VIII.

"HOLD ON!" Lee called out as the sailboat grounded itself on the beach of the mysterious island like a dart hitting a board.

The Eds and the Kankers were all caught up with the speed and sudden stopping force that was the sandy beach. They were tossed out of the sailboat like rocks being shot out of a slingshot. Screaming for lack of control or any signs of a soft landing, they were met with a bed of wet sand to cushion their landing. With a drowned bam, they fell on the sandy beach, leaving themselves indented on the shores of the island they had found. Their strength had been spent after trying to survive the crazy storm and the massive waves that almost knocked them out of the sailboat more than once.

"Sockhead," Eddy muffled with his face in the sand. "I'll get you for this."

"Fair enough," Double-D replied.

The two groups laid there on the beach, letting exhaustion take them as the water from the rain fell down on them. With no energy to sustain them whatsoever, they drifted to sleep as the rain and the sand acted as cover blankets and bed for them to rest down on. They laid there with no talk and no communication with each other as time passed. Some of them drifted into dreams of glory while others drifted into something far more familiar. Something that made them feel safe and in a place where the craziness they were going through was nothing more than a dream.

Eddy's eyes opened up as he found himself behind the wheel of the Eds junkyard hideout.

"What the heck is going on?" Eddy asked. "Where's the beach? The strange island?"

"Eddy, did you fall asleep at the wheel again?" Double-D called from the back.

Eddy turned back to see Double-D and Ed reading their books and comic books respectively. He could not believe his eyes. They were back at the cul de sac, with no sign of the Kankers, the boat, the island or the wet sand or the damn journal that had caused them so much trouble in the first place. He let out a sigh of relief at the realization that he'd dreamt everything. There was relief of course, but he coils also feel something else. Some sadness about the fact his time with Lee had been all made up.

"You okay, Eddy?" Double-D asked.

"Oh, it's nothing sockhead." Eddy brushed him off. "I just had the craziest of all dreams. We were on a treasure hunt with the Kankers of all people, sailing across a storm and we had just crashed on the beaches of some lost island in the middle of said storm. Man, these hormones really make you have the craziest of dreams."

"That does sound crazy, Eddy." Ed popped his head out after it had been turned into the head of a giant chicken.

"Ed, put that away, my dead rich aunt Gertrude is outside to give me the keys to her mansion." Eddy pointed to a skeleton dressed in an old lady's clothes while holding a handful of keys. "Man, that was a crazy dream. Wait a tick."

"Yes, Eddy, this is the dream," Double-D said. "You're still on the beach."

Eddy woke up, jumping out of the him-shaped hole he'd made upon his landing like a frog from a boiling pot of water.

The storm had cleared up and the sun was shining down on them like a warm summer day. The beach no longer looked as desolate as it had been on their arrival, and the rest of the island was now coated in a tropical lush green that made all the lawns in the cul de sac green with envy. The island extended further back into a large mountain that stretched high enough to touch the clouds above their heads. The calls of birds and other animals coming out from their hiding places after the storm filled Eddy's ears as he turned to look at everything before him.

If there was a picture perfect moment that could be considered a glimpse at a land untouched by man, this was a pretty good one.

Eddy was so amazed by what he saw that he almost forgot that his friends and the Kankers hadn't gotten up yet.

"Alright, enough with the silent awe, speak up now," Eddy said. "Only the living."

"Ow, my face."

"I like making sand angels."

"Worst beauty sleep ever."

"Sand got inside my hat."

"Where the heck are we?"

"Don't look at me, ask Double-D. He's the one that had us crash here of all places." Eddy pointed to Double-D. "Well, sockhead? Where the heck are we?"

Double-D dusted himself from any and all the sand that covered him. Clearing his throat, he pulled out the journal from his slightly wet clothes as a small sense of accomplishment and greatness came over him.

"My dear friends and comrades," Double-D began. "I give you the last resting place of Rodderick Tumble and company's treasure! The Island of Chunchunmaru!" He presented as one of the birds inhabiting the island flew out of its nest and pooped on a nearby rock.

