Third Person POV

There was eerie silence until Rourke lit a matchstick. "Alright, who's not dead? Sound off."

The others groaned and muttered in discomfort. "Danged lightnin' bugs done bit me on my sit upon.
Somebody's gonna have to suck out that poison. Now, don't everybody jump up at once," Cookie's southern accent bounced off the walls. The others grunted in repulsion.

"Audrey, give me a damage report,"
Rourke demanded. "Not as bad as it could've been. We totalled rigs two and seven but the digger looks like it'll still run. Lucky for us we landed in something soft" Audrey shone her flashlight, inspecting the impact before dusting herself off.

Madeleine's POV

"It's a never-ending madness," I wiped my bleeding nose with a handkerchief. Staring into the car mirror, I instantly accepted my dishevelled appearance. Resting her head against the steering wheel, she closed her eyes with a sigh. "Hey, Mads," said Audrey softly, poking her head inside, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, thanks.  I've had enough excitement for one day, or night," I replied. I felt Audrey rub her arm before the she left me alone with my thoughts.

As for the others, they were trying to pinpoint our current location. "I can't tell if we're any closer to finding this damn city," Helga kicked a rock.

"Now now, Lieutenant, let's keep our cool." Rourke told her and then he turned to face the others, "Would anybody like to be useful and tell me where the hell we are?"

Nobody said a word but a strange noise caught the attention of the crew. Mole was creeping around like a dog, sniffing the ground. "Is he on something?" Rourke's eyebrow raised. "I wouldn't be surprised."
Sweet shrugged.

We all watched as Mole ran his fingers across the floor and then licked the dust off, as if he were tasting the most exquisite food.

"Well," Sweet gagged a little, "That's going to be stuck in my brain for a while."

"Not if I blow your head off, eh?"
Vinny grinned.

"Pumice ash," Mole's telescope lengthened for a closer look, "we are standing at the base of a dormant volcano." He looked up at Helga, getting a little too close for comfort.
She didn't hesitate to shove him back before pointing and shooting a flare gun upwards.

"It just keeps going," she observed. "Maybe that's our ticket out of here," Vinny shrugged. The flare finally exploded. "Maybe not," she replied.

"The magma has solidified in the bowels of the volcano, effectively blocking the exit," informed Mole. He seemed to be the only person impressed by our surroundings.

"I got the same problem with sauerkraut," Mrs. Packard commented, a cigarette glued between her bony fingers.

"Hold on. Back up. Are you saying this whole volcano can blow at any time?" Sweet's eyes darted from side to side uneasily.

"No no no no. That would take an explosive force of great magnitude,"
Mole gestured with his arms.

Our eyes shifted to Vinny, who had a screwdriver in his hand and was tinkering with a time bomb that had broken in the crash. The demolitions expert glanced back at us with wide eyes. "Maybe I should do this later, huh?"

I crawled out of her vehicle and stretched out my aching body before approaching Audrey. "Have you seen Milo?" she asked her who shook her head in response.

"Oh no," My heart raced. Immediately I grabbed a flashlight and I began searching for Milo through the wreckage.

Third Person POV

"If we could blow the top off of that thing, we'd have a straight shot to the surface," said Rourke thoughtfully, "Mr. Thatch, what do you think?" Rourke looked around for the linguist, "Mr. Thatch? Thatch?"

After receiving no response, the remaining members of the group also participated in the search and Madeleine expressed a profound desire that her brother was still alive and safe.

As for Milo, he was was laying against a rock semi-conscious and breathing heavily. The masked figures surrounded him, speaking in a language Milo knew too well. The linguist was jolted awake when he felt his glasses being moved.

When his vision came into focus, Milo turned pale and his body trembled. He then sighed heavily when he felt pain in his chest. Clutching his hand to his wound, his fingers were covered in blood.

One of the figures removed the mask, revealing it to be a beautiful Atlantean woman. She had hair as white as snow and eyes as blue as the ocean.

The woman had a dot and two curved lines tattooed just below her left eye and she wore symbolic Atlantean clothing, paired with gold earrings and a blue crystal necklace.

They stared at each other curiously and then the stranger lifted her necklace up close to his flesh and pressed her delicate hand over the wound. Milo grunted and then gasped as the crystal was used to completely heal the wound, leaving behind no scars. The woman pulled her mask back on and stood up.

"Milo! Where are you?" a voice called out from nearby. "Over here," he extended his arm and waved, catching Madeleine's attention.

She ran over and dropped to her knees, scooping his hand into hers. "Oh thank goodness," she sighed in relief and Milo saw the tension in his sister's shoulders drop.

The Atlanteans spoke to each other and Madeleine leaned close to Milo with a quizzical smile. "If you don't mind me asking, who are these people?" she lowered her voice, not wanting to come across as impolite.

Before he could engage in conversation to answer her question,
Mole's drill tank rumbled through the rock and scared away the Atlanteans.

"Hey wait!" Milo ran after them with so many questions running through his head and out of his mouth. "Who. who are you? Where are you going? Come back!"

"Milo! Milo wait!" Madeleine pushed herself up from the ground and ran after him, "Please slow down, will you?" Poor Madeleine was not used to being so athletic. All the running and jumping easily exhausted her and she certainly dropped a few times.

Those are surely going to leave bruises in the morning.

Nevertheless, she ran after her brother' as fast as her body would allow her to. In the distance, she could hear Mole's drill tank destroying anything in its path.

Vaulting from rock to rock, Milo was determined to catch up to the Atlanteans. He followed them out of the volcano, climbing through a large gap in the wall. "Hey, wait a minute! Who are you?" his voice echoed as he ran to and stopped at the edge of a cliff.

To his dismay, the Atlanteans had disappeared. Madeleine finally caught up to him. Placing her hands on her knees, it took a moment for her to catch her breath. "Now would be the perfect time for a glass of water, or a lemonade."

Seconds later, the drill tank dug through the exterior of the volcano with the crew members walking casually beside the vehicle. They approached the edge of the cliff and Sweet rubbed his eyes, momentarily speechless at their view.

I'm determined to finish this fanfic so I can write my Treasure Planet fanfic and the only things that are keeping me going is the song "Carnaval del Barrio" from In The Heights and this beautiful boi: