(A/N: I said Tuesday, but my computer was down. A day late, here it is. Hopefully, it's been long awaited!)
After settling in at B.E.N.'s… home with the doctor and extremely delirious Captain Amelia, I began to think. Rose was obviously the only thing on my mind. How could she… be… dead? I tried to imagine it, but found that impossible. I could only see her bright smile, the twinkling gleam in her eye… I couldn't picture her cold… lifeless… not breathing… Could she really be gone? I sighed and stared at the strange markings on the inside of B.E.N.'s home. They were exactly like the map, the map I had lost.
"Hey look!" B.E.N. exclaimed suddenly, breaking my train of thought. My head snapped up and I watched him jumping up and down by the doorway. My stomach dropped. "There's some more of your buddies Jimmy!" I jumped up and sprinted towards him, knocking over a table in the process. "Hey fellas, over h-" I quickly tackled him to the ground and covered his mouth, firing a few shots at Silver's men as they fired at me.
"Stop wastin' yer fire!" silver yelled. There was silence as I glanced over the edge of the mossy doorway, watching as Silver pulled out a white towel and began waving it as if in defeat. That meant nothing; their loyalty and word and trust had flown out the window long before the mutiny. "Hello up there!" he called. "Jimbo, I'd like a word with ye' if it's all right with the Capt'n. No tricks, just a palaver with ya'!"
"Come to bargain for the map doubtlessly," Amelia muttered, finally somewhat coherent. I turned and looked at them, back against the cold metal separating us from them. I took a deep breath and glared at Morph. The small splotch of pink was hovering around my head, but when I looked his way, he hid among various metal parts littered around B.E.N.'s home.
"We don't have it either Capt'n," I admitted. And if looks could kill then I'd be dead two-and-a-half times over.
"What, no map?" Delbert and Amelia said at the same time.
"What, no map?" B.E.N. mimicked for a reason none of us could understand. I shrugged.
"Morph changed shifted into a copy of it and I had him… but if they haven't realized that yet… then… it's still-"
"On the ship," Amelia exclaimed, wincing in pain. "We'll just sneak back aboard and find it! Well… maybe just you Hawkins…"
"I'm going out there to talk with Silver. If I don't come back in ten minutes or if I disappear, don't leave this place," I said. I tucked one firearm away in my boot, keeping it hidden yet accessible. I hurried out before anyone could argue, Morph giggling behind me.
"Hey Morphy," Silver said when we met; the little pink shape shifter hurried to meet him, squeaking the entire time. "I wondered where ye were off to!" Silver leaned against a rock formation among then hundreds to choose from. We were on the edge of the forest now, where the flat and slanted ground met. He sighed and began to rub his mechanical joints. I stared into the trees and bushes, aware anyone could arrive at any second and I would be outnumbered. To out right was a ledge and I made a mental note to watch up there as well. "This poor old leg's been smarting ever since that game we played in the galley." He laughed slightly, but I made sure to only glare at him with pure hate, not to show any other emotion. "Whatever ye heard back there, at least that part concerning you, I didn't mean a word of it. If that bloodthirsty lot thought I'd gone soft… they're have gutted up both!" He paused and I avoided eye contact with him. Instead I watched as Morph zipped around between us, squealing and chirping happily.
"Now listen to me," he continued, moving closer to me now. "If we play out cards right, we can both walk away from this rich as kings." I laughed.
"Yeah," I said.
"You get me that map, and, uhm, an even portion… of that treasure is yours," Silver said chuckling. At that point, he stuck out his mechanical hand, and I considered it.
"Boy, you really are something. All that talk of greatness… light coming off my sails… it was all a joke, what a joke," I said, and now it was my turn to laugh. Silver's jovial expression immediately turned stormy and he withdrew his hand.
"Now Jimbo, see here-" Silver said.
"Well at least you taught me one thing, right: stick to it. Well… that's what I'm going to do. Stick to it and make sure you never see one drabloon of my treasure!"
"That treasure is owed to me, by thunder!" Silver roared at me. I took a step back.
"Well try and find without my map by thunder!" I yelled back at him. And then, Morph transformed into the pile of rope and the map, tossing himself into the pile. My jaw must have dropped for a second because Silver knew that I no longer had it.
"Playin' games again, are we Jimbo?" Silver said, taking a step towards me. I began to back up, knowing that directly behind me was that rock ledge. My back pressed against it and I knew I was cornered with no way out.
"Yeah, we're playing games all right," I said, thinking of how fast I could grab my gun and run out of here.
"I still don't like 'em Jimbo. Never have and never will…" he paused for a moment and I could hear the clicking and grinding of gears. "But, uhm, say hello to dear Rose for me-"
"Why not tell her yourself Silver!" Rose said from the edge of the ledge. Both of us looked up in disbelief. There she was, alive, smiling, and safe.
Rose was not dead.
