You guys, I'm so sorry for the delay. But on that note, thanks SO much to anyone who even took the time to read this story, because it has come so far, and been greatly supported. Thanks for the amazing PMs and the reviewers and the readers and everything. Thanks SO SO much. I have so many views on this story, and I'll announce the number next time I update! But I have 39 reviews and I'm so happy you guys.

Another announcement: Go follow CrystalAndKieran on Fanfiction. That's my joint acc with my amazing cousin Kieran. We write our Midnight stuff on there. Haven't read Midnight? Read it now! We love it, and hopefully, you will too? :)

Thanks again, you guys. I'll be updating, even if you don't review, because I think I owe it after this long-ass break I took, thanks to school.

Enjoy this chapter!
xx, Crystal

Kenya

"It couldn't have been Silver," I breathed in my mind, absolutely panicked. "He can't be leading this group of...of pirates. Silver's kind and gentle and he's—"

"Um, were you even listening to anything he said down in the galley?" Jim yelled, frazzled and confused.

"I HEARD!" I screamed back. "I heard everything!"

"It was all him!" Jim shook his head. "He was playing us. He was lying and cheating and—"

"Don't talk about him like that!" I stalked towards Jim angrily.

"Please, Jim, Kenya," Doc began.

"You mean the pirate?" Jim demanded.

I shoved him.

I couldn't hold it back anymore. I was getting angry and panicked and wondering what the hell the next stage of my life would be so I channeled my anger into my hands.

"Kenya, please." Doc stepped forward.

"Ms. Kessler, keep it together," Captain Amelia warned.

"Don't, Kenya," snarled Jim. "Don't push me."

I shoved him again. "Don't speak about Silver that way."

"Oh for the love of G—" Jim stepped forward. "He betrayed you."

I wanted to cry, but instead I shoved Jim again.

He shuffled back a little in surprise.

"I said, don't talk about him—" I advanced forward again, but Jim caught my wrists so I couldn't push him.

"Kenya." He stared into my eyes, the most penetrating gaze I had ever seen. "Stop it."
Shaking, I pulled away. What I really wanted to do was cry, but for some reason I didn't feel comfortable crying in front of Doc, Captain Amelia, and Jim.

"Pirates on my ship? I'll see they all hang," Amelia said, cutting the awkward tension and grabbing pistols. "Doctor, familiar with these?"
"I, ah, I've seen—I've read—" The pistol went off, richocheting off of a wall decoration. Amelia blinked in surprise as the bullet flew off somewhere.

"Ah, no. No, I'm not." Doc looked down, ashamed.

Captain Amelia sighed and looked over at Jim. "Mr. Hawkins, guard this with your life!" She tossed him a circular object that I had never seen before.

I stared at it, but didn't want to ask Jim what it was, because of our awkwardness, and our fight.

He glared at me as he stuffed it into his pocket.

I saw Morph hovering around, looking at the orb greedily. Morph loved to nick shiny things and then keep it for himself. Jim had better watch that circle thingy well.

"To the long boats, quickly!" screamed Captain Amelia. I followed Doc and Amelia and Jim down the stairs.

We all clamored down the stairs as we could, through a metal door and straight into the Hold, where we had first got into the longboats with Silver.

Jim, Doc, Amelia and I climbed into a longboat and Amelia began to lower the longboat into the opening at the bottom.

Suddenly, Morph darted in, seeing an opening, and snatched the orb out of Jim's pocket.

Jim whirled around. "Morph, no!" Jim burst out of the longboat and up into the top section of the Hold, trying to grab the orb from Morph.

"Doctor, when I say now, shoot out the forward cables!" hissed Captain Amelia.

"What about Jim?" I demanded.

"Ms. Kessler, stay back!" cried Captain Amelia. "And use that pistol well!"

"What about Jim?" I said, a tiny bit louder.
"The pistol—" Captain Amelia began.
"HE LEFT THE BOAT!" I screamed. "WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM BEHIND!"
Captain Amelia whirled around. "I'll take care of everything! Just use the pistol!"
"Captain—" Doc began.

"Ms. Kess—" began Amelia.

"He's—" I stood and whirled around to try and find Jim. "Jim—"

I spotted him, standing in the top section of the Hold.

