The Elusive Treasure
Chapter Twenty
Finally There
"Yeow!" Lars screamed as he dove out of the way of a massive boulder. "What was that!.?"
Sputz mumbled an explanation, to which the leader of the group sweatdropped.
"Duh!.!.! I KNOW a rock just fell!.!.! I wanna know WHY it did!.!.!"
"Uhhhh... L-L-Lars?" Pi stuttered. He was shaking profusely. The brunet in the gray hat faced him with an irritated look.
"What!.?"
The rounder brunet just pointed behind his leader in response. Lars turned and found himself looking at Twister, only there was something strange about him. He was wearing not his normal outfit but a pair of ripped shorts and a bandana. The other strange part was the fact that he was transparent and had an angry glower on his face.
"Hello, Lorenzo."
Lars raised an eyebrow. "Twister?" He then glared at him. "What're you—"
He didn't finish for his eyes closed. When he opened them a few moments later, they were glowing with a crimson hue.
"Felipe, you little ingrate!" He roared. "After all I've done for you, you dare to try to crush my host with a rock!"
"Ingrate!.?" The redheaded spirit demanded. "You call putting me through all that abuse and making me walk the plank something that I should thank you for!.?"
Lorenzo scoffed. "Of course. It builds character. It strengthened your spirit." He smirked at the growling ghost. "I suppose I don't have to worry about that anymore."
"Now if you'll excuse me—" He added walked through Felipe. The ghost gaped at him for that disrespectful display. "I have a treasure to claim." He turned to the other members of his crew. "Let's continue, gentlemen. We're close to the main chamber."
Trembling, Pi, Sputz, and Animal made their way past Felipe and entered the main chamber anixiously. The ghost gulped nervously.
"I tried my best. Now it's up to the others." He put on a determined look. "I better get ready for the worst."
He faded out of site.
Meanwhile...
"Ugh... I'm surprised this experience hasn't killed me yet..." Izzy groaned, climbing to his feet.
The brunet and his band had just crawled through a passage lined with holes in which arrows shot out off. Before that though, they went through an area that had spears jutting out of the walls and floor. It's a miracle all of them survived. They were all dirty and tired. Their clothes had multiple holes and tears in them. They were also dripping wet (most likely from going through a submerged area). In other words, this bunch of people had seen better days.
"Izzy, I'm tired and everything hurts!" Iggy whined. "I wanna go home!"
"Shaddap! We're not gonna quit now, especially after going through that!" The elder brother snapped. "Keep moving!"
The shorter brunet shuddered and went back to where Riley was. He felt safer with Tesoro, who was perched on the treasure hunter's shoulder.
"Lopez, if we just barely made it through those traps with just our gear, how do you expect us to go back with the treasure?" Oliver spoke up.
"We should just forget about this and go home." Riley said. "No treasure is worth what we just went through." The crew members in back voiced their agreements. Izzy faced them all with a glare.
"Didn't I just say that we're not gonna stop!.?" He shouted. "We're so close, I can almost smell it. And we're worry about what to do after we secure the treasure, Van Rossom." He turned and started walking again, followed by the rest of the group.
"Hey bro." Iggy spoke up. "Did you leave your flashlight on?"
The leader sighed exasperatedly as he turned around again.
"Of course not. I have it right here with me." He patronized, waving said flashlight.
Iggy glared at him, catching the hidden insult. "Then what's with your backpack!.?"
Izzy blinked. "What about my backpack?"
"There's a light coming from it."
The elder brother sighed and held his head.
"Iggy, you need help, seriously. You're seeing things."
"Again, I wonder why." Riley remarked. Everybody aside from the siblings snickered at that one.
"Seriously though, Lopez, something's been glowing in your bag for the last twenty minutes." Oliver said.
Izzy raised an eyebrow at him. "And you didn't say anything why?"
The redhead shrugged. "You never asked, not to mention we were too busy trying to stay alive!"
The brunet slapped his head.
"When this is over, I don't wanna talk to any of you, especially you, Iggy!" The boy in question gulped. "Now let's see what everybody's going on about!"
He put his flashlight in his mouth and took off his backpack. As soon as he brought it around, he noticed a faint golden glow shining through the leather. Raising a confused eyebrow, he opened the flap and reached inside. When Izzy retracted his hand, he and Iggy paled when they noticed the mushroom giving off the glow. Everyone covered their eyes from the near blinding glow.
"Ugh! Why is it glowing!.?" Iggy grunted.
"How should I know!.?" The taller brother answered. The flashlight fell to the ground at that moment.
"Put that thing away, Lopez!" Oliver roared.
