On Our Way To Flint's Trove

Maria: Sure, I will try to find a place for your idea

We finally made it back to the annoyed looking crew with Jim lagging behind me, his shoulders slumping probably hating that the fact that he lost. Once I had reached the bunch, I knew that by the look on their faces that this meant trouble.

"What took you so long?" Onus, my smallest crew member, being the first to speak up. I gave him a dirty look, immediately making the small guy hide behind Hands, my toughest looking crew member.

"We have been waiting forever to get this treasure, this boy is delaying us from riches!" Hands joined in, his voice loud and rough, he backed down when I shot him the same dirty look I had given Onus.

"Alright, alright, settle down. Th' boy and I are 'ere now," I spoke up, waving my organic hand to quiet the mumbled voices coming from probably everyone of my crew members. I bet Scroop had something to do with this, they all used to be afraid of me now they're talking back.

"How about that cabin boy do usssss all a favor and open the map." Speak of the devil...

Even though Jimbo and I were not on good terms, I still hated the evil glare Scroop was shooting his way. "I'll open the map..." he mumbled, retrieving the object from his pants pocket, I also spotted my pet, Morph, staring wide-eyed at his new surroundings. I had completely forgotten about him, I felt bad for scaring him. He seemed closer to Jim than with me at the moment. The young lad pressed a few buttons, spinning it twice until it clicked into place, the green light from before erupted out of the sphere and creating a line in the sky. The glow was flickering like crazy, that could only mean one thing. We were almost to flint's trove.

"We're gettin' close, lads! I smell treasure awaitin'!" Noticing Jim sighing and turning away as if he was not that interested in the treasure any more, I roughly grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt, forcing him to follow me. I could hear the cheers behind me as we made our way through trees, making it easier for us since I cut them down with my sword in one swift movement.

Our faces soon fell when we saw a cliff, but no treasure in sight. This was not good at all and I'm not saying that just for my own selfish needs, I was speaking of Jim. This crew could get out of hands and kill the boy. I was upset and angry too, but I didn't blame Jimbo for this, he looked just as confused as I did.

Oxy was the first to speak up, saying what the rest of us were thinking, "Where is it?!"

"I see nothing! One great beeg steenking hunk of nothing!" Onus yelled, gesturing with his tiny arms at the emptiness in front of us

The glow suddenly vanished into the map, all eyes focused on the teenage boy who was desperately working on reopening the map before the crew turned on him.

I decided to put up a front. "What's goin' on, Jimbo?" I said, pretending I was blaming him just like everyone else.

"I dunno! I... I... I can't get it open!" he said with a few soft grunts as he attempted the prey the sphere open by force, that was a fail I might add.

Before I knew it, the pirates had already began yelling their protests towards the innocent boy.

Birdbrain even knocked him to the ground with her feet which is pretty much the only thing she had. "We shoulda' neva' followed this BOY!"

"Hey!" was the only word that had escaped his lips before tumbling to the ground, surprised by the sudden attack. Luckily, he caught himself with his hands on the ground, looking down dumb founded.

"I suggest yeh get that gizmo goin' again, and fast!" It broke my heart to have to be mean to the boy, the worst part was that he actually thought I meant what I was saying.

While the crew was still angrily shouting their protests, I noticed Jim was preoccupied with his own thoughts. He was staring at the map with so much focus that I seriously thought he was trying to open it with his mind.

"Let's rip his gizzard right out, right now," Turnbuckle shouted,

"Throw heem over cleeff!" came Onus shouts.

My crew were beginning to close in on Jim, holding their digging weapons high. I saw the fear cross over his face, those wide blue eyes frantically scanning behind him as they got closer. I merely stood back, too afraid to even move or help the boy. What was wrong with me? They were gonna kill him if I didn't speak up.

The boy suddenly jammed the map into a whole in the ground. Surprisingly, it actually fit. The strange markings on the rock we were standing on began to light up, causing the crew to forget of their rage towards Jim.

Jim quickly got to his feet, staring as the map began to rise in front of us. The pirates were all silent, probably just as stunned as I was. In the distance, I could see beams of light coming from each direction, joining together as they zipped up the mountain in front of us all. It formed a large triangle, revealing a much different-looking portion of space. I couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the strange looking scenery in front of us, it was so incredible.

