| Chapter: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
A feeling of dread filled
me as I entered the jungle. Tall trees towered over me gloomily. I followed
the remains of what was once a concrete path, built for Big Whoop. Large
steel girders and poles could still be seen deep within the jungle,
overgrown with vines and foliage. After LeChuck had escaped his icy
prison and realised Elaine and I had escaped the carnival, he began
to destroy it and all the people in it. In the following years, Monkey
Island was left uninhabited other than by a few monkeys. But as months
passed, more and more monkeys gathered on Monkey Island, apparently
because the whole 'Gigantic Monkey Head thing' was foreseen many years
ago, according to Jojo Jr. When LeChuck returned, he had a religion
and church in honour of him. The church was constructed on Monkey Island
at the foot of the volcano, which now spewed a river of molten lava.
All that was left of Big Whoop was destroyed rides and horrible memories…
and, of course, Big Whoop itself, the secret of which only LeChuck knew.
Was it possible LeChuck still held the power of Big Whoop? And was it
likely he would use it again? Right now, I was more concerned about
the voodoo shrine in the First Church of LeChuck, Orthodox, and what
LeChuck would do with it.
I noticed it was unusually hot, even for Monkey Island, in the middle
of the Caribbean. I removed my long coat and shoes and discarded them
in the jungle. The further into the jungle I went, the hotter it became.
What's going on here? I wondered. Does LeChuck know I'm coming? What's
he been doing here?
Then, just before I stepped into it, I skidded to a halt before a lake
of steaming lava.
"Yikes!" I cried.
I soon realised the lake was actually the huge ravine in the middle
of Monkey Island, but it had been filled with lava. As I moved into
the clearing, I gazed up at the volcano in the distance. It was coughing
black smoke and still spewing out lava. I could see the church, Orthodox,
as a tiny speck, clear of any lava flow. I climbed a small tree to get
a better viewpoint and almost fell right off when I saw that most of
island had been covered in sprawling rivers of lava. In the far distance,
to the east of the island, I could see massive clouds of steam billow
into the air, as the river hit the sea. There was no way I could get
to the church from here. I'd have to fly over the lava or go around
it. Since there was no way either of these could be done, I had only
one other option: to go under it.
* * * * *
As I started my journey across
Monkey Island, from the west side to the east, I could only hope LeChuck
hadn't made it here already. If he had, then he was almost certainly
heading for Orthodox, where all his power was held in the powerful voodoo
shrine. He would use this to steal the body of my son and wreak havoc
on the Caribbean once again. While I knew there was an entrance to the
catacombs of Monkey Island, where the Gigantic Monkey used to rest,
I didn't know where I would re-emerge from the hellish depths, or if
I would re-emerge.
As I traipsed through the dense and humid jungle, I encountered several
monkeys, all of which shrieked in horror as they saw me assume my Charging
Chimp position. I smiled to myself, as I now held the title of Monkey
Kombat Master of Monkey Island. I was continuing towards the east end
of the island, when I thought struck me.
"Ow!" I cried, rubbing my head. I knelt down and picked
up a coconut. As I looked up, another 'thought' hit me, right between
the eyes. I toppled backwards and lay in the dirt on my back. I gazed
upwards to see my crew in the trees, throwing coconuts at me.
"Hey!" I yelled. "It's me! Stop it!"
I staggered to my feet and presented myself, before being greeted by
yet another coconut. When my crew finally realised who I was, they stopped.
"Guybrush!" gasped one. "Oh, thank the Lord
it's you!"
"We thought we were done for!" added another. One by
one, they climbed down from their hiding places.
"What's wrong guys?" I asked, still soothing my head.
"Who did you think I was?"
"We thought you was one o' them skeler-tons!" said
a pirate.
"Yeah," said another. "One o' LeChuck's lot."
"LeChuck?" I asked. "LeChuck is here?"
"Yes!" was the reply. "He came through this
way not long ago. We were all so scared--"
"--sneaky!" interrupted someone.
"Er, yes… so sneaky," continued the other,
"we hid in the trees… hoping to, er…"
"Ambush them!" cried someone, eventually. "Yes!
Ambush them."
"Okay, okay," I said. "But did they have anything
with them?"
"Well, some o' them bony guys was carryin' a small carriage
or sumthin, but we couldn't see inside…" suggested someone
else.
"Timmy!" I whispered.
"Well, now that that is sorted out, we'll get back to our, er,
attack positions…" said the first pirate. I ignored this
and ran on eastwards, as my cowardly crew began to climb the trees again.
If LeChuck and his crew were heading this way, I thought, there must
be a way through. I need to catch up with them and follow them through
the catacombs.
Eventually, I neared the beach that led onto the Gigantic Monkey Head
clearing. I also noticed the huge cloud of rising steam was getting
ever nearer. As I arrived at the beach, I found that this was where
the lava river hit the sea. There was no way across. As I peered through
the thick steam towards the clearing I thought I could see a green glowing
object disappear into the ground, followed by a line of white figures.
I looked back at the lava flow. Of course, LeChuck and his undead crew
could cross it safely, but for me, it was a different story. I quickly
examined my surroundings: a large river of lava, a large sea, a large
jungle and a few pesky rubber trees…
"That's it!" I cried aloud. I set about cutting down
a rubber tree with the small pocket knife I carried with me at all times.
Unfortunately, I underestimated the strength of those rubber trees and
finally felled one just before the sun dipped beyond the horizon. I
dragged my lightweight floatation device to the river edge and pushed
it in. Immediately it began to bubble and melt, but it stayed afloat,
possibly long enough for me to get across to the other side. I wasted
no time and carefully crawled onto the large tree trunk and pushed off
from the bank. A noxious gas was released from the burning rubber that
made me cough and splutter. I was still a long way from the far bank
when I began to notice how fast the tree was burning round the edges
and disappearing. Parts of the tree broke off and bubbled away under
the surface. Flames licked the edges of the trunk and there was nothing
I could do to save myself. I gazed into the river of lava, which I knew
would become my fiery grave. Just as the log began to dip under the
surface, there was a sudden jolt from behind. I fell backwards in what
seemed like slow motion. As I fell towards the burning flow of lava,
my life flashed before my eyes… which was over after about half
a second. Then, just as I expected my back to hit the flaming river,
it hit the hard wooden bottom of a raft from the church's ceremonial
marriage log flume. I sat up in disbelief, staring at the bubbling remains
of the tree. As the raft neared the far bank, it burned up beneath my
feet. I dived for the bank in a last desperate attempt to stay alive
and landed on the soft sand of the beach. I lay for a few moments as
the last rays of sun bounced off the sea and the day sky finally turned
into night. After dusting myself off again, I headed towards the huge
crater in the clearing where the Gigantic Monkey once resided. Far below,
I could smell the hellish waft of death and decay. The hot air blew
through my hair and stung my eyes as I prepared myself to once again
venture into the infernal depths that lay under Monkey Island.
| Chapter: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |