IDFB: Continued - an IDFB fanfic [COMPLETED]

IDFB 6b: Quaky Quandaries ⛰️

If Puffball couldn't fly, she would have fallen over when the earthquake hit. Instead she simply floated an inch above the ground, her new legs dangling in the air.

Fries, however, fell onto his face, the ground muffling a hiccup. The earthquake didn't last longer than a couple of seconds, though, so he was able to get back up quickly. "What was that?" he wondered, rubbing his head. One of his fries was now a little mushed.

"Don't look at me. You've been here longer than I have," Puffball answered.

Fries crossed his arms. "I may have been here for 3 and a half years, but there's never been an earthquake before."

"Huh. Well, I hope everyone else is ok."

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Bubble coughed violently, trying to dislodge the Titanic's worth of dust she accidentally inhaled. It took a minute, but her throat finally got mostly cleared.

"Ruby?" Bubble called out, then coughed again. There was still lots of dust in the air, but she couldn't see a speck of it. She was plunged into darkness when her flashlight went out a few minutes ago, and the sudden earthquake hadn't made the situation any better.

"I'm here!" Ruby's voice filtered through the dark.

Bubble carefully walked forward, feeling the way with her hand, until she came across the familiar feel of Ruby's smooth and shiny gemstone head. Miraculously, Ruby hadn't shattered. "Ruby!" Bubble cried happily. They hugged.

"What the heck was that?" Ruby asked.

"An earthquake, I guess. I've never felt one before, though."

"Me neither."

Bubble heard Ruby's foot begin to tap on the floor. "Where are the others?" she asked.

"Somewhere behind me, I think. We didn't know which tunnel you went down, so I suggested we split up."

"That's a horrible idea! If we split up down here, we may have never been able to find each other again!"

Before Ruby could respond, another small rumble vibrated through the tunnel. Bubble could hear pebbles and loose bits of rock tumbling down from the walls. "Was that an aftershock?" she asked Ruby.

"I guess..."

Bubble suddenly realized that she could see the rough shape of Ruby. It was still extremely dark, but a few things were now barely visible. "Ruby!" she cried again. "I can see you!"

Ruby frowned (at least, Bubble thought she did). "Yeah, so?"

"It was TOTALLY dark a moment ago. But if there's light streaming in from somewhere..."

Ruby's eyes lit up (not literally). "...then that last aftershock must have opened up a hole to the surface!"

They bumped into each other, then scrambled to pull away at the remaining loose rocks in the walls.

"I found something!" Bubble said as a single ray of sunlight shone straight into her eye. Excited, she rammed into the wall, bursting through. The sheer amount of light blinded her, causing her to trip on some rubble. She fell over and begin to roll down a steep slope - straight towards Yoyle City. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!"

Ruby poked her head out and looked up, seeing the peak of Yoyle Mountain far above them. She then leapt out of the hole, turned onto her side, and begin to roll down the mountain, just like Bubble. "Wheeeeeeeeee!!!" Their mixed screams of delight and terror faded into the silence as they tumbled towards civilization.

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"Hey, Tennis Ball!"

TB turned around at the sound of his name. "Hi, Fries! It's been a few months. How are the new fries?"