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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡
𝒃𝒐𝒏 𝒗𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒈𝒆

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・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Once Kyla and JJ finally arrived to the spot where they had all crashed the Twinkie, Kyla honked the horn to gain their attention. Kyla rolled down the windows, catching Pope saying, "the tortoise and the tortoise. Just a couple hours late." Kyla then parked the car and unbuckled, getting out of the car at the same time as JJ. "Where the hell were you guys?"

"Paternal complications," Kyla answered, her lips in a thin line.

"Mom and Dad caught you?" Kiara asked in a concerned tone.

JJ shook his head. "Luke was at the Château," he told them.

"Oh, great! While you were having family time with your pops, John B got bit by a gator," Pope revealed, causing Kyla's eyes to widen.

"Like, for real?" JJ asked.

"Does it look like we're joking?" Sarah countered.

"Yes, for real," Kiara confirmed.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Kyla questioned, her eyes still wide.

"What happened? I got bit by a gator!" John exclaimed at the same time Pope yelled, "He got bit by a gator!"

"Why are you yelling at me? I just put my ass on line! I wasn't the one who bit you!" Kyla argued since she really didn't want to steal her father's car. Yeah, maybe John B got bit, but that wasn't her fault. The Pogues began to yell at her all at once, making her unable to even hear each of them. "Well, we got here as fast as we could," she told them, trying to reason.

They then all continued to argued before JJ yelled, "Shut up!" They all stopped, seeing how crazed he looked from all of their quarreling. "Seriously, guys, I can't take it anymore, all right? Everyone just cut it out for a second," he said as he let out a laugh, leaning against a tree. "Look, I just helped my dad leave this island...for good. Like, he's not ever coming back. He's straight up like the Spanish. Just, 'Bon voyage'."

Kyla scrunched her face up, knowing that was most definitely not Spanish. "That's not the right language," Sarah muttered, voicing Kyla's thoughts.

"All we got...And I know for a fact all I got is you guys, okay? You're it," he continued, looking directly at Kyla when he finished his sentence. Kyla made eye contact with him, giving him a sad look. He then looked away. "And I've come too close to losing you — all of you! I mean, shit, like you guys almost drowned," he said, gesturing to Kyla and Kiara. "Pope, you were kidnapped. Sarah, you've been shot. And John B, you were almost dinner for a freaking gator, bro. So, this blaming each other is some Kook-ass bullshit, all right? We don't do that. Okay? We're Pogues." Kyla watched him as he spoke, somehow feeling inspired. "Sorry, that was a lot right now. I didn't mean to..."

Pope and John B then looked at each other and began to slowly cap, making the three girls follow along and clap with them. "Well-done," Pope said with a nod. Kyla smiled at him, actually very impressed.

"I gotta be honest. That was the best freaking speech you have ever given," John B complimented. "Also, you should think about, like, a Rosetta Stone because your Spanish and French and flip-flopped."

"Yeah, I'd look into that if I were you," Kyla added, making JJ hold up two middle fingers towards all of them. She rolled her eyes playfully at him, a grin spreading across her face.

"We should bon voyage out of here," Sarah suggested and the girls nodded in agreement with her.

"All right, let's get this damn Twinkie out of here!"

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

After the Pogues were able to pull the Twinkie out of the murky water, they drove both the van and the truck to the church. They opened up the creaky doors and looked inside, seeing how beaten down it looked.

"Okay, you're telling me Denmark Tanny decided to hide the cross here?" JJ asked in disbelief.

Pope hummed in confirmation. "Okay, everybody, just spread out," Kiara instructed and they all began to do just that.

"Okay, well, if I was a cross and wanted to be hidden in an old church, where would I hide?" John B thought aloud as they looked around. Kyla shook her head, not even knowing where to start looking.

"Are you sure that Denmark hid the cross here, Pope?" JJ questioned. "Like, are we at the right church?"

"It's gotta be here somewhere, guys," Pope assured them.

"What if we have to, like, push a secret button or, like, play, like a...a certain chord and then, all of a sudden, the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?" JJ guessed in complete seriousness.

Kyla went over to him and patted his back, giving him a look. "Last time I checked, this isn't Indiana Jones," she told him and he gave her a fake, annoyed look.

"How about we try to find obvious clues?" John B suggested.

"It's not an escape room," Kiara told them, getting fed up with their stupidity.

"It's gotta be in here!" Pope snapped a little above average volume.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," JJ whispered, bending down to see if anything was on the floor.

"Come on!" Pope gasped, looking up the walls.

"Look, I-I can't see where they'd hide a giant cross in here," John B told Pope truthfully.

"No, no. There's no — there's no way he would set us up on a freaking goose chase that would lead us to a church that has nothing in it!" Pope explained loudly, pointing at John B.

"Yes, I get it! I don't know what to tell you, man," the boy replied, holding his arms out.

"The clues led us here. The cross is in this church," Pope went on before he sat down on one of the benches, brooding.