And I also saw...

Silver.

And he was getting closer to Jim.

Jim

"Morph, Morph! Bring it here, Morph!" I was waving my arms wildly.

"Morphy, come to dad!" Silver yelled, coming from the opposite side.

"Morph, here!" I was getting more and more urgent. "Please, Morph! Over here, come on, please!"
"MORPHY! C'MERE TO YER DAD!"

Morph, overwhelmed by all the activity, dove into a nearby coil of rope.

I hurried forward, reaching for the coil.

Suddenly, Silver fell, the place where I had stabbed him earlier in the galley giving way. I saw my opportunity and darted in, grabbed the orb, and raced back as fast as I could to the longboats.

The longboat ropes had already been cut, and the boat was flying down through the opening in the bottom.

With my last ounce of strength and energy, I dove downwards, feeling air whoosh past my ears, making a whistling noise.

I remember screaming, because I wasn't sure I'd make it through the fall.

It was a damn terrifying fall, and I felt my hands smash onto something. I felt wood, and was sure my palm was cut open from the stinging pain in them.

I was clinging to the side of the longboat as it dove downwards.

Air nearly swept me right out into the sky, but I held on. I felt two pairs of hands grab the back of my shirt and pull me in.

I tumbled into the boat and lay there exhausted for a minute, and I saw Kenya's blue eyes staring back at me, wide and panicked.
"Hi," I croaked and managed to sit up.

"Parameters met, hydraulics engaged," yelled Captain Amelia, and our boat took off, streaming through the sky.

I heard a noise and looked up. A giant ball of fire was coming at us. In panic, I grabbed Kenya's arm, and felt her shaking underneath.

"Captain!" shouted Doc. "Laser ball at 12 o'clock!"
Captain heard the warning too late. She tried to move the boat to the right to avoid the laser ball, but it smashed into our sails.

I felt the boat going down, gravity overtaking us, and from the scream the Captain made, I think she was hurt.

I saw Kenya swing forward and grab the throttle, pushing it upwards while jamming her left foot onto the accelerator.

"Hold it in place!" Captain managed to stammer before grabbing the throttle from Kenya to help turn the boat. "There we go."
"Captain, the tree!" Kenya grabbed the throttle back from a dazed Captain Amelia to direct our ship to the left, but we crashed through the tree, losing our rudder on the back.

We crashed through several trees, green steam floating to the top of the forest.

We flew sharply slanting downwards at a steep angle until we made contact with the mossy forest floor, sliding and scraping along the ground until we came to a sharp stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

The air smelled wild, and I lay there underneath the overturned boat for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath and get my heart back to normal.

I felt Doc trying to push the boat up, and I helped him, cracking my neck. "Ow." I glanced over at Kenya, who was sprawled over the throttle.

She pulled herself to her knees, rubbing her arm. I saw the long angry red scratch on it with a few droplets of blood.
Concerned, I raised my eyes to her.

Defiantly, Kenya wiped away the blood and rubbed her arm one last time before deciding she was okay.

"Oh, my goodness." Doc straightened his glasses and his coat as he stood. "That was more fun than I ever want to have again."
Captain Amelia chuckled vaguely and stood slowly. "That was not one of my gossamer landings—" She stopped in the middle of the sentence and fell over backwards, groaning in pain and clutching the side of her tiny waist.

"Captain!" Alarmed, Doc grabbed her under the arms to support her.

Awkwardly, I took a step forward as Kenya took the Captain's other arm.

"Oh, come now. Don't fuss." Captain Amelia swayed a little as she let go of Doc's arm, but then pushed her hair back in place and righted her coat. "Slight bruising, that's all. Cup of tea and I'll be right as rain."
She looked at Doc. "Mr. Hawkins." Then she squinted and looked at me, shaking her head. "The map, if you please."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the orb. I ran my hands over the familiar buttons and grinned. "Okay. Here."
Suddenly, the mop flew into the air and quivered for a few seconds.
Then it dissolved into a pink blob.

The map was Morph.

Panic overwhelmed my senses. "Morph, where's the map?"
Morph giggled and showed me a picture, turning into the coil of rope, and then showing how the map was still in the coil of rope.

Kenya facepalmed.

"Are you serious?! It's back on the ship?!" I lunged at the little blob of protoplasm, trying to catch him.

Captain Amelia groaned and sank below our overturned ship with her pistol in hand. "Stifle that blob and get low. We've got company." She took a deep breath. "We need a more defensible position. Mr. Hawkins, scout ahead." She handed me a pistol.

I took it and tucked it into my belt. "Aye, Captain."

Gritting her teeth, she fell back again, with Doc catching her. "Steady, steady," he was saying. "Let's have a look at that."
Kenya rubbed her arm again, watching the Captain and Doc.

"Miss—that hurts—Kessler."
"Yes, Captain?" Kenya stepped forward.
"Go with Mr. Hawkins, please. Help him."
"I can help here," Kenya said, stepping forward. "Really. I can help with the injury."
I rolled my eyes. She was just in a pissy mood. I started walking away.
"I gave my—agh! Careful, doctor!—orders, Miss Kessler. Go on." Captain leaned back against the boat, clutching her middle.

"Go on, Kenya," Doc said softly, beginning to probe the Captain's stomach. "Tell me where it hurts, please, Captain."
Kenya turned around, looked at me, and then reluctantly began to follow.

Kenya

Betrayal.

My biggest fear.

And it was coming alive, a shadow, a nightmare, consuming me, dragging me into hell.

I followed Jim, wanting to cry, but too ashamed.

I sniffled. It was unbearable to keep the feelings hidden inside.

Jim stopped. He glanced back at me. "Kenya?"
I realized he had heard me. I froze in my tracks. "Yeah?"
Jim furrowed his brow. "Ah—" He rubbed his neck. "Are you okay?"

I looked up slowly. "I'm fine, Jim."
"Are you crying?"
I hated hated hated hated hated crying in front of people. Even Silver. I had just never been comfortable with anything related to emotion in front of people. "I said I'm fine!"

Jim held up his hands in surrender. "God, Kenya."
I rubbed my temples. "I'm sorry. I'm in a pissy mood."
"It's pretty obvious." Jim looked kinda ticked off as he turned around and kept shuffling forward.
"Don't be angry," I pleaded. "I know I just yelled at you but don't be angry."
"I'm not angry."
"Yes, you are."

Jim whirled around. "Leave me alone, Kenya. Just leave me alone. Okay? Please. I'm just so stressed right now."
"AND I'M NOT STRESSED?" I didn't mean to scream again, but it just came out like that. I kept cursing myself over and over again for being this horrid to Jim.

"I didn't say that." Jim stood right in front of me, staring me down. He was taller than me, and since he had gotten on the ship I realized that he had changed from the kid he was when he had first gotten on. He was muscly from all the work Silver gave us, toned and fit and looking highly athletic. He had also sprouted several inches, and was now about two or three inches taller than me. He stared me down, his gaze threatening. "I didn't say you weren't stressed. Now stop pretending that you're the only one who's ever faced any problems in your life."
My face grew hot and red. "Betrayal is not just a little thing, Jim! Especially when you've been betrayed by—"

"The man who thought was your father?" Jim was really yelling now.

I froze.

I forgot how easily the things Jim could say could so easily connect to my heart.

"You thought he was your hero, you thought he loved you, you two were so close in the beginning and then things just fell apart!" Jim ran his hands roughly through his hair.
"Jim," I said, shaking my head.

"I wake up, see him walking away." Jim's voice cracked. "I run down the stairs. I see my mom crying. And I'm just—dying inside. I see him walking towards a waiting ship and I can hardly even believe my eyes."
"Stop talking about this." I reached for him, then pulled away when he flinched.

"I chased after him. I ran as fast as I could. But in the end," Jim's voice was harsh, unlike the kind voice I knew. "he was gone, no matter what. I coudn't stop him. And then I found Silver. And I thought he—" Jim rubbed his eyes. "There's too much messed up SHIT in this world, Kenya."
"Jim." I felt pained inside.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "W-we have to keep going."
"Fine." Upset that he woudn't even accept my apology, I shoved past him and walked up the hillside.

I froze as I heard something near a group of trees. I pulled out my pistol and powered it up.

"Jim," I hissed.

