Chapter 11: Acland's Lantern

"You took that guy's sword?" said Chunk with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, Chunk," said Mikey with a sigh.

"What for?"

"It's a token to remember the adventure by," said Mikey with a defensive scowl. "You never know, it might come in handy."

"I guess Joe wouldn't mind," said Data. "We are continuing his crusade after all."

"No we're not," said Mouth. "If anything we're doing the opposite. We're breaking into his place and stealing his stuff. Particularly his most prized possession. I think he'd be pissed."

"It's for a good cause though," said Chunk. "We're trying to save Brand and Andy. He'd be proud of that."

"Since when do pirates care about good causes?" said Mouth.

"Shut up, Mouth," snapped Stef. "Don't waste your strength."

Mouth scowled at her, wincing as he squeezed his bandaged arm. It seemed to Mikey that Mouth's wound was making him irritable.

The tunnel stretched onward, delving ever deeper into the earth. Stef led the way with Data's lantern in hand.

"We gotta be careful, guys, there might be booty traps," said Data.

"You mean booby-?" said Mikey.

"That's what I said!"

"Whoa," said Stef, stopping dead. "Guys, check this out."

Stef lead them on as the tunnel widened into a chamber where a forest of stalactites hung from the ceiling. Their sharp points glistened like the fangs of some hungry beast.

"Holy crap," said Mikey. "Nobody sneeze."

"That's just an urban legend, they're not gonna fall on us," said Stef.

Mikey continued on through the chamber, his eyes set on the sharp teeth. He put his foot forward and felt it sink into nothingness.

"AAAAGGGHHH!"

Next thing he knew, Stef's arm was around his waist, hauling him backwards.

"Jesus!" Mikey shouted as he struggled to find his footing.

Through the floor of the chamber ran a yawning crack. A gap of ten feet separated them from the other side.

When Mikey had caught his breath, he dared to look over the edge. From the dim light of the lantern, he saw a menacing sea of stalagmites staring up at him.

"Oh crap."

Stef took a look over the edge.

"Ok, now what?"

"Look, there's a bridge on the other side," said Data. He pointed to a bridge of long wooden planks lashed together lying on the floor of the far side.

"Well, that doesn't do us much good," said Mouth.

"Maybe one of us could jump over and slide it across the chasm," said Mikey.

"Not it!" said Chunk.

"No, Mikey, they'd never make it," said Jackie.

"No, no, I can do this," said Stef. They all stared at her with wide eyes. She stared back.

"Really," she said. "I used to run track in middle school. I can do this."

"Track ain't the long jump," said Mouth.

"Yeah, I know, Mouth. Thanks for pointing that out," she said with squinting eyes. She handed the lantern off to Chunk. "Just give me some room, I can make this."

"No, Stef, this is crazy," said Mouth, taking a step to block her. "You're not gonna make it. Most of us here are smart people, we can figure out something better."

"Get out of the way, Mouth," said Stef. She took off her jacket and stretched her legs.

"Stef, I won't let you do this!" Mouth shouted.

"Oh, I get it. You do crap like taunting a guy with a gun and throwing yourself in front of a truck, but the second I try to do something dangerous you gotta step in and be the macho man."

"It's not about that, Stef."

"Well, then what is it about?"

Mouth furrowed his brow. His lips tried to form words that never came.

"Whatever, Mouth, I'm going."

Like the crack of a whip, Stef sprinted towards the gap.

"No!" Mouth screamed.

She reached the edge and leapt into the air. The others watched with baited breath. A chorus of gasps filled the cave as Stef's feet didn't strike the ground on the far side, but sank into the darkness of the pit.

With a painful scratching of dirt and rock, Stef latched onto the pit's edge, dangling over the spiked sea below her.

"Stephanie!" Mouth cried as he darted to the edge. Mouth took a step back, preparing to leap out after her.

"Mouth, don't," said Mikey, latching onto Mouth's arm.

With gritted teeth, Stef struggled to pull herself up, her feet scraping at the cliff wall. She reached a hand up over the edge, searching blindly for something to grab onto. With a desperate thrust, she shot her hand forward, but grabbed only a handful of dust. As she rocked back, her grip faltered, and she plunged into the shadows.

Mouth's eyes bulged "No!"

