Author's Note:

I've been waiting SO long for this moment!


Chapter 29: To Lose a Friend…

Ariah gasped, noticing the dangerous look in Scroop's golden eyes. It was the same deadly look that he had given her on the night of their fight, and was now directed to Jim.

Jim took a step backwards; his arm instinctively came out in front of Ariah's torso in order to protect her.

This movement stoked Scroop's passionate fury to its peak and the crimson arachnid launched himself at the two teenagers with a snarl.

The two teenagers leapt back to avoid the alien's claw swipes. The pink blob at Ariah's shoulder squealed frightfully and swiftly morphed into a hand.

The transformer's hand gouged at Scroop's golden eyes, allowing the two teenagers some leeway to escape. The two teenagers bolted past Scroop and charged towards the exit.

Scroop swiftly snatched Morph from the air and tossed him forcefully against one of the corridor's metal walls.

The stunned transformer bounced minutely against the metal before he was siphoned through an opened-up pipe –often used as a means of communication between sailors through the ship- and he disappeared from visibility.

Scroop shook off the pain in his eyes and ran after Jim and Ariah.

Jim quickly retrieved the laser pistol Captain Amelia had given him and began charging it up. Jim turned to face the darting arachnid.

Before Jim could get a lock on the dangerous target, Scroop swiped at the cabin boy with one of his pincers. As Jim hit the ground with a metallic thump, Scroop's other pincer smoothly knocked Ariah across the hallway, away from the main fight.

Scroop leapt forwards, before Jim could scramble to his feet, and his crimson pincer clamped around Jim's neck. Scroop lifted the brunette up in the air so his feet couldn't touch the ground and he was unable to breathe.

All breath intended to feed Jim's vitalities their necessary oxygen was blocked by Mister Scroop's constricting pincer.

The young brunette feverishly clawed at the pincer, his nails doing barely any damage to the arachnid's thick exoskeleton and his feet dangling limply above the ground.

Ariah gasped, watching the nightmarish scene unfold before her eyes. She quickly scrambled to her feet and ran towards the two fighters.

Moments before Jim lost consciousness from lack of air, Ariah pounced onto the arachnid's back and clung to him. She wrapped her arms under Scroop's armpits, trying to force him to release Jim.

Scroop hissed loudly at the tightness in his shoulders, and he felt his grip on Jim's neck falter from the pressure points Ariah was hitting.

Jim limply fell to the ground, coughing desperately for breath. The brunette teenager rubbed his bruised neck and tried to fight off the daze with deep breaths. Jim then pulled himself back onto his feet, grabbing the laser pistol from where it had fallen, and pointed it at Scroop's torso.

The crimson arachnid simply continued to struggle against Ariah, who was frantically trying to keep Scroop's arms pinned to his back. The alien completely ignored the laser pistol aimed for his torso and Jim's presence altogether as he fought against Ariah.

Jim tried to lock on a vital point in Scroop's exoskeleton, to finish off the dangerous alien, but Ariah was blocking such points. Jim didn't want to have to shoot through Ariah in order to destroy the arachnid.

The young man then realized that Ariah just wanted the fighting between her two friends to stop, rather than help him finish off Scroop.

Before Jim could decide what to do, all of the lights in the RLS Legacy buzzed out simultaneously. A loud thud and a sharp gasp of pain followed the blackout, coming from a few feet in front of him.


"Whoops!" BEN looked around the control room.

His eyes emitted beams of light to help guide him around the now-dark control room.

"OK, don't panic." He calmed himself down as he located the plug in which the wire to the ship's lights was connected. "Breathing in, breathing out…"

BEN replaced the plug.


The temporary blackout was finally relieved as the lights blinked back on one-by-one.

Jim spotted Ariah sprawled back first on the metallic ground in front of him. In the darkness, Scroop had managed to flip her off of his back and then disappear from sight.

"Ariah!" Jim scrambled to the fallen teenager's side.

Ariah groaned in pain, and slowly lifted herself to her feet. Her back was aching again from the harsh contact with the floor. She steadied herself against the corridor's wall and sighed shakily. Undoubtedly she was injured once more…

"Why did you do that?" Jim exclaimed, grabbing Ariah by the shoulders and looking her hard in the eyes. "You could've been killed."

Ariah wearily looked up, trying to figure out some sort of answer. Then she noticed a stealthy arachnid slowly preparing to pounce at them. Her eyes widened and Jim turned around before she had a chance to cry out a warning.

Scroop launched himself at them. Jim managed to push Ariah out of the way and was pinned to the floor by the crimson arachnid's torso.

The laser pistol clattered to the floor, too far from either of the males' reach. Jim tried to fend off the viciously attacking alien while Ariah tried to recuperate from the many shoves to the ground. She of the trio was closest to the laser pistol.


Suddenly, they heard a high-pitched squealing through the RLS Legacy's piping. Scroop raised his pincers, ready to finish off the brunette teenager when a small pink morph unceremoniously was shot out of an opened pipe near his head.

Morph's eyelids were droopy from the labyrinth-like trip through the pipes but he snapped to his senses the moment he saw Scroop.

