The final chapter will be up sometime next Sunday or *possibly* Monday. Bear with me, I am STRUGGLING with the last few lines of the final scene. It will be up next week though! Then I have two sequels in the works!
You Give Up A Few Things, Chasing A Dream
Chapter 3
"One More Ride"
Jim leaned heavily on B.E.N., watching Silver's back as the man slowly waded through a sea of gold that came up to his knees, leaving Jim at the portal. Okay, so Silver only needed Jim to get to the treasure. Now that Silver had the treasure in hand, what did he need Jim around for? He'd said it himself that getting to Flint's trove was the only thing he ever cared about.
Ye think I'd risk it all for the sake of some nose-wiping little whelp?
Jim shook his head and took in his surroundings. This was what he had wanted too, after all. To see Flint's trove in person was something Jim had dreamed of since he was a toddler. Now here he was, a witness to the legendary Loot of a Thousand Worlds, and yet he felt… underwhelmed. It wasn't that Flint's trove didn't meet his expectations. On the contrary, the sight of it far exceeded anything he could have ever imagined. Three-year-old Jim would have absolutely lost his mind seeing this. So why did fifteen-year-old Jim feel so wretched?
Silver's crew ran in after their captain, diving into piles of gold and decorating themselves with glimmering rubies and diamonds. Jim stood alone with B.E.N. and Morph at the gateway, and he decided that they should try and find a way to make an escape. Jim cautiously shifted some of his weight onto his left leg and immediately recoiled at the sensation. Well, leaving on foot was simply out of the question then. Just as he began to feel hopelessly trapped, Jim's eyes landed on an old, abandoned ship that was loaded with piles of treasure. He quietly nudged B.E.N., who was muttering to himself about all of this seeming familiar, and he directed the robot's gaze toward the vessel.
"B.E.N., come on," he said quietly. "We're getting out of here, and we're not leaving empty-handed."
Jim sat and slid himself down of a pile of gold that declined into a small dip before sloping back up. He reached the bottom of the dip and shifted to his hands and knees, straining his wounds to scale up the steep incline. The climb was made even more difficult by the constant shifting of coins and gems under his limbs. With his hands and feet, he searched for any small pockets of stability he could push himself off of. Sweat beaded his forehead and with every attempt to force his body forward, his arms and legs would sink back into the unsteady ground beneath him. He kept himself moving, as any break to catch his breath meant sliding backwards even further. B.E.N., who seemed to be struggling a lot less than Jim, suddenly appeared at his side and draped one of Jim's arms over his shoulders and half carried, half dragged him up the hill. Even Morph tried to help by tugging on Jim's shirt collar.
After what felt like forever, the trio made it to the top, and Jim scanned the bottom of the ship for some way he could climb aboard. He finally found a pile of old chests stacked against the keel, and he hopped on and reached up to grab the top edge of the gunwale. The movement strained his wounds in a bad way, but he held himself together and planted his feet against the hull.
"B.E.N.," Jim grunted. "Give me a boost, will ya?"
"Aye aye, Captain Jimmy!"
B.E.N. put both hands on Jim's butt and shoved him up and over the gunwale. Jim became airborne and faceplanted on the deck with a pained grunt. B.E.N. clambered aboard and ran to Jim's side, wildly rattling off a chain of apologies.
"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, Jim!" he cried. "I severely underestimated my strength!"
"Shh!" Jim clapped his hand over B.E.N.'s mouth. "Keep it down or they'll catch- AAHH!"
Jim yelled in shock when his eyes caught something behind B.E.N., who quickly turned around and also screamed at the sight. There, sitting like a king on his throne, was the skeletal corpse of Captain Flint himself. For a moment, Jim, B.E.N., and Morph held still as though afraid the dead captain would lunge at them if they dared to move.
"Captain Flint!" Jim finally broke the silence, stumbling forward to examine the body at a closer level.
