Chapter X: Escape
Sam, Jack, Maddie and Tucker were thrown into a small cave, blocked by rocks and bars of bones. It was disturbing and creepy at the same time, like something out of a horror movie. They waited until the cannibals left before beginning to plan their escape.
"Ok, Danny said he'd keep them busy so we can escape, they all left so that probably means they're going to try and sacrifice him" said Tucker.
"I don't like this plan, I mean how do we know Danny will be okay?" said Maddie.
"Mrs. Fenton, Danny's been through worse, a lot worse; he can handle a few cannibals with wooden spears"
"Okay sometime you two will have to tell me everything Danny's been through so I know"
"Mr. Fenton, know that I mean no offence, but if you put some of your weight on those bone bars, I think you can break them" said Sam.
"I was already thinking about that, well it's worth a shot, stand clear"
Everybody stepped out of the way as Jack walked back, preparing to charge at the bone cage, they were made of bone, but old bones so they shouldn't be that hard to break. Jack then started to charge towards the bars.
"BANZ-"he started to cry.
Jack quickly looked to see one of the cannibals walking passed the cage, one of them stayed behind to guard, that wasn't the plan, Jack quickly tried to stop himself, however he smashed into the bars, which did break and he landed on the cannibal, who was knocked out. Jack stood up and turned to see everybody else run out, and another cannibal watching them, and then running off towards the rest.
"Great they know we're escaping" said Tucker.
"Well if we can lead some of them away, Danny will have more chance to escape" said Maddie.
"Uh guy's?" said Sam.
"What"
"Did we plan for us to be on a mountain?"
They looked towards her, she was right; they were on a small mountain which was towering over the rest of the jungle. They could see the area where they fired the flare, and they just had to get to there, which was going to be more difficult now, however they spotted a section which was slightly tiled, almost like an incline, they could make their way there and slide down.
"I think that's our best option"
"Well let's stop wasting time, let's go before they show up" said Sam.
Meanwhile Danny was hoping that his friends and family had escaped by now with no trouble, now he just needed to distract the cannibals. However that was easily said than done, especially when your tied up to a pole with a corrosive vine, hanging over a pile or wood, just waiting to be set ablaze.
Danny looked to see one of the cannibals, probably a witch doctor or spiritual leader, based on his paint applications and outfit, started to chant and come towards him with a stick of fire. Danny was picturing his escape attempt now. First he would freeze the fire and use it to form an ice blade, then he will fall on it and quickly turn human, which would cut the vine and the corrosive juices would barley harm him, then he will turn back into a ghost, scare them a little while his wounds heal, then he would fly off to find his friends and family.
Danny looked as the cannibal came closer, Danny could feel the heat of the flame, and hoped that he could time his plan just right and manage to get out before they realize what was going on, the cannibal was about to light the fire, but stopped when one of them shouted out.
"La malliberuloj, la malliberuloj eskapis"
Danny was suddenly filled with dread as he translated the words to English, Danny looked around and listened to them, they were deciding about going after them, he could not let that happen.
"Nu, kion vi atendas, vi iras por oferi al mi aŭ ne, mi atendas, venu fari ĝin, do ĝi" yelled Danny trying to distract them into sacrificing him again, but to no avail, as they all turned around to chase after them. The cannibal dropped the fire, right next to the wood.
Danny watched as they left, to hunt his friends and family, he had to get out of here. He looked at the fire, it was starting to make its way towards the pile; twig after twig until, and it was set ablaze. Danny felt the heat, it was more intense then he figured, however he wasn't staying long, Danny breathed in and prepared to use his ice powers when…
Danny gasped; he looked to see that the vine was constricting titer, like if it was still alive. Danny tried again, but same result, the vine got tighter. For some reason Danny couldn't use his ice powers, he looked down, directly at the flames, and started to blow, hoping that small puffs of air would put them out, he got the opposite result, and the flames enlarges as it spread.
"Oh, that can't be good" he said.
Sam and the others came to the edge of the incline, it was too steep to walk down, but too dangerous to slide down, there were sharp rocks in the way and some tree's. Sam looked around, hoping to find something useful; she spotted a pile of logs. She ran over to them, the cannibals must have cut them, they looked strong enough; Sam looked until she spotted the other thing she was looking for, vines.
"Hey I think I have an idea, but it's risky" she said.
"Well it's got to be better than staying here, what is it?" asked Jack.
"Ok I think this is a long shot, but look we have vines and a bunch of logs, can't we try some together and make a sled out of them, I mean then we could slide down this hill faster and a lot safer"
"How is that any safer?" asked Tucker.
