Crabmas and The Dark Side of the Den |aka Blacklight Posters are Still Cool|

[MrGneiss]

With only about a week to go before Crabmas a helper prawn spotted something in the den!!


What's glowing behind that poster?? the prawn asked Sam, the fan mail sorting lobster..

No clue, said Sam, that poster's been there since before I started working here, I never knew anything was behind it.. Why don't you go ask the Christmas Crab!!

So that's what the prawn did!!

Crabmas 23 Day 1.1.jpg

Hey Christmas Crab, can I ask you a question??

Sure, said the Christmas Crab, me and Gordon were just finishing our crafting for the day, ask away!!

What's behind the poster in the den?? asked the prawn..

Umm, I think it's just a hole?? Yeah that's it, I remember now, a moose chewed a hole in the wall a few decades ago, so I just hung up a poster to cover it.. I'll get around to fixing it someday!! Why do you ask??

Oh..it started glowing!!

The poster?? It is a blacklight poster, it'll glow if the blacklight is on!!

No, not the poster..the hole, I guess, behind the poster?!

Oh, that's odd, said the Christmas Crab, lets go take a look!!


So they all went to see what was going on behind the fuzzy Pink Floyd poster in the den..


The Christmas Crab, Gordon and the prawn made their way into the Den where Sam, the lobster, was still sorting fan mail..

Sup?? asked Sam..

We all came to see what's glowing, said the prawn..

Oh, right, the poster..

Did you notice when it started glowing?? asked the Christmas Crab..

Let's see.. I bumped into it the other day while carrying a mail bag and one of the tacks holding it up fell out..That's when I first noticed it.. I don't think it was glowing before then..

The Christmas Crab stepped closer to take a better look..

Wow, it really is glowing, said the Christmas Crab, let's take the poster down so we can get a better look..

Crabmas 23 Day 1.2.jpg

Hmm, they all said while looking at the glowing blue hole in the wall..

What is it??

Looks like a portal, said the Christmas Crab..

A portal, cool!! Where do you think it goes??

Only one way to find out!!


And with that, all four of them went through the portal!!




Posts of Crabmas past!!

Viva La Revolution!! Contest II (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
The 12 Days of Crabmas
Crabmas Cancelled?
Wake Up Christmas Crab!!
A Crabmas Kidnapping!!
A Crabmas Blizzard!!
The Legend of the Golden Spatula!! (Crabmas and the 100 Year Wish)
Christmas Crab and The Adventure of the New TV!!
Crabmas and the Missing Crab!!
Crabmas and The Night of the Lost Limb!!
Crabmas and Not a Lot of Spam!!
Crabmas and The Great Egg Quest!!
Crabmas and a Whale of a Time at the Crooked Castle!!
Crabmas and the Big Problem!! (aka Giant Llama Drama)
Crabmas and The Haunting of the Crooked Castle!! (aka What's in the Walls)
A Very Covid Crabmas (aka A Year Inside the Crooked Castle Bubble)
Crabmas and The Mystery at Crooked Castle (aka Murder Crab Wrote)
Crabmas 2.0 (aka Crabytastic LLC)

[hanabi]

A portal!?



yay! It’s not Crabmas without another errr Crabmas story!

[takethecastle57]

Are we going to have a "Rick and Morty " adventure ?

[MrGneiss]

The whole gang came through the portal, not in the Crooked Castle anymore, but in a large field full of sheep, unharmed but a little dizzy!!

Crabmas 23 Day 2.1.2.jpg

Where are we?? asked the prawn..

Sheep field?? said Sam..

Well I can see that, but where??

Hey, there's a sign over there!! said the Christmas Crab..

They all trod over to a sign next to a road..

Gordon. Can you light this sign?? asked the Christmas Crab..

Sure..

Gordon lit up the old looking wooden sign so they could get a better look.. It pointed down the road and said London on it..

Well, I'd guess we're somewhere in England, probably?? Said the Christmas Crab..

Weird..why do you have a portal to England in your castle??

I have no idea!!

Well, this was fun, but I guess we should be getting back now, those snot boots won't fill themselves, said Sam..

So everyone took one last look around, said goodbye to the sheep and went back through the portal..

Crabmas 23 Day 2.2.2.jpg

So they step back through the portal but they don’t end up back in the crooked castle!!

Oh, that’s not good!!

[takethecastle57]

Don't tell me it's A Multiverse story and biscuits

[hanabi]

Oh no!

Where can they be? !

[MrGneiss]

Oh I hope it's nowhere bad!!

[MrGneiss]

Where are we. Where’s the castle. How do we get back??