"In the flesh!" B.E.N. shouted. "Well… except for skin, organs, or anything that resembles flesh. Th-that's… not there."
With a morbid kind of curiosity, Jim leaned in and looked into the six empty eye sockets of the long-deceased captain. It was so strange and chilling – and somewhat exciting – to see this being, that Jim had only read about, emptily 'staring' back at him. Even in death, Captain Flint had a formidable presence. He was bigger and more terrifying than the books had ever portrayed. Jim's eyes trailed down the captain's frame, fascinated by his sharp teeth and the tattered clothing that hung from his ancient bones.
"It's so odd, you know?" B.E.N. murmured to himself. "I mean, I remember there was something horrible Flint didn't want anyone else to know, but I just can't remember what it was!"
Jim's eyes settled on something in Captain Flint's hand. His fingers were wrapped tightly around some object, trapping it in a boney cage. Jim tilted his head, realizing that the shape of the object looked familiar. He gripped the dead captain's fingers and broke them off, freeing the item so he could study it closer.
"Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!" B.E.N. cried.
That was it! Jim looked at the hole in the back of B.E.N.'s head and saw that it was the same shape as the piece in his hand.
"B.E.N.," said Jim. "I think I just found your mind! Hold still!"
Jim gripped the back of B.E.N.'s head and held the piece close, lining up the edges. The wiring from inside B.E.N.'s cranium suddenly sprang out and attached themselves to the piece, pulling it firmly into place. B.E.N. glitched for several seconds, eyes flashing and sparks flying everywhere. Then suddenly… clarity.
"It's all flooding back!" B.E.N. cheered. "All my memories! Right up until Flint pulled my memory circuits, so I could never tell anybody about his BOOBY TRAP!"
A sudden boom erupted from somewhere above, causing the entire place to tremble. Unable to withstand the shaking, Jim fell to the ground with a yelp of pain.
Oh great! Jim mentally kicked himself for not paying more attention at the portal's entrance. Of course the place had been rigged to blow! He'd read about Captain Flint his whole life and knew of his propensity to lay out traps for unwary looters. Jim of all people should've predicted this.
Jim scrambled to his hands and knees and crawled across the deck to the control desk, using the edge to hoist himself up so he could see over the side of the ship. He cast his gaze over the mountains of treasure, watching the pirate crew try and outrun a massive blast of energy as it sliced through the planet's core. Out in the middle of the chaos, Jim spotted Silver on his hands and knees, desperately stuffing handfuls of treasure into his pockets. Jim shook his head at the sight and turned his attention back to the control desk. Now that all hell had broken loose, it was just a matter of getting the engines started so Jim and his friends could make their escape.
"You go back and help the captain and Doc!" said Jim, sliding his body under the console. "If I'm not there in five minutes, leave without me!"
"I am not leaving my buddy Jimmy!" B.E.N. protested, attempting to pull Jim out from under the control desk. Jim shot B.E.N. a threatening look, while holding two live wires close together.
"Unless he looks at me like that…" said B.E.N. "Bye, Jim!"
With that B.E.N. sprinted off the ship and through the portal to save Delbert and Amelia.
Running on pure adrenaline, Jim could almost ignore the pain from his wounds, but he was pretty sure he had ripped open Delbert's sloppy stitchwork. He pressed his hand to his stomach. Sure enough, it was wet with an unmistakable warm fluid, and he brought his hand up to find it coated with blood. He turned his attention back to the ancient wiring, determined to get the decrepit old ship in working order. When the engines finally roared to life, Jim pumped his fists in the air and whooped while Morph danced around his head cackling.
"Yes! Morph, we are so out of here!" Jim yelled, taking the wheel and turning the ship.
"Ah, Jimbo!" Jim turned to see Silver balanced on top of the gunwale. "Aren't ye the seventh wonder of the universe?"
Jim leapt to his right and grabbed a cutlass. He held it in front of him with trembling hands as he pointed it at Silver's gut.
