Chapter 51: The Horrifying Cavern of Skulls!


A few days later...

"Behold! For the first time, I lead you all to a great spring break adventure!" Della Duck briefed the teens. "And behold! My first time going on one!" Gosalyn cheered swinging her hockey stick.

Now the group is in the Sunchaser and Launchpad is piloting it. Della has planned an adventure and brought her sons, Webby, Lena, Violet and yeah, she was mentioned just now.

"So where are we going?" Louie asked as he checked his phone. Della then took out a map and placed it on the table as the teens gathered around. "I came across this in the archives. The Horrifying Caverns of Skulls!"

"Skulls? Cool." said Lena. "I can use one of those for science and to study the skeletal system." said Violet. "Among the skulls there's this one made out of obsidian." Della explained. "It must be worth finding it since obsidian is a precious stone." said Huey. "Is there a legend about this skull made out of obsidian?" Dewey asked. "Not quite sure yet but we'll find out when we reach out destination!" Della declared as the kids went back to their seats. "Anyone wanna play Maple Story?" Louie asked. "Cool! Let's log in!" said Dewey as the 7 teens took out their phones and logged into the game while Della went to check on Launchpad. "You want your turn Della?" He asked. "Of course." She replied as they switch seats. "I wonder how Mr McDee is doing in his honeymoon? It's been like a few days so far." Launchpad brought up. "Yeah come to think of it, I bet he's having a ball of a time with his wife." said Della as she continued piloting.

Somewhere...

On the private island, the villa is there. And it cuts to a bedroom and on a king-sized bed are Scrooge and Goldie cuddled close together and sleeping warm and peacefully. In addition, clothes and undergarments are on the floor. As the sun rises, Scrooge woke up and sat up. Bare chested he is as he gazed at his sleeping wife. He then started spooning onto her by lying on her and laying kisses on her face and neck. This was enough to wake her up. "What is this Scroogie? A morning wake up call?"

"Of course dear." Scrooge replied as Goldie giggled and kissed him back as Scrooge started to fondle and make love to his wife as she laughed and giggled about while pulling the covers over them for extra privacy from the readers.

After that, "So Scroogie, what to do next before I make you your breakfast and your tea?" Goldie asked as she sat up covering herself with the blanket. "Well..." Scrooge sure has naughty ideas up in his mind now...

Soon enough, the next scene cuts to a swimming pool. Then, Scrooge and Goldie emerged wet and partially submerged up to their necks and even Goldie's blonde hair looks wet and sexy in the pool. "Ooh Scroogie. Skinny dipping is so much pleasurable! Just like yesterday night when we made love in the Jacuzzi and even stripped each other off completely!" Goldie exclaimed as she swam around Scrooge teasing him sexually by shaking her tail feathers in front of his face. "Heh! Heh! Glad ya like it! Now come here!" Scrooge grabbed Goldie in an instant and the 2 lovers had a makeout session as they sank deep into the pool again for more fun and pleasures.

Back to the adventure...

Della landed the plane onto some open field where thick jungles are present. Everyone got out as Della read a map. "The route isn't gonna be easy. To get there, we have to cut a path to the cavern." Della stated. "Don't worry Della! Good thing I packed these!" From the plane, Launchpad threw down parangs and machetes sheathed and fell off at the same time.

"KSH!"

"I'm okay!"

"Nice! We can slice and dice our way through with ease!" said Webby as she unsheathed a parang. The blade is sharp and deadly. "Enough to fatally slice vines and branches in one swing." said Violet as she took a machete and examined it. "Okay, who can handle sharp blades?" Della asked. Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby and Gosalyn raised their hands. "Alright. Take any weapon and in a few minutes time, we shall head out!" Della declared. "Onward! To adventure!" Dewey and Webby cheered together. "From young to now, they still have the driven passion and excitement for adventure." Della thought with a smile as she drank some water from a canteen. Oh, she almost forgot. "Launchpad! Stay with the plane!"

"Gotcha Della!" Launchpad called out and he's reading a Darkwing Duck comic book.

Exactly a few minutes later...

"SHING! SHING!"

"CHT! CHT!"

The sound of the machetes and parangs swinging onto the vines and branches can be heard as the triplets, Webby and Gosalyn sliced through ahead while Della read the map and Lena and Violet just walked beside her. "We just got started and how long to get to this cavern?" Lena asked. "About a few kilometres from our landing zone to the location of the treasures." Della replied. "But we'll stop for breaks if ever you need one."