Calm down, calm down, said the Christmas Crab.. Let’s just take a second and see where we are!!

Ok, said the prawn..

Hey, look over there, said Sam, is that the Eiffel Tower??

Crabmas 23 Day 3.1.jpg

Where??

Waaaaaayyyy over there!!

Oh, yeah..I guess that could be it, or a weird tree maybe?!

We must be near Paris, said the Christmas Crab..

Why are we in Paris now?? asked the prawn..

No clue..Hmm..Lets check the portal..maybe we made a wrong turn??

Wrong turn?? I didn't turn, we didn't turn..THERE WERE NO TURNS!! the prawn said while starting to panic again!!

Ok ok....Maybe we just need to try again until we get back to where we started?? suggested Sam..

Umm, maybe..I guess it's worth a try, the prawn said, now a little calmer..


So back through the portal they went!!


Well...This def ain't no Crabmas Island..

Very observant, the Christmas Crab said while looking at the volcanic island they seemed to have landed on..

Crabmas 23 Day 3.2.jpg

Well, I guess we just keep trying?? the prawn wondered aloud..

Wait..has anyone tried their cell phones?? asked Sam.. You know, maps, calling for help etc..

Doh..

They all got out their phones, but found they had no signal, which wasn't surprising given where they were..

Ok..from now on..we check them whenever we get to a new place, said the Christmas Crab..

So back through the portal they went!! To home?? Who knows..

[MrGneiss]

All of the portals power overloaded PT's servers, sorry!!

[MrGneiss]

The group had now gone through the portal more than a dozen times, yet to find themselves in a populated area and still no cell signal!!

They spotted a couple more signs and some towns off in the distance a few times, but nothing close enough to risk the journey!!

Their only choice was to keep trying the portal.. Jungles, beaches, fields, forests, etc..

Crabmas 23 Day 4.1.2.jpg

They hadn't found themselves in any danger so far and there seemed to be fresh water and berries easy enough to find in most of the places they portalled to, the only real danger seemed to be the danger of missing Crabmas and that was just not acceptable to the Christmas Crab!!


Ok guys, enough rest, back through again, the Christmas Crab said.. Crabmas hangs in the balance.. Let's Go!!!!

They once again trundled through the glowing blue doorway..

When they came out the other side this time it seemed different, it was dark, was it night?? No wait, it was indoors!! Were they back home??

All of a sudden there were lights and loud music and...cheering??

Where are we?? asked the prawn..

Where they were was on the set of American Gladiators.. In the 80s!! Their phones defiantly wouldn't work here!!

What the heck?? exclaimed Sam!!

Fwump.. A tennis ball traveling at high speed zoomed past the prawns head!!

Crabmas 23 Day 4.2.jpg

Fwump, fwump!! More high speed tennis balls almost hit the group!!

Back through the portal!! shouted Sam..

But before they could even turn around, the Christmas Crab was hit in the head with a tennis ball and was out cold!!

Quick.. Grab a leg and pull.. NOW!! Before anyone else gets hit!!

They each grabbed a leg (or two) and dragged the Christmas Crab back through the portal and hopefully out of danger!!

[takethecastle57]

Get the drawn butter ready !! And start boiling the water !!!


(don't tell me , I'm getting a snot boot Right )

[MrGneiss]

OMG, the amount of people that get snot boots for talking about eating the Christmas Crab is enormous!!

But he does like electric cars, so he may reconsider if you gave him a ride!!


Of course that is if they ever make it back!!

[hanabi]

[MrGneiss]

A few minutes after they got through the portal, the Christmas Crab finally came to!!

Where are we?? What happened?? asked the Christmas Crab..

It looks like we’re in a cave, said the prawn..

Gordon’s nose and the light from the portal combined to give the cave a nice purple glow..

Crabmas 23 Day 5.1.jpg

We transported to the 1980s and you were hit in the noggin by a high speed tennis ball fired from a cannon!!

Oh!! So Gordon's theory was right!! We weren’t just traveling through space but also time!! exclaimed the Christmas Crab..

Wait, said the prawn, when did Gordon say that??

Oh, back a few jumps.. He talks pretty quietly sometimes.. You get used to it!!

Oh.. Ok..

So, does this help us in any way?? asked the Prawn..

Not really, said the Christmas Crab.. Now we have to not only get back to the right place, but also the right time as well!!

Yikes, said Sam, maybe we should agree that if we get back to the right year we stop going through the portal and just find a way to a city and fly home?!

Everyone thought that was a pretty good idea..

Then Gordon cleared his throat and spoke up!!

Yes, that is a good plan, but I’ve been doing some calculations using my G.P.S.!!

G.P.S.??