Jim came up next to me, standing protectively in front of me despite our earlier fight. He powered up his gun and stepped closer and closer to a tubelike plant.

Suddenly, something burst out of the tube screaming.

"Aaaah!" Jim screamed, and fell to the ground.

Startled, I leaped back.

"Oh, this is fantastic! A carbon-based life form sent to rescue me at last! I just want to hug ya, and squeeze ya and hold you close to me!"

It was a rust-colored robot with large bug-out eyes and awkwardly flimsy limbs. He threw his arms around Jim, picking him up and hugging him tightly.

I was so shocked I couldn't say a word.

He attempted to pull the robot thing off, but the robot wouldn't let go.
"Alright—okay—would you just let go of me?" Jim glared at the robot.

The robot put him down, laughing like he had dust in him. "Oh, sorry! Sorry, soirry. I—I've been marooned, uh, for so long. I mean, solitude's fun! Don't get me wrong. But for heaven's sakes, after a hundred years, ya go a LITTLE NUTS!"

I felt my lips twitching into a smile. It seemed this creature wasn't harmless at all.

The creature stood their awkwardly in front of a disgruntled Jim and me. "I'm sorry. Uh, my name is—um. My name is...uh, gimme a sec..."
Morph turned into a mini version of the robot with cuckoos circling his head.

Jim grinned and tapped Morph gently to get him to stop.

I stepped a little closer, my fingers still curled around the pistol.

"B.E.N!" The robot burst out all of a sudden. "Of course! I'm B.E.N! Bio-electronic navigator." He smiled. "And you are?"
Jim leaned down to pick up his pistol. "Jim."
The robot eagerly pumped Jim's hand jovially up and down. "Oh! Pleasure to meet you, Jimmy!"
Jim pulled his hand away. "It's Jim."
The robot ignored his hostile tone. "Okay!" He smiled at me and hopped over. "Hiya! Just noticed you!" B.E.N. bowed low to the ground, his face sweeping the mossy floor and held my hand. "What a beautiful young lady." He smiled at me. "It's certainly been awhile since I've spoken with a girl." He beamed.

I smiled at him. "Hi. I'm Kenya."
The robot pulled at my hand. "Hiya, Kenni! Pleasure to meet you too! What planet are you from?"

I winced when B.E.N. used Silver's nickname for me, Kenni, but I managed a smile anyway.
I saw Jim glare. "Stop touching her."
"Don't be rude," I snarled back. I grinned at B.E.N. "Thanks. I'm from Lindell, the wood planet."
"Never heard of it!" B.E.N. chirped.

"It's there," I assured him.

B.E.N. grinned. "Are you two...sympatico?"
Jim furrowed his brow. "What?"
I shook my head. "What does that—"

"El sympatico." B.E.N. chuckled and drew a heart sign in the air. "Cuz if you're not, I can make it happen. They used to call me Love Doctor, back in my day."
Jim rubbed his eyes. "This is just what we need. A robot who thinks he's Cupid."
"No," I breathed. "No. We're not...el simp—we're not like that."
"Oh." B.E.N. shrugged. "Okay. Anyway—"

"Look." Jim interrupted. "We're kind of in a hurry, okay? We've got to find a place to hide and there are pirates chasing us—"

"Oooh! Pirates!" B.E.N. shook his head. "Don't even get me started on pirates!"

Jim started walking away.

"I remember Captain Flint—"
Jim whirled around.

"What?" I ran back to B.E.N.

"You knew Captain Flint?" Jim's voice echoed disbelief.

"The guy had such a temper," B.E.N. said, almost apologetically. "I think he suffered from mood swings, personally. I'm not a therapist, but anyway—" He continued to ignore us as we desperately waited for some information that could help out in our search. "But I—you'll let me know when I'm rambling?"
"But that means—" Jim's eyes were shining. "But wait, but then you've got to know about the treasure!"
"Treasure?" B.E.N. looked innocently at us.

"Yeah! Flint's Trove? The Loot of a Thousand Worlds?" Morph turned into a chest teeming with gold and jewels to show B.E.N.

B.E.N. sat there blankly.
"This is Treasure Planet!" I exclaimed.

The robot looked at me. "Whatjda say, Kenni?"