"Fair enough. That is why I packed plenty of consumable resources." Violet stated as they journeyed on. "Careful! There maybe be snakes, spiders and scorpions lurking in the jungles like this!" Webby told the group and, "Spiders!? Don't remind me..." Huey groaned as the triplets recalled their encounter when finding the golden armoury of Cornelius Coot. And then, "HISSSSS..."

"I hear snakes." Gosalyn noticed. "And I think it wrapped itself around me." said Violet. All stopped and looked behind. "A PYTHON!" Huey panicked as the python started to squeeze Violet. "Help...m...me!" She gasped as Lena picked up a rock and, "Hold still Vi!" She threw the rock and, "KSH!"

The python felt the impact on the face and it hissed in rage as it let go and slithered towards Lena but, "Gotcha ya little ugly rope!" Gosalyn grabbed it's tail and swung him around until she let go. "Heh. I guess it's gone." said Louie for the python was sent flying onto the leaves and bushes to their left. After that, they continued on.

Some time later...

"We are halfway there and soon, we'll reach the cavern before-"

"Shhh! Someone's passing by!" Webby shushed Della as the group hid behind the trees and bushes. Webby used her twin grapple gun to go up to hide and then, she saw them. 2 cloaked figures walking on a path. Both of them wore black cloaks that cover their appearance entirely except their faces in which they are sparrows.

"One thing's for sure, the artefact is in some cavern right?" The first one asked. "Correct. And it goes underground with traps and danger. At the bottom level of the cavern, the artefact is located there." The second one explained. "Interesting. The master will be pleased once our group acquires it for him." The first one stated. "In doing so, we will help achieve his goal. I often wonder what it is but our loyalty is strong and thus, we will do it for him!" The second one added as they left the area continuing their patrol.

Now that they're gone, the group left their hiding spots and regrouped. "Sounds like we have competition mom." said Huey. "I don't know who these guys are but nothing can stop us!" Della stated as she checked the map. "Alright. Let's go this way and the adventure continues!"

A while later...

"Soon we should be near." said Dewey as he cut a vine. "Yeah...and there are too many mosquitos!" said Webby as already, a few flew around her as she tried to slash them. "Catch Webby!" Violet threw to her an insect repellent. Catching it, Webby sprayed the area around her. "Much better. Thanks Violet!"

"No problem!" The hummingbird called out when her stomach growled. "It appears we are famished."

"Well, good thing I had Beakly pack for us bento lunch!" Della brought up. "Oh yeah! We were given a box each!" said Huey as the group sat down together. Good thing the area they're at has logs and little hostile species lurking around. As the group opened their boxes. "Wow..."

Okay, let's see what's for lunch?

Della has white rice with beef and broccoli.

Huey has spaghetti with tomato sauce and shredded cheese.

Dewey has white rice with chicken cutlet and diced carrots and potatoes.

Louie has a chicken burger with popcorn chicken and a biscuit.

Webby has a hamburger with chicken nuggets.

Lena has white rice with fried fish fillet with lemon sauce and coleslaw.

Violet has white rice with omelette and minced beef with spring onions.

And Gosalyn has 3 clubhouse sandwiches which has cheese, lettuce, tomato, luncheon meat and mayonnaise with 2 Italian sausages.

"Wow! Granny sure cooks like a pro!" Webby stated as she started eating her lunch. Good thing the bento lunches came with disposable utensils. "Actually...it was your uncle." Della revealed making the boys choke up. "Uncle Donald cooked all this?" Louie asked. "And granny actually packed the lunch for him?" Webby asked. "You want to know why he didn't go with us?" Della asked.

Somewhere in Duckburg...

A line is formed as people are queuing outside a new restaurant called, "Donald's Diner." Inside, customers are seated and served as Beakly is seen taking orders and slipping notes to the kitchen via a small hole. She also worked on the drinks.

In the kitchen, Donald can be seen viewing the orders and giving orders to Panchitos and Jose who have stepped up to help in the growing business. "Donald my amigo, never thought you'll open a place like this since you watch plenty of tutorial and cooking videos from this Gordon Ramsay!" Panchitos spoke up as he stirred a pot full of soup. "And not just that, once we earn plenty of dough, who knows that our band can finally start our very first world tour!" Jose spoke excitedly as he deep-fried French fries into the fryer. "It's too early to plan something big like this." Donald spoke up. "We got a long way to go to achieve our goal and I intend to work hard so that my business will be widely known by all of Duckburg!"

"Then I shall work alongside you so that when the time comes, the 3 Caballeros World Tour will come!" Jose stated. "Same! Hope we can play our music here." said Panchitos. "Of course we can do that." Donald assured to his friends as they continued working.

Back to the group...