"Yeah! Before I go blind!" Riley agreed.
"Alright, alright! Sheesh!" Izzy shouted.
He felt for one of his shorts pockets and stuffed the offending fungus inside. Instantly, the light dimmed, allowing the group to breathe a sigh of relief. Everybody looked to see that the boy's left leg was illuminated. They sweatdropped and looked at Izzy, who glowered at them as he retrieved his flashlight.
"One word and I'll whack ya." He threatened, gesturing to his kendo stick, which was tied to his right leg by a belt. The rest of the group nodded nervously as he put on his backpack. "Now if nobody else has anything they'd like to share, let's move it!"
They continued on afterwards. After walking a few feet, Izzy turned a corner. Iggy and the others raised an eyebrow when they noticed him doubling back.
"What's the matter?" Oliver asked.
"Shhhhh..." The leader put a finger to his lips. "We're here, but so are the others." He whispered, turning off his light.
Everyone tip toed up to him and looked around the corner. Indeed the other two groups were present. Currently, Scott, Sam, and Roderick were having a verbal confrontation with Lars and his cronies. The group gave a gasp of awe at the ship's hull, not to mention the natural features of the chamber. A large hole in the ceiling allowed sunlight to enter in a single shaft, so they no longer required their flashlights and lanterns.
"That must be where the treasure is." Izzy whispered excitedly, pointing at the hull.
"But I only see Sam and two members of his group." Oliver commented. "Where are the others?"
"They must've gone ahead into the ship to nab the treasure." Izzy hypothesized, glaring at Riley. "The shortest route, huh?"
The only female of the group returned the glare. "Hey! I know I picked the right route! If you weren't so busy fighting—"
"Rrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww..." Tesoro hissed upon seeing Lars. Iggy gave her a strange look.
"Kitty, why are you so angry?" He asked innocently.
"Shut that thing up before we're caught!" Izzy hissed.
Everybody immediately backed away from the corner. Despite that, the ebony kitten continued to hiss and spit.
"That was close." Oliver said. "Now what do we do?"
"Yeah! They'll turn on us when we step inside." Riley added.
Izzy held his chin. "Hmmmmm..." He smirked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Leave it to us. Let's go, Iggy."
"Are you sure about this, bro?" Iggy asked as he stepped forward.
"Of course I am! Now get ready."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Three figures in camouflage clothing and plastic helmets stood in shallow water up to their waists. Only one was visibly armed, with a katana harnessed across his back. The oldest of them, still a youth, talked to the fellow in the filthy purple Russian hockey jersey and gray beanie.
"There's nothing here," he told the leader of that bone-headed quartet. "In fact, the others have gone to locate that hole up topside, and lower a rope to retrieve the... other members' equipment." Scott stalled for time. He knew the Lasers were outnumbered, and was already devising various methods to take Lars down. Being best friends with a former tae kwon do champion (Lou) had its advantages.
Nonetheless, he was comforted by the stunner he had in his side pocket, should it become necessary to use it. He saw a general uneasiness in Animal's expression, and Sputs simply looked exhausted and confused (as usual). Scott knew that Roderick despite his size could capably assist in their defense, even without the large blade he carried behind him. Of all the four though, it was Pi who worried him. He was just so, ...big. He was hoping that he could count on the others to act as a team.
As for Roderick, he had lost his smile, and his face showed a cold, steely iced expression. He looked angrily at Lars and the lasers - he knew he was not looking at his friend, but to that heartless pirate. He couldn't stop thinking about Felipe. He knew very well what this pirate was capable of doing; but he swore he would give him some trouble at the very least.
As for Pi and the others, he looked at them with disgust. He still remembered the pranks they pulled on him the first time he met them at the pier, but he was sure he could take on them with a little karate. But he hated the idea of fighting with them - after all, he knew very well that karate was to be used in self-defense only. But something told him he would need to defend himself and the rest of the kids soon.
Otto laid out a rope as he slowly and carefully swam in between and around the Lasers. His lungs ached for the air that he carried in his pack, but he knew that if he drew a breath from it his plan would be betrayed. Twister was awaiting behind a rock, awaiting Otto's command to pull with all his might. The plan looked good.
Reggie took a position inside the ancient ship, ready to douse any malefactor with a face full of military-grade pepper spray. The odds were better than even, but the stakes were very high.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo was getting really angry.
"Now, listen carefully to me, for I'll say this only once. I toiled for months to hoard that treasure, and I was killed for it. I had my brother executed because of it, and I've been wandering in this earth for it, and I won't let you little rats get that chest away from me. Now, if you value your lives, you'll give me my treasure, or else..."
