Chapter 28

"Ah, Morphy! l wondered where you was off to." Silver exclaimed happily at the blob, who followed the teens down.

Cuddling the little blob, Silver was happy that someone was excited to see him. Taking a seat on the ground, he began to rub his leg that was still sore from his encounter with Jim on the ship.

"Ooh. Oh, this poor old leg's downright snarky... since that game attack we had in the galley." The cyborg pirate brought up as if it was something they could all joke about, but then noticed Jim's face and went downcast which the teen couldn't tell if it was real or not. "Ahh. Whatever you heard back there... at least the part concerning you... l didn't mean a word of it. Had that bloodthirsty lot thought l'd gone soft... they'd have gutted the three of us. Listen to me. lf we play our cards right... we can both walk away from this rich as kings." He went on, trying to win the boy over.

"Yeah?" Jim questioned, looking as if he was thinking about it, which made Jasmine look at him as if he was crazy.

"You get me that map... and, uh... an even portion of the treasure is yours." Silver replied, holding his hand out as a sign of peace.

"Boy." Jim began, eyes growing cold. "You are really something. All that talk of greatness... light coming off my sails... what a joke." He went on, circling the pirate with an angry stare.

"Now, just see here, Jimbo.." The cyborg began, but was interrupted by the boy.

"l mean, at least you taught me one thing. Stick to it, right? Well, that's just what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna make sure that you never see... one drabloon of my treasure!" The boy stated furiously.

"That treasure is owed me, by thunder!" The pirate shouted.

"Well, try to find it without my map, by thunder!" The boy shouted back.

"Oh, you still don't know how to pick your fights, do you, boy? Now, mark me. Either l get that map by dawn tomorrow... or so help me, I'll use the ship's cannons... to blast ya all to kingdom come!" Silver shouted in frustration.

Fixing himself up to leave, he noticed Jasmine and Morph next to the boy. Forgetting that they had went with the boy, the Captain, and the Doctor, Silver began ordering them to follow.

"Morph, Jasmine, hop to it." Silver ordered and then noticed that they weren't doing what they were told. "Now!" He shouted, but they reluctantly stood their ground.

"I can't do this anymore, Silver. Not when I have a chance of saving my soul before I fall into darkness even further. If there's ever going to be a chance of controlling myself, then I need to be fighting with the people who can put me on the right path." Jasmine stated after being silent this whole time.

"Oh, blast it!" Was his reply and then he stalked off.

Shaking, not from loosing control, but from betraying the one person left who was like family to her and even more so from seeing the look he gave her, made it difficult for Jasmine to keep her emotions under control. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Jasmine turned to look at the boy who she too had betrayed and no longer saw an angry gaze towards her. Letting him take her hand, the two began walking to their little hideout as night fell upon them.

"Everyone... we must stay together and... and...ohh." Captain Amelia began, but then fell back as the pain got to the point where it made her want to pass out.

"And what? What?! We must stay together and what?!" Dr. Doppler shouted frantically at her.

"Doctor, you have the most wonderful eyes." Was all she said, which didn't sound like her at all.

"She's lost her mind!" The Doctor exclaimed, freaked out by what she said.

"Well, you gotta help her." Jim stated the obvious.

"Dang it, Jim. l'm an astronomer, not a doctor. l mean, l am a doctor, but l'm not that kind of doctor. l have a doctorate. lt's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate. You just sit there, and you're useless." He stated, feeling defeated with himself.

"It's ok, Doc. It's alright." The boy replied, doing his best to sound comforting.

"Yeah, Doc! Jimmy knows exactly how to get out of this. lt's just Jimmy has this knowledge of things." B.E.N. exclaimed, trying to sound comforting, then leaned next to the boy in question and whispered to him. "Jim, any thoughts at all?" He questioned.

The boy went silent and began scanning out the area. Looking around, he could see that there was no way off the planet without getting seen. Turning to his right, he saw Jasmine was doing the same thing and had the same look as he did.

"Without the map, we're dead. lf we try to leave, we're dead. lf we stay here.." He began somberly, but was cut off by a certain troublemaker.

"We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!" Morph butted in and was earned with an annoyed look from Percha.

Frustrated with it all, Jim leaned over the entrance in defeat. He wondered if it was worth going after the treasure after finding the map. Ever since Old Billy Bones showed up at his house, things had spiraled out of his control. Then he snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his own.

"When you asked me earlier today about what stopped me from killing everyone today, I was lying when I said I didn't know. I was prepared to take the fire, but when I saw you, I knew I just couldn't. I know that I'm part of the reason you are in this mess, but being around you had allowed me to rediscover something that gives me conflicted emotions about. However, it's something I had been without for a long time and was something that I desperately needed, but didn't know it yet." Jasmine said, not caring how awkward she was feeling.

"What emotion was that?" Jim questioned, looking at her curiously.

"Humanity. Despite being in races with other humans, you are the only one I've ever had real contact with since I was a thief. I had been traveling amongst the stars with various people, but never was it with anyone human. So when we had to keep an eye on you because of the map, I had no idea what to expect you to be. Now I know you and now I know what true humanity is like. So whatever happens, the side I'm fighting with in my eyes, is the winning side." She answered and Jim had the urge to kiss her, but didn't.

"Well, l think that Jimmy could use a little quiet time. Heh. So I'll just slip out the back door." B.E.N. interrupted, oblivious of the teens conversation, which caught them off guard.

"Back door?" The teens questioned at the same time, not sure if they heard the robot right.

"Oh, yeah. l get this delightful breeze through here... which l think is important... because ventilation among friends.." The robot answered, rolling this round metal shaft upwards to reveal vast rows of machinery.

"Whoa, what is all this stuff?" Jim questioned as he and Jasmine ran up to the entrance, mesmerized by everything.

"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run through the entire course of the inside of this planet? Not a clue." Was his answer, looking just as clueless as the teens.

"Hey, Doc! Doc! l think l found a way out of here!" Jim exclaimed feeling hope for the first time.

"No, no. Jim, wait. The Captain ordered us to stay..." Doctor Doppler began, but was interrupted.

"I'll be back. Jasmine you stay here." The boy ordered as he stood on the sides of the entrance.

"There's no way I'm letting you have all the fun." The girl replied, preparing to jump after the boy. "Percha stay here." She then ordered the blob, who wasn't too thrilled of being left behind as the girl jumped in the hole.

"Cannonball!" B.E.N. shouted dramatically as he too followed.

"Woof." Was all the Doctor said as he was left to take care of the Captain.

Author's Note: Ahh the drama! Well next is the fight with Scroop which I have no idea whether if I'm going to break that up to two parts or not. Well I have to get some sleep as I have a dentist appointment in the morning, yeah cavities are no fun. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter and I will most certainly do my best to get this story done before I leave on Wednesday! Please leave a review if you want.