"Get back!" Jim couldn't hide the terror in his voice, and Silver stopped in his tracks. A hurt expression passed over the old pirate's face as he looked Jim in the eye.
"Jimbo, listen to me!" said Silver. "I'm sorry things went the way they did, but if ye just work with me we can both get outah here with our cut of the treasure!"
Silver paused and his eyes quickly scanned Jim's body, then he looked somewhere between Jim's feet and became visibly alarmed. Jim quickly looked down and saw little drops of blood hit the ground below him.
"Lad, yer bleeding again," said Silver. "Give me control of the ship, so I can get ye somewhere safe!"
"Stop pretending like I mean something to you!" Jim screamed with tears in his eyes.
A sudden blast of energy struck the bottom of the ship, throwing both Jim and Silver overboard and onto a platform that tilted precariously over a chasm of molten metal. Jim slid down the surface of the platform, using his limited strength to kick off the edge and leap across the red-hot gorge, sliding down a wall until he could grab onto a small handhold. He screamed as he felt a sickening ripping sensation below his navel. If his stitches weren't already ripped before, they certainly were now.
"Reach for me, lad!" Jim heard Silver's voice, and he turned to see the man holding onto the edge of the ship with his cybernetic hand and reaching for Jim with the other. Jim tried to reach back, but there was just too much distance between them.
"I-I can't!" he cried. To his absolute horror, the handhold he'd been gripping retracted into the wall, and he was sent sliding down, desperately clawing until he managed to grab another handhold.
His palms were sweaty, and his body felt weak. Jim felt absolutely hopeless as he watched the second handhold slowly begin to retract into the wall. He never imagined that he would die like this, helplessly plunging into a hellacious pit of burning metal. For a split second, he almost considered just letting himself fall. It was either this – a quick, fiery death – or several days or weeks of suffering on the ship before he inevitably died from his injuries. Then Jim thought of his mother, the one person he loved more than anyone else in the universe. She had always been there for him, no matter how badly he fucked up, and how could he possibly entertain the thought of not being there for her? He thought about the Benbow Inn and Delbert and Montressor. As ugly as that planet was, it was home, and he wanted nothing more than to be there right now. He wanted to go home. He wanted his mom! Jim looked over his shoulder and saw Silver, still too far away, but reaching for him nonetheless. Then, with growing determination, Jim decided that he desperately wanted to live.
Just as his fingers began to slip, Jim kicked off the wall. He reached his hand upward, knowing it may be completely pointless, but he had to try! His heart leapt into his throat when he felt Silver's massive hand wrap tightly around his wrist, and next thing he knew, he had been pulled up to the platform's surface. Jim looked up and saw Captain Flint's ship drift away toward certain destruction, and he realized that Silver had let it go to save him. Another blast of energy struck the ship, cutting it in half and making it explode, sending a waterfall of gold coins and gems into the blazing inferno below. Jim looked at Silver wide-eyed and in shock. The man had really just given up his lifelong dream to save him. He suddenly found himself tightly wrapped in Silver's arms.
"I weren't pretending, Jim," said Silver. "Ye do mean something to me."
Tears spilled from Jim's eyes, and he threw his arms around Silver. For a brief moment, the two of them nearly forgot about the destruction happening around them. A loud bang made them snap out of it though, and Silver lifted Jim up so his head rested on his shoulder. As Silver sprinted through the portal, Jim gripped the man's shirt collar till his knuckles were white, trying with all his strength to remain conscious.
B.E.N.'s voice rang out from above, and Silver looked up as the Legacy pulled up close to where he stood.
"Hurry on board!" the robot cried. "We've got exactly two minutes and thirty-four seconds till planet's destruction!"
Without a second's hesitation, Silver gripped Jim tight and heaved them both over the side of the Legacy. Jim could hear Amelia shouting orders at Delbert, who sounded like he was nearing a breaking point. The ship jerked sideways as Delbert clumsily handled the wheel, and Jim found himself praying to some higher deity that the canid wouldn't get them all killed.