Marie couldn't help but giggle at how dramatic Double-D was trying to make their discovery sound. It was always adorable to see him get excited like that despite clearly being not one for public talking of any kind. But she had to keep a straight face as the rest registered what he'd just said to them.

"This is the island where the treasure is?!" Everyone else asked, getting dollar signs for eyes.

Greed was a good way to get the energy back when all seemed lost.

"Yes, this is an island that's mostly unexplored and seen as a natural preserve for some bird species and other mammals, and it is the only island that exists in the coordinates we got from the journal." Double-D felt pretty proud of himself for getting them so close to the great treasure. "Now, all we gotta do is follow the clues in the journal and we shall find the treasure that has survived years of isolation away from civilization."

"It's not a pet that got lost and returned to the wild, Double-D, just tell us where to go from here." Eddy dried himself from any leftover water. "Now, where do we dig? It's always a buried kind of treasure. Ed, get the shovels!"

"Okay Eddy!" Ed rushed to the sailboat, running like his usual carefree self.

Lee, however, wasn't having it. She grabbed Eddy by the head before pulling him up.

"Are you stupid? No one would leave something like that on the beach where just anyone is bound to find it." Lee dropped Eddy. "We're looking somewhere that's a lot harder to get to and can be hidden in plain sight. May, snatch the machetes, we've got a jungle to cut through."

"The jungle? Do you know how big that thing is?" Eddy pointed to the lush green. "I'll take us ages to cut all the trees when it was right here the whole time!" Eddy pointed to the sand under their feet.

"He's got a point there, Lee." May scratched her head.

"But there's no 'X' in here, how can we find the treasure then?" Ed asked.

Their conversation quickly devolved into bickering and arguing as to where the treasure could be hidden. Both locations were not a bad place to look for hidden treasure given the many stories and cliches about lost treasures. But two thirds of the group seemed to have forgotten that the instructions to reach the treasure were in the journal.

Double-D and Marie watched their friends and sisters squabble and talk back to each other like a bunch of cats fighting over a single fish. It was both interesting as well as cathartic to be the most level headed ones of each group.

"Should we tell them?" Double-D asked.

"Nah, let them scream at each other a little longer," Marie shrugged. "Besides, that treasure won't go anywhere if we wait a couple more minutes. Though, it is tempting to go and get the treasure for ourselves, ain't it?"

Double-D would be the first one to admit that spending time with an attractive lady strolling through a possibly dangerous jungle wasn't a good idea. But he was very tempted to spend some more time with Marie on his own. It could've been that they were hanging out without the usual shenanigans that always accompanied them, but they seemed to have bonded or at the very least garnered a new and more comprehensive understanding between them. It was weird that after all their run-ins and dangerous situations the Kankers had put them in, Double-D had somehow found Marie to be a close kindred spirit that supported him and gave him his space. It was like finding that pair of shoes that you wouldn't have thought of only to find out that they are now your new favorites.

Their relationship had not reached anything like that, but at least they knew when to be with each other and when to give each other some space. Baby steps towards friendship? Maybe. But that didn't change the fact that they needed to get to work. There was a jungle to explore and a treasure to find.

"We should split them up before they start throwing punches at each other," Double-D said.

"Yeah, I want the treasure as much as them but I don't want to stay a night in this place." Marie walked over to split the two groups up.

"I'll start reading the instructions on how to get to the treasure." Double-D opened up the journal.

Double-D had to admit that things were now better. It all seemed to be going their way for a change. Something that usually invited disaster for a show of hubris instead of humility, but at that point he was thankful for just being alive. The storm had taken a lot out of them, and the crash had knocked them out for a loop. He could still feel sand falling out of his ears. So, he felt pretty confident that they had more than enough to go on this journey and get the treasure.

Though unbeknownst to Double-D and the rest of the group, their arrival had not been as unnoticed as they'd believed. Hidden amidst the lush greens and the shadows casted by the trees and the wild flora, a pair of eyes watched the recent arrivals. It didn't make a sound but watched them with the same intensity and focus that a sniper would look at their target with only one bullet to make it count or a predator stalking their prey before they pounced on them. It didn't move from its spot, watching the six interlopers before they turned around and headed to the jungle carrying shovels and two machetes to cut their way through the foliage.