Lorenzo unsheathed his sword and saluted the kids with it, before going to an in-guard position.
"NOW!.!.!" commanded Otto, emerging from the brine. Both he and Twister pulled at the rope...
The four miscreants fell at various angles into the water, and were quickly surrounded by everyone but Reg. The Lasers however got up sooner than expected; Pi, Sputs, and Animal producing various blunt instruments. The others laid their packs aside and engaged the Lasers with their own weapons.
Roderick drew his katana.
"Proud and insolent youth, prepare to meet thy doom!" hissed Lorenzo.
"Greedy and misguided soul, have at me!" responded the young Dutchman.
"Dark and sinister man, have at thee," quipped Roderick as he turned the blade deftly to parry Lorenzo's frenzied blows.
Roderick started backing towards the vessel, hoping that Reg could surprise Lorenzo.
Rod felt something move a little too close by his face. He backed off a bit and raised a finger. Something warm, sticky, and metallic could be tasted in his mouth. His countenance grew fierce as he lifted his blade to advance at Lorenzo with a disabling blow.
"AAAAAAAAAARGH!.!.!" he roared as he charged towards his opponent, now moving likewise towards him with his cutlass raised on high.
°FWWINNG!.!.! FWWINNG!.!.!°
It was a melée worthy of one of the old Batman episodes. Except this time, there was a very real chance of someone getting hurt. Or worse.
What came as a bit of a surprise was how short Pi lasted. Twister just ducked underneath the brute's arms, and slammed the snout of his baton into Pi's solar plexus, the shock knocking him out instantly.
Animal seeing this simply ran off in terror, only to receive a fist in the jaw from Scott, taking him down.
"Where's Sputs!.?" asked Otto out loud. "SHOW YOURSELF!.!.!"
Roderick and Lorenzo kept going at each other. Roderick had the clear advantage of twenty-first century marital arts training, where Lorenzo had only his old sword skills and Lars' knowledge of brawling to fall back on.
"I'll teach you a lesson, brat! You should have never challenged me!" - roared Lorenzo as he charged to Rod. As he got close to the boy, he raised his cutlass and prepared to give him a blow, but, to his surprise, Roderick jumped in the air when he threw the blow. Rod made a quick forward roll and landed on his feet behind Lorenzo.
"KIAH!.!.!"
Roderick, standing on one leg, gave Lorenzo a quick kick with the other, hitting him on the back and making him lose balance. Before the pirate could recover, Roderick had jumped again and was facing him, Roderick held Lorenzo's arm with his hand and kicked several times on his wrist, until he forced the pirate to drop the sword.
But Lorenzo wasn't going to be defeated that easily. He managed to grab Roderick by his wrist and pulled violently from him, crashing him to the wall. Roderick was stunned - he hit the wall with his back - but reacted fast enough to see Lorenzo charging at him with a sharp dagger pointed to his chest. Roderick rolled quickly, avoiding the dagger by a mere fraction of a second. Lorenzo hit the stone wall with the dagger, causing sparks to blow. Roderick gave him a quick punch with his fist, right under his arm, and made him step back, dizzily.
Lorenzo however, as though possessed by the devil himself, started staggering back towards Roderick, now frozen in horror. However, a form swooped by on a rope, probably from one of the ship's yardarms, knocking Lorenzo to the deck, out cold. When he swung back, the camouflaged figure dismounted.
"Gave me a little scare there, old...chum," Otto said, mimicking Adam West's voice. "You all right?"
"Let's go check in on Reg and the guys," suggested Rod as he nodded in the affirmative, giving a thumbs-up.
Otto and Rod started towards the ship when suddenly...
"FREEZE!.!.!"
"Huh?" The two said, turning towards the source of the voice. Two familiar boys stepped out of hiding, looking down with their arms crossed.
"Prepare for trouble!" The taller one started.
"Make it double!" The shorter one continued.
"To protect our cash from your grubby mitts!"
"To have a victory bash with no regrets!"
"To save the world from some creepy ghosts!"
"To have fun with us as the hosts!"
"Izzy!" The taller one picked up his head with a mischievous smirk.
"Iggy!" The shorter one picked up his own head with a goofy grin.
"We're the Super Lopez Brothers, getting rich at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or boy, are you gonna lose the fight!"
"That's right!" Both brothers ended, pointing at the duo across from them.
Both Otto and Rod sweatdropped as the siblings turned to each other.
"See, Iggy? A good entrance is always required for those about to be in possession of a grand sum of money." Izzy said.
