*I just wanted to say thank you for all the positive messages on the previous chapter, Spider-Duck will be coming some time in the future, but right now I'm going to just focus on 'Destiny', I also want to thank everyone who has began following me because of this story, I'm now at 35 followers. Finally, I want to repeat something I mentioned in one of the earlier chapters, I created a tag called 'BraveLouie' so we can find stories where Louie is shown as clever or competent, I want to see more stories with this tag, as at the moment there's only 3. Anyway on to the story.*
Matthew Kovax sat in the back of his limo, reading the text Louie had sent that morning over and over again. Be at Amelia's workshop 1pm sharp! Before that he hadn't heard from the thief for at least two days... The last he saw him was when the two of them and June flew to Mexico on his private jet, they had separated the moment they got out of the airport, Louie went off to begin heist prep and he and June went off to establish an alibi like he was instructed.
He knew that Louie was off stealing the scroll, but every hour he didn't hear for him, Matthew got more paranoid. The message did calm him for a while, but then his paranoia came back in full force. They didn't even tell him how he was planning to steal the damn thing, how was sure they weren't going to double cross him? Possibly sell him out to the police, be the fall-guy for their criminal exploits.
'Why didn't he mention the scroll?' - Was the only thought going through his head, his knee bouncing unconsciously. The moment the car arrived at the location, Matthew swiftly exited the vehicle and stormed up to the door, with June following quietly behind.
"GOLD!" - He bellowed while continuously slamming his fist into the metal door. - "ARE YOU IN THERE?"
The door swung open, revealing a figure who neither of the two knew, the guy stuck his hand and tried to introduce himself, only for Matthew to push past him into the workshop.
"GOLD! GOLD! WHERE ARE YOU?" - He shouted, stomping through the workshop until his screams were being drowned out by a loud mechanical-buzzing sound. - "What's with all the noise?" - He asked, grabbing the Louie's mystery comrade.
"Oh that's the mega-drill!"
"Mega-Drill?" - Matthew repeated slowly.
The guy chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his next. - "I'm guessing Lou hasn't told you everything yet."
Matthew reclaimed his grip on the man's shirt. - "What do you mean everything?"
"It's easier if I just show you." - He said, prying the fingers off his shirt one-by-one until he was free, after that, he led the two other teens over to a door, which seemed to be the originating point of the 'mega-drill' noise.
Opening the door, Matthew was shocked at what he saw, the room was a sort of garage, with tool shelves of varying sizes lining the walls, in the centre of the room was a silver-and-gold coloured van covered in Grimlock tags. Someone stood on top of the van, wearing a welding mask and wielding the biggest drill he'd ever scene.
"What is this?" - He shouted, watching as the the drill operator shut
"This..." - Louie answered, appearing from behind the van. - "Is the plan."
"Is that one of Victor Grim's vehicles?"
"Yep, we stole it with right from the convey using a ginormous magnet! Then we transported it in a bigger truck fitted with signal-blockers to prevent Grim from tracking it. Pretty good plan right?" - He grinned.
Matthew calmed at Louie confidence. - "Indeed." - He placed his palms agains the cold-metal exterior of the van. - "Let me guess... the scroll's inside the van?"
"You'd be correct. Now once we resolve our next obstacle, you'll get your journal and I'll be sipping Pep on my own private island."
June folded her arms across her chest. - "What's the new problem?
Louie clicked his tongue and glanced at the bodyguard. - "Our original plan was to use a special liquid-nitrogen to freeze the armour-plating, allowing us to easily break through the metal and get access to the scroll... but it seemed Grim upgraded his fleets shielding."
"So is the drill the solution?"
"It should solve the issue of the new plating. Then the liquid-nitrogen can do it's job."
"How long will it take?"
He paused. - "One second." - He cupped his hands and shouted over to the person with the drill." - "Hey Lucy!"
"Yeah?" - Lucy answered as she entered back into the room from a back room.
"How much longer?"
"Uhh... 40-50 minutes." - She replied lazily, taking a sip from her drink.
Louie turned back to Matthew and June. - "Are you up for waiting that long?"
A short chuckle escaped Matthew. - "My family has been waiting decades for this... I can wait another hour."
"Perfect!" - Louie cheered, clapping his hand together. - "Tommy! Break out the good stuff. For the next hour we celebrate!" - The group cheered each ready to celebrate the end of one chapter of their lives and in turn the beg of a new one.
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The hour passed faster than anyone expected. it was a fun hour to be sure... Full of jokes, laughs, and reflection Though good times don't last forever and soon Lucy was finished drilling, and Amelia announced the nitrogen was done cooling the metal.
A wave of giddiness ran through Louie as he took hold of the hammer and gently tapped the frozen metal watching as it cracked like glass, before completely breaking down and shattering into small dark shards, leaving a hole just big enough for Louie to pass through.
The shards were quickly swept up by Amelia who was muttering something about 'mess' before she handed a pair of gloves to everyone in the room. Stretching the gloves over his hands, Louie took a deep breath before sticking his head through the gap, allowing him to spot his prize.
Outside the van, the rest of the Gold gang, matthew and June stood what felt like hours, waiting for the reveal of the glorious object that would change the lives of everyone in the room forever.
Finally Louie returned, his gloved hands carrying a glass box containing a piece of old looking paper. A smug smirk on his face. Exiting the van, Louie placed the case on the table closest to him, allowing everyone to see it, in all it's majestic glory.
The box was a beautiful partnership between silver and glass encasing the rolled-out piece of parchment. A small lock was affixed to the front of the box... A small lock that Louie was about to pick! Pulling a small leather pouch from one of his jacket's inner pockets, he pulled two hooks out and quickly cracked the lock.
He slipped his hands into the case, and gently removed the crinkly old piece of paper from its confines. He quickly scanned through the spanish text, his mind quickly translating it while making sure to disregard the unimportant parts meaning he only ended up with the date: September 16th 1726.
"Huh, that's weird." - Louie thought aloud.
"What?"
"This is dated in 1726, two years after Kovax's last reported sighting."
"So?" - Tommy wondered.
"Kovax was a showman." - Matthew explained, looking perplexed. - "He wouldn't ever just retire... he didn't need the money, he just wanted to be remembered."
"The most widely believed theory of his disappearance, is he and his crew died in battle-"
"Leaving an entire vault full of priceless treasure somewhere in the world."
"Does it say anything else?"
Louie did double-checked the scroll. - "Nope, it doesn't mention anything about him. Maybe your info was wrong Amelia."
"No!" - She spat, before calming. - "My info is never wrong."
"This can't be all for nothing... Can it?"
Louie took a step back, rubbed his eyes and inhaled through his nose, trying to clear his head when he noticed something strange.
"What's that smell?"
The rest of the group sniffed, noticing one particularly strong odour in the air.
"Is that..?"
"Vinegar!" - Amelia announced, having a eureka moment.
"What? So somebody's been eating crisps?"
"No. The smell of vinegar alludes to invisible ink!" - She explained.
Louie reached into another one of his jacket's inner pockets and this time pulled out a box of matches. Igniting one, with one hand he held the lighted match and with the other, he held up a the piece of parchment, ignoring the warnings of his cohorts. Louie continued to wave the flame back and forth until words began to appear on the paper.
Soon every word was revealed, leaving the group full of wide-eyed, grinning teenagers.
"Well this just got fun!"
Thanks for reading Ch.28 of Destiny! I hope you comment, vote, follow me and read Ch.29 -MM