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)

A good portion of this chapter came from a scene in The Treasure Planet Forum RPG. Jacqui Holmes, the forum owner, played Amelia and I played Scroop.

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Chapter 7 - Nightmare

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Scroop was pissed off. It was just his luck that by finding Silver's girl and Captain Amelia a pirate crew had to take it over. It only made him angrier than before. So angry that he felt the need to kill in order to relieve the stress. He watched as the pirate captain assigned seven of his men to remain on their original ship in order to pick them up later. The seven men left behind were easily pickings for Scroop.

He laid low and pretended to be dead as his ship sailed into the pirate ship. The seven men looked about the stolen cargo ship curiously. They saw the supposed dead body of Scroop and thought it would be a good idea to take whatever he had that was worth of any value. Scroop then jumped to his feet and slaughtered all seven them as quickly and as bloody as ever.

Scroop looked about the pirate ship for anything worth of value to him. Just a few barrels of grog and some stolen chests here and there. Scroop quickly returned to his stolen cargo ship and continued to tail the Intrepid silently. He wasn't picked by the captain the first time. The pirates probably won't catch him the second time. He just had to wait, something Scroop disliked.

* * *

Three Years Earlier...

Amelia caught the object Scroop threw to her. She opened her hand to reveal a golden locket. By merely looking at it, faint memories began to fill her mind though they were not clear enough to recall. She looked up at the arachnid curiously and said, "What is this supposed to be?"

"Oh, somet'in like a family heirloom I guess," Scroop replied. "I looked inside it once and it puzzled me. Hologram of a family. I wouldn't know." With that, Scroop scuttled off.

Amelia watched the creature leave. She slumped against the side of the boat with the locket in hand. With her fingers she slowly touched every inch of the beautifully embroidered gold that colored the locket. After moments of just looking at it, curiosity got the best of her and she opened it. Shock overcame her as her eyes grew bigger and she covered her mouth.

The hologram projected a mother and a daughter, laughing and playing about. Moments later, a different projection showed. It was the same daughter, only this time sitting on her father's lap. He was reading to her from a story book. A third and final projection appeared. All three were gathered together in front of a Christmas tree. It was to be the family's last Christmas, Amelia knew. For she was the little girl in the hologram.

The images of the hologram ended. Amelia gently closed the locket, grasping it tightly in her hand. She nods her head down, ears back, and her eyes clenched tightly shut. Moments later, she unhooked the latch upon the locket, reattaching it around her neck. She took a deep breath and then opened her eyes, hate streaming through them. She looked about and saw him about the rafters. As swift as possible, Amelia rushed toward him. It was then that she slammed Scroop as hard as she could on to the deck. There was no one else around.

"Why Captain, what was that ever for?" Scroop asked in a surprised tone. They both knew it was a ploy. "Are ye tellin' me ye know what that locket was? Why, I'm all ears."

"Where did you get this, you slime-bag?!" she demanded. She edged closer to the arachnid creature. "You were there weren't you... you killed them. You and your bloody ass pirates!!!" Amelia was now nose to nose with her enemy. Though she glared at him, he simply smiled. "You know... I can't prove a thing, but I know... it was you..."

After a moment of staring, Amelia stood up and turned to walk away. As if it were only a flash of light, she turned back and slugged him hard in the face. The blow spontaneously caught him off guard. His head slamming twice on the deck.

"You know... there is one difference between them and me..." She paused, catching her breath while Scroop growled as he brought his head off the deck. "... I'm not afraid of you!"

Scroop glared at her, but then formed a smile on his face. He began to chuckle. "Not afraid of me, eh?" he said. "Neither was yer father. I must say, I didn't have tha pleasure of killin' 'im. I did, though, watch. He was spewin' about how we were gonna get what was comin' ta us. And that was when me mates were guttin' 'im."

She couldn't take it. The anger built up inside her overcame her and within moments was clawing and punching away at the heartless Scroop. Doing what she could to cut his face, make him bleed and hit him wherever she could land a punch. Suddenly, his claws grasped her wrists. He flipped her over, keeping a grip on her arms, and pinned her legs down with two of his six legs. Scroop, his face covered in scars and blood, looked down about the helpless captain.

"I would tear ye from limb ta limb right now," he said in his low and deep, raspy voice. "Ye don't have tha strength ta counter, and I have just too many legs. Yeah, I could kill ye right here, right now. But I'm not gonna. Ye know why?"

She shook her head in anger, knowing that she was beaten. "... No... why?"

"Because I luv tha terror about ye," he whispered. "Oh, ye try not ta show it on yer pretty face. But I can it in yer eyes. I can see that scared lil girl, losing tha very people who gave her life. I luv ta see tha terror upon others. Especially someone like you. Ye say yer not afraid of me? That's fine. Yer terrified of what I've done ta yer life. Ye know, I just don't like tha look of terror upon ye..."

Scroop then began to slowly lick the side of her face. Amelia whimpered a bit and tried to pull away. "I luv tha taste of it," he continued. "Ye will never prove that I killed yer family. But ye know it's true. And that's what kills ye. I'm gettin' away wit tha murder of yer only family."

Slowly, Scroop released Amelia and began to scuttled away. "Oh, and one more tin," he said. "This might bring ye solace. I'm tha last of that crew. It seems yer father's prophecy may be comin' true after all." And with that, Scroop disappeared from sight chuckling.

Amelia did not move. The words burned into her like fire. After some time, she gathered the strength to pick herself up. She made her way slowly to her stateroom and looked the door. She slid to the ground and broke down into tears. She took the locket into her hand and opened it, reliving the holographic images again and again.

* * *

Amelia could not sleep. With sad eyes, she watched once again the holographic memories of what was once a happy childhood. Loving, caring parents giving her the universe with happiness. The holographic memories gave a little light to the darkened cabin. Clarice, trying to sleep in the bunk above, shifted before she looked down at Amelia.

"It won't stop, will it?" Clarice asked. "The nightmares, that is."

Amelia sighed. "Ever thought about your real parents, Clarice? Ever wondered about who they were and what they were like?"

"I was too young to remember anything. Silver was the only parent I've known my whole life."

Amelia finally closed the locket, her eyes closed though forming tears that would run down her face. "To be five years old and witness the brutal murder of your parents. Such a nightmare will haunt me for the rest of my life."

"Don't let it rule you, Captain. I mean, you're a wonderful and loving mother, a caring wife, and one of the best people I have ever known next to Silver. You have done so much since then. Don't let it destroy whatever happiness you've regained."

Amelia took in these words and smiled. "Thank you, Clarice. I think I needed that."

"Yer welcome. Now will you please let me sleep? I'd rather not think about the fact that we're on the same ship as that prick who has become our captor."

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to be continued...

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