"Stef!" cried Jackie.

A splash of water met their ears.

"Stef?" Chunk whispered after a long moment.

"This is really cold," came Stef's voice.

They all raced to the edge of the pit. Data shined his light down into it. Ten feet below, they saw Stef crouched in two feet of water.

Mikey looked from the stalactite covered ceiling to the pool below. He smiled.

"A reflection," he said. "It was just an illusion."

The others chuckled with relief. All except Mouth, who looked like he might pass out again.

Stef stood up with a grumble. "Guess that proves I suck at the long jump."

She made her way to a steep slope in the pit wall and managed to climb her way up. Once on the far side, she slid the bridge of planks across to the others.

Mouth crossed the bridge and looked her in the eye.

"For a second, I thought you were…"

"Were what?"

Mouth shook his head and marched on. "Forget it."

"Oh man, what is that smell?" said Chunk, his nostrils flaring.

The others lifted their noses in the air.

"I don't smell anything," said Data.

Chunk smiled. "It smells kinda like a barbeque."

"Barbeque?" said Jackie with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, like when my family has a cookout in the backyard. It smells like the grill right after my dad fires it up."

Stef took a long whiff of the air. "I don't smell a damn thing."

"Chunk," said Jackie. "Does your family use a charcoal or gas grill?"

"Gas," said Chunk.

"… Oh no," said Mikey

"Chunk," Jackie said slowly. "I think you're smelling methane."

"Natural gas!" said Mouth. "How the hell can he smell that?"

"I like barbeque," said Chunk with a defensive scowl.

"So there's a natural gas leak down the tunnel?" said Mikey, "Won't that suffocate us or something?"

"Well no," said Jackie. "But it is really flammable."

"Well, that complicates things," said Stef.

"Look, it's no big deal," said Mikey waving his arms. "Our lantern is battery powered and none of us smoke. Let's just get in and out of their quickly."

"Alright, fine," said Mouth. "But if I suffocate I'm gonna come back from the dead just long enough to kill you."

"Fair enough."

Mikey lead the way, his cutlass in hand. With each scratching step, the darkness seemed to thicken, and the air became colder.

They were close now, Mikey could feel it. He gripped his cutlass tight. As his mind whirred with excitement, he thought he could hear the hissing of a great and terrible dragon.

The others could feel it too. None of them made a sound as they crept onward. Mikey shivered as the cold, clammy air clung to his skin. Then suddenly he stopped.

Data's lantern didn't reach more than two feet in front of him, but he could sense something in the dark.

"Have we made it?" Chunk whispered.

"I don't know," said Mikey.

He inched his way forward, and he could feel the tunnel widen into a pitch black chamber. He paused at the edge of a deep trench that ran across the entrance, guarding the chamber. Straining his ears, he listened closely. There was a hissing, and it was coming from the trench.

"Do you guys hear that?"

Stef squinted. "What the hell is that?"

Chunk's face turned white. "It's a monster! There's a monster down there. He's gonna eat us!"

Data smacked the back of Chunk's head.

Jackie stepped to the edge of the trench.

"It's the gas," she said. "It must be seeping through down there."

Data shined his light down into the pit. Deep below, they could see clouds of rippling air pouring from deep cracks in the rock.

"Be careful, guys," said Mikey.

With a deep breath, he hopped across the trench to the far side. The others quickly followed.

They found themselves in a round chamber. The smooth walls climbed higher and higher until they met in a large point like a church tower. Mikey looked down at the floor and saw a ring of black liquid surrounding them. It hugged tight to the wall, and ended at the edge of the trench where two rocks blocked it from spilling over.

Data approached the black circle and stuck a finger in it.

"Oil, you guys," he said. "Why would this be here?"

"I don't know," said Stef. "But don't mess with it. Let's find whatever's here and get out."

"You guys," said Mikey, a grin slowing forming on his face. "Look"

They all turned to see a splintered wooden chest at the far end of the chamber. Dust and dirt caked its every surface, and the iron bands were so rusted it looked as though they would snap at the slightest touch.

Mikey was the first to approach. He knelt down before it, his eyes bursting with wonder. The others crowded around him, all their eyes locked on the chest.

