Yup. Here it is again. Another installment. Continue spreading the word! Responses:
Dekujama: Really? That's another way of interpreting it I suppose. But I think that it really helps make Silver a better character that he regrets it coming to that, right? Thanks for the review!
Mermaid: Oh, don't worry. The romance picks up…soon. Haha.
Dreaming: haha, glad you liked it. And yes, they do have harbored emotions- that's a very god way of putting it. Made perfect sense.
Kim: haha, the Scroop scene. What more is there to say? Hope you like it!
Pippin: Hmm. Well I hope that Skye does a better job in this scene (and uh, who's Jen?…).
Fox Child: A "Juliet" thing? Like she'll move to Italy and kill herself? No, there's no killing, haha. And as for a sequel, I haven't really thought about it. I don't want it to become a Mary-Sue thing, that trap is so much easier to fall into with a sequel. I'll see what happens at the end. And as you may recall, in the 2nd chapter I mention that responding to reviews usually keeps readers interested…so mwahaha, you've fallen into THAT trap! Lol, thanks.
Tally: Thanks for the name thing. I was about to add the full name to my dictionary to keep those squiggly lines off my comp. And as for the naughty-ness…well, my friends and I have unusually philosophical and risqué conversations- that was a mini-tribute to my theatre friends. Haha, now you know the inside commentary!
Anyway, this is a chapter that many have waited long and anxiously for. I truly hope that this lives up to your expectations. A few notes on it.
First- this is a high action chapter. It is quite difficult to describe action in a story, so I really hope that it doesn't get tedious or boring. Bare with it, if you can, it's worth reading. Thanks.
Second- you know this scene cuts back and forth between BEN and Jim. There are NO dividers between such shots, don't get confused. The formatting is screwed up and there aren't any big spaces where they *should* be. I don't want anyone getting lost.
Third: I apologize in advance if this doesn't live up to what you expected from me, especially in the romance category. I couldn't do too much, a lot is going on, but it's definitely a lot more than we've seen so far. I promise you there will be "more" interaction…at the end. Patience is rewarded.
There you go! I really hope you like it, this is like…the big one. Except for the whole thing w/ the planet exploding and…well, it's the biggest one yet. Enjoy.
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Navigating the tunnels was a tricky business. Luckily BEN had a compass imbedded into one of his many dials, so they could roughly determine which way it was to the pirate's camp.
Skye was not happy to hear that.
"What do you mean, we're headed to their base?! Has it occurred to you that they want us dead?" she said in alarm.
"Hey," Jim called back to her as they approached one of the openings above them, "I've got a plan."
That's so reassuring," Skye scoffed, but went along anyway. She wasn't really angry at Jim at all, but she was beginning to doubt her impulse to let BEN come along. This was because he hadn't stopped talking since they entered the tunnels.
"...and then they made me their chief-" BEN rambled, but he stopped when he realized that Jim and Skye had disappeared up through the manhole in the ceiling (or more appropriately, the ground).
"So what's the plan!?" he yelled, joining them.
"Shhh! BEN, quiet!" Jim hissed, as Skye clamped her hand firmly on BEN's mouth. She smothered the urge to throw him into the group of pirates who were snoring only meters away. Let's see how much talking he could do as scrap metal. Unfortunately, that would probably result in their discovery as well, so she refrained.
Jim turned to the muzzled BEN, and outlined his plan quickly, quietly.
"Ok, here it is. We sneak back to the Legacy, disable the laser cannons, and bring back the map," he whispered.
"That's a good plan," BEN muttered through the corner of his mouth, "but the only thing is, I'm wondering, how do we get there?"
"On that," Jim nodded towards the skiff tied up near snoozing John Silver.
* * *
Four invisible shadows slipped around the perimeter of the illuminated ring created by the pirate's campfire. The faint humming of the Mission Impossible theme song from the robot was the only thing that could have given away their position. Luckily, the pirates slept on.
Jim and Skye shimmied up the rope that tied off the longboat, and lowered themselves in gently. Jim helped BEN over the edge, making sure he kept quiet. Skye moved to the launching gear, a let out a small moan.
"Jim- they've locked up the controls!" she whispered in despair.
Jim stepped over, his eyes darting in panic. Skye was right. Everything was bolted securely. There was no way to release any of the levers.
"Now what?" Skye asked, and sat down heavily, despondent as the plan and hope slid away from them. Jim did the same. There was silence for a few moments as they tried to think.