"Just as I thought, all the time when he's been watching Gordon Ramsay videos." said Huey as he started eating his lunch. "Wow...it's still fresh and warm!"

"Yeah! I'm starving now! Less talk, more eating!" said Dewey as he started enjoying his lunch. "I got some water with me. If you need to quench your thirst, come to me." Della told the teens as they heartily ate their lunch. Della smiled at this as she opened her lunch. "Baked macaroni with cheese. My brother is something when it comes to cooking. It's no wonder he almost everyday grills meat at the houseboat." She thought with a smile as she started eating her lunch.

Once all had filled themselves full, nap time.

After lunch and some rest...

"Alright people! Let's move out! We're almost there and treasures await us in massive and vast piles!" Della announced as all woke up from their nap and continued the adventure.

And a while later, "At long last...we found it!" Della cheered and all could see the cavern. "Scary. It's shaped like a skull of a duck!" Violet described. "No wonder it's called the Horrifying Cavern of Skulls!" said Lena as she took a picture of it. "Wicked." She described the image as, "Now we can find some treasure especially the skull made out of obsidian!" Della declared. "Here I come treasure!" Louie ran to it. "Hey! Wait up!" Huey called out.

But unknown to them, a group of 20 cloaked figures showed up and they are lead by the same 2 cloaked figures that went on patrol just now, "It looks like we're not alone. Very well, let's get the job done and claim the artefact for our glorious master!" The first one called out as all cheered and drew swords and various equipment for exploring caves and stuff.

Inside the cavern...

"Everyone take out your flashlights. It's very dark in here." Della told the teens as they took them out and shined them in the cavern. "It's dark in here. Good thing " said Lena when someone tapped her. She turned around and, "BOO!"

"PAK!"

"OW! Babe, why did you slap me?"

"Greenie, why did you scare the shit out of me by flashing the light on your face while making your facial appearance spooky in front of me?" Lena asked back as Webby and Gosalyn laughed at Louie. In front of them, "Which skull has the perfect structure to study or research on?" Violet when she saw one resting on the wall of the cavern. She took the skull for examination only to "CLICK!"

"POP!"

A spear flew out from above landing in front of Della. "Oops." Violet exclaimed as she looked at the skull. "Vi, that one's expired." Lena stated as Violet threw the skull aside as, "Okay guys. Where's the treasure? Does anyone have a map for this cavern?" Louie asked. "Now that you mentioned it..." Della flipped the map of the route to the cavern to the other side and, "Wow. 2 maps in one paper!" Dewey exclaimed as all gathered to look at it. "It looks like we need to go down." said Huey. "And the inside is like an area full of catacombs!" said Violet. "Cool. Who knows how many people went inside and got wasted or rotted to death finding the treasure." said Lena as she took a picture of a pile of skulls nearby. After that, Violet checked them. "Nope. None of the above." She thought when, "Strike one!" Gosalyn used her hockey stick to swat the top skull on the pile as it flew past the others and, "THOK!"

"Congratulations Gos. You activated a trap." said Louie and the next thing it happened, a battle axe swung through between Huey and Dewey. "Close call!" Dewey exclaimed as the axe swung faster and faster. "I'll buy you guys some time!" Lena used her magic and stopped the axe. Those that did not pass through hastily went past the axe. Lena then passed through while channelling her magic and once through, she let go as the axe swung again. "Whew! That was close." Dewey stated as he took a step. "CLICK!"

"PRANG!" A hole opened up above the group. "AAAHHHHH!" That's the sound of them screaming as they fell through the hole.

But somehow, it led them down. "Now I see a way to get down to the treasures!" said Della as they looked around as she looked at the map again. "This is too easy! 3 levels down only!" She described pointing at the map. "But more killer traps?" Louie asked. "Yeah. That may the hard part of the adventure." Della can agree as they proceed on.

