by Chase Wilder
You and Karma explore the base. You find plenty of food and water, all in sealed packs like military rations. In one tent you find a mission briefing. It tells you that this base camp is where Scarlett Fox was supposed to hand over the idol you’re carrying, to a bunch of scary-sounding corporate thugs! A recent note reveals they’ve gone to search the temple, since Scarlett hasn’t shown up with the idol yet.
“Our plane crash was all a ruse!” you tell Karma. “Scarlett’s company set the whole thing up so she could steal the idol.”
“Looks like the plan blew up in their faces,” says Karma. “You’ve got the idol and Scarlett’s gone.”
When you look in the largest tent, you see sleeping bags laid out on comfortable-looking air beds. You’ve been running for almost a whole day and a night now. The thought of a few hours’ rest is almost too tempting for words. Karma looks like she’s longing for a sleep, too.
“I say we eat their food, sleep in their beds, and move on,” Karma says. “Call it Operation Goldilocks. They deserve it.”
If you take the opportunity to eat and sleep, go to this page.
To sneak off through the jungle, go to this page.
The path slopes gradually upward. Then, with no warning at all, you see a view that stops you in your tracks. You’ve reached the ruins of a city that was swallowed up by the jungle hundreds of years ago. Stone paths like the one you’re on wind in and out of low stone dwellings and crumbling towers. Here and there are statues of strange beings with animal faces. The walls are decorated with stone carvings showing twining leaves and angry-looking people with tusk-like teeth.
You try to remember if you’ve ever heard of a lost city in this part of the world before, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe it’s been kept secret all this time. You can’t be the first outsider to discover it … can you?
Even though it’s an amazing sight, it’s not helping you get out of this jungle. It’s civilization, but not the sort you were hunting for!
Maybe if you climb higher, you could get a better view of the land. You look around for places where you could climb.
You see a stepped pyramid a little way away and a tower closer to you. The tower almost reaches up past the treetops.
If you head to the pyramid, turn to this page.
If you climb the tower, go to this page.
To poke around among the rubble closer to where you are, go to this page.
“Hey!” you shout. “Over here, you skull-headed jerks!”
The demon monkeys instantly notice. They all look at you and freeze for a second. Then they charge at you, screeching. You gulp and get ready for a fight. The young woman gives you a grin that says thanks, cracks her neck, and comes to help you.
Disgusting, furry bodies leap up and clutch at you. You fend them off as best you can, but there are too many demon monkeys, and they’re just too fast. You console yourself with the knowledge that you are about to die a hero’s death … buried under a huge pile of crazy demon monkeys.
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
Through the jungle you can see spotlights mounted on tripods and large tents set up. This is clearly a base of some sort, but for whom? Perhaps the eye-in-diamond symbol on the tent walls is a clue.
You don’t see any movement. There’s no light in the tents. Perhaps the people who set this place up are away. Or perhaps they’re lying in ambush.
Someone has hacked a path through the jungle greenery. It’s the obvious way into the base.
“Do we go in through the front,” Karma Lee whispers to you, “or sneak around the side?”
If you want to follow the path straight in, go to this page.
To stealthily look for another way in, go to this page.
You clamber up the huge steps of the pyramid. Yells, grunts, thwacks, and thumps come from up there. Sounds like a fight is going on!
When you reach the top, you see a bizarre sight. A young Asian woman is fighting for her life against a horde of hideous demon monkeys. They don’t have real monkey heads, just the bare skulls of some other animal altogether. They leap at her, clawing at her face, only to be driven back by expertly placed kicks and punches.
The strength in her legs is amazing—she’s kicking the creatures over the treetops! But the more demon monkeys she bashes through the air, the more seem to rush at her, swarming up the pyramid.
She’s using some kind of martial art you’ve never seen before, a strange flowing blend of styles. She’s clearly an amazing fighter, but it looks like there are just too many demon monkeys for her to cope with. If she doesn’t get help to fight them, she might go down. And you’re the only one here.
You’re tired and hungry, though. Not the best time to take on a pack of demon monkeys. Perhaps you shouldn’t join a fight you might not be able to win. You could always try something different, like distracting them. That might give her an edge?
If you want to charge in and help the woman by fighting alongside her, run to this page.
If you want to help by distracting the demon monkeys so she can escape, turn to this page.
To sneak off and hope the demon monkeys don’t notice you, turn to this page.
You stuff yourself on the food in the ration packs. Any other day, it would taste like cardboard and soup powder. Right now it’s a feast. You snuggle up in a sleeping bag and are asleep in seconds.
Next thing you know, you’re being shaken awake. “On your feet!” says a gruff voice.
Two burly guards pull you out of the sleeping bag. They’re wearing combat gear and goggles. Looks like they came back early. You shove them away and get to your feet, still woozy from the sleep you were enjoying seconds ago.
Scarlett Fox strides into the tent. “Where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“Don’t play games!” she says furiously. “The idol you took from the temple. Hand it over!”
“Oh, you mean this?” You pull the idol from the sleeping bag, where you’d stashed it. The guards step back, as if they think it’s dangerous.
Scarlett smiles, looking friendly again. “I’m going to need you to be all grown-up and sensible now. Pass the idol to me, and everything will be just fine. We’ll all fly home together and put this silly misunderstanding behind us.”
Where, you wonder, is Karma Lee? Did they capture her, too? Or did she make it out of the base? Why didn’t she wake you before these goons came back?
“I’m running out of patience,” says Scarlett, still grinning.
If you hand over the idol and surrender, go to this page.
If you push past her and run from the tent, trusting that Karma is out there somewhere, turn to this page.
As you sneak off, the demon monkeys notice you. They abandon the woman and swarm over you instead, recognizing an easier lunch when they see one. Congratulations—you’re tasty and nutritious, which counts as an accomplishment. Nom nom!
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
“Hey, lady! Need a hand?”
You run and stand back-to-back with the young woman. Skull-headed demon monkeys come flying at you from all sides, hissing and swiping. You punch, kick, and fling for all you’re worth. The monkeys land a few painful scratches, but together, you and the woman stand your ground against them.
You soon find that your fighting styles work in perfect harmony. Every time you miss a blow, she’s there with a strike of her own. Whenever the demon monkeys overwhelm her, you’re able to thin their numbers.
After what seems like an eternity, a beast-like roar echoes out across the ruined city. All the demon monkeys turn and flee as one, scampering down the sides of the pyramid.
Before she says a word, the woman lifts a talisman from around her neck and places it around yours. It shows a yin-yang design, but it’s made out of some weird holographic glass. The talisman swirls and rotates as you look at it. Remember that you have the talisman—this will be important later on.
“Karma L
ee,” the woman says, shaking your hand. “A true pleasure to meet you. I suggest we join forces.”
“I was thinking the same thing!” For some reason, you feel you can trust Karma Lee.
“You’re quite the fighter,” she says.
“You too. What was that martial art you were using?” you ask.
“I … don’t think you’d know it,” Karma says carefully. “It’s a little ahead of your time.” She glances over her shoulder. “Not to be rude, but we need to run. It’s coming.”
“What’s coming?”
“That!”
You see a gigantic skull-headed demon monkey leaping from stone platform to stone platform. It’s definitely coming your way.
Run to this page.
Together, you and Guy race through the jungle, heading for the column of red smoke.
“Do you think it’s Scarlett?” you ask.
“Probably,” Guy says. “She could be hurt, or could’ve found help. Or someone could be using one of her smoke canisters. Be ready for anything.”
Not long after, you find the source of the smoke. It’s pouring from a canister stuck on top of a leering statue of a man clutching his ears and sticking his tongue out. There’s nothing else here but the remains of a campfire.
Guy frowns. “Scarlett?”he yells. “Where are you?”
Scarlett steps out from behind a tree twenty feet away. “Right here.” She holds up a small device that flashes and beeps. “Don’t move, either of you.”
“Aww, man!” Guy slaps his forehead. “I should have guessed it. This is a trap.”
“Of course it’s a trap, you delightful idiot.” Scarlett smirks. “You’re standing in a ring of proximity mines, which I have just activated. If either of you tries to leave, you’ll be blown to bits.”
“You’re the worst party planner ever,” you say.
“Sorry. It’s not really my job. I work in corporate espionage.” She turns to Guy. “As for you, what happened? I waited for you at the temple for hours!”
“I had a change of heart,” Guy says stubbornly.
“Great. Some partner you turned out to be.”
“Let me guess what happens next,” you say. “We throw you the idol, and you deactivate the mines with that remote you’ve got in your hand?”
Scarlett nods. “Exactly. Once I’ve run a long way away, of course. Can’t have you catching me, can I?”
To throw the idol to Scarlett like she wants, go to this page.
To stand your ground and refuse to give it to her, go to this page.
“Which way?” you ask.
“Back down into the ruins,” Karma says. “It’s too big to follow us there!”
You both climb down the side of the pyramid as fast as you can. The ground shakes as the demon monkey bounds closer and closer.
You hope Karma’s right. Down among the ruined buildings, where trees have broken through the stone paving, there are gaps too narrow for a giant demon monkey to fit through. As you make your way there, you hear the ripping, wrenching sound of trees being torn up by the roots.
“So much for that idea,” Karma gasps. “Looks like a few trees won’t slow the beast down.”
You spot a stone building that’s still mostly intact. The walls look thick enough to resist a giant demon monkey’s fists. Without stopping to think, you dash through the doorway. Karma follows.
“Did it see where we went?” you ask.
Karma puts her finger to her lips for silence. She looks out. “It’s hunting for us,” she whispers.
It dawns on you that there are no exits from this little stone room other than the one you came in by. You’re trapped.
“Get ready to run the other way,” Karma says solemnly. “I’ll lead it off.”
“It’ll eat you!”
“Not if I’m quick. And I am quick. Fastest legs in the East.” She winks. “See you around. Good luck!”
Before you can say another word, Karma runs from the building. You hear her yelling, and the demon monkey chasing her. You wonder if you’ll ever see her again …
You have to keep moving. Turn to this page.
Feeling terrible, you toss the idol out of the clearing. Scarlett laughs and scoops it up into her arms, cradling it like a baby. “It’s beautiful,” she purrs. “So precious …”
You and Guy exchange looks. “I didn’t have a choice,” you say miserably.
“I know,” he sighs. “It’s just too bad.”
Scarlett climbs to the top of a nearby rock formation and presses a button on her gizmo, which starts the mines beeping. “The mines will switch off in five minutes,” she says. “I’d say that’s a fair head start, wouldn’t you?”
“You won’t get away with this!” growls Guy.
Scarlett laughs. “I already have!”
Next second, a demon monkey crashes into the area, ripping its way through the trees. It ignores both you and Guy and heads straight for Scarlett.
With a cry of fear, she takes off running. The last you see of her, she’s sprinting down one of the long stone paths with the idol under her arm, the demon monkey pounding along behind her.
As soon as the mines stop beeping, you and Guy get out of there.
Eventually, after many more adventures, you make it back to civilization … but without the idol or Scarlett as proof, nobody believes your story.
At least you and your good friend Guy know the truth. One day, this will all make a great story for your grandkids …
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
You’re alone, making your way through the jungle, looking for a place where you can take shelter. Night fell a long time ago. Only the feeble light of the moon keeps you from stumbling around in the pitch-darkness.
Fortunately, you’ve found one of the stone paths that crisscross the jungle, and this one is pretty much intact. You have to hope it leads somewhere. Shadowy shapes loom up around you. They’re only statues, ugly and staring in the moonlight, but they still creep you out.
You follow the path, sidestepping white things that look like bones, until finally you reach a gaping cave mouth set into the side of a mountain. At least it’ll keep the rain off if the weather turns bad. You slip inside and see, in the darkness at the back of the cave, a glimmer of golden light.
Carefully, you approach. The golden light is coming from an idol, bathed in a shaft of moonlight filtering in from a gap in the cave roof. I must be in a temple, you realize, peering closely at the idol.
Is that thing made of solid gold? It can’t be. It would be worth a fortune if it was.
Farther inside, past the idol’s pedestal, you see a stone-walled tunnel leading into the mountainside. There could be a whole labyrinth of paths in there. Better not go any farther in.
Do you dare to take the idol? It would make a fantastic prize for your birthday scavenger hunt, that’s for sure. And such a valuable artifact deserves to be in a museum—not hidden away in a remote, crumbling temple.
The more you stare, the more really good reasons you come up with for why you ought to grab the idol.
So that’s what you do.
The instant your fingers touch the smooth gold, pounding feet shake the floor. You glance up and see a gigantic, skull-headed demon monkey running toward you. It looks really, really angry. Somehow you don’t think it would help if you put the idol back.
With the idol under your arm, you run. You run the only way you can go—into the tunnels.
If you have Guy Dangerous’s machete, run to this page.
If you have Scarlett Fox’s compass, run to this page.
If you have Karma Lee’s lucky talisman, run to this page.
If you don’t have any of these, go to this page.
You skid to a halt next to Guy. He’s clinging onto the ledge, while the demon monkey clings onto him. You pull out the machete and swing it, blunt side down, at the demon monkey’s knuckles. Thwack.
The demon monkey grunts in pain and surpri
se. It obviously didn’t expect its prey to fight back. You slam the machete down again and again until the demon monkey lets Guy go. It whines, sounding strangely sad as it huddles into the tunnel mouth, nursing its sore paw.
Guy pulls himself back up and shakes himself. “You saved my life,” he says in shock. “I … I ought to tell you something. I’ve got to make this right.”
“Save it for later,” you say. “Let’s get out of here.”
*
Much later, once you’re sure the demon monkey is no longer following, you make camp. On a raised stone platform dotted with statues, you and Guy build a small fire and sit around it. You’re crazy tired, but too wired to sleep.
“I’m sorry, kid. I should have told you sooner. This was all a setup,” Guy says in a quiet, guilty voice. “The plane crash? It wasn’t an accident. We meant to come here. It was all Scarlett’s idea.”
“Why?” you want to know.
“She didn’t tell me everything. But it’s all to do with an idol. That idol you’ve got there, in fact. I was supposed to meet her at the temple.”
“To steal it?”
“Yeah. But I couldn’t go through with it. I came looking for you instead.”
“I’m glad you did,” you tell him. “You came through when it mattered. So thanks.”
In the morning, you see a column of red smoke in the distance—a signal!
To head straight for it and get there quickly, go to this page.
To take a longer, roundabout route and try to sneak up on the signal sender, go to this page.
You make it five paces into a tunnel when you trip over a rock and crash to the floor. The demon monkey looms over you. It looks hungry.
Sadly, demon monkeys don’t live on burgers and fries. Chomp.
RUN AGAIN?
OR JUST GO BACK?
“You’ll never get this idol from me!” you yell, sounding braver than you feel. You know she’s got you trapped.