"Right here. Right now. We're standing on Treasure Planet."
B.E.N. looked down. "Whoa."
Jim rubbed his temples. "At least try to remember something. Anything."
B.E.N. looked at us and then began to talk. "It's—well, i-it's all a l-little f-fuzzy." Suddenly, his eyes bugged out. "Wait! I r-remember! I do! I—treasure! Lots of treasure! Buried in the centroid—centroid—centroid of the m-mechanism!" His voice wavered and turned fuzzy with static. A few sparks flew out of the back of his head.

Cautiously I took a step back.

"There was this big door, opening and closing, and opening and closing...And Captain Flint wanted to make sure that nobody could ever get to his treasure...so I helped him to—and ahh!" The robot winced and buried his face into his hands. "Data inaccessible! Reboot! Reboot! REBOOT!"

"B.E.N." Jim stepped forward urgently. "B.E.N!" He shook B.E.N. by the shoulders, and when that wouldn't work, Jim smacked him right across the face.

B.E.N. shut up.

He smiled pleasantly. "And you are?"
My eyes widened. "What? B.E.N., it's us!"

"Wait—what about the treasure?" Jim yelled.

"I want to say Larry," B.E.N. said.

"But the—" Jim waved his hands helplessly. "Th-the centroid of the mechanism or—"

I leaned close to B.E.N. "Yeah! The big door, remember? Opening and closing or whatever? And you helped Captain Flint hide the treasure or something?"
B.E.N. shook his head. "I'm sorry, m-m-my memory isn't what it used to be. I lost my mind." B.E.N. chuckled softly, like a maniac in a mental ward. "I lost my mind!"

I straightened up. "Okay."
"You haven't seen it yet, have you?" B.E.N. looked at us. "My missing piece? My primary memory circuit?" He grabbed Jim and patted him down, with Jim looking annoyed as hell.

He turned to me.

"Don't," I told him. "I don't have it."
"Okay." Jim stepped in between. "Look. We really need to find a place to hide, okay? So we're just gonna be. You know. Moving on." Jim turned to walk away.

The robot's face drooped. "Oh. Uh, so, oh. Okay. Well then. I guess, uh, this is goodbye, huh? I'm sorry that I'm so..." He dropped to the ground to his knees, looking down sadly. "...dysfunctional. So, uh, go ahead. And I do understand. I do. Bye-bye." The robot sat there, his eyes downcast.

I couldn't go with Jim, not with cute little B.E.N. looking like that.

I turned to Jim. "Jim."
"Come on, Kenya. We've lost enough time."
"Jim."
Jim turned around, annoyed. "What?"
"We can't leave him here."
Jim sighed, rubbing the space between his eyebrows. "Kenya, please don't make this harder—"

I turned to B.E.N. "B.E.N, why don't you come with us?"
B.E.N. jumped up. "Really? Kenni, you would do that for me?"
I nodded, trying to ignore the nickname. "Yeah. Come on."
Jim sighed. "If you're coming along, you have to stop talking."

"HUZZAH!" B.E.N. laughed with joy and bounced into Jim's arm. "Oh, this is fantastic! Me and my best buddies, out looking for uh—" He noticed Jim's melting glare.

B.E.N. laughed awkwardly and got out of Jim's arms. "Being quiet," he whispered.

"And you have to stop touching me." Jim stepped back.

B.E.N. smiled. "Touching and talking—my two big no-nos!"
Jim nodded, satisfied for the moment. "Okay. Now I think that we should head—"

"Say, listen," B.E.N. interrupted. "Before we go out on our big search, would you mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place?" B.E.N. laughed nervously. "It's kind of urgent." He pulled back a curtain of plants, and Jim and I gaped at a large skull shaped cave set on top of a steep hill.

The perfect hideout.

"B.E.N." Jim said slowly, looking at me excitedly. "I think you just solved our problem."
I nodded and started down the slope. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Okayy you guys! I literally have this story finished up, just don't have time to edit and upload. School is piling crap on me. I feel disgusting and overwhelmed and plus family problems and friend drama. And boy problems. So you can totally imagine the crap I am in right now.

Anyway, I'll still update, my lovelies.

xx, Crystal