A/N First stop, Australia. Let's see what they will find there. Be sure to let me know what you think of my story. I do not own Johnny Test.
Chapter 2: Clue in the Cooper Plains
Johnny and the gang were now flying over the country of Australia, towards the Cooper Plains in Brisbane. When they reached their destination, they remained flying in the hovercraft while looking around.
Johnny: "All right, we made it. So, what're we suppose to do now, Isamu?"
Isamu: "I'm not entirely sure about that at the moment, Johnny. Hmm… Susan, Mary, if you two don't mind, could you two please land this thing? I can't think straight with the sound of the engine going."
Susan: "Sure thing."
Mary: "We can land in the park over there."
As soon as they had landed, they got out of the hovercraft and started walking around, looking for anything that could be a sign to Manabu's scroll while the locals were staring at them. When Johnny noticed this, he says,
Johnny: "Uh, hey, how's it going, everyone?"
Dukey: (Whispering) "Uh, Johnny, around here, it's "g'day, mate"."
Johnny: "Oh."
But then, a man walks up to them, and says,
Australian man: "Crikey! Did that dog of yours just talk, mate?"
Johnny: "Uh, no, he did not… mate."
Then they walked away from the man to keep looking. A few minutes later, they walked up to Isamu while he was sitting on a bench, looking through his notebook and the twins standing next to him.
Johnny: "So, find anything yet?"
Mary and Susan: "Nope."
Isamu: "Nothing. Hmm… The riddle that I've read brought us here, so the answer that we're looking for must be somewhere nearby, here in this park. We must be overlooking something, or somewhere that we haven't thought of looking at yet. Question is, where could it be?"
And then, Dukey looked up at the tree next to them, and noticed something unusual on the tree. There was a small carving on its branch.
Dukey: "Hey, look! There's something on that tree."
Johnny: "What? Where?"
Dukey: "Right there, on that branch."
Everyone had looked at the part of the tree Dukey pointed at, and noticed it as well.
Susan: "Oh, I see it."
Mary: "Yeah, me too."
Johnny: "I still don't see it."
Dukey: "Okay, try to follow where I'm pointing, Johnny."
Johnny aligned his eyesight to the part of the tree Dukey was talking about, and says,
Johnny: "…Oh, okay, now I see it."
Isamu: "Ah, this must be it. This is what we're looking for. Hm, it looks like a Japanese character… but it's too small for me to tell which one it is."
Susan: "We can help with that. Any chance you brought a camera with you, Isamu?"
Isamu: "Yes. One moment, please."
Isamu had opened his bag and started digging through it to find the camera he had.
Isamu: (Takes out camera) "There you go."
Mary: "Thanks."
Johnny: "So, what're you guys gonna do?"
Mary: "We're gonna use our all-terrain shoes to climb up the tree and take a photo of the Japanese character so that Isamu can tell what it is, and read it."
Isamu: "Yes, good plan. I imagine that there are more characters on more of these trees, so you'll have to inspect each and every one of them here in the park."
Mary and Susan: "Right."
The twins activated their shoes, walked up to the tree, took a picture of the character carved on the branch, and repeated the same process with all over the trees that were in the park, even though some of them didn't have any characters carved on them. A few minutes later, the twins had returned just as Johnny had finished a bottle of Red Gush, and Dukey had eaten a slice of bacon.
Isamu: "Ah, good, you're both back."
Johnny: "About time, too. (Burps)"
Dukey: "(Chuckles) Nice one."
Susan: "Anyways, we managed to find all the characters that were on the trees in the park."
Isamu: "Very good. Now then, may I?"
Mary: "Go ahead." (Gives camera to Isamu)
Isamu begins looking through all the pictures that the twins have taken, writes down the characters that were on them in a notebook while muttering. When he looked through all the pictures, he continues muttering while looking at his notebook.
Johnny: "So, what're you trying to do?"
Isamu: "I'm trying to put each of these into the right order. These characters that were hidden in the trees tell a message. A message left by Manabu to those that would try to find his scroll. Now, let's see…"
Isamu continued trying to put each one of the characters in order until he had gotten them figured out.
Isamu: "Yes! I've got it!"
Johnny: "Awesome!"
Dukey: "So, what is it?"
Isamu: "It's another riddle, to another location."
Mary and Susan: "What does it say?"
Isamu: "It says, "If you wish to write the tale you want to tell, you will need the proper tool for the story to move on. You will find it near a place where those deep in the Botha inhabit, away from the Khamgaon"."
Johnny: "Uh, okay, what does that mean?"
Isamu: "Hmm… Do you four recall what I had told you about what Manabu had used to tell his tales with the scroll?"
Susan: "Yeah, you mentioned that he used a unique brush."
Isamu: "That's right. It was unique because it was only writing tool out of all the others in the world that would ever work for the scroll, and now he has hidden it away."
Dukey: "All right, so where did he hide it?"
Mary: "The riddle said it's near a place where those deep in the Botha inhabit, away from the Khamgaon. So, that would be…"
Susan: "…In the Botha forest of Khamgaon, Maharashtra, India!"
Isamu: "Well then, now that we know where to travel to next, let's return to the hovercraft."
Johnny, Mary, Dukey and Susan: "Right!"
But then, just as Isamu and the Test kids were heading back to the hovercraft, Isamu looks back and stopped in his tracks when he notices someone behind them, far from the park, watching them. This gave him an uneasy feeling for some reason.
Johnny: "Hey, Isamu! What's the hold-up?"
Isamu: "Oh, uh, nothing! I'm coming!"
Isamu had returned to the hovercraft while the man that Isamu had spotted took out his cell phone moments later after he watches them fly away, and dials a number.
Man: "Yes, sir.… Yes, he is heading towards the Botha forest in India. He's also got a group of children with him, along with an ugly dog.… Yes, sir. Understood."
TO BE CONTINUED