BEN piped up with absentminded chatter, "You know, ships these days have no dignity, locking themselves up like that, so rude of them. I mean here are two completely well-meaning kids trying to save the day and the ship has to go be locked. The Mambo Queen would never do anything like that, never, she's as trustworthy and reliable as the day is long, however long that may be..."
Morph was the only one listening to BEN's prattle, but Jim and Skye had heard the last few sentences. They looked at the robot, who was trying to figure out exactly how long a day was anyway.
"Wait," Jim asked slowly, "who, or what, is the 'Mambo Queen?'"
BEN glanced up and with a wave of his hand said, "Oh, just my boat. She's a beauty, she really is, I built her myself, you have that kind of free time on this planet-"
But Jim wasn't listening anymore.
"You have your own ship and you didn't tell us?!" he demanded.
Skye muttered, "Is there any reason to be terribly surprised? He's got a safe base, an escape system, why not a ship? Anything else you've got that we should know about, BEN? Like the map for instance?"
BEN smiled and chirped, "Nope, don't think so. But I've got season passes to Waterworld if you want."
"Whatever," Jim moaned. "Just get us to your ship."
* * *
The rickety Mambo Queen docked alongside the Legacy, and Skye made sure the coast was clear. She hauled herself over the ledge and landed lightly. Jim and BEN climbed over as well, but BEN collapsed with a yelp, pulling Jim with him.
"BEN! Shh!"
"Sorry! Sorry," BEN apologized sheepishly, "It's just, um...I'm sitting on something squishy..."
"That," Skye growled, "would be my face."
"Oops."
* * *
They slinked down the stairs, and Jim instructed BEN as he peered around the corner.
"Ok, I'll get the map. You wait here."
"Roger, Jimmy! I'll neutralize laser cannons, sir!" BEN saluted, and turned down the hallway.
"BEN! BEN, no!" Jim hissed after him, but BEN was already wheeling down the hallway, singing.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!" he hummed, and Skye turned to Jim.
"I'd better go with him, make sure he doesn't blow anything up."
"Good idea," Jim agreed, and watched Skye run down the hallway after BEN and turn the corner, then he himself started towards the docking bay.
BEN entered the room containing the switchboard for the Legacy's controls.
"Disable a few laser cannons, what is the big deal?" BEN said to himself as he entered the room, Skye following behind him. "All we got to do is find that one little wire-"
He opened the panel board to a jumble of red, yellow, and blue wires and plugs that was so tangled he couldn't see the back of the switchboard. His eyes boggled.
"Oh, mama."
Skye smirked sadistically, and sat down, leaning against the wall. She could use the entertainment.
Jim removed his mask as he entered the docking bay. Instead of sneaking around, he had had Morph form a mask to make him resemble Mr. Onus, and by wearing it managed to sneak by the two pirates taking a break in the sleeping quarters.
Jim hurried over towards the coiled rope, Morph following. He reached in, pushed the coils around-
-and pulled out the map.
Jim sighed in relief. Just then alarms blared.
He panicked, then bolted.
"Bad, BEN, bad!" Skye snapped as BEN fumbled with a wire.
"Ok, fixing!" BEN said, and plugged the wire in. The blaring stopped.
Jim, out of breath, skidded towards the stairs panting to himself "That stupid robot's gonna get us all-"
He stopped on the stairs.
"-killed," he finished in surprise.
Scroop was at the top of the stairwell. His right claw snapped open.
"Cabin boy."
Jim took off.
Racing down the passageway, he knocked barrels over as he passed. They didn't seem to be slowing Scroop down any. Jim could hear the clacking of Scroop's bug-like legs scrabbling along behind him, gaining ground. Scroop's many feet enabled him to climb over the walls and ceiling, and as he caught up, Morph shrieked.
Morph changed into a pie and smashed into Scroop's face.
Growling in anger Scroop wrenched a custard-cream Morph off his face and flung him into an exhaust pipe, which sucked him up and send him ricocheting through the tubing down the hallway.
Jim slipped around a corner, using Scroop's delay to charge his pistol.
Just as he swung around and aimed, the lights went out.
BEN's eyes lit up like flashlights as he looked around the room.
"Ok, don't- don't panic. Breathing in, breathing out."
"BEN, quit with the Lamaze and get the lights back on," Skye called.
The red glow of the emergency back-up lighting slid on and Jim's eyes readjusted. But there was nothing there. Scroop was gone.