"Well this way, if you slip, you won't go tumbling down the hill until your black and blue"
"Well don't just stand there, let's get to it" said Jack.
Jack ran over to the logs and moved them to a position, Tucker and Sam were running back and forth ripping vines off the trees and handing them to Maddie, who was tying them into the strongest knots she knew. Minutes later there was a sled for them to slide down on. However there success was being short lived, a heart dropping sound filled the air, and they looked behind them to see the cannibals running towards them. Jack quickly got on and told everybody to hold on, as he pushed the sled off the edge. They all screamed, it was like a roller-coaster, just much more dangerous and without loops and turns, as they bumped over rocks and passed trees.
"Ok now how do we stop this thing?" asked Tucker.
"I didn't think of that" Sam panicked.
"Hold on, I'll try to steer us towards those bushes, or whatever those are" said Jack.
Jack gripped the sides of the sled and slowly started to tilt one side, letting the other slightly turn. However at their speed, the sled uplifted, sending them off and flying, the sled flew into some trees and was smashed into its individual logs, while the four humans landed hard and bruised in the soft bush like plants.
"Oh…I'm going to feel that tomorrow" groaned Tucker.
"Okay, something must have happened; Danny said he was going to keep them busy, I hope he's okay" said Maddie.
"Look we continue the plan, just alter it a little, we still need to get back to the area Danny said he's meet us at"
"But how will we know where that is?" asked Sam.
"When we were ambushed, I dropped the tracker for the Spector Speeder, however I still have the locater for the tracker" said Maddie.
"Why did you make a tracker for the tracker?"
"For me, I sometimes misplace a few items" said Jack.
"Okay so let me get this straight, out plan right now is to-" Tucker started to say, before being interpreted by a spear soaring past his head, impaling his hat against a tree. The four of them looked to see the cannibals still chasing after them, making their way climbing down the mountain.
"The plan is to run, run like Hell" yelled Jack.
Jack and Sam followed Maddie as she activated the tracker. Tucker ran towards the tree to retrieve his hat, only to have another spear hit the tree, a few inches from Tucker's face. Tucker deciding that his hat wasn't worth his life, took off running with the others, at least he could get another at home.
Danny was trying to bounce himself off the two poles that were suspending him over the blazing fire; he could swear that his chest was getting slightly burned every time it came close to the flames. Danny remembered seeing someone do this in a movie and was hoping it worked. Then, one of the poles snapped, Danny fell onto the fire and rolled off, just getting a little singed. Without waiting another moment, Danny started to look for something to cut these vines with. He turned and headed deeper into the village, hoping to find a knife, or at the very least, a sharp rock.
Tucker could feel himself getting tired, Sam was right, he needs to get out and exercise more, he could feel his throat drying up, what he wouldn't do for a nice cold glass of water, or some juicy steak to go with it. But he knew he had to keep running, otherwise he will be food. He finally managed to catch up with the others; the only other one looking a little tired was Jack.
"Do you know…how much farther…it is Mrs. Fenton?" asked a panting Tucker.
"Yes it should just be-" she started to say before being cutoff.
They all lost their footing and felt themselves falling and sliding; they had slipped on a patch of mud and were now sliding down a partially smooth incline. They all screamed as they saw the end of the incline, and a drop into a cold, mucky river. Oh well, at least I'll get a cold drink, Tucker thought. Just not the kind he wanted.
Danny made his way through the empty village, trying to find something to cut the vines with, so far nothing, not a knife, not a spear, not a giant splinter, not even a sharp rock. Danny turned the last corner to see the end of the village, a large gap and on the other side, a sharp rock. It wasn't his first choice, but Danny, at this point would take anything. The only problem was he couldn't fly like this, and it was hard to jump. However Danny quickly came up with an idea, he turned around, but before he could try his idea, he turned to see two cannibals, staring at him.
Jack made a huge splash as he fell into the river. He felt himself sink under the surface, before swimming back to the top; he looked around to see his wife also burst out of the water, followed by Sam and later Tucker, who lost his glasses in the fall.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked.
"I can't see, where are my glasses?" asked a panicking Tucker.
"At the bottom of the river, come on" he said as he grabbed Tucker and started to drag him to the other side of the river.
Maddie and Sam had already reached the other side and were trying to get all traces of the mucky, dirty water off of them; they looked at Jack and Tucker, and gave an expression of horror. Jack looked behind him to see the cannibals a bit a farther down, hoping into the river and continuing the chase.
Danny looked at the two cannibals, who looked at each other. They raised their hands and ran towards Danny, who was trying to think of a way to fight them while being tied up. He looked around, then at himself seeing if there was anything he could use, then he remembered, he's tied to a pole. Danny hunched over even more and waited until the two were in range. Danny then quickly started to move around, hitting them with the ends of the pole, slapping them in the face, jabbing them in the stomach, until they both fell unconscious.
Danny grinned a little; he could still do what he does best even when tied to a pole with a constricting vine. He returned to his previous position and prepared to try his idea, he hoped it would work; otherwise, it would be a long fall. Danny prepared himself and ran for the edge, bending over and allowing the pole to hit the ground, Danny then provaulted into the air and prayed he landed on the other side, he close his eyes until he didn't feel himself in the air. Danny felt a sudden stop, he opened his eyes to see the pole had landed in the ground, his feet hanging in the air; he was stuck, could things get any worse.
As if on cue, Danny felt himself start to fall backward, he looked down to see the pole start to fall out, Danny looked behind him to see the long drop he hoped to avoid. The next moment, he was falling again, the pole was bouncing from rock to rock, the chasm was getting smaller, and he closed his eyes, and felt himself suddenly stopped. Danny opened his eyes to see that the pole had stopped between two rocks, just in time two; Danny looked just below him to see a sharp rock.
Wait a sharp rock, Danny started to lean towards it, hoping it would just be enough to cut the vine; He rocked back and forth, the rock just touching the vine. Danny continued until, snap, the vine gave way and the corrosive juices poured out into the chasm, Danny managed to get his hands free, he grabbed the pole and ripped the other half of the constricting vines off. Free at last from the strange vines, Danny took flight and headed off towards the rendezvous point, hoping that they we're already there waiting for him, and okay.
Maddie watched as the cannibals entered the river and started to make their way towards her husband and Tucker. She started to head towards them; however something caught her attention, the cannibals stopped. Then one of them screamed and was dragged underwater. The others were instantly filled with fear; they turned around, trying to get out of the water as fast as they could. The next second, a giant serpent lunged out of the water and bites a cannibal on the shoulder, pulling the cannibal back into the water.
Maddie ran towards her husband and helped them out of the water, they all quickly looked back, as the screams of the cannibal were cut off, and the splashing in the water ceased. The four of them turned around and continued to make their way to their destination.
Danny was flying over the trees of the rainforest, it was now night, he could see the edge of the ghost shield dome, which meant he was close, he looked down hoping he could spot his friends and family. With no such luck, Danny flew down and landed on the ground, taking a quick rest before setting off again.
However his break was cut short, as a noise filled the air, it was movement. Danny felt his heart beat quicker, the jungles was more dangerous at night, and there was definitely something here, but what was it. Danny turned around to see bushes move, something or someone was heading towards him. He raised his hand as it glowed green, preparing himself for whatever was coming, could it be a giant cat, another anaconda, the cannibals, was it Skulker, or was it.
The final bush moved and Sam fell through it, exhausted, she looked up to see Danny. Danny lowered his hand and ran towards her, the two embraced as the rest of the gang caught up. They were all very tired and just wanted to go home.
"You guys all okay, what happened to the cannibals, they found out you escaped and-" he started to say.
"Yeah we know, they chased us, but were scared off by something in the water" said Sam.
"Anaconda?" Danny guessed.
"If that's a type of snake, yep" his Dad said
"Hey Tuck what happened to you hat, and glasses?"
"The hat is attached to a spear in a tree back there, and my glasses are at the bottom of an Anaconda infested river, I can always get new ones"
"Okay now that we have time to catch up, how did you guys find out I was here"
"Agent Walker told us about the giant Ghost Shield in the Amazon and we heard you and Skulker talk" said Sam.
"Ok, if you heard that then you should have a way to get me out of here, right?"
"Of course we do" said Maddie, pulling out the little remote device.
"What's that?"
"Oh it's a little something I was working on for you; it allows you to temporarily open a portion of a ghost shield, for such cases like this one"
"How long is temporarily?"
"About a minute, I don't know exactly"
"Okay, let's get out of here before Skulker finds us"
"Danny we have to get back to the position we shot the flare, when the cannibals captured us, we dropped all are stuff, including the Spector Speeder tracker, we need that to find the Speeder otherwise it could take days to find it"
"Ok, but let's hurry, I haven't seen Skulker since he brought me here, he should have found me by now"
"You're complaining why?" asked Tucker.
"Not complaining, it's just a little suspicious"
"Well we'll be out of here soon, the Tracker is just ahead of us, in that open area" said Maddie.
They all ran and burst into the open area, but stopped when they saw what was waiting for them there, they were all filled with fear and dread as they spotted Skulker, waiting for them.