Now the second level is more dangerous than the first one because at the start, Dewey stepped on something on the ground and activated spikes that shot up and recall down and up again in a cycle on the ground. "Good thing Uncle Scrooge and I went through this trap before." said Huey as he stepped right and yeah, let's just say he got through without a scratch and found a lever on the wall. He pulled it down and the spikes stopped. "Nice one Hubert." Violet exclaimed. "Thanks." Huey replied smiling a bit as he leaned onto the wall and unexpectedly activated another trap. 3 buzzsaws emerged from the ground and started slicing through towards the group. "And more are behind us!" Gosalyn noticed as 2 buzzsaws are slicing through from behind. "Okay kids. Get out of the buzzsaws' ways!" Della told them as Gosalyn stick with her. As they got close, Huey observed something. "Guys! Run forward and stay on the paths between the 3 buzzsaws!" All got the message and ran forward and fast. The 2 buzzsaws are speeding by as Huey looked behind while running and soon enough, "Now stay on both sides and let the 2 buzzsaws slice by!" All got the message and stood aside as the 2 buzzsaws zipped by. "Nice thinking bro." said Dewey. "But soon they'll come back and shred our feathers." said Webby. "I think it's time to get us a moving platform." Lena then used her magic and ripped a section of the underground wall using it as a platform. All hopped onto it as Lena guided the platform to the other side. There, "Land us here Lena!" Webby told her and she complied. Once all touched ground, Della found a lever and pulled it to her. The sound of the buzzsaws died down. "In other words, they stopped." said Louie as Webby can be seen searching the rocky, underground walls and tapped onto something that caused another section of the wall to collapse. "Oh cool! An opening that will lead down to the last level!" Gosalyn noticed. "Alright! We are almost there!" Della cheered as all made their down but when Louie is about to go in, he heard something. "We're not alone..." He thought with vigilance as he proceeded on.

At last...

"We're here!" said Huey as all looked in front. "Something is glowing ahead of us and over there at the other side...treasure!" Louie went money crazy and ran off. "Louie, wait for us!" Della called out but too late, he's out of reach. "Great. Just great. He ran so fast without us and the treasure is just in front of us." said Huey when, "Guys! There's plenty of gold in here!" All looked up. "And I think I see that obsidian skull mom's hoping to find!"

"Oh my gosh! My green boy found it! Let's go!" Della cheered running off. The rest just shrugged their shoulders and just walked.

Soon enough, "Wow...so much treasure! This is the first time I'm seeing so much gold and silver!" Gosalyn exclaimed. The group is now in some small cavern full of treasure. There are gold bars, rings and bangles, diamonds, various precious stones and finally, "There it is. The skull made out of obsidian. Lying on top of the pile of skulls in front of us." Della exclaimed as she walked to it. Already, Louie took out a folded, empty sack from his backpack and started to fill it with whatever treasure he sees. "You sure you can fill all that?" Lena asked. "As much as I can." Louie replied as he put a gold bar in the sack and tied it up. "There. All I can carry. You gonna stand there and fill your share?" Louie asked. "Because Dewey, Webby and Gosalyn are filling up too."

While this was going on, Della reached it. "There it is!" She cheered as Huey looked at the skull. "It's only a skull made out of obsidian right?" He asked Violet. "Yes...but is there a legend on this treasure?" She asked when they noticed something.

The skull made out of obsidian appeared to have a faint glow. "Mom, I got a feeling you must not touch the skull. Something is not right with it." Huey began. "But Huey! We can't risk losing the opportunity! Uncle Scrooge always finds treasure with ease and I intend to do my best and prove to him I can handle this adventure and find treasure for him!" Della replied. "But mom! Have you ever considered some factors in the adventuring? Like safety, precautions or-"

"Huey, what are you trying to bring up?" Della asked. "I'm trying to bring up the fact that the skull isn't right! Violet and I saw a faint glow on the skull! And the glow is very dark. It's like-"

"Oh please! It must be the colour so let me just grab it and-"

"Seriously mom!? Why aren't you listening to every word I say?! I know you want to prove to Uncle Scrooge that it's possible for you to find the treasure without his guidance so as to prove to him your worth but please mom, every action has it's consequences and sometimes, things may not go according to your expectations!" Huey argued as and already, his anger is starting to rise. "I never had such an intense argument! Almost like the Mt Neverest adventure."

"What?" Della immediately stopped since her hand is an inch to getting the skull. And seeing that she got his attention, "Several years ago, us except Louie went to scale up the mountain and it was difficult due to the many icy perils and the discovery of wormholes. Uncle Scrooge made use of the wormholes and was so close to reach the top but as far as I know, the higher we go, the more unstable the mountain is and an avalanche is already on the move. We argued throughout the adventure and mostly when he's so close to the top." Huey explained. "What happened then?" Della asked. "He backed down and we all escaped in one piece by sledding down." Huey finished. "Even he, tends to back down for the sake of our safety. True that he never achieved in reaching the top but the most important thing is that we are all safe and alive to venture another day."

Della never expected this and before she could say anything, "BANG!"