"Riches and lots of jawbreakers here we come!" Eddy cheered, imagining all the things he'd do with his part of the treasure.

"You mean, riches and lots of stuff we could use back home!" Lee added her own ideas of what to use the riches for before swinging her machete to cut through the plants.

"Yeah, let's follow that trail," May added with her usual happy go lucky tone.

"What trail?" Marie asked as she cut through the grove. "You mean the trail we're making right now?"

"Yeah, just like in the song Marie." May smiled. "How did it go? Look out world, here we come~!"

As they went deeper into the jungle, the one that was watching them sprinted quickly into the jungle.

The trio walked deeper into the jungle, watching everything around them with wonder. It was the most green they had seen in their whole lives. The air was so pure and so full of it that they almost got dizzy. But the trail they blazed was worth the excitement. They could almost feel like explorers looking into a new world after only hearing legends about it. And yet they were walking through the greenery with no more than the clothes on their back, a handful of tools, an old journal and their plucky attitude. All that they needed was a song in the background and they would be set for an adventure.

They watched the foliage and the trees around them as well as a few animals. They spotted birds flying off or hopping from tree to tree, some rodents that looked like big rats scurrying around on the ground, a few large insects like butterflies with vibrant orange colors fluttering around them and mosquitoes trying to devour them, and even an armadillo just minding its own business and watching them back. It was a scene straight out of a movie if there ever was one.

Double-D directed the group, asking them to keep their eyes open for any of the markings left by Rodderick Tumble. He constantly shifted his focus from the journal to up on the different wonders of nature that were around them. Which if not for Marie, would've made him fall down a ditch or gotten bitten by a-

"Snake!" Double-D screamed as a snake sprang at him.

Marie caught it by the head, holding it tightly.

"Word of advice, babe: Keep your eyes up unless you wanna meet more snakes up close." Marie tossed the snake away from them before they continued walking.

"Duly noted." Double-D gulped before picking up the pace.

"So Double-D, where to now?" Eddy asked.

"Let me see," Double-D said, looking for the instructions. "It says that we must take twenty paces West of the stone carved out of a twisting tree. That one must be it." Double-D pointed ahead of them.

Everyone spotted what he was referring to. It was a large stone that had a big tree growing over it like it had been planted on top of it.

"And west is to the left," Double-D said. "And afterwards we'll spot the feet of the mountain, where the hidden stairs are carved."

"I can't believe someone carved some actual stairs out of a mountain." Eddy swatted away a fly.

The group looked up to see the foot of the island's mountain. They started looking for anything that looked like stairs, but they didn't see anything other than the undergrowth climbing up to the mountain.

"Come on, where are those stairs?" Lee asked.

"They should be here." Eddy started looking around.

"There they are!" Ed pointed ahead of them.

Everyone turned to look at where Ed was pointing but saw nothing.

"Ed, this better be a prank." Eddy grumbled.

"Yeah, I don't see squat." Lee sighed.

"No, it's there, I see them!" Ed pointed.

"Where could it be?" Double-D asked.

May narrowed her eyes, focusing on Ed's finger. Her eyes unfocused on what she was seeing. Then like a pop up book, the stairs appeared before her.

"Guys, check this out!" May ran up the base of the mountain, before she started climbing up. "Ta da!"

"That's freaky." Ed giggled.

"Ed was right? Man, that's crazy," Eddy said.

"Who cares about that? Let's go get our treasure!" Lee called.

"Heck yeah!" May said.

But just before they could take another step, they were all shot with darts to the neck.

"Universe, why do you hate us so?" Eddy let out before they all fell down unconscious.

Soon, they were all surrounded by strange creatures that pulled out tiny spears and ropes from behind their backs. Their faces resembled that of sculpted tiki faces, carved out of the wood of the very island, with perpetual snarls. Their arms and legs small but lean with lots of muscle helped them move quickly through the island. And now they would deal with the invaders and make them pay for crossing into their home.