"I guess..." Iggy removed his helmet and scratched his head. "But I thought you always hated that sorta joke."
The taller brunet glowered at him. "Cut the fourth wall breaking. In any case, I wanted to make an exception just this once."
"But I thought you didn't believe in this ghost stuff."
Izzy shrugged. "Eh, I needed to make it rhyme."
"Aw man..." Otto groaned. "I forgot about those two."
"I don't know..." Rod said. "They have a pretty cool motto."
"..." The redhead raised an eyebrow at that.
"Alright!" Izzy shouted, getting to business. "Where's my—"
"AHEM!.!.!" Several voices yelled. The brunet slapped his head and rubbed his face in exasperation.
"I mean our treasure!"
"And what makes you think you kooks are gonna get it?" Otto challenged. The elder Lopez brother smirked at him.
"Easy. I got reinforcements."
With that, he snapped his fingers. Oliver, Riley, Tesoro, and the men they brought along walked into the open. Both Otto and Rod got into fighting poses as the group assembled behind Izzy, who had his arms crossed with a defiant grin.
"Boys, grab the treasure, will you please?" He said, snapping his fingers again.
The men in question didn't budge an inch. The leader blinked and turned to them.
"Well?"
"We only listen to our club president." One of the sailors responded. Izzy glared at Oliver, who shrugged.
"Well yeah. They're only supposed to obey my orders. Club rules." He clarified, chuckling nervously.
"Well, do ya mind?"
"Oh right. Sorry about that." The redhead rubbed the back of his head as he turned to the sailors. "Go in there and retrieve the treasure."
"Yes sir!" The men acknowledged, saluting before marching over to the hull.
"Why is good help so hard to find?" Izzy sighed, shaking his head mournfully. He then turned to Otto and Rod and crossed his arms. "Well, I only see two members of my rival's team. Where are the rest of them hiding?"
"Why should we tell you!.?" Rod demanded.
"Hmph. To be honest, I don't really care, kid. I just wanna make a little small talk and perhaps gloat to a certain so-and-so's face before I leave with all that gold."
"And just what makes you think you're gonna leave here with it?" Otto asked.
"We have more than enough man power to take the treasure out of here." Oliver answered, adjusting his glasses.
'There's no way Twist and the others will let those guys near the treasure.' Otto thought, snickering.
"Hey, what's so funny, mister?" Iggy asked.
"Oh nothing..." The redhead replied, suppressing his chuckles.
"Hey..." Rod starting noticing the glowing in Izzy's shorts. "What's that in your pocket?"
"Hmmm...?" Izzy blinked before glowering again. "It's none of your concern, but it's something that's been plaguing me and my brother for the last couple of days."
"Yeah! It's scary!" Iggy added, shuddering in fright.
"But luckily, once we get this treasure outta here, I can ditch the stupid thing."
Otto and Rod gave each other a strange look before facing the quartet again.
Riley sighed. "It's some weird trinket."
"Ohhhhhh..." Both boys nodded.
Izzy glared at her. "And who said you could tell them that? They're the enemy!"
"Does it even matter?" She reasoned. "We got the treasure, so they might as well know."
"Speaking of which, what's taking them so long?" Oliver commented.
Everybody turned to the ship's hull. It was silent for a few moments before...
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" Several pained screams were heard.
Seconds later, the sailors hobbled out of the hull, much to the surprise of Izzy's group. A couple of them were holding their eyes while a couple others were holding their sides in pain. The last two looked like they were shocked.
"What in the world happened!.?.!" Izzy exclaimed in shock.
"Th-they were too quick for us..." One of the men groaned.
"They had us surrounded..." Another one added.
"B-b-b-b-b-but how!.?" Oliver asked.
"BUST!.!.! Ha ha!.!.!" Otto yelled, holding his sides in laughter. Rod and Iggy laughed heartily as they understood what happened. ...Or at least Iggy did until Izzy slapped him upside the head.
"So let me get this straight." He said to the men. "You were beaten by a bunch of kids?"
The sailors looked down shamefully.
"You're all a disgrace to the Sea Crest engineer club!" Oliver roared. He then turned to Izzy. "Sorry about that, but I can't tolerate incompetence from my own club members. I'll make sure they're disciplined when we get back to the surface."
"Don't worry about it. But if they're knocked out, how are we supposed to get the treasure out of here?"
"That's easy." Otto started, smirking. "You don't." Izzy growled in response to that.
"Why you—"
"Hey!" Reggie's voice was heard. Everybody looked up at the hull. The purple haired girl was standing there. Behind her was a rope that was set up in a complex pulley system. "Look out below!"
