Pirates of Infinite Space

a Treasure Planet fan fiction

by Lord Akiyama

Disclaimer: With the exception of Clarice, Black Sam Roberts and Peter Reynolds, all characters are more than likely the property of Disney. The character of Clarice is the property of Long Meg Silver and is used with permission (Thanks Meg - XD)

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Chapter 2 - Desperation

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The Brucelang Inn on The Planet Octobremer

What made the Brucelang recognizable was its immense variety in grog flavors. Being the everlasting drink of pirates, the scourge of the universe were the typical customers seen at the Brucelang. The owner of the inn had seen every kind of creature to travel the four corners of the universe and had lived by a simple rule. No fighting or there'll be no service.

The owner obviously never met Scroop. The minute the spider-like creature flung open the doors, the entire inn stopped all activities to look upon the newcomer. Scroop just glared at everyone before scuttling his way to the bar. In a deep and raspy voice, very close to a whisper, he said, "Grog." The owner nodded and grabbed a mug.

Scroop kept to himself as he waited for his drink. Then he heard some chuckling from his right. He glanced over to see another pirate, drunk as hell, just chuckling away. Scroop returned to staring into nothing and was handed his grog. Scroop took no more than three sips before he made mention of his business in the Brucelang.

"I wish ta know where I can find The Benbow Inn," he said. "I've been tryin' ta... find a friend of mine." Dead silence was his immediate reply. Scroop looked about, hearing a cough here or there. Either everyone was so stupid as to not know where the Benbow was, or no one was willing to give him the satisfaction of it's location.

The drunk pirate on his right began to chuckle some more. "Benbow? Ya know, I remember a place called Benbow. Dis place was like... oh, I dunno... ha ha ha! That's right. That's what I remember. Heh heh heh" The pirate continued to guzzle down his drink. Scroop ignored him.

Scroop continued his gaze at the owner, obviously not going to give him the pleasure of an answer. The spider-like creature then slammed his right claw on the counter. It sounded like it dug through some flesh. More specifically, someone's head. The entire room stopped all activity and looked at the stranger. There is great fear and terror running down their spines as they looked upon a creature who kept a sinister gaze on the owner.

"As I asked before," Scroop said, keeping that deep and raspy voice in the same tone, "where can I find The Benbow Inn." He narrowed his eyes a little, keeping the gaze on the owner.

The owner, his teeth chattering about, was sweating faster than he could possibly imagine. The terror this creature brought was much worse than the pirates he has seen before. This stranger wanted information and he wanted it now. "Th-th-the B-Ben-ba-bow, ye say?" he said, in a tone of a crying little child. "Y-y-ye want Montressor. Yes, that's it. Montressor. Ye can't miss it."

Scroop then drained the remaining grog in his mug and removed his claw. The lifeless body of the drunk pirate slipped off the counter and onto the floor, blood oozing out of his head. Scroop looked at his claw, covered in blood, and wiped it on the owner's shirt. The creature then hopped down and removed whatever coins the lifeless drunk had. He tossed a gold coin onto the counter along with two more. "He'll pay for me tab," he chuckled.

The spider-like stranger made his way to the exit when he stopped. Not a single person in the room moved since his sudden murder of the drunk pirate. Scroop cocked his head to the left and noticed a newspaper in the hands of a customer. He swiftly snatched the paper out of the customer's hands and looked at the picture that caught his eye. It was a picture of two familiar bodies. Captain Amelia and Doctor Delbert Doppler. It appeared that they were married. Good for them, he thought sarcastically. Then he noticed the four children in their arms and grunted. Terrific. She had kids.

Scroop crumpled the paper up into a ball and tossed it over his soldier. He scuttled his way to the door and exited it. No one in the inn moved for another several moments. It didn't matter to Scroop. He scuttled his way to his ship, what was once a cargo ship three years ago, and was about to make his exit from this planet. He then noticed two robotic policemen outside the ship. Scroop groaned and scuttled up to them. "What seems to be the problem, officers?" he spoke as though he were an old creature.