"Oh, have mercy!" Those words were the only thing I had managed to say, too dumb founded to form a sentence.

"The Lagoon Nebula?" Jim questioned, being the first to notice the scene inside the triangle. I almost smiled at how smart he was out of us all, but I had to keep a tough front.

"But that's... half way 'cross the galaxy!" I pointed out, holding a thoughtful finger up to my chin.

The scene changed multiple times, it took me a moment to realize it had been Jim pressing the buttons on this green portal. "A big door... Opening and closing!" he muttered to himself, unaware of the stares from behind him. He was too preoccupied in his own thoughts yet again. "Let's see... Calyan Abyss... Montressor Spaceport!" He grinned as he pressed a small crescent-moon-shaped symbol. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss his sweet smile. The portal closed and opened again, revealing Crescentia. Jim's grin widened, pressing a few more symbols as if he was playing some sort of game. "So that's how Flint did it! He used this... portal to... roam the universe, stealing treasure!"

I couldn't take it anymore, this slow pace was really beginning to frustrate me. I gripped the front of Jim's shirt and roughly threw him to the side, pressing symbols much more rapidly than Jim. "But where'd he stash it all?!"

"Where's... that... blasted... TREASURE!" I said through clenched teeth with every new location that appeared inside the triangle.

I could hear Jim's robot friend speak up, sounding as if he remembered something by hearing a word in my sentence, "Treasure... Treasure! It's... buried in the-"

"Buried in the centroid of the mechanism!" Jim finished, sounding as if he was deep in thought. Geezzz... How does he know all this stuff for someone as young as he is? I was too busy searching through each portal to bother given Jim a glance. "What if... The whole planet IS the mechanism! And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet!"

I could hear a whole load of commotion going on behind me, but I was too wrapped up in this map to even care what was going on. Jimbo was safe. He was beside me after all so I didn't care about what was happening

"And just how in the blue blazes are we supposed to get there?!" That came out a little cruel than I was hoping for, this boy and his riddles were just beginning to annoy me.

Jim pushed me out of the way, much gentler than I had. "Just... Open the right door..." I watched as his finger came in contact with a familiar looking symbol. The portal opened again, revealing a closed space with great pieces of machinery pouring energy downward. We all stared in amazement at the sight, too stunned to even move a muscle. Jimbo was the first to take a step forward, being the bravest, he stuck a hand through the triangle without thinking it through. To add to my amazement, his hand just went straight through. Smiling, Jim stepped forward some more so his whole body was inside, gazing down at himself as if he lost any limbs on the way through.

I quickly followed the boy, holding him back by my cyborg hand as if I expected him to take all the treasure for himself. We all slowly walked in, gasping as our eyes landed on the mountains of treasure that surrounded us. It was amazing, I just stood there and took in the scenery while my group took no time in splashing about in the thousand of gold coins

"Th' Loot of a T'ousand Worlds...!" I exclaimed, stepped forward slightly, my shoe and cyborg leg stepping on the shiny coins.

"We are going to need a beegger boat!" Onus called out to anyone that might've been paying attention.

I fell onto my knees, feeling the rough coins beneath me, this was everything that I had dreamed of when I was just a young lad. It was just how I pictured it would be, maybe even more. I grabbed a fist full of jewels and gold coins, holding them in my flesh and cyborg hand as if I needed proof that this was all real and not just an illusion. "A lifetime o' searchin'... And at long last... I can TOUCH it!" This really was a dream come true, I have completed my father's journey. If he was still here, I think he would be proud.

Suddenly, an image of Jim's tearful face flashed through my mind, causing the coins to fall out of my grasp and back into the pile below. Why did I feel this way? I found what I was looking for, that's what this voyage was all about, finding the treasure and becoming rich. I had dreamed about this since I was a young boy, but... Why does it feel so wrong? Suddenly, images of Jim began flashing through my mind like a private slide show.

"Siiiiiilvvvvvver!"

"Thanks for tonight. It was fun."

"That was awesome!"

"That wasn't nothing. You saved my life,"

"You're so funny, Silver,"

"Promise that you won't ever leave me alone?"