Jim's eyes darted back and forth, looking around. The shallow breathing and blood pounding in his head was all that filled the silence.
Where was Scroop???
A shadowy figure lowered itself slowly from the ceiling. Opening his claws, Scroop leaned towards Jim...
When Morph popped out of the exhaust vent next to Scroop's head. With a gasp, Morph tuned into a hand, poked Scroop in the eyes, and darted back into the piping.
Scroop's yell of pain caused Jim to look up in fright. Scroop knew his opportunity for attack was lost. In a desperate attempt, he managed to swing at Jim, knocking him to the ground and sending the pistol skittering across the floor. Scroop leapt in attack, trying for Jim's throat. He struggled, panicked, trying to reach the shooter that was just out of reach.
BEN placed his hand on a red wire, and said to reassure himself, "This has got to be cannons!"
He pulled it, and the artificial gravity shut off.
"Maybe not," BEN said embarrassed, as he, Skye, and anything not bolted down began rising through the air.
The lack of gravity enabled Jim to give Scroop a good kick, sending the bug-like pirate crashing into the grating above, which broke. Unfortunately Jim floated right up through the hole as well, and his attempt to grab the pistol as it rose only resulted in it accidentally firing a hole in the deck of the ship, and it soared above Jim's head.
The hole in the deck was directly above the room in which BEN was trying to stay near the panel board. He was still holding the wire, but Skye was rising freely. Once the ceiling was blasted open, nothing prevented her from drifting up and out as well. What she saw as she drifted above the deck terrified her.
Scroop had grabbed onto a rope attached to the mast, and as Jim rose past him he lunged out, snapping his claw. The blow sent Jim careening, glancing off the crow's nest, out towards open space. At the last minute, Jim grabbed the black pirate flag, and he saw the pistol fly out of reach into the inky blackness. But his eyes widened at what happened below.
Beneath him, Scroop climbed up the mast, grinning wickedly.
Skye, watching all this as she drifted slowly upwards, knew she had very little time to help. She had an idea, but...but there were so many things that could go wrong...
Scroop reached the rope holding the flag- all that kept Jim tethered to the Legacy. His claw clicked open, and he used the serrated edge to slowly saw away at the rope.
Skye couldn't afford not to take the risk. Jim was in danger. Now.
Abandoning all caution, she removed the two charges she had hidden in her boot, and slipped the laser cartridge into her pistol. Firing at the deck, she used the inertial momentum to jolt herself up towards the crow's nest. There was no room for error now.
"Do say hello to Mr. Arrow," Scroop sneered, as the rope frayed, snapped, dwindled down to one twisted skein…
What happened next took place very quickly.
Jim climbed down the flag and grabbed onto the pole of the mast. Scroop, seeing this, jumped up towards him in anger, and Jim pushed off, bouncing off Scroop's back. This sent Scroop reeling up, and he grabbed the flag in panic. He was about to climb back down, when Skye switched the charges in her gun as she soared past Jim clutching the mast above the crow's nest.
"Tell him yourself!" she shouted, and fired.
Scroop's arm froze into ice, claw ripping through the flag, and the impact from the energy blast caused the weakened rope to snap where Scroop had sawed at it. The flag spiraled off into the open void of space, taking Scroop with it, screaming all the way.
Below, BEN yelled at the wire he held, "Back you go, you naughty plug!" and thrust it into the correct socket. The familiar purple glow washed over the Legacy, and BEN, Skye, and Jim crashed down, along with whatever hadn't floated away.
Jim lay face up on the floor of the crow's nest. When Skye had fired the ice charge, the intense recoil sent her reeling, colliding forcefully against Jim. With the gravity she had fallen back across his body, she could feel his heart racing and exhausted breathing beneath her head. Quickly they both sat up, gasping for breath. They looked at each other, their eyes saying the same thing:
We're alive.
Skye stood and helped Jim up. Once he was on his feet, he squeezed Skye's hand before releasing it, whether in reassurance or gratitude she didn't know.
Morph emerged from an exhaust pipe, coughing dirt., as a voice called up from the deck.
"Laser cannons disconnected, Captain Jimmy, sir! Gee, that wasn't so tough," BEN called up, even though from the looks of him, covered in sparking broken wires, it was.
Skye turned to Jim, and he held up the golden sphere, answering her unspoken question.
They had the map. They were both alive.
But it had been close -too close.
They hoped it was worth it.