Scroop ignored everything the robots said, wanting to get this thing over with. However, he heard something about the creature need to be brought in for question. His fake smile disappeared after hearing this. I don't have time fer this, eh thought. With that, he swiftly decapitated one of the robots and used the same claw to swipe through the other. Both were instantly disabled as Scroop quickly hopped into his ship and sailed off.

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Montressor Spaceport

"It may not be the Legacy," Amelia said, reflecting on the ship that had been in her family possession for generations, "but I'm sure it'll do just fine." The RLS Intrepid was the ship specifically requested by the mission financer, Peter Reynolds. Normally the Legacy would be the ship used in any mission commanded by Amelia. Amelia decided to accept it and move on. Clarice, on the other hand, didn't.

"Looks like the type of crud Silver could easily plunder in three seconds," she commented. "No disrespect, Mrs. Doppler, but if you ask me I think this Mr. Reynolds is a total wacko. I don't think he even knows the first thing about being a spacer. Kinda reminds me of when your husband financed the expedition to Treasure Planet."

"Don't start, young lady," Amelia chuckled. "As commanding officer of this expedition, I will be the only one to poke fun at my husband. And it would be wise if you referred to me as ma'am or captain. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Clarice said with a giant grin on her face. They began their accent aboard the ship as Clarice tossed her hair back. "It feels great to travel once again. To once again feel the wind in my face on a ship sailing off to unknown worlds. Those were the fun times, captain."

"I'm sure they were. Oh, that reminds me. I seemed to have forgotten to give you your assigned duties. Since you have taken a liking to Mr. Silver so much..."

"Yer kidding."

"... I've decided to assign you as the ship's cook."

Clarice sighed. "Well, it's better than cabin girl. If Mr. Reynolds brought along some poor shmuck, don't you dare give him or her to me. Unlike Mr. Silver, I'd toss the poor chap overboard faster than you can say, 'Launch!'"

The two women giggled as they made their way to the captain's stateroom. Waiting for them in front of the door was the expedition's financer. Peter Reynolds had a behavior problem that would resemble that of Amelia's husband. He would often let his mouth go running off as opposed to thinking things through, and was just a klutz. Reynolds was speradon, an alien race with resemblances to the falcon. Only they don't have wings, meaning they can't fly.

Mr. Reynolds was wearing a space suit that reminded Amelia too well of her first meeting with her husband. In addition, the klutz was just so out of place with his surroundings. Amelia tried to cover an embarrassing smile whereas Clarice chuckled. "Told you he was a total wacko," Clarice whispered. Amelia nudged the youngster who was still chuckling about when Mr. Reynolds noticed them.

"Ah, you must be Captain Amelia Doppler," he said with great enthusiasm. "Good day to you, captain. I am Professor Peter Reynolds of Winterwell Institute over in Montressor."

"Pleased to meet you, professor," Amelia said. "This here is the ship's cook, Clarice." Professor Reynolds stuck out his left hand to shake. Clarice and Amelia looked at one another for a moment and then shrugged. Emerging from underneath her cloak was Clarice's robotic left arm. The mere sight of it caused the professor to jump and back away.

"What's the matter, sir?" Clarice asked with a grin on her face. "Never seen the latest in cybernetic technology?" Amelia rolled her eyes and shook her head, all the while showing a grin of her own. The young gal had a way with people, that's for sure.

"I-uh... I w-wouldn't have the slightest... eh... clue... young lady," the professor tried to respond. A whistle was heard. Amelia's ears flung up and she looked to behind her.

"I suggest we continue this conversation later, professor. I have a ship to run. Ms. Clarice, if you may." A smile formed on Amelia's face. It was good to be a commander again. Clarice saw this and decided to take her post as the ship's cook. The red-haired youngster made her way to the galley, empty of any crew looking for a grog or a bite to eat.

"Well Silver, if you could only see me now," she said with a smile. With that, Clarice went to work cooking the night's dinner. Roasted butter beef with caviar.

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to be continued...

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R/R - I really wanna hear what y'all think.