A Tiki Scare Is No Fair
The Loonatics were standing on the beach of Hawaii. There were tiki torches all over. Other beach-goers were already enjoying the relaxing time in the sun.
"Boy we really needed this vacation." Lexi says.
"I'll say. Hawaii's the best place for a vacation." Slam says.
Then the group are approached by Mr. Simms, the resort manager in a lime green suit.
"Hello, kids. Are you enjoying your stay?" Mr. Simms asks.
"This vacations has been pretty groovy." Ace replies.
"Sure. With the luau later tonight, I'm already excited for a tasty meal." Duck says.
"Like, the nightly pig roasts can't be beat." Rip says.
"Oh, just thinking about it makes me hungry." Tech says.
"That's wonderful. If you'll excuse me, I have to grab some more plates for the luau tonight." Mr. Simms says.
"Why don't some of us lend you a hand, Mr. Simms." Ace offers.
"That would be wonderful." Mr. Simms accepts.
"Tech, Rip and I will stay behind and work up our appetites on the beach." Rev says.
"Sure thing, Rev. Have fun." Ace says. And the other Loonatics walk with Mr. Simms onto the jungle path to the Tiki Hut.
After about 20 minutes on the beach, Rev, Rip and Tech decide to go join the others.
"Alright, boys. What do say we go join up with the others?" Tech asks.
"Sure." Rev and Rip say in unison.
But just as they are about to depart, they are approached by a man in a crimson garb, wearing a strange mask and has a long spear with a skull at the tip in his hand.
"Can we help you, sir?" Rev asks.
Then all of a sudden, the man swings at the trio with his spear with an angry grunt. The trio run onto the jungle path with the man in hot pursuit. They run for several minutes and manage to evade the man. Then they make it to the Tiki Hut and rush inside. They are startled at what just happened.
"What was the deal with that guy?" Rip says.
"You got me." Rev says.
"He looked like some kind of a witch doctor." Tech says.
They looked around the hut and noticed all the props that were moving back and forth on the massive stage. Then a squawk caught their attention. They turned and saw a green parrot on one of the tables on a parrot rest. The parrot squawked "Hungry!". Tech noticed a cracker on a table and gave it to the parrot. It ate the cracker and said "South! West! North!" and "3,4! 2,1!".
"That was weird." Rip says.
"I'll write those down in case." Rev says and he writes the words and numbers on a piece of paper and puts it in his pocket.
"Alright, lets find the others." Tech says.
The trio search the Hut and find no one. They then go across the stage and out a side door. On the other side is Ace, Duck and Slam.
"Hey guys." Rip says.
"Hey. Have you guys seen Lexi?" Ace asks.
"No. But we were chased by this scary witch doctor." Rev says.
"Witch doctor? Are you pulling our legs?" Duck asks.
"We're not kidding, Duck. He had this scary face and a long spear. He chased us right to this Tiki Hut. We were lucky to not get a gash from that blade." Tech says.
"Great. There goes our vacation." Slam says.
"Yep. Looks like we just stumbled onto a mystery. We better find Lexi." Ace says.
"Where's Mr. Simms?" Rip asks.
"Dunno. Haven't seen him since he went to get more supplies for the luau." Ace says. "Let's split up. Tech, you Rev and Rip go search the trails. Slam, Duck and I will keep looking around here for any clues."
"Gotcha." Rip says.
The trio head off down the trail deeper into the jungle. As they walked, the sky starts to get cloudy and darker as a storm is approaching. Along the way, they pick up a vine at the base of a tree. Then they got to a fork and went to the left.
"Let's go this way." Rev says.
The trio enter a large clearing filled with strange looking stone casket looking objects with different faces for each one. They notice a large stone hut at the end and spot the witch doctor in it. He gives a shout and dashes out of the hut and chases the trio. He trips behind a casket and the trio hide in some bushes and pose as trees. When the witch doctor gets up, he looks at the bushes and runs off with an angry shout down the trails. The trio drop their disguises.
"Sheesh, he's so stupid." Rip says.
"Got that right. He probably can't see well in that mask." Tech says.
"He may need some glasses." Rev says.
"Let's go check the hut." Rip says.
They check the hut and find a grass mat and a key. After putting them in their backpack, they continue down the trails and come upon another beach with brown sand. They notice a stone door blocking a path and try to open it.
"No good. It won't budge." Rev says.
Tech looks back and notices 3 large stone heads at the mouth of the beach at the water. "Hey look over there."
The trio approach the heads and notice 4 letters at the base of each head with the letters of the four directions.
"These heads must be some sort of lock for the door. If we get them in the right position, it should open." Tech deduces
"So what's the pattern?" Rip asks. Then Rev remembers the parrot.
"Wait. Remember what the parrot said back in the Tiki Hut?" Rev says. He pulls out the paper he wrote the directions on. "South, West, North."
Rip pushes the first head to South, Tech pushes the second head to West, and Rev pushes the third head to North. A lough creaking sound calls out. They turn around and notice the stone door opening.
"That did it!" Rev cheers.
"Alright!" Rip cheers.
"Let's go!" Tech cheers.
The trio go through the door and down the trail and arrive at an abandoned village. As they look around, some rustling in the bushes catches their attention.
"Who's there?" Rip calls out.
The rustling sound again and out of the bushes come Ace, Slam, and Duck.
"Hey guys. It's just us. We've been searching around this creepy looking village but haven't found anything." Ace says.
"Well we found some stuff leading up to here." Rev says. He takes out the grass mat and vine and give them to Ace.
"Nice find! We can use these for a trap. Have you found Lexi?" Ace says.
"No. Not much of a trace." Tech says.
"We better find her soon. I'm getting worried." Ace says.