Jimbo... He had said all those things to me out of trust. He believed in me but I ended up letting him down, just like his father. My father may be happy but I know that my mother wouldn't be, she never did like all that pirate stuff. It's no wonder she ended up divorcing my father. I dropped my gaze, the excitement and wonder from moments before vanishing from my system. I was soon snapped out of my misery when the planet began violently shaking, a loud explosion from above alerted me of trouble.

Several of the energy beams from above us came loose from the sudden loud noise, crashing through the treasure and creating a huge gaping hole. A large laser beam was already striking across the centered causing half my crew to run for their life. I frantically searched the area for the boy, just realizing of his presence. I just hope he didn't fall into the cracks in the ground, maybe he already left. The treasure beneath me began slipping into the cracks below. I desperately tried to keep the coins up. "NO! No, no, NOOO! No, no, no...!" I was stashed a few in my jacket pocket. I noticed several of my crew running back to the portal, caring more for their lives than the treasure they had been after. "Come back here, yeh blighters!"

All the coins had went vanished through the cracks. That was when I noticed Flint's ship, the last remaining treasure was stashed on it. I used my x-ray vision in my cybernetic eye to get a closer look, the first thing I noticed was Jim frantically working on the ship, probably trying to get it working. I grinned, getting to my feet. I liked JIm, but I wasn't gonna let him get all the treasure. I've known about flint's trove before he was even born. I got to my feet, trudging towards that location, I kept a close eye on the beams that were striking across the ground, making sure I didn't get in the way. It was lucky that the path was quite easy to follow, before I knew it, I had made it to the small ship Jim had stewed away on. I was lifted myself up, grunting as I did so. Thankfully, Jim was still preoccupied with the controls.

I smirked, leaning against the railing as I watched him, the boy was oblivious to my gaze. I got to admit that I was amazed when I heard the engine go, I seriously thought it would had been too rusty to get going. Jim got to his feet, grinning as he took control of the wheel. "Yes! Morph, we are so outta here!" Morph was making noises of happy laughter, seeming almost like a dog.

I hate to ruin their joy, but I needed this treasure way more than he did. "Ahh, Jimbo! Aren't yeh the Seventh Wonder of the Universe?" He immediately whipped around at the sound of my voice, staring at me with wide eyes, probably thinking that I had left with the rest of those cowards. I had began walking towards the boy, much to his shock and horror.

His eyes flashed off to the side, something catching his interest, I guess. He suddenly lunged forward, grasping a sword and holding it defensively in front of himself. "Get - BACK!" If I didn't know any better, I would say that he was afraid of me.

I was quite surprised by his sudden reaction, he was angrier than I had first thought, but that didn't matter, this was my treasure to begin with. I gazed up at the teenager with a dark look, the kindness vanishing from my eyes.

"I like ya, lad. But I've come too far ta let you stand between me an' me treasure." I began stepping towards him once more while the boy backed away, creating distance between us. He held the sword in his shaky grasp, the handle in front of his chest. Jim stared up at me with a look of despair on his face. I have never seen him so scared in his life, not even when Scroop was around. Did he really find me that intimidating? I wanted to stop and tell him that it was gonna be okay because it was just me, his friend. But I couldn't do that, it was as if my body had a mind of its own.

My cyborg hand suddenly switched into a sword, similar to Jim's. Before I could stop myself, I had lunged forward, almost piercing the boy. Luckily, he had ducked just in the nick of time to avoid become a kebab. Unfortunately for me, I had gotten my sword stuck in the wood of the wheel. As I worked on getting myself unstuck, Jimbo crawled out from under me, running pass me. I seriously thought he was gonna attack me while I was trapped, but he never did, could he not harm me? I thankfully preyed myself loose, spotting Jim over the other side of the ship, the sword still firm in his hands.

"Ye don't know 'ow ta pick ye fights, do ya, boy?" I coldly spat, slowly walking towards him once again. I lunged at the boy for the second time, but he had leaped off to the side just in time again, he was like a bunny that kept jumping around. I almost went tumbling off the ship but was able to catch myself. I was really becoming frustrated now. I shot a glare at Jim, releasing an angry growl. He seemed unaffected by my reaction though. In fact, he looked quite calm.