The transformer let out a loud wail, which effectively distracted the crimson arachnid.

Once Scroop faced Morph, the pink blob transformed into a cream pie and plastered his body against the attacker's triangular face. Scroop hissed angrily at the morph, trying to pull the filter from his vision.

Ariah quickly pulled Jim away from the dangerous arachnid's underside by his arms. Jim scooped up the laser pistol, hopped to his feet and grasped Ariah by the wrist.

The two teenagers bolted for the main deck while the arachnid continued trying to remove the transformer from his face.


Finally, Scroop managed to pull the entirety of Morph off of him and he shoved the blob back down the throat of the opened pipe.

The tiny morph zoomed down the piping and disappeared with a muffled shriek. Scroop then quickly ran down the corridor towards the main deck.

Jim and Ariah kept running until they finally reached the main deck. There was nowhere to go except up the shrouds of one of the masts.

They turned around just as Scroop skittered onto the main deck.


"This has gotta be cannons." BEN pulled a wire from one of the plugs.

Suddenly there was a loud rumbling throughout the RLS Legacy.

"Maybe not." BEN winced.

The troublesome robot tried to replace the plug but then realized that he had deactivated the ship's artificial gravity and began floating towards the control room's ceiling.


The trio on the main deck of the RLS Legacy gasped simultaneously as they began floating upwards towards the mainmast.

They all rose at the same rate and soon reached the mainmast's crow's nest without hitting any of the violently swinging booms.

Ariah grasped onto the edge of the crow's nest as Scroop latched onto the base of the flagpole. Jim managed to snag onto the pirate flag at the last plausible moment.

The laser pistol, which had been dropped during their run, was only a few feet out of Jim's reach. The young man then began stretching his arm out towards the weapon.

Scroop planted his six pointed feet in a concrete stance within the crow's nest, allowing his arms some freedom. With a malicious chuckle he began carving the sections of the flag's rope so it delicately came undone thread by thread.

"Come on, come on, come on…" Jim stretched his fingers out for the laser pistol. He only managed to swat it out of reach and it was lost to the Etherium. "No!" Jim exclaimed in defeat.

Ariah's heart sank as she kept an iron grip on the side of the crow's nest. She stared emptily at her friends, trying to pick between the two. It wasn't her choice to make, but it was strange to watch her own tears fall upwards as she fought between the dilemmas.

Scroop snickered sinisterly. "Oh, yes." He narrowed his golden eyes towards the dangling teenager. "Do say hello to Mister Arrow..."

The inner edge of his pincer gently sliced away at the rope until there was only one thread holding the flag secure.

Jim quickly clambered down the pirate flag and grasped the end of the flagpole, rendering Scroop's efforts futile.

The crimson arachnid growled angrily at the young man and launched himself at him.

"Tell him yourself!" Jim yelled at the top of his voice, dodging the deadly alien and pulling the edge of the pirate flag over Scroop.

Scroop was enveloped by the black and white of the pirate flag. His red and black pincers tore a hole through the flag's fabric, but one only big enough to confine his movements rather than allow him to escape. The thread that once secured the flag snapped and the antigravity came into consideration.

The wrapped up crimson arachnid drifted off into the Etherium. He yelled out in defeat as the solar winds carried him far away.

"No!" Ariah screamed as she watched her best friend disappeared before her eyes. She lost her grip to the side of the crow's nest and began drifting upwards.

"Ariah!" Jim grabbed Ariah by the wrist and held tightly onto the flagpole with his legs and opposite hand.


"Back you go, you naughty plug!" BEN yelled.

He kicked off of the ceiling of the control room and replaced the wire.

"Oh!" The robot face-planted forcefully to the room's metallic floor as the RLS Legacy's artificial gravity was restored.


"Unh!" Jim crashed first into the bowl-like crow's nest and Ariah followed him. They both gasped fervently for air.

At the base of the vacated flagpole there was an opened pipe that was -at the moment- clattering with congestion. A dark, soot-covered blob was powerfully expelled from the mouth of the pipe.

The small morph coughed the thick layer of filth from his body until his exterior returned to its normal bubble-gum pink hue.

"Morph?" Jim sighed tiredly.

Morph chirruped, looking over the two teenagers with concern.

Ariah stood from the base of the crow's nest and leaned against the outer railing. There was a pause as she looked out into the Etherium bitterly, searching the skies for a sign of her best friend. When she found none, her arms began to shake from repressed sobs and her breath came out in jagged pants.

Jim slowly stood up and waited a moment before approaching the other teenager.

Ariah shook her head before Jim could say a word. Hot tears slipped down her slammed-shut eyes and her normally pale face was flushed from intense emotion.

A severe pain was welling up in her chest, consuming her entire body, and literally suffocating her ability to breath.

The young woman released some of the pressure through sobs. She gasped for air but was hardly gaining sufficient amounts.

Ariah gripped tightly against the outer railing of the crow's nest, her knuckles turned white from tension and her arms shaking. Her face began paling of all colour and she felt as if she was going to vomit.

Jim stood, helpless on how to aid the mourning teenager.

