FATED ENCOUNTER
The entire galaxy has heard one last cry of triumph; and for one second, the thrill-seekers were off the realm of pure adventure.
The teen, together with his crew, has finally landed on Montressian grounds. Gradually getting down the ship, his eyes abruptly scanned through the vast Spaceport to find a familiar woman strolling around Crescentia, as if impatiently looking for something, or rather someone. She has the same chestnut brown hair, the same blue eyes, and the look of a priceless motherly worried face. Jim smiled at the sight of Sarah and ran towards her in an instant.
The lady immediately saw her handsome son approaching. They momentarily wrapped each other in their arms as both felt a wistful longing for reunion. Tears flowed down Sarah's pale cheeks as she spoke "I missed you, Jim. I'm glad you're finally back..."
Jim suddenly let go of his mother's fastened embrace and brushed the tears off her beautiful face. "Stop crying, mom. I'm here... And, I missed you too."
"Oh Jim, I am just so proud of you."
"Thanks, mom. But let's not quite forget that I'm doing all these for you." He smiled warmly and gave Sarah one last tight hug before they went walking back to the Benbow Inn.
The Benbow witnessed Jim's growth, all the times he blew cakes, including his biggest joys and trials. It was home. Montressor knew the place as a restaurant, which was later rebuilt after being burned by inimical pirates. It became a grander and bigger hotel-restaurant, all with the provision of Jim's riches from his course to Treasure Planet.
"It feels so good being back," Jim commented as he inhaled the ambiance of home.
Taking off her lightweight jacket, Sarah tittered as she pushed her hair back to a high ponytail. "Actually, BEN and I prepared something..."
"JIMMY!" A mechanical robot busted out the kitchen doors and greeted. It promptly clung itself on the young lad and hugged him tightly. "Oh how I miss you, boy! I am so glad you're finally back!" He then pushed Jim towards a specially decorated table, with the finest utensils and candles set up, after releasing him from the squeeze.
"Whoa... easy, BEN. What's all these for?"
"In celebration of the prestigious return of James..." BEN's voice trailed off, "I mean, Captain James Pleiades Hawkins!"
A certain pink blob appeared out of nowhere and imitated BEN's statement. Captain James Pleiades Hawkins!
"Why you little thing..." Jim tickled Morph in a playful manner, causing the blob to chuckle aloud.
"BEN, why won't you get what we have prepared for Jim's first lunch as captain?" she winked at her son who just blew his bangs off and laughed at the compliment.
"Oh, of course, Sarah!" The robot obeyed the implicated command and hastily returned to the kitchen.
Suddenly, a knock on the inn's door was heard by the two.
"Mom?"
"Oh, no worries, Jim. They're just probably the visitors I have invited to come over."
Two distinct figures came out the door; an attractive and inhumanly slim woman with exceedingly feline features and a notable and well-off astrophysicist entered the inn right away.
"Dr. Doppler? Captain Amelia? What are you–"
"Congratulations, Jim!" Delbert shook the young man's hand in salute.
"Mr. Hawkins, you did a very well job." The feline captain added in approbation. "I was never wrong about you. Since then, you've been an image of bravery and full determination. Congratulations on your promotion, and for the success of the mission, of course. I am beyond glad to share the supervision of the RLS Legacy with you."
The teen admired their recognition, "Thank you, Delbert and Captain Amelia. That means a lot to me."
"Alright, enough with the chit-chats there. Let's reserve more of our talks for later. Besides, BEN will be back in any moment. Why won't we all take our seats?" Sarah invited the couple towards the table and pulled their chairs out.
As everyone was about to settle down, a scream made their nerves jump, leaving a great pounding against their chests.
"What was that?" Sarah put both hands over her mouth in concern.
"I could genuinely identify only one thing and that is trouble," Amelia said.
"I'll go check what's outside," Jim hurriedly busted out the inn door and traced the path where the sound had come from.
The soles of his boots touched the wet sands of the shore as he ran in a blistering pace. Not a few meters away from Benbow Inn, he spotted a pyknic man untying the knot of a quietly settled rowboat. Jim slowed down and looked around. He placed his hand at the back of his neck and awkwardly asked the short man, "Um, is everything okay?"
The man answered without looking at Jim, "Yeah, lad. My business here is nothing of yours. Shooo..."
"But I thought I heard someone..."
"Oh no, there's no one here but me!" He interrupted. "No one but this old sailor. Now if I were ya, I would go mind my own thing..."
Having been complacent enough, Jim turned away and started to walk back the inn. But a mere unmistakable sound made his eyes went wide. He swiftly returned his gaze on the pirate who was now holding a lady fish captured in a net.
The girl looked completely helpless. Tears were all over her weary pretty face. Her eyes were sore from too much crying. Her arms were tightly tied and were marked with bruises. She was the illustration of fragility and pain.
Jim instantly withdrew his pistol from his jacket and directly aimed at the criminal. "Let her go!"
The nameless pirate was surprised and steadily threw his arms up. "Whoa, easy lad! Why bring out the gun, eh?"
"Can you hear or not? I said, let her go!" he yelled, marking the pirate's face his target.
"Calm yourself down, would ye? Fine, I'll let her go... Only if you make sure ye won't be pulling the trigger, lad." The bandit started to tear the net using a small blade he pulled out from his black boot. "See, I'm letting her go..." The pirate hummed to himself as he continued his pretentious actions.
Little did Jim knew that the pirate has other plans.
At once, he threw the knife at him with great impact that it nearly stabbed Jim's arm. Blood dripped from the small fresh wound. The injured youth felt adrenaline of absolute madness rush through his veins.
For a moment, he pulled the gun's trigger and shot the pirate on his left arm. Blood spurted out his damaged part and he screamed in pain. Jim shot then his right hand, adding more agony to the pirate's senses. "Do not wait for me to shoot your fucking face!"
With the angered teen's final statement, the wounded pirate rapidly ran off until he was nowhere seen.
Ariel's eyes have stopped from crying, but her heart hasn't after what she saw. It was terrifying to see the blood, hearing the loud bang of anguish as she witnessed the fatal encounter of the thief and the bold intruder.
Jim blew on the tip of his gun and fleetingly kept it inside his jacket. He walked towards the poor woman caged in a net and helped her out. "You okay?"
Ariel stared at this dangerous male for a moment.
"Were you hurt?" he asked as he finally ripped off the net and gently removed the cloth covering the mermaid's mouth.
She slightly nodded. "You s-saved me," her voice trembled.
Jim took the moment to gaze at the amazingly ravishing stranger. She has hair as red as blood. Her deep blue eyes were the biggest he has seen. Her ruby lips looked desirable to taste. Wait... Did he just thought of that? In her tormented form she still looked stunning. Her upper body was bare, only her breasts covered by a purple seashell brassiere. She has fascinating green translucent fins that adoringly showed off the color of her green tail. Wow, Jim mentally told himself.
"And what would a Celestian exactly do here? Punish me for stealing the rings?" he managed to smirk at his interrogation.
Ariel shook one last time. Her eyes fell and she instantaneously collapsed on the wet shore.
"Miss?"
The senseless red-headed female was a picture of severe torture and discomfort. Perturbed, Jim took the mermaid in his arms and carried the unconscious woman to the Benbow.
