ALVINNN! and The Chipmunks:
Tamian Mysteries
Season 2, Episode 3 of 10:
Chipmunk Island
It was 2:00 AM in the Seville house and Alvin was tossing and turning in bed. Soon after, he opened his eyes, as he just couldn't sleep bearing the thought that Harry could be looking for the Tamian civilization at that very moment. He got out of bed and snuck into Simon's laboratory. He was determined to use the lab's computer to locate the island that his mother had told him about. Just as he found a location he suspected to be the island via satellite imagery, Charlene, who had previously been sitting up against a wall in sleep mode, went up to Alvin from behind.
"Alvin?", Charlene softly asked.
Alvin was startled and turned around. "Ah! What are you doing?", Alvin asked. "I thought you were in sleep mode.", he added.
"Your presence triggered my proximity sensors.", Charlene answered. "What are you doing?", she asked.
"I can tell you.", Alvin said softly and cryptically. "But first, can you keep a secret?", he asked.
"What is a secret?", Charlene asked back.
"It means something you don't tell to anyone for someone else's sake. So for my sake, don't tell anyone what I'm doing right now.", Alvin explained.
"But you never told me what you are doing.", Charlene pointed out.
Alvin nodded his head down, closed his eyes, put his hand up to his forehead and let out a sigh. He then returned to his conversation with Charlene as normal. "I'm looking for Chipmunk Island. I have to go there and get Filder's book about the Tamians back.", he said.
"What happened to it?", Charlene asked.
Alvin sighed out of hesitation to admit how the book was lost, but ultimately decided to tell Charlene anyway. "While you were gone, we found another chipmunk. This guy named 'Harry'. He said he was our uncle, but he just said that to trick us and stole the book.". He explained.
"Why?", Charlene asked.
"He wants to find the lost Tamian civilization so that chipmunks can take over the world again.", Alvin said with dire emphasis. "Our mom told us not to worry about it, but this was my fault and I can't let Harry get away with it.", he maturely proclaimed. He then pointed to the island on the monitor. "If this is the island our mom told us about, then that's my best guess where Harry is.", he said.
"Oh my.", Charlene reacted to Alvin's point. "What would that mean for me if he took over the world?", she asked with concern.
"Well, I don't know what Harry would think about robot chipmunks, but he doesn't like that we live with humans.", Alvin answered.
"So how are you going to get to the island?", Charlene asked.
"Simon's Munkmobile should be able to make it there and back. But I need to be quick.", Alvin said. "You wanna come with me?", he offered.
"I would. But Simon said I need to stay here in the laboratory until my diagnostic checkups are completed.", Charlene reminded Alvin.
"That's just Simon being too cautious. What you really need is to get out and see more of the world.", Alvin told her.
"Okay.", Charlene said cautiously as she started to follow Alvin.
A minute later they were down in the basement laboratory and Alvin climbed into the Munkmobile's pilot seat. He started to power it up as Charlene got into the passenger seat.
"So this is what Simon uses to help all of you travel during your C-Team missions?", Charlene asked.
"Yes.", Alvin confirmed. "But sometimes we just fly it for fun… okay well just me.", he added.
"You do not look sure of yourself.", Charlene commented. "Do you think you will be able to succeed with your mission on this 'Chipmunk Island'.", she asked.
"I'm sure I can do it all by myself.", he replied. "But I've never been there, so you're going to find out what the island's like at the same time I am.", he added.
Alvin triggered the hatch at the top of the room to open. The hatch had a tree on top of it in the front yard, which moved to the side allowing Alvin to fly the Munkmobile out of the lab and off into the sky.
A little while later, the Munkmobile had made it past the coast of California and was flying over the Pacific ocean. In the cockpit, Charlene continued to converse with Alvin.
"So why does Harry not like that you live with humans?", Charlene asked.
"Something about a chipmunk colony getting destroyed. And this kid named Orwell lost his parents.", Alvin detailed.
"Lost? Where did they go?", Charlene asked with slight shock.
"They…", Alvin sighed. "I'm probably not supposed to teach you about it yet, but, it's somewhere you almost went yesterday.", he cryptically answered.
"And when you said Harry wants chipmunks to take over the world, you said 'again'.", Charlene reminded Alvin. "When did he do it the first time?", she asked.
"No, he didn't take over the world the first time. I'm still having trouble understanding it, but the Tamians lived alongside mammoths and smilo-thingys just like cavemen, but they also had technology, but then there were also cave chipmunks or something… I don't know. Th-This is all very new to us.", Alvin rambled. "Basically chipmunks were around before humans." He added.
"You are a chipmunk.", said Charlene. "Why do you not want chipmunks to take over the world?", she asked.
"I… I mean, I wish I could meet new chipmunks every day. But… I don't want them to hate or hurt people like Dave.
The panels covering the solar cell on Charlene's left arm started to malfunction with a mechanical whirling sound. She rolled up her sleeve to check them. The panels opened slower and more jittery than usual, but then immediately closed again and stop. "Oh no. My arm.", Charlene said while holding her left arm with her right hand.
"It's probably nothing. Just walk it off. I'm sure you'll break in your new upgrades soon.", Alvin reassured Charlene.
"I hope so.", she replied.
Minutes later, the Munkmobile was on approach to the island. They soon landed on the pebble-shored beach in a secluded spot covered by a rocky overhang. Alvin and Charlene hopped out and gazed along the shoreline.
"Okay. Which direction do you think we should go?", Alvin asked Charlene.
"Perhaps we should start our search on higher ground.", suggested Charlene.
"Great idea. Let's get a bird's-eye-view and see where chipmunks on this island live.", Alvin replied.
Alvin and Charlene walked out from under the rocky overhang and entered the forest next to the shoreline.
Little did they know that another chipmunk was watching them from the top of the mountain through a telescope. An adult male in a faded orange button-up shirt and light brown hair. He was astonished to see the two red-clad young chipmunks, with the boy one looking oddly familiar to him.
A little while later, Alvin and Charlene were trekking up the forested mountain, with Charlene acting as a guide by using her built-in night vision.
"Are your missions with your brothers always like this?", asked Charlene.
"Well, this is only my fourth time exploring a forest since starting the team, so… yeah.", Alvin answered. "What about you? You seem like a hardy explorer. What made you so good at exploring the culverts while on the run?", Alvin inquired.
"My night-vision allowed me to navigate, just like right now.", Charlene answered.
"I meant, like, were you scared; being in those cramped tunnels all alone?", Alvin clarified his question.
"Yes. I was scared initially. But as the days went by, I started to like seeing new places when I occasionally left to recharge.", said Charlene.
"So you got over your fear because the spirit of adventure was so strong?", Alvin presumed. "Wow. Maybe you and I are more alike than I thought.", he commented.
"Is that why you like to go on adventures? To get over fears?", Charlene asked.
"Well, not exactly. Most of the time I like exploring new places because my hometown is, you know, super duper boring. My dad is overprotective of me, and he stops me from doing so many fun things because he is afraid I'll get hurt. I guess I like going on adventures to prove him wrong, to prove I'm independent enough to fend for myself.", Alvin explained.
Just before the crack of dawn, Alvin and Charlene made it to a plateau on the mountain with a village similar to the one he found his mother in. All was quiet and no villagers were out. At the far end was a larger cabin that Alvin presumed to be the village hall.
"Do you have a plan now that we have reached this settlement where Harry lives?", Charlene asked.
"Shhh…", Alvin shushed Charlene. "That big cabin over there. I think we should check it out. It looks way too big to be a normal house. And I doubt Harry would keep the Tamian book in his own house if it's that important to this whole village.", Alvin whispered to her. "Let's scope it out.", he whispered and proclaimed.
The pair slid down a small hill and onto the ground level of the village. Meanwhile, the chipmunk who was spying on them from the cliffs had made it closer to the village, but was still on higher ground obscured by foliage. As he watched Alvin and Charlene sneak toward the village hall, he became greatly concerned. "No, no, no, kid. What're you doing.", he muttered to himself.
Alvin and Charlene made it to a sidewall of the large cabin and ducked under a window. There was no glass on it, just a wood shutter with some cracks and holes from its age.
"Can you see anyone inside?", Alvin asked Charlene in a whisper.
Charlene stood up and looked through one of the holes in the shutter with one eye; once again using her night vision to see if there were any chipmunks inside. "No. It is empty.", Charlene confirmed.
Alvin stood up too and started to open the shutter slowly. It was silent at first, but started to squeak faintly as it opened wider. Alvin looked over his shoulder to the village beside them to be sure he hadn't woken anyone up. It was all clear. Once the shutter was opened wide enough, he kneeled down and cupped his hands to boost Charlene up to climb through it, who then pulled Alvin up through it as well.
Once inside, Alvin and Charlene found themselves in a big room with long tables and a fireplace at the back. Charlene kept scanning around with her night vision for anything that looked like a book. "What does the book look like?" Charlene asked Alvin.
"It's thick. It has no words on the front or back cover, and it was wrapped in brown leather.", Alvin described.
After checking the entire main room of the village hall, they entered another room that appeared to be some kind of study. Next to another window, there was a desk littered with papers. Alvin couldn't make them out very well in the darkness, but they appeared to be more maps with ciphered messages. Alvin pulled out his cPhone and used its flashlight to examine it further.
"Simon deciphered a map just like these when we first found the book. Looks like Harry's doing the same.", Alvin said as he started taking pictures of the papers.
"Are those maps supposed to lead to the Tamian relics?", Charlene asked.
"Yes. I don't know what kind of Tamian relics they are, but we have to keep Harry from finding out.", Alvin said.
Alvin kept searching around the room until he opened the top of the desk that the papers were on, and found the book inside the compartment.
"Eureka!", Alvin whispered excitedly.
Suddenly, Charlene's proximity sensors alerted her. "Get down.", she whispered to Alvin as she took his hand and pulled him down close to the floor to hide under the desk.
The door started to creek open and the spying chipmunk walked inside. "Hey, kid. Where are you? I know you two are in here.", he whispered out. He walked past the desk on his way to a closet at the other end of the room where he suspected they were hiding. Charlene grabbed the book from Alvin and slowly got out from under the desk.
"You're taking a big risk going- AHGH!", the stranger said as he was knocked out with a twack to the head by Charlene behind him. Alvin got out from under the desk too and saw the unconscious body of the stranger.
"Is this Harry?" Charlene asked
"No. I've never seen this chipmunk before.", Alvin replied. "But you sure are good at defending yourself.", he commented.
From the shuttered window of the room a small amber light started to shine through. Alvin peered out of one of the cracks in the shutter and saw that another chipmunk was outside of his house holding an oil lamp; awakened by the sound of the stranger when Charlene beat him over the head.
"We gotta get out of here.", said Alvin as he grabbed Charlene's hand and they made their way with the book out of the structure from the same window they had come in. Once they were out, they made their way up the small slope before anyone could see. They hid behind some small bushes and watched as other villagers woke up and started exiting their houses, including Harry, who went straight toward the village hall to investigate.
"That's him. Harry.", Alvin said to Charlene as he pointed to Harry, about to enter through the village hall's main doors.
Another chipmunk soon caught up to Harry at the doors.
"Harry? What is going on?, he asked.
"I don't know, Orwell.", Harry replied. "But it's probably nothing major.", he added. "Go back and get another hour of rest.", he suggested.
"The sun will be coming up over the horizon any minute now. I might as well be up to help you.", Orwell rebutled.
"If you insist.", said Harry.
The two entered the village hall and strolled around the main room looking for evidence. Harry soon notices the door to the back study is slightly open. He and Orwell go inside and are stunned to find the unconscious body of a chipmunk they do not recognize from the village.
"Who is this man?", Orwell asked.
"I don't know.", Harry answered.
Harry checked the body and found the emblem of a necklace tucked under the stranger's shirt. It was circular and made out of a wood with a reddish hue. Intricately carved into the emblem was a symbol in the shape of a chipmunk's face, similar to the one the Seville brothers had found in the Eagle's Peak cave. Arching over the symbol was a small inscription carved in Tamian lettering.
"He's from the North Coast Colony.", said Harry.
"Why would he have been sneaking in here?", Orwell asked himself and Harry. "Unless…", he looked directly at Harry who looked back with the same realization.
Harry looked at the desk and saw that the ciphered maps had fallen to the floor. In a state of near panic, he quickly opened up the desk compartment to find that the Filder's Tamian book was gone.
"Tie him up before he wakes.", Harry instructed Orwell. "Someone else did this.", he said as he ran out of the room and out of the village hall.
Once Harry made it outside, the faintest sliver of the sun was starting to rise, illuminating the morning sky a medium amber color. Harry frantically looked around the perimeter of the structure, thinking which possible direction any perpetrator could have left.
Alvin and Charlene were not that far away, still watching the awoken villagers gathering at the front of the village hall in curiosity.
"We need to get going.", Alvin whispered to Charlene.
No sooner than Alvin finished his sentence than the panels on Charlene's arm started malfunctioning again. The mechanical whirling instantly alerted the villagers and Harry, who looked toward the foliage on the slope.
"Run!", Alvin softly exclaimed to Charlene as they both started running along the same trail they came.
For a brief moment, Harry saw them running as they passed by a spot that was not covered by tree branches. "Get them!", Harry commanded as he and a mob of villagers soon started chasing the two red-clad chipmunks.
Mere minutes later, Alvin and Charlene made it down the mountain and were running along the shore of the island. They could see the rocky overhang where they had parked the Munkmobile, but were still over a football field's length away. The mob was starting to catch up. Alvin was carrying the book, which was slowing him down as Charlene remained a short distance ahead of him.
"Alvin! Hurry!", Charlene encouraged him.
"I'm trying! Your muscles don't get tired like mine!", Alvin told Charlene as he was struggling to keep up. As the mob was getting closer, Alvin feared the worst and wanted to make the best out of the situation. "Charlene, catch!", he said as he threw the book to her.
Charlene caught the book, not knowing what to do with it. "Make sure they don't get it! Set the autopilot to take you home!", Alvin instructed her.
Harry, who was in the front of the mob, grabbed Alvin by the arm. Pulling him back to be stopped and restrained by a few other villagers. "Get help!", Alvin yelled as Charlene kept running while looking over her shoulder.
She was shocked to see her friend captured, but she knew she couldn't stop to save him. She looked forward and boosted her running speed, outrunning the rest of the mob that was still chasing her.
Having made it to the Munkmobile, Charlene opened the cockpit and quickly got in, closing it just before a chipmunk villager could get in as well. A few villagers started to surround the Munkmobile on all sides, pressing their hands against the cockpit, and pounding on it with their fists.
Charlene started to panic as two of the villagers began to climb on top of the Munkmobile. She powered the vehicle on and selected the autopilot coordinates for the Seville House on the GPS screen. The Munkmovile started to lift off, and the villagers began backing off as they were both fearful and awestruck by the machine. As the Munkmobile moved out from under the rocky overhand and over the water just a few feet from the shore. The two villagers on top of the cockpit soon fell off and into the water. Soon, the Munkmobile reached top speed as it flew off into the sunrise.
To be continued…