Mikey worked the blade of his cutlass between the arms of an ancient lock, and with a quick jerk, the rusted hunk of metal burst free.

"Mikey, be careful," said Jackie.

Mikey took the lid in both hands, and lifted it as if it were made of the most delicate glass. The hinges moaned like ghosts.

"Here, take it," said Mikey.

Mouth and Chunk grabbed both ends of the lid, holding it in place.

They all gazed inside the chest with enormous eyes. A pile of dirty rags was all they saw.

"Mikey?" said Stef.

"Just wait," he said.

He reached his hands inside and began to peel back the filthy layers of cloth.

"It's gotta be here," he whispered. "It has to be."

Mouth let out a frightened sigh. "Well, what if it's not?"

Mikey's face hardened. "It has to be."

He peeled back another layer, and as he reached for the next one, his hand pinched something hard beneath.

A breath of shock escaped his lips. He lifted the last bit of cloth. The others pushed in closer, trembling with excitement. The lid shuddered in Mouth and Chunk's grasp. Mikey lifted his hands out of the chest.

In his grasp was a crown of solid gold. It was little more than a simple band, and smaller than Mikey had expected. Even on his head it would have been a tight fit. The band was flecked with rubies smaller than pebbles, and the gold was scarred with age.

But Mikey smiled.

The gold shimmered in the light of the lantern, and the rubies burned with an ancient fire.

"It's real," Mikey whispered. "We found it. The Sovereign's Crown."

He heard his friends smile. Jackie reached out and brushed her fingers across its shining gold, her mouth agape.

"It's unbelievable," she said. "This was worn by the Kings of England for over four hundred years."

"Man, that's gotta be worth a billion dollars," said Chunk.

Mikey frowned. The crown was the most priceless treasure he could have ever dreamed of. Now it was his bargaining chip. Could he deliver such an item into the hands of a murderous brute like Edward Garafolo? It didn't matter. Brand and Andy were the important thing. Anything else he would deal with in due time.

"There isn't much time," Mikey said, rising to his feet. "Now that we have it, we have to get to the harbor."

Stef shook her head. "I can't believe we found it."

"Yeah," said Chunk. "Good job, Mikey,"

He leaned in to slap Mikey on the back. In the process, he dropped the chest lid, and it snapped out of an unsuspecting Mouth's hand.

Before any of them knew what had happened, there was a blinding flash as a shower of sparks shot out the chest. They all stumbled back in a clamor of surprise as a pillar of fire erupted from the ring of oil

The chamber filled with light as the two sides of the burning circle sped towards the hissing trench. Mikey stood there, frozen in shock. None of them were able to move until Stef's voice snapped them from their stupor.

"Run, you guys!" She put her hands on Jackie and Data and shoved them towards the trench. Mouth and Chunk shook their heads and sprinted behind her.

Mikey turned to look at the chest. A bar of flint was nailed to the back of the lid that had struck a bar of steel on the back of the chest when Chunk had dropped it, igniting the oil.

Stef leapt over the trench with Jackie and Data close behind. Mouth and Chunk leapt at the same time, just as the two rock dams were knocked loose by the flaming oil. The burning liquid spilled into the trench like a waterfall of lava.

"Mikey, come on!" Jackie shouted.

Mikey turned from the booby trapped chest and barreled towards the tunnel. He prepared to leap for his life when a storm of searing flames erupted from the trench. Mikey stumbled backwards, his arms shielding his face from the suffocating heat.

Mikey looked about the chamber with desperate eyes, flames licking at him from all directions. All of his friends and his only escape lay beyond an impenetrable wall of fire.

"Mikey!" he heard them shout over the flaming roar.

He looked at the crown in his hand. He set his jaw and scowled hard. He hadn't come this far to lay his hands on the Sovereign's Crown only for it to end like this.

He thrust his cutlass into his belt, and covered his head with his jacket. He shut his eyes tight, charged forward, and leapt through the fire. He tucked his legs under him as if he were doing a cannonball and felt himself collapse on hard ground.

"Mikey!" he heard Jackie's voice.

His eyes shot open, and he immediately began to convulse and thrash about like a dying snake. Patches of fire burned on the knee of his jeans and the shoulder of his jacket that he slapped and beat at mercilessly until they were just simmering black splotches.