"I didn't want- either- of you- to get hurt." Ariah sunk to her knees and cried passionately into her palms. Her sides ached terribly -not only from her physical injuries- and she found breathing becoming more difficult with each passing moment.

"Ariah…" Jim knelt down to the young woman's level and he gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "You need to calm down, or you're going to pass out." He stated firmly.

Ariah grabbed the front of Jim's shirt and pulled his face towards hers. "I didn't want any of this." She shouted loudly, in the midst of her panic attack. Then the young woman began hyperventilating, still shaking from angst.

Jim's pale blue eyes widened. "Ariah!" He shook her by the shoulders. "You've got to calm down! Just breath!" He ordered.

"I can't!" Ariah shouted back, equally as scared as Jim was. "I-I can't…" She began to grow weak and a bout of dizziness swept over her.

"Lie down." Jim commanded.

Ariah hesitantly did as she was told, still panting rapidly through sobs.

Jim pressed his ear against Ariah's chest and he listened closely to her heartbeat. It was rapid, but lacked the fullness of a healthy heartbeat. Jim brushed his hand over Ariah's forehead. It was moist from sweat, yet cold to the touch.

"You're going into shock." Jim stated, having taken a course on first aid in years past. At least there was something that had stuck from his years in school.

Ariah laughed weakly. "No kidding." She groaned as the dizziness and nausea increased.

"Here." Jim scooted over to Ariah's feet and lifted them up.

Morph quickly zipped to Ariah's feet, transforming into a pillow to support them.

"Thanks, Morph…" Jim placed Ariah's feet onto Pillow Morph. Then the young man sat by Ariah's head and gently took her hand into his. "It's going to be alright, Ariah." He reassured the panicky teenager. "Just… take deep breaths."


Slowly, Ariah managed to fend off the sadness that was trying to smother her and she gradually came back to her regular self. The nausea and dizziness slowly faded away as she held tightly to Jim's hand and did as he had instructed.

"I guess…" Ariah inhaled, paused and then exhaled steadily. "We should help that stupid robot with the laser cannons." She smiled weakly.

Jim chuckled; glad that Ariah had come to her senses. Then the serious matter of what he had done in moments past clawed its way out of his throat.

"Look." He sighed and avoiding eye contact with the weak sailor. "I'll understand if you're mad at me for the rest of your life an-."

Ariah shook her head. "I don't blame you for it, Jim." She slowly sat up. Morph zipped out from under her feet. "Scroop…" Ariah paused at mentioning her best friend's name and looked up into Jim's pale blue eyes. "He- he would've killed you." She looked over the dark bruises becoming more prominent around Jim's throat. "It had to be done…"

"I'm sorry there couldn't have been another way." Jim patted the back of Ariah's hand.

"Same here." Ariah smiled weakly.


The young woman looked up at the star cluttered skies for a moment's pause and then back at Jim with tears still in her copper-brown eyes. Jim guiltily looked away, but was surprised when Ariah leaned forwards and hugged her body tightly to his.

Jim sighed and wrapped his arms around Ariah's shoulders. One hand went through the raven-black locks tied back in ponytail as the other patted her back reassuringly. Ariah quietly sobbed into his chest as she held tightly onto him.

"I'm sorry…" Jim whispered softly.

Ariah lifted her head from Jim's chest and wiped the tears from her eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Jim." She tried to hold back more tears, but failed, as she took a deep breath. "I'm just…" The young woman sniffled, "…going to miss him…" Ariah buried her face against Jim's shoulder, being careful to avoid the bruises around his neck, and continued crying.

There was a moment's pause between the two teenagers as they stopped to catch their breath. They separated the embrace and Ariah smiled warmly at Jim.

She plucked Morph from the air and gently stretched him, so he was almost rope-like.

Then she placed the transformer against Jim's neck, as if Morph was a scarf of some sort.

Ariah wasn't surprised when she saw Jim shiver from the contact. She remembered Morph's chilling caress against any bruises she had had when he was with her. It was undoubtedly cold, but at the same time, immensely soothing.

Jim looked up, locking eyes with Ariah and he smiled genuinely.


Suddenly, BEN's ever-familiar voice called up to the two teenagers. "Laser cannons disconnected Captain Jimmy, sir!"

The two teenagers looked at the short robot standing at the entrance to the lower decks, he was covered from head to toe in tangled up wires.

The android chuckled nervously. "Gee, that wasn't so tough."

Ariah sighed. "How many other things did he disable?"

Jim chuckled as Morph zipped from around his neck to go aid the android. "I think the list of things he didn't disable is shorter."

Ariah weakly smiled. "C'mon… let's see if we can get those wires back were they belong."

She climbed over the edge of the crow's nest and grasped the rope of one of the shrouds.

Ariah looked up at Jim. "We're also going to need to put something on all the new bumps and bruises we have..." The young woman paused to sigh. "This isn't over yet, is it?"

Jim smiled reassuringly, gently caressed the side of Ariah's face and planted a quick kiss on her lips. "Not yet."


Author's Note:

Thanks for the reviews ladies and gentlemen, and thanks to Whisperwings for editing!

MG#6