"I'll be damned," Silver muttered as she dropped the ten feet off the ledge to Silver's side. She pressed the gun to his temple and smiled sweetly as usual. I stared at her, jaw wide open. I could not believe my eyes or ears; how could you expect me to? I could only stare and think. Think that I had lost it, that this was a dream, that the hell I had been putting myself through had been a hoax. I wanted to touch Rose, just to see if she was real. My heart was beating irregularly, and I knew it wasn't just out of shock. I love Rose. It had scared me and left me wanting to die without her here. Morph was squealing and zipping around her head, annoyed that his presence wasn't being acknowledged.
"Hey Jim, close your mouth; you're attracting flies." I didn't listen to her. I was trying to accept the fact she really was there; I watched her turn to stare at Silver. "You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you? In fact, I was only falling for a few moments; do you know how I did it though?" She was staring at the golden map that was in her left hand as it reflected the sunlight on her face. "The solar-surfer, you didn't notice it did you? Details, boys, are by far the most important aspects of life; they can change the fate of the universe. As I fell, rather, as I was thrown from the longboat by my own father, I grabbed hold of it and dragged that with me. Once you lot were out of sight, I powered it up and followed," she was smiling and obviously very pleased with herself. I couldn't help but smile and think of how amazing she really was.
"I waited for the majority of the crew to leave the Legacy before boarding it. Scroop was the only man you left… he isn't there anymore. I'd imagine… he's floating in space somewhere with the same fate you had planned for me. I'd imagine that the bastard is probably floating with him as well; oh you know, my father, the one you wanted to kill me. Dead as a doornail; put a few shots from this baby right through his thick head," Rose was holding another gun in her hand, twirling it like a toy.
"I got the map. It caught my attention when I was going to steal a longboat. I realized what had happened to some extent. Either it had somehow been forgotten- although that is highly unlikely seeing as it is the very reason you lot are fighting- or it was being hidden rather poorly. Whatever the reason it was there, I took it. The Legacy is tied down only a few miles from here.
"And now, we are here. And I am faced with two options basically. One is to kill you Silver," she began to power up the gun and I knew she could do it. That murderous glint in her eyes ensured that Rose was capable of murder, of anything really. "The second would be to let you go and turn you in at a later point in time to some form of authority." She stopped and turned to me. "What should I do Jim?" I could only stare blankly and think of what to do.
Silver had tried to kill Rose, had planned to kill me, Amelia, and Delbert along with anyone else who got in the way of his plans. All he wanted was the treasure. All he cared about was Flint's Trove. He was willing to do just about anything in order to get that treasure. I, in turn, was going to do anything to prevent that, even if it meant murdering him.
"He doesn't deserve to die. Bring him back; we'll let him rot out the rest of his days in jail," I finally said. Rose nodded firmly and lowered her weapon.
"We'll kill his crew though. We can leave them all here to suffer and starve in… reparation for what their despicable leader has done," she spat. Silver glared at the two of us and Morph was hidden to avoid that evil gaze.
"Let's go get our treasure Rose," I said, taking my own weapon out of my boot. I led the way towards B.E.N.'s place atop the hill.
"Try anything funny cyborg and I'll make sure that it is the last thing you ever do," Rose hissed at him. When I came to the large entrance of the hideout that was no longer a secret, everyone jumped up. Well, the Doctor Doppler jumped up, B.E.N. lunged at me, and Amelia continued to sleep.
"Guys, we've got Silver as a hostage. And the map is ours. And Rose… is alive," I said quickly.
"Come again?" the doctor asked in semi-shock. I turned and waved Rose in.
After going through the entire story of what had happened since I left B.E.N.'s home, and after them all accepting that Rose was actually standing there alive, we decided to use Silver in order to round up his crew. After getting them into our little fortress up in B.E.N.'s home, we would check with the map and figure out our next step.
((A/N: TEN people have this set as a favorite; TWENTY have it as an alert. So WHY am I only seeing TWO reviews for the last chapter. I wasn't going to update. Not lying. I have seriously been considering pulling this story. I know what will happen. It's not on paper, but I have it all planned out. So why write anymore? No one likes it I guess or they just don't care.
I want TEN reviews for this chapter or I won't update. So all of you with this as a favorite or on an alert, PLEASE review. I seriously don't know why I continue.
Expect an update around the week of Thanksgiving if I get updates. I might have enough time to type it out, so we'll see. Let me know what you think, even if it's just a "Keep up the good work" or "Update please." At least then I KNOW someone read it and wants more.
PLEASE !
And THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE FOLLOWING REVIEWERS (You're the reason I do this):
Muriel Candytuft (First Reviewer for this story!) Jackie99 .Bessie XD. Andd XHazelEyesx Minke Rorykins Foxy mew mew 031 Xcorezombie Nausicaa of the Spirits Kaptain Kitty asotingurl34 Christian4Life Hatsue Cybanne God'schild777 I am Brooklyn Songorita Edward Cullen's Girl (If you're not on the list and you reviewed, let me know and I will add you!)
AND! The story is at 99 pages with the addition of this chapter (not counting authors notes and reviews and other stuff. The story alone. Ninety-nine pages.))