Moments later, several grunts and groans were heard as the ropes moved. It seemed like a massive object was being lifted. Soon it came into view. It was large. Very large. It must've been at least as tall as Sam! It looked to be as wide as a small car (perhaps a VW Beetle). It was adorned in a very elaborate and ornate gold pattern. It was lined with jewels of all kinds. Those on the ground (that were conscious) felt their eyes go as wide as possible as they realized that it could only have been one thing.
"THE TREASURE!.!.!"
"I don't believe it!" Rod said.
"Wow! It's humongous!" Iggy exclaimed. He grabbed Tesoro off Riley's shoulder and held her up. "Look Kitty! It's our treasure!"
"Meow."
"That's the biggest treasure I've ever seen." Riley added in awe.
The gigantic chest, which was being held up by an old, rusty hook, was slowly moved over the cave floor.
"Aw yeah! That has to be real!" Otto cheered.
"I'll be able to fund deep sea projects for life!" Oliver shouted.
"Man, oh man... I can buy an arcade full of games with all that!" Izzy yelled, rubbing his hands greedily. "At long last, it's ours!"
Just as the golden treasure chest was being lowered, the rope holding it up began to unravel. The first to notice it was Iggy, who snapped out of his dreamy state to gasp in horror.
"I-I-I-I-I-Izzy...?" He stuttered, pulling on his older brother's sleeve.
"What is it, Iggy?" The taller one said in a daze. "I'm fantasizing."
"I think we should m-m-m-m-m-move."
"That's nice..."
The chest began to get heavier for the rope to hold.
Rod blinked and noticed as well. He turned to Otto.
"Ottoman, we better get out of the way..." He said, trying to get the older boy's attention the same way Iggy was. "The chest is about to fall!"
"Hmm-mmm..." The one in the sunglasses nodded numbly.
"Meow..." Tesoro mewed frightfully, nudging against her mistress' leg.
"Not now, girl..." Riley said in a daze.
"IZZY!.!.!"
"OTTO!.!.!"
"REEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!.!.!" Tesoro jumped up and scratched Riley across the face.
"YEOW!.!.!" The treasure hunter yelped. "Tesoro, what're you—" She looked up and noticed the danger. "GET OUTTA THE WAY!.!.!"
"Huh?.?.?" Otto, Izzy, and Oliver said, blinking as they turned to her. She only pointed up in response. The trio gasped as THE ROPE SNAPPED!.!.!
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!.!.!" All six of them screamed as they scrambled to move. They jumped away, narrowly avoiding getting crushed. Everybody was on the ground, panting as they tried to get their bearings straight.
"Oh man!" Twister shouted as he, Sam, Scott, and Reggie ran out of the hull.
"Are you guys alright?" Sam asked.
"Ugh... Yeah... We're fine, Squid..." Otto huffed as he helped Rod stand.
"We're ok too." Riley answered as she stood up.
"Meow." Tesoro added as she hopped on her shoulder.
"That was close..." Oliver moaned as he stood.
"I'm ok, Sammy-Sam..." Iggy added, shaking his head as he got to his feet.
"What'd I tell you about calling him that!.?.!" Izzy roared as he shot to his feet.
"Oops... Sorry, bro..." The shorter sibling apologized, pressing his fingers together.
"Well, well. I was wondering when you were going to show up." The rounder bespectacled one said.
"Oh you have, have you!.?" Izzy shouted at the blond. "Well I have news for ya! That treasure belongs to us!"
"YEAH!.!.!" The rest of his group, including the sailors (who were back to their feet) agreed.
"Well, there's no way you bunch of lame-os are leaving this cave with it!" Otto roared.
"YEAH!.!.!" Most of his crew shouted.
"Can't we all share it?" Reggie compromised.
"NO!.!.!"
She sulked as she backed down.
"Hey! That treasure rightfully belongs to me!"
Everybody turned to face Lars and his cronies. It seemed that they regained consciousness during that squabble.
"None of you will live long enough to spend that gold!" The brunet declared, drawing his sword again.
"Over our dead bodies!" Twister yelled. His brother slapped his forehead.
"Duh! That's the point!"
Everybody gave the members of the opposing groups a cold, icy glare as they drew their respective weapons. They looked to their respective partners and nodded, getting ready to die for the right to leave the cavern with the gold jewels. Everyone looked at their rivals as they tightened their grips on their arms. Sweat poured down their faces as they got ready to go at it.
"Well, in that case..." Otto started, looking all around the perimeter. He took a deep breath. "FREE FOR ALL1.!.!"
Five seconds. That's all it took before the room lit up in all out warfare.