"Pope, it'll be all right," John B said as Kiara sat down next to the sulking boy. "We've had setbacks in the last, and we figured it out. We're gonna find it."

"He's right," Kiara told Pope, who then started to use the the spyglass.

"We've just gotta think about this logically, all right? Kyla, a little help here," John B said, causing Kyla to give him a look. "Where else would you hide a seven-foot-tall cross made of gold?" he asked.

"How am I supposed to know? Do I look seven-feet-tall to you?" she questioned back, crossing her arms.

"Hey, you're, like, one of the smarter ones here, it's worth a shot," John B told her.

"Hey, I think I've worked my way up there," JJ spoke up.

"Debatable," Sarah said, making JJ roll his eyes at her.

Kyla then looked back at Pope, who seemed to be staring up at something. "What?" she said, following his gaze to the top of the church. She noticed the different wooden pieces at the top and how they connected — almost like a...cross shape.

"Oh, my God," Kiara breathed out, realizing it, too. "Look at that."

Pope then walked over to the wall, starting to climb it. "Pope," Sarah called out.

"Hey, no!" JJ yelled at him.

"Now Pope's climbing the wall," John B narrated, shaking his head in disbelief.

They all began shouting things at him to get him to stop, but he wasn't stopping at all. He just kept on climbing, ignoring their shouts of warning before he made to the pieces of wood that overlooked them. He banged on it before he said, "All right, this one's solid wood. I'm gonna try the other beam."

"Please, be careful!" Kyla yelled, holding her hands on her hips as she squinted up.

"Pope, that's rotten as shit right there, okay?" JJ told him. Pope then began to bang on the other piece of wood that he crawled over to. "Pope, I hate to break it to you, but that's wood."

"No, no, no! It has to be here. I know it," Pope said before he started to stand up, grilling onto the straight beam of you.

"Bro, just look out for that giant wasp nest right above your head," JJ warned and Pope looked up at it, noticing the buzzing bees very close to his head.

Kyla held her breath, not wanting to know the outcome of this. "Hey, just...just move slow, all right? Nice and easy, all right?" John B instructed.

Pope then tried to place his foot on a piece of wood, but it snapped off and fell below, causing all of them to shout. He then noticed something. "Look. It's hollow," he said. "Go get me a crowbar!"

"I'll be right back," Sarah said before she quickly rushed out of the church, going to get the crowbar.

"What are you gonna do, Pope? I don't want this entire church to collapse on top of us. That's all I'm saying," JJ spoke, holding his arms out.

"Ditto," Kyla agreed.

"Well, how am I supposed to stop that from happening?" Pope replied. JJ and Kyla looked at each other, not knowing the answer. "Exactly." He then grabbed another piece of wood and started to chip away at the piece of wood that he already kicked away. "Sarah!" he then exclaimed once she walked back in.

"Hey. Pope," Sarah said, jogging right below him.

"Throw it," he told her.

"Okay," she said, getting ready to throw it.

"Oh, for real?" Kiara pronounced, stepping back.

"Watch your heads," John B warned before Sarah threw the crossbar up at Pope.

Pope caught up and exclaimed, "Got it!" Sarah laughed proudly.

"Nice," Kyla muttered under her breath.

"Not bad," Kiara complimented as JJ clapped in slight disbelief.

"Hey, Pope, Pope, there's a wasp nest right up there, okay? Just move slow, all right?" John B pointed out.

"Got it," Pope answered before he began hitting the pillar of wood, making separate pieces fall down onto the floor. As he kept going, they began to notice something inside of it.

"What is that?" Sarah whispered.

"Do you guys see that?" John B asked, pointing up at it.

"Shit," Kiara gasped in awe. A shiny, gold cross was revealed; the sun rays bouncing off of it in differs directions. They all gasped, their eyes glued to it in shock. "Wait, holy shit."

"No way," Kyla said, licking her lips as she admired it.

They all began to express different words of awe and shock before they all began to cheer and jump around. Pope screamed in happiness, prompting them all to get loud and louder.

Kyla couldn't believe it. Their determination paid off. They had found the Cross of Santo Domingo.

Maybe miracles did happen.

But, their happiness was cut short when the wasps began to sting Pope, causing him to drop the crossbar on the ground. As he tried to swing at the wasp, he lost his balance and fell, grabbing onto the pillar before he fell all the way down.

"Wait!" Sarah shouted.

"Cushions!" John B demanded and they all ran over to grab the cushions and the pews, trying to make Pope's fall softer.

"Pope, hold on!" Kyla yelled as she threw cushions down underneath him.

"Hurry, hurry!" JJ yelled as he helped Kyla. "Hold on!"

"I can't hang on!" Pope groaned. "I'm slipping, guys."

"Hang on, hang on!" Kiara shouted, trying to find more cushions.

They then all shrieked when Pope came flying down, landing on all the cushions that they set out underneath him. Once he fell, they all rushed over to him, asking and making sure he was okay.

They were so busy asking questions that they didn't even see when the cross began to fall down right above them...