12 Years Later…

The twins, now 17, were flying across dry dessert cliffs. James sailed on a solar surfer as Luna use her wings. They came across an empty mine and flew through the machinery, setting of an alarm that went unnoticed.

After their daredevil flight, robotic policemen flew in, sirens blaring.

"It's these guys again, Jim." Luna's smooth, hypnotic voice sounded out as she looked behind them. The girl had a navy blue crop top and skirt on under a black cloak. She had black boots on her feet and a dark red, clasp-less belt on over the cloak.

"Oh, that's just great." Jim rolled his eyes and sighed. "More happy rides home, Luna."

Meanwhile…

At the Benbow Inn, run by Sarah, their mother ran around taking care of the guests' meals. She finally had a moment to talk with the astronomist Dr. Delbert Doppler, a family friend.

"How are Jim and Luna doing?" The humanoid canine asked.

"They're much better. I know they had some rough spots earlier this year, but I really think that they've turned the corner." Sarah hardly had time to finish speaking when the door opened to a couple of robot cops holding the shoulders of her twins. "Kids!" She dropped the dishes she held.

"Yeesh, wrong turn." Delbert said, wincing and turning away.

"These two were flying through a restricted area." One said.

"Moving violation 9-0-4." Two said.

"Section …uh…" one continued.

Luna rolled her eyes. "Fifteen?"

"Paragraph…" Two said.

"Six." Jim said.

"Thank you." The bots said.

Jim said, "No problem." Luna nodded.

"Jim, Luna!" Sarah walked over. The twins shrugged sheepishly.

"This is in direct violation of their probations." One said.

"Yes, I understand." Sarah took the two teens from them, looking at them sternly. "It won't happen again." The cops left and, after the costumers awkwardly resumed eating, Sarah sent them to bed.

Later…

The twins were on the roof later that night, sitting and talking. "Hey, Jim?" Luna said.

"Yeah, Luna?" Jim said.

"Do you think we'll ever go back to how things used to be?" Luna asked. "… You know… when mom was proud of us and we were loved."

Jim sighed. "No idea." He laughed slightly. "The last time I remember her really proud like that was when we built our first solar surfer when we were eight."

Luna giggled. "There was one time after that. It was the time that we discovered why we were always so close."

"Oh, yeah. We had just discovered that you were my 'Slave Sister'."

"You had me completely controlled in a matter of minutes." Luna said. "That usually takes years and you did it with me at twelve." They both frowned, thinking about what happened after they had told their father.

Just then, a ship crashed into the dock. The two looked at each other before Jim said, "Terra, Come." Luna's expression slackened as her feline pupils narrowed into the barest of slits. They slid down to the ground and ran to the ship to see if the person inside was ok.

"Hey, are you ok in there?" Jim knocked on the porthole glass before it opened to let a humanoid salamander out of the smoking chamber.

The creature grabbed Jim's shirt, saying, "He's a-coming. Can you hear him, those gears and gyros clicking and whirling like the devil himself?!" He went into a coughing fit.

"You hit your head pretty hard there, didn't you?"Jim said.

He was ignored. "He's after me chest," He pulled a small trunk from the ship. "That fiendish cyborg and his band of cutthroats, but they'll have to pry it from old Billy Bones' cold, dead fingers afore I-" He dropped the chest and collapsed before he could finish.

"Oh, my…" Jim said. "Come on, Terra, help me get him inside." Luna grabbed an arm while Jim got the other one. "That's it. Let's get you taken care of." They walked Billy Bones' up the hill to the in. In an undertone, Jim said, "Mom's going to love this."

Half way there, Billy bones whispered, "Thank you, lad, lass."

Inside, Sarah and Delbert were talking. "Thanks for listening, Delbert." She sighed as she sat at the table. "It helps."

"It's going to be OK." Delbert held Sarah's arm for a moment before smiling and moving to the door. "You'll see."

"I keep dreaming one day, I'll open that door..." Sarah opened a Holo-locket containing her favorite memories of her young twins. "…And there they'll be, just the way they were, a pair of happy little twins, holding a new pet and begging me to let them keep it." She laughed.

Delbert opened the door to Jim and Luna holding a weak Billy Bones between them. "Ah!" Delbert jumped back.

"Set him down here, Terra." Jim said.

"James! Luna!" Sarah jumped up and ran to them as they set the salamander down. "What in the world is goi-?"

"Mom, he's hurt badly." Jim sat by Billy Bones as the latter man reached for his dropped trunk.

"My chest, Lass." Bones said. Luna pushed the chest to his reaching hands. "He'll be coming soon. I can't let them find this." He entered a code and opened the container, bringing out a small wrapped sphere. He pushed it into Jim's hands.

"Who's coming?" Jim asked.

The salamander pulled Jim close and whispered in his ear. "The cyborg. Beware the cyborg." He gasped and fell to the floor.

Luna knelt and closed his eyes. "May your soul reach the stars and join the great explorers."

Rumbling was heard as a spotlight ran down the side of the inn. "We have to go. Now!" Jim dashed upstairs. "Luna, come on!"

Luna's eyes and expression returned to a tense state as she and the others followed. They heard shots fired and a fire start. Having jump out a window into Delbert's waiting carriage, Sarah looked back and saw the inn burn. She put her head in her hands and Luna and Jim looked away from her guiltily.

Luna pulled the wrappings off the sphere that her brother held and revealed a faintly glowing, golden orb.