"We will. She's got to be close." Duck says.
The reunited group head down another trail from the village and come upon another large clearing with a gigantic statue rising over the trees. With the distant thunder it seems to make the moment dark and scary.
"Wow." Slam says amazed.
"That is one big statue." Duck says equally amazed.
The group approaches and at the large base, they notice a number. They go around and find three more numbers showing 1, 2, 3, 4. They each push in a number and they all come back out.
"Hm. This seems like some kind of a puzzle." Tech deduces.
"Anyone have any ideas on how to solve it?" Duck asks.
"I do." Rev calls out. He takes out the note showing the second clue the parrot said. "A parrot from the Tiki Hut gave us a clue to something like this."
Slam pushes in 3, Duck pushes in 4, Ace pushes in 2, and Rip pushes in 1. A few seconds later, the spot for 1 opens up, revealing a staircase into the base of the stature going underground.
"That did the trick! Let's see where this goes." Ace says.
The group goes down the staircase and enter a large cavern with large lava pits that spew pieces of molten rock.
"Boy, this place is hotter than an oven." Rip says.
"I just grew new feathers." Duck complains.
"Well, let's see what's down here." Ace says and the group presses on. As they move through the cavern and dodge the molten rock, they hear rattling like a chain. They follow the sound and it leads them to a marble wall with Lexi shackled to the wall by the wrists and gagged.
"Lexi!" The group exclaims. Ace removes her gag.
"You alright?" Ace asks.
"I'm fine. I didn't think anyone else would find this cavern. Please tell me you brought the key for these shackles." Lexi says and she struggles to free herself.
"I think I have it." Rev says. He takes out the key from before and tries it, unlocking the shackles and freeing Lexi. She rubs her sore wrists.
"Thanks, guys! Much appreciated." Lexi says.
Then a rumbling sound is hear.
"What's that?" Rip asks.
Then a section of the wall opens, revealing another passageway.
"A secret door. Let's check it out." Lexi says. And the fully reunited Loonatics enter the passageway. It leads them to some sort of a tomb.
"What is this place?" Duck asks.
"It looks like some sore of sacred tomb of Hawaiian culture." Ace says.
"Think it has anything to do with the witch doctor we keep running into?" Rip asks.
"Maybe. Let's have a look around." Ace says and the group looks around the tomb. Rev and Rip go around the large stone shrine and find a chest. They open it and are amazed.
"Guys, we found something!" Rip calls out. The others converge.
"Pearls?" Lexi asks.
"This is quite a find." Ace says.
"These pearls are found in the waters near the local villages. There have been reports of pearl poachers in the area stealing the pearls. This chest must be all the pearls that were stolen." Tech says.
As they move the chest, they notice an invoice underneath the chest that shows that it was part of an order. An illegal order. It was for a familiar name.
"R. Necros..." Ace says sternly.
"Him again?" Duck asks.
"Yet another connection." Rev says.
"Well, our next course of action is to catch that witch doctor and I have the perfect plan to do it." Ace says.
The Loonatics place the grass mat at the center of the room and take out the vine and stretch it across the doorway.
"Here's the plan. Rev, Rip, and Tech will lure the witch doctor into this tomb. Once you pass the doorway, Lexi and I will tighten the vine to trip him. He'll be sent flying across the room and land on this grass mat. He'll be dazed long enough for us subdue him." Ace lays out the plan.
"Sure thing, Ace." Tech says.
"Be careful, you guys." Lexi cautions.
"No problem, Lexi." Rev says.
The trio head back through the caverns and back up to the surface. They make their way back to the village.
"Where do you think the doctor is?" Rip asks.
"Hopefully close." Rev says.
They enter the village and as soon as they do, an angry shout jumps them. They turn and see the witch doctor running towards them with his spear.
"That was quick." Tech muses.
The trio run back to the statue and into the caverns. As they make their way through the caverns, the witch doctor is hot on their tails. Then they make it back to the tomb entrance.
"Here he comes!" Rip calls. They run past the vine and Ace and Lexi tighten it. The witch doctor doesn't notice it and he trips and is flung across the room onto the mat.
"Now let's see who he really is." Rip says and he pulls off the mask. "Mr. Simms! The resort manager!"
"That's right, Rip. He was stealing the villager's pearls and shipping them off for profit." Ace says.
"He used the witch doctor disguise to scare people away so he could carry out his plan." Lexi says.
The Loonatics tie up Mr. Simms and escort him back to the surface. As they arrive back at the Tiki Hut, the police had arrived.
"Hey, kids." An officer calls. "What have you got here?"
"Hello, officer." Ace says. "You just arrived to arrest a pearl poacher."
"This is the guy who was poaching all the villagers pearls?" The officer asks.
"Sure is." Duck says. "We got the pearls right here and a black market paper signed by Mr. Simms."
The officer checks the paper and confirms that it's signed in Mr. Simms handwriting.
"Thank you, kids. We'll take it from here." The officer says.
Mr. Simms is handcuffed and placed in the patrol car and taken away. The pearls are returned to the waters of the villages and the villagers are very grateful. Then the luau begins and the Loonatics are the guests of honor.
"Well, Loonatics." Ace says. "What do you say we dig in?"
"You bet." Lexi says.
"I'm starving!" Slam says.
As the party progresses, Lexi is bothered by the invoice they found.
"So now we know that R. Necros is connected to this pear poaching business." Lexi says.
"This guy sure is far reaching." Rip says.
"I must say that this mystery is getting more mysterious by the minute." Ace says.
As the luau continues for hours, the same figure from before is watching the monitors from his high tech surveillance room and he's quite furious.
"This is the last straw! Perhaps it's time to give this band of meddling kids a REAL scare, MWAH HA HA HA HA..."