"You lied to me..." Those words caught me completely off guard, I almost tripped over my own two feet.

"W-What?" He was angry just moments ago, what happened?

"You promised me that you would never leave me alone..." He stared hard into my eyes as if searching for the truth within my soul. "You lied to me..." he repeated in a softer voice.

"I-I didn't lie ta ya!" I objected, lunging at him for the third time. Jimbo, however, didn't run or jump out of the way. Instead, he held up his sword in front of him, his eyes hardening. Our swords made a loud clunk as they connected. "I did really care for ya! Why do ya t'ink I did all t'ose nice t'ings for ya?" I shouted, pressing hard against my sword.

"Y-You don't understand at all!" Jim eyes filled up with tears, trying to keep himself from falling by the weight of my sword. "You never understood how I truly felt. I have never let anybody so close to me before, but then you came along and I felt as if I had a friend. Then you ended up being a pirate, I was crashed. Just like the day my father left me..."

"Jimbo..." I lightened up my forced slightly, watching as tears leaked from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

"I loved you... Like a father..." A sob escaped his lips, his grip on the sword loosening that it ended up slipping out of his hands. Even I had changed my sword back into my normal cyborg hand.

Just when I was about to comfort the boy, a beam of energy had hit the side of the ship, knocking both Jimbo and I off. Luckily, I had grasp the side of the ship before falling too far out of reach. My feet landed on a cold metal platform, steady enough so I wouldn't slip. I looked back up at the boat load of treasure, seeing that same energy beam trying to destroy it. "Oh, no ya DON'T!" Mastering up all my strength, I was able to pull it away from the energy beam, grinning. My success didn't last long when Morph suddenly flew towards me, frantically waving his tiny arms about and gibbering.

I glanced up at him, confused by his reaction. "Wh-"

Morph flew off in the opposite direction, my gaze followed him, immediately noticing Jim. I used my cybernetic eye to zoom in on him, seeing that his hands were beginning to slip off the ledge.

"Jimbo!" I softly exclaimed, saying that mostly to myself. I directed my gaze back at the ship. I switched my cyborg hand into a vice clamp, grabbing the side of the ship with it. I stepped closer towards the boy, reaching out my flesh hand as far as I could. "Reach for me, now! Reach!" Jim did his best to reach out for my hand, our finger tips brushed against each others, just a little more...

Without warning, Jim jerked his hand back. I shot the boy a confused gaze, still having my hand stretched out. The boy returned my gaze with a glare. "How do I know I can trust you!?" Jim shouted above all the explosion.

"W'at!?" He was still mad? Geezz... He was above a river of lava with nothing supporting him but a ledge, how can he still hold a grudge in a situation like that?

"How do I know that you won't dropped me!? You did want that treasure all to yourself, remember?"

I released a sigh, completely understanding what he was getting at now. "Jimbo! I would never let anythin' bad happen ta ya! I love ya very much! Like a son..." I whispered the last bit, though judging by the hopeful look in his eyes, I knew he had caught those three words.

"How do I know I can trust you...?" Jim repeated with a softer voice, staring up at me with those hopeful blue eyes.

I smiled, keeping my hand out stretched for him to grab. "You're just gonna have to believe me..."

Jim nodded, a slight smile on his face. "I do..." The boy reached out his hand once again, attempting to grasp mine. But it was too late, the boy had begun falling again. I stared in horror as he fell through the air at full speed. Luckily, Jim had grabbed another ledge just in time before falling into the pool of lava. The only down side though was that he was way too far out of reach for me.

I had a choice to make, the boy that I had come to love or the treasure that I had been searching for half my life. I stared at Jim then switched my gaze back to the ship. I glanced back to the teenager boy, his hands beginning to slip off the small ledge he was holding onto for his life. I look back at the ship once more, finally coming to a conclusion

"Ohhh..." I squeezed my eyes shut, hardly believing the decision I was making. "Blast me for a FOOL!" I released the ship from my grasp, letting it float away. I rushed over to the edge of the platform, grabbing Jim by the hand in midair, just before he got too far out of reach. We dangled there for a moment, recovering from that little fight we had moments before. I swung Jim up onto the platform, making sure he had a firm grip on it before I decided to pull myself up, my breathes came out in thick gasps. We both sat back and watched in surprise as the ship drifted into the energy beam and violently exploded in front of us, a few gold coins falling over our heads.