All stopped what they're doing as from the entrance, "Heh. Heh. Thanks for leading us to this area you puny outsiders." From the entrance, the group of cloaked figures showed up as they're armed with swords, handguns, assault rifles and grenade launchers. The 2 cloaked figures leading them smiled as the rest went to the teens and held them hostage. "Who are you freaks and what do you want?!" Della asked backing away. "Our identities does not matter." said the first one. "What matters now is that we came for the treasure. It is known to have dark powers stored in it and we intend to use it for something that even you, puny individuals do not know." said the second one as they approached the obsidian skull. "I knew it! A legend does exist in this treasure and they knew of it but we don't!" Violet thought as from behind, "Hey! Give me that! I just filled it full!" Louie complained as 2 of the cloaked figures opened it to see the gold bars. "Lots of treasure. Let's take them all and the skull!" He called out as all cheered including the 2 leading ones. "Heh. Heh. Our master will be most pleased with our accomplishment." The first one thought as he decided to take the skull now when, "Wait!" He stopped to look at Huey as, "You have proven one thing that this skull has dark powers stored in it and it glows at a fixed rate. But taking it by hand is not a wise move. I'm warning you!"

"Ha! You think you can fool us so that we can be convinced?" The second one asked. "Indeed. If you're here for this treasure, you're wrong. It now belongs to us!" The first one declared and he took the skull with his own hands. "Big mistake..." Huey thought with worry.

And as he thought, the skull glowed and unleashed a wave of dark energy throughout the area and then, rumbling took place. "Oh great. Just great! We're all gonna die!" Louie whined as the cloaked figures started to panic. Already, chunks of rocks from above are collapsing and this gave Webby an idea. "Guys! Hold onto to me!" She called out as all gathered around her leaving the cloaked figures to panic and flee the long way. Once all are present, Webby drew out her twin grapple gun and fired a shot through one of the holes. "Quick thinking!" Dewey complimented as she reeled the whole group up.

They were able to get up one level above but the rumbling got a lot worse and Louie nearly fell through a hole but Lena and Gosalyn saved him quickly. "Let's run while we have the chance!" Della told the group as they started running. Collapsing took place until, "Another hole!" Webby called out as, "Fire at will!" Della told her as she fired her twin grapple gun while all held hands to connect to Webby as she reeled herself up along with the others.

Another level up and, "The way out!" Violet pointed out. "We better hurry or we'll be sealed in forever!" said Huey all as made a quick dash for the exit.

"OOF!"

That's the sound of all of them stumbling out of the cavern as it collapsed completely. "Well that was one short-lived adventure." said Dewey. "Well at least we got some treasure but we could gotten even more or everything!" said Louie for the group managed to get away with the sacks of treasure. "And I can't get my hands on that skull." said Della. "But you are right Huey. As long as we're safe. That's all that matter even if we can't achieve our aims." Upon hearing those words, Huey hugged his mother as, "Speaking of the skull..." Gosalyn then opened her backpack and, "The obsidian skull!" Webby recognized as all gathered around. "But how did you manage to acquire it? Just now, it unleashed a lot of dark energies in an unstable manner when held by the hands physically." Violet stated.

"Well can I say..." Gosalyn began.

"When the skull bomb itself up, it shook the place it went flying up and seeing it, I used by bag to catch it."

Scene shows the cavern shaking as all stumbled and Gosalyn saw the obsidian skull flying up and down to her direction so using her backpack, she slid and caught it.

"Amazing Gosalyn! You have the makings of a great adventurer." Della complimented her. "Well, this adventure sure is something!"

"At least we got treasure and the skull so in summary, we can call it a day." said Huey. All agreed as they headed back to the Sunchaser. "I wonder what we're gonna do with the obsidian skull?" Huey asked Della. "Remember that it's unstable with the strange, dark energies in it."

"Don't worry Huey. I know a place to store it." Della assured to him.

Later back at the manor...

It cuts to an empty vault as Gosalyn dropped the skull onto some small pillar support. "The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck. How can we forget this pink?" Lena recalled. "Ah yes. The sword horse and other sacred or cursed objects left here because of how dangerous they are." said Webby and while waiting, the triplets explored the bin. "So much expensive stuff to touch!" said Dewey as he pressed a button and saw a glowing battle axe swinging around wildly. "Cool..."

"Okay guys. We're done here. We better leave so that Duckworth can lock it up." Della told the teens as she closed the vault and they left the other bin.

At the same time, the skull glowed some more and the dark energies in it continue to resonate...

Dang it. I was suppose to get this chapter done last week but urgent matters have got my attention and I need to report back to the army very early. But still, I never forget the story at least.

Anyway, I rarely write adventures and it's time I start mixing around between school life, adventures and lots and lots of high school fun!

At the same time, is the skull more than just a skull glowing with dark energy? This is just the beginning but not to be focused on yet. Alright, next chapter to work on let's do this! Woo-Hoo!