"I can't believe you did that," said Stef.

"Dude, that was insane," said Mouth.

Mikey didn't respond. He clamored to his feet and took off down the tunnel. "We have to get out of here."

His friends followed close behind. They raced back across the bridge over the reflecting pool. As Chunk stumbled clumsily across it, he accidently kicked it loose and into the water below.

As Mikey ran through the tunnels, he could hear the roar of flames echo beyond the walls. He felt a rush of fear down his spine as he realized that more than just the treasure chamber may be choked with fire.

The Goonies burst out the mouth of the tunnel back into the hall of bones. Just as they did, one of the other three tunnels vomited a scourge of fire into the hall. Flames were already spilling from the tunnel at the far end. The hall was set ablaze as the raging inferno swallowed it.

"Oh God!" Stef moaned. "What are we gonna do?"

"We gotta get out of here. Like now!" said Mouth.

"Look, the river," said Jackie, thrusting a finger forward.

Their eyes fell on the rowboat sitting on the bank.

"Go!" Mikey shouted.

They shot forward towards the boat. Ignoring the bridge, they splashed their way across the water. Stef and Data grabbed hold of the two dead pirates and tossed them overboard.

"Sorry guys, we need this more than you do," said Data.

Mikey drew his cutlass to slice the rope that moored it to a large rock.

"Mikey…" he heard Chunk say.

"Not now, Chunk."

He gave the rope a good hack, but it held fast. He raised it higher when Chunk prodded him hard in the ribs.

"Mikey!"

"What is it, Chunk!"

Mikey turned to see Chunk's pale white face staring up river. Mikey followed his gaze, and his eyes fell on a flaming wooden board.

A flaming wooden board sitting atop the mountain of gunpowder.

Mikey's jaw fell almost to the ground. With one mighty swing of his cutlass, the rope snapped.

"Go, go, go!" he shrieked. All of them grabbed the side of the boat and hauled it into the river. They clamored inside and began to row desperately with their hands.

Mikey began to look back over his shoulder, when he was blinded by a searing light. The barrels of gunpowder shattered into flying splinters as an apocalyptic explosion shook the cave. Mikey's eardrums screamed with agony and his skin burned as a wave of unbearable heat washed over them.

The blast knocked the river straight off of its bed, and the rowboat was thrust forward as a massive wave overtook it.

The Goonies held on for dear life as their boat rocketed down the river and into the dark tunnel. They rode the torrent left and right as the tunnel twisted in every direction, the spray of salt water covering them. The boat banged against the wall at each turn with a teeth shattering shutter, breaking large splinters of the ancient wood. Mikey wrapped his arms around the edge of the boat, his eyes shut tight, fearing that with each turn the boat would capsize.

The merciless waves pushed them into a long, straight stretch of tunnel, where they could see the dim glow of daylight at the far end. They clung to each other, preparing for whatever awaited them at the end. They reached the mouth of the cave, and the waves spat them out like a bullet out of a gun barrel. They sailed through the air, screaming the whole way.

The boat crashed into the sea with a thunderous crack, catapulting them all into the salty water.

The impact left Mikey in a daze, and he let himself sink and bob for a moment. The cool water felt soothing on his burnt red skin. He broke the surface, took a deep breath, and made his way towards the shore.

The sun was nearing the horizon, and they found themselves before a great cliff face on a small sandy beach. The cave they had been blasted out of was about fifteen feet up, and still sputtering the waves from the explosion. A small ways to the north, the beach gave way into the forest.

Bruised, sore, skin burned, sopping wet, and with a loud ringing in his ears, Mikey collapsed onto the sand, gasping the evening air. He looked at his friends. Data, with an exhausted Chunk leaning on him, was making his way towards the shore. Stef had Jackie by the arm and was helping her to the beach, while Mouth was already lying in the sand, his head in his arms. Out in the water, the splintered remains of the rowboat had slipped beneath the waves.

Mikey let his head fall back to the sand, and a wave of exhaustion spilled over him. In one hand, he felt Joe's cutlass. In the other hand, he felt a ring of gold. His eyes shot open. He looked at the Sovereign's Crown, shimmering in the light of the setting sun.

Mikey smiled, and before he knew it, he was laughing.

"We got it!"