"Thanks," Jim said with a smile, it's been a while since he gave me that look.

"No time ta t'ank me, we gotta get out o' 'ere," I pointed out, grabbing Jim by the hand and running towards the entrance. It was hard trying to avoid falling into the lava, there was barely anything to stand on, but we were able to make it out of the portal safely.

Jim turned to me, frowning this time. "You gave up your life long dream for me." First he thanked me, now he felt guilty.

I couldn't help but smile at him, nodding slightly. "It was just a lifelong obsession, Jim- I'll get over it!" I reassured him with a wink, his sorrowful look never changed, "Really, Jimbo. I'm fine." Jim gave me a small smile, nodding.

The touching moment was sure broken by a low hiss, there was only one person I knew that could do that. Glancing up, I saw the evil spider walking towards us, claws held out in front of him. "I knew it, you've got a sssssoft sssspot for thissss boy," Scroop proclaimed with a smirk.

I stepped in front of Jim, using my large figure as a human shield. "We do not 'ave time fer t'is, t'is planet is gonna explode any second!" I tried to reason with him, but nothing ever got through Scroop's head, he was just an egghead.

"I t'ink we always 'ave time for a battle." Scroop eyed his pinchers, grinning up at me, his eyes shinning in amusement.

"If we must..." I was about to step forward and take this bug down, but something, or should I say someone was holding me back.

Spinning around, I saw the boy had grasped onto the back of my jacket, his gaze dropping to the ground as soon as I made eye contact with him. "Don't fight... You'll get hurt..." his voice was so soft that I had to strain my ears to catch those words.

I couldn't help but smile at how worried he was for my safety, he was angry at me not too long ago. I rested a hand on each of his shoulders, forcing his eyes to meet mine. "I'll be fine... I'm strong, remember?" I winked at him before trudging over to Scroop, my look hardening. "Ready w'en ye are."

Scroop lunged at me as soon as the words left my lips. I leaped out of the way, avoiding his pinchers. I quickly switched my cyborg hand to a sword, defensively holding it in front of my large figure. Scroop's golden eyes met my mismatched ones. Lunging at me once again, his claws made contact with my sword, pushing my weapon closer to me. I gritted my teeth, mastering up all my strength to use my sword to strike at him, but it was no use, I was weak after that fight with Jimbo.

I saw Scroop removed one of his claws from the sword, but I was far too busy to see what he was up to, who knew this spider was so strong. Before I could even blink, I was sent crashing down to the ground, overlooking the lava that was beneath us. I had been so close to falling off the edge that it scared me, my whole life had flashed before my eyes. "That wassss fasssst," Scroop stated with a chuckle, hearing the soft thuds of his feet behind me, probably getting ready to end my life. No matter how much I tried, I just couldn't get up. It was like all my strength had been drained from my system. There was nothing much I could do.

My eyes automatically closed, accepting the fact that I was gonna die. At least I protected Jimbo. Upon thinking about the boy, a smile made its way to my lips, feeling more relaxed than I had in a long time. "Get away from him!" Came Jim's voice, hearing something going on behind me. My eyes snapped open, closely listening to the scene behind me. I heard Jim's voice cry out, quickly followed by a few thuds.

"Let'ssss rid thissss world of one lessssss trouble maker," Scroop's cold voice sent a chill up my spine. Jimbo had tried to protect me but it was gonna cost him his life. No... I swiftly got to my feet, stumbling slightly in doing so. I felt weak, but I was not going to allow Jim to get hurt for my mistake. I saw Scroop walking towards the cliff, but Jimbo was no where in sight. Did he already fall? I didn't want to think of that. That's when I saw something on the edge, it was a pair of small hands gripping onto the side of the cliff. Before I knew what I was doing, I had lunged at Scroop, using all my strength to push him over. Surprised, he stared wide-eyed at me as he fell into the distance.

"Ye are one crazy kid," I said to Jimbo, holding out my hand. The boy grinned, putting a hand in mine.

"I did learn from the best." I heaved the boy up onto the platform, letting out a puff of air.