there," he said, vaguely pointing at the ocean.

"Down where? I only see water," Ivy said, squinting.

"No," Uncle Taner said, closing the panels and sending the car into motion once more. "It's on the cliffside. In a cave network."

"Hey, why are we moving again?" Syndria said, nervously looking at the approaching edge of the cliff and the crashing waves below. "Are there magnetic paths this far out?"

Uncle Taner pursed his mouth. "...No, I don't think so," he finally said.

"Then why are we moving?" Ivy exclaimed.

He shrugged, calmly watching as the ocean's horizon grew. "That's just how you get there," he said.

The car shuddered and paused as it drifted above the open seas. "Wait," Ivy said, backing away from the window, "I suddenly feel like this is a terrible idea."

"Why?" Uncle Taner asked with a slight raise of an eyebrow.

"It's—"

"It's too dangerous!" Oak interrupted jumping into the conversation. "Aren't you always the one who's worried about danger?'

Uncle Taner gave them a grim, tired smile. "The kind of danger that you kids are in right now—just by being near me—is probably more dangerous than this little drop."

"We're gonna drop?" Ivy exclaimed.

Ivy could no sooner get the words out of her mouth before the soft humming of the car abruptly stopped.

"Oh, no," Kronalia groaned.

They sat in tense silence, crouching in their seats. Ivy peeked out. Hey...it looks like we're not moving! Maybe we're just going to slowly lower—

The car slowly tipped, leveled, then plummeted, sending Ivy floating by the sheer force of the drop.

Not again! Ivy thought, reaching for her seat. Why do I always get stuck in the hovercars that can't hover?

Ivy tightly closed her eyes against the view of the growing ocean, biting back a scream.

"Oh—I forgot," Uncle Taner said over the other's screams. "Hold on to your seats!"

Now you say it? she thought in dismay as she clutched tighter to her seat.

The car slammed onto a surface. "Eep!" Ivy squealed as she bounced in place, briefly levitating from the chair. She crashed to the ground as the car jerkily swung to the side.

"...Is everyone okay?" Uncle Taner said after a few moments.

"I...think I'm alive?" Ivy said, cracking open her eyes.

Ivy found herself in a heap on the ground, splayed out with her arms cocked awkwardly on a seat next to herself. She slowly sat up.

Uncle Taner pushed himself up from the rows of seat he had fallen into. Oak slowly emerged from the middle row, his hair tussled. Syndria and Kronalia were clutching to their seats, hair frazzled, but otherwise in one piece. Augaley slowly scrambled to her feet, and Carbon lay sprawled on a row of seats.

"I'm okay..." Carbon muttered.

"Where are we?" Oak asked.

The windows were pitch dark. Are we...underwater? Ivy wondered. "I don't see the ocean anymore," she said, frowning.

"I forgot it was such a rough landing,'' Uncle Taner muttered, dusting himself off. "That's why I never liked this place. Ivy, is the lightbulb safe?"

"Uh," Ivy hurriedly said, scrambling around the car. She ducked under the seats. Nothing. She checked the crevices around the seats. Nothing.

"It fell over here!" Oak said, holding up the metal-encased bulb over his head. Ivy sighed in relief and took it from him.

"Thanks, Oak!" she said with a grateful smile.

"Is it broken?" Uncle Taner said, walking over and examining the metal encasement. He slipped it from her hands and closely examined it. His eyebrows furrowed. "Well, at least the glass is still in one piece..." he said.

Uncle Taner slid the door open, hopping into the inky blackness. "Let's go," he called. "I'll take a closer look at it once we reach inside."

He continued muttering to himself as he walked away and disappeared into the darkness. The group exchanged bewildered looks before jumping out of the car and following Uncle Taner.