He felt Silver loosen his grip, and the man lowered him down by the gunwale, hovering over him to shield his body from falling debris. Morph chattered somewhere above his face, clearly panicked. Jim cracked his eyes open and propped himself up with his back against the wall. He squinted up at Silver, seeing double.
"Y-you gave it all up?" he asked.
"Ah!" Silver waved his hand dismissively. "It was only a lifelong obsession. I'll get over it."
Jim looked at the front of Silver's shirt and was horrified to see it stained with blood. His blood.
"M'sorry…"
"What's that, Jimbo?"
"I got blood all over you," Jim replied, slurring his words.
"Don't worry about that, lad," said Silver. "Now let me take a look at ye."
Silver had just begun to tug Jim's shirt from his pants when the ship was struck by debris and a mast came crashing down on the deck.
"Mizzen sail demobilized, Captain!" said B.E.N. "Thrusters at only thirty percent of capacity!"
"Thirty percent!" Delbert cried. "That means we're… we'll never clear the planet's explosion in time!"
A new surge of energy coursed through Jim's body, and Silver jumped back in surprise when Jim leapt to his feet and leaned over the edge of the Legacy to look back at the portal. Legs trembling, Jim turned around and scanned the deck. He breathed heavily, eyes darting around the ship, looking for something. Anything! Then his eyes landed on a partially destroyed cannon and a long slab of sheet metal.
"We gotta turn around!" Jim yelled, dropping to his hands and knees and crawling toward the wreckage. His injured leg felt tingly and dragged slightly, but he pushed himself forward anyway. There were more urgent matters at hand, and his injuries would just have to wait.
"What?!" Amelia gaped at Jim, a rare look of fear materializing on the captain's face.
"There's a portal back there!" said Jim. "It can get us out of here!"
Silver stared at Jim in total bewilderment, before he too leaned over the edge and looked back at the portal, which currently opened up to a fiery inferno. Doppler voiced his own concern about this very fact, but Jim scurried around on all fours, dragging the sheet metal and fallen cannon to the edge of the deck.
"I'm gonna open a different door!" said Jim. "It's our only chance!"
"Jim, that is insane!" Doppler cried. "I can't let you risk your life like that!"
Moving faster than he could think, Jim tried to attach the cannon to the sheet metal with a flimsy rope he'd found on the ground.
"Jimbo!" Hurrying to Jim's side, Silver helped him solder the two pieces together. It would hold better, but it obviously did little to ease Silver's concern. "Listen, lad! Ye don't have to do this!"
"One minute, twenty-nine seconds till planet's destruction!" B.E.N.'s voice rose in volume as panic set in.
"It's our only shot!" Jim shouted. "If I don't try, we'll all die!"
Jim and Silver looked to Captain Amelia, who pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. After a moment, she finally looked up at Delbert and gave the order.
"Turn this ship around, Doctor! Head straight for the portal!"
"Aye… Captain," Delbert's voice was weak and full of terror, but he yanked the wheel hard and began to turn the ship.
Silver helped Jim heave the improvised surfer on top of the gunwale, then Jim climbed up and secured his feet to the surface. His legs shook as he crouched into the ready position, his heart hammering in his chest. His injured leg just so happened to be his dominant leg, when it came to surfing, and Jim really needed it to cooperate with him if he hoped to maneuver this thing.
"Okay," said Jim. "No matter what happens, keep the ship heading straight for that portal!"
"FIFTY-EIGHT SECONDS!" B.E.N. screamed.
"Ye got this, Jimbo!" Silver said, but his voice sounded heavy and frightened.
Jim locked eyes with Silver, wishing he could think of something profound to say, but he just grit his teeth and pushed himself off the edge. Taking to the air on the makeshift surfer, Jim soared through the rising and falling rubble, over flames and molten metal, knowing very well that this could be his last ride.
And if it really did end up being his last ride, he'd make sure it counted for something.
