DRAMATIS PERSONAE:
Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)
Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse)
Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)
Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)
Zeke and Ivy work frantically to pull their unconscious colleagues from the wrecked car. Luckily the approaching police officers are still caught in the crowd, but the truck from the fort is not so impeded. The two finally pull Oz and Nigel out, along with some choice items of their gear, then toss a grenade in the wreckage to destroy anything incriminating. Dragging the comatose two, Ivy and Zeke head up the stairs and inside the Victoria Monument. Pausing for a moment to let Oz and Nigel recover, they then all run out the back door, looking for somewhere to hide or a vehicle to use in their escape. Finding nothing, and with the truck full of soldiers almost on top of them, Zeke whips out the Cobra Crown and convinces Oz to put it on in the hope that it will give the mystic some sort of power to help them. Immediately, the cobras on the crown animate, and drill their tails into Oz's skull. Oz now feels the power to control snakes and other reptilian creatures, as well as the ability to summon nearby snakes. Which he starts to do just as the army truck pulls up and disgorges soldiers from the back.
Confronted by a young Lt. Williams intent on taking them into custody, Nigel manages to use a mix of fast talk and impressive war stories to convince the officer they are some sort of special operatives. While the lieutenant won't let them go, he agrees to take them to his own commanding officer instead of just locking them up. His men load the teams gear in the truck, wave off the now arriving police and, and then load everyone aboard to head back to Fort William. As they drive, Oz orders the cobras he has attracted to attack their captors. The venomous snakes kill half the soldiers, while the others jump out of the back and and quickly left behind. Zeke crawls on to of the truck cab, and as another cobra kills the driver, slides into the driver seat and takes control of the vehicle. Slamming on the brakes, he pushes Lt. Williams out of the cab, and Nigel slips into the drivers seat. And gets them to the airport quickly, stealthy and without raising any further alarm. They make it to their plane, and as they board notice another plane with a Caduceus crest on the side, taxiing for take-off. Assuming the is Joshua Meadham, they initially plan to quickly follow him into the air and try shooting him down with their small arms. But in the end decide to just rely on Nigel's piloting skill and outfly him, figuring they are headed to Brazil and the gate to Mu as well.
Two weeks of flying from one airport to another finally lands them in Santos, the port of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Hiring an out of the way hanger, they get the plane out of sight. Questioning the airport personnel, they learn no one matching the description of Rose or Joshua Meadham have landed recently. Nigel figures his marathon flying has gained them a half day at most, so the team hires a truck to bring them down to the docks where they hope to find a boat to take them to the Ilha de Queimada Grande aka Snake Island. Once there, they find it impossible to hire a boat. No one will take them on the water, and certainly no one will take them to Snake Island. They also note a small steamer nearby flying a Caduceus pennant. Zeke uses his contacts and makes a phone call to the local US Navy attaché, learning that a US Navy task force is stationed offshore but the attaché doesn't know why. There was some thought of requesting a boat from the Navy, but in the end they decide just stealing one would be their best bet.
While they wait, a young boy approaches with a folded piece of paper. Nigel takes the paper and unfolds it, revealing a crude drawing a a serpent eye. Which to their horror, then blinks at them! The young boy, looking at the paper with them, suddenly gasps and they see his shadow start to to wrap itself around him in a constricting embrace. Before they can do anything to help, the boy is dead. And Oz feels his shadow start to grasp his body. After a few panicked moments, the team hauls Oz into cover where he cast no shadow, thereby saving him from death.
Fearful now of going out in the sunlight, the team watches helplessly as a group of vehicles approaches the Caduceus ship, loading men and supplies. After this, the ship raises steam and heads out the harbour. Shortly after, as darkness had fallen, the team slips out onto the docks and steal a boat to make their way under cover of darkness across the waters to Snake Island.
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