Gordon Positioning System.. You know.. My nose!! It doesn’t need satellites. So it works even in the past!!

And in the past they were!!

Gordon pointed out they were currently in the Lascaux caves, yet there weren’t any drawings on the walls yet!! Gordon estimated they were currently about 20,000 years in the past!!

Crabmas 23 Day 5.2.jpg

Gordon continued..

I’ve been monitoring how we enter the portal each time and how that affects the place and time we seem to end up.. Now that I have enough data I think I may be able to get us back to the right year And back to Crabmas Island!!

They all cheered then sighed in relief..

Gordon explained that depending on the order they each entered the portal, at what speed they were going, in which direction they were facing, and also some stuff about gravity or something, that the others just didn’t understand, that they could get to where and when they wanted to...probably!!

[takethecastle57]

​That was some Great Tekno Bable "All you have to do is turn the grabnot 40 degrees counterclockwise and that might do the trick ! "

[MrGneiss]

So Gordon explained that if they entered the portal in a particular order, prawn, lobster, platypus, crab, while all facing forward and walking at approximately 2.8 mph (4.5 kph) that they Should end up back on Crabmas Island the same day they left..

So off they went through the portal for hopefully the last time!!

And…they came out in a snowy woods.. They turned around and there it was, the Crooked Castle!!

Crabmas 23 Day 6.1.jpg

YAY!! they all cheered..

They all ran towards the Crooked Castle!! When they got to the front walk, the Christmas Crab picked up a newspaper from the ground and looked at the date, and indeed it was the day they left.. It was the right year even!!

With much relief they all went inside and…

They were stopped by a helper prawn!!

Halt! said the helper prawn.. You can’t just walk in here like you own the place!

But he does own the place, said Sam..

Yeah, said the prawn, this is the Christmas Crab and this is his castle!!

Christmas Crab..who’s that?

What!? they all exclaimed..

What what?? said the helper prawn.. This ain’t your castle, this is the Christmas Lobsters castle!! I'll have to put you all in the Peanut Butter Dungeon until the Christmas Lobster gets back and can sort all this out!!

Guards!

Crabmas 23 Day 6.2.jpg

RUN!! yelled the Christmas Crab!!

The whole group turned around, burst out the front door and ran as fast as they could back to the woods and they all jumped through the portal and ended up in a big pile in the middle of some desert.. A camel eyed them suspiciously!!

Oh no, said the Christmas Crab!!

[takethecastle57]

"Oh poo " said the Camel " your on my poo"

[Drunkenclam]

Well that took a turn for the worst

[MrGneiss]

They were so close to home!! Well, sort of, but still..I though Crabmas was saved!!

[MrGneiss]

What happened?? they all asked Gordon at the same time!!

Well.. Right place.. Right time.. Wrong dimension!! said Gordon..

Crabmas 23 Day 7.1.jpg

Wrong dimension?? asked Sam..

Yes.. Oh!! I see now, said Gordon..

See what??

My calculations were a bit off..

No duh, said the prawn..

Gordon continued, ignoring the comment..

I forgot to figure in this sheep that's been following us!! Stupid me.. I’ve got it now.. Ok, same as last time, but we must walk through the portal backwards!! You too sheep!!

Baa!!

Ok.. Let’s get home!!

The other three just stared at him..

What?? asked Gordon..

Are you Really sure this time?? asked the Christmas Crab..

Of course I am..

Well..Ok..I trust you!! Come on guys, you know Gordon wouldn't put us in danger again.. Most likely..

Excuse me?? said Gordon..

I’m just kidding.. We all trust you.. Right guys??

Right guys??

Oh....Yeah....Sure....Let’s do this!!

So they tried again and…


…IT WORKED!!

They got back right where they started!! In the den!!

Crabmas 23 Day 7.2.jpg

Yay, we made it, said the prawn.. Now let’s not do that again!!

I don’t know. I thought it was kind of fun, said Gordon..

The other three just groaned!!

Ok, said the Christmas Crab, we should put the poster back up so no one else has to go through that, and we'll use some extra tacks this time so it doesn’t fall down again!!

Umm shouldn’t we fix the hole?? asked the prawn..

Nah..

Hey look, said Sam, there's an on/off switch right next to the portal!! Look, it turns the portal on and off!! When I knocked into the poster last week and the tack fell out, it must have fallen on the switch and turned it on!! That’s why we never saw it glowing before, cuz it wasn’t, it was switched off!!

Crabmas 23 Day 7.3.jpg

So they switched it off, hung the poster back up with 4 extra thumbtacks, got back to work and Crabmas was saved once again!!


BTW, they named the sheep Shakespeare!!