Late-ish update again, I know. I was camping this weekend, and wrote it about an hour ago. But I'm sure you're all used to my semi-erratic habits. It's better than not having any timescale, right? For you sci-fi buffs there is a reference to another animated sci-fi movie in here, see if you can find it. Also, please cope with the formatting for now, this QuickEdit stuff sucks.
Anyway, responses (to make up for it, heh heh).
Pippin: Thank you. Such flamboyance and exuberance in reviews makes me feel special!
Fox Child: My leg is fine now, it was just a pulled muscle, thanks for your concern. Please don't faint though, I won't put it on hiatus, and even if I did I'd make mention of it somewhere.
Kim: I used the name in here, and your info helped. Thanks!
Talle: My leg "thing" is better, thanks, haha. And yes, I love PotC as well. Rock on.
Dekujama: I would never forget. I actually get worried when I'm a little late, I can imagine people freaking out, it makes me feel so guilty!
Mermaid Ninja: You're most welcome.
Dreaming: thank you! Good luck w/ homework!
Angel: raises sword to charge forward tally-ho! See you there!
Anonymous: Ah, hello there flamer. I notice that you reviewed only chapter 17. That means either you continued to read the entire story even though you hated it, or you only read ch. 17 and are making judgments based on one chapter. Both are incredible asinine moves. If you don't like it, don't read it. That's all.
And PS: I think everyone will agree with me when I say that in order for someone to write an "alternate ending," not only is proper grammar and punctuation recommended, but there also has to be and original ending written first, or else it's not an "alternate."
I am correct, no?
Thank you to those who stand by me. Enjoy.
The italicized text is being used to indicate the chapter starts below
Silver's longboat soared above a green path, shocked gold by periodic pulses of light. The map's path was unlike any other the occupants of the boat had ever seen, dematerializing behind them into a light haze as they traveled along it. Flying past wide, mushroom capped trees and winding trunks resembling centipede legs, the pirates looked eagerly into the distance where the thin green line disappeared over the horizon.
When the foliage became too thick to carry on in the craft, all but one of the pirates followed Silver, Jim, Skye, and BEN into the forest. The remaining buccaneer guarded Amelia and Doppler at gunpoint, who were left tied in the boat.
Jim looked around nervously, half expecting members of Flint's crew to jump from the shadows. Strange that he should be more afraid of long dead pirates rather than the ones threatening them right now. In attempt to reassure himself, he patted the shivering Morph in his pocket, speaking a few words of comfort.
BEN, meanwhile, was panicking.
"Skye? Jimmy? I-I don't know about you, but I'm starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes! At least, I think it's my life. Was I ever dancing with an android named Lupe?" he shrieked.
"BEN, shh," Jim hissed, looking to John Silver advancing into the dark forest.
"This isn't over yet."
Silver looked up. The pulse of the golden light had quickened, vanishing into a thicket of bamboo like trees.
"We're getting' close, lads!" he bellowed, drawing his cutlass. "I smell treasure a-waitin'!" Silver grabbed Jim by the shirt and pulled him towards the grove, followed by excited, cheering pirates. The sword slashed through the trees, sending sticky sweet sap oozing over the ground. The treasure was right ahead, just behind this last bamboo, they could feel it, they could see-
"Huh?"
The golden green path continued pulsing, in mid-air, at the edge of a ravine.
But there was nothing at the end.
Emptiness. A void. Blankness.
"Where is it?" Silver roared.
Mr. Onus snarled, "I see nothing! One great big stinking hunk of nothing!"
It was then that the map sealed up and the path swirled away.
Silver turned to Jim, "What's going on, Jimbo?"
Jim pushed the buttons, impulsively attempted to twist the hemispheres.
"I don't know!" he said, "I can't get it open!"
Cries of dissent rose up from the crew. In the hubbub, Birdbrain Mary, the pirate who had threatened BEN earlier, leapt up towards Jim.
"We never should've followed this boy!" she spat, and her nimble legs gave him a sharp kick in the back. Jim crashed forwards onto the mossy turf.
"You better get that gizmo working again, and fast!" Silver warned, menacing.
Skye kneeled beside him. "You okay?" she asked. But he wasn't listening. Jim's gaze was fixed on the ground in front of him.
"Do you see that?" he asked.
"See what?"
"Hold this." He gave her the map, then used both his hands to clear away a large quantity of moss from a slight indent in the ground. Skye let out a small gasp, and clutched the orb tighter.
The indent revealed to be a semi-spherical port, the same size and containing the same markings as those on the map.
Coincidence?
Jim looked at Skye, whose expression was clearly one of doubt. Could they trust it? Would something bad happen?
Voices behind them threatened.
"Let's rip their gizzards right out, right now!"
"Throw them over cliff!"
Jim knew they had no time for doubt. He closed his hand over Skye's and pressed down.
There was an audible click, and a light spread outwards from the port, illuminating the platform they stood on with a rich green wash of light.
The port glowed white, and out from the ground rose a green holographic sphere, turning gently on its axis. Before Jim could rise and reach out to touch it, another amazing thing happened.
Green-gold streaks shot across the floor of the valley. They sped towards the point where the group stood, converged, and created a thousand foot high column before them. Quickly, the bottom opened up and spread apart, forming an enormous triangular window.
There was a picture inside this triangle. They stared in disbelief at the pale wispy vapors that swirled against dark space, floating blue, purple, and green, silvery stars winking behind them.
"Oh, have mercy," Silver muttered, amazed at the sight.
"The Lagoon Nebula?" Skye asked, scarcely believing this herself.
Silver rubbed his chin, puzzled, stunned. "But that's halfway across the galaxy!"
Jim looked down at the holographic sphere, covered in strange yet familiar symbols. He noticed that one in particular stood out, pulsing more gold than the rest, all green. Then it clicked.
"A big door..." he murmured, "opening and closing." He touched a few of the symbols.
The floating Crystal Cloud cities of Quakzee shimmered into sight, followed by wind tunnels of Dunaltia, dusty from the sunset sand storms common to the red planet. Another symbol opened up on a school of graceful Wake Angels, shimmering, translucent creatures like ghostly manta rays or delicate birds of vapor, air, and ice. Two or three sailed out through the portal, swirling mist around Jim and Skye. A mournful cry from the school called them back, and the sailors were left alone again.
Jim had an idea. Examining the map, he found his bearings, locating the simple shape.
"Montressor spaceport."
The gleaming white crescent glowed back from the other side of the triangle door.
"So that's how Flint did it!" Jim said, impressed, trying other doors. "He used this portal to, to-"
"-to roam the universe stealing treasure!" Skye exclaimed, finishing his sentence.
"But where'd he stash it all?! Where's that blasted treasure?!" Silver roared, flinging Jim aside, who glared.
Silver's mechanical fingers leapt over different symbols. A view of a fiery supernova disappeared, its place taken by the glowing purple balls of electricity hurtling down a tunnel of lights. A dusky silver mirrored sea lit by a dying sun gave way to a vicious roar from a Mantelbramon of the musty, craggy world Zsarspod, and then a swirling ring of plasma orbiting an asteroid in the Sigma quadrant.
Jim lowered his eyes in anger, but BEN caught his eye.
"Treasure?...treasure..." BEN racked his circuits, trying to remember. "It's buried in the-"
"Buried," Jim recalled, "in the centroid of the mechanism." What did that mean? Certainly there was some connection between that important phrase and this portal, this gateway. He tried to put two and two together...
"Jim," Skye laid a hand on his arm in question, "could...could the map be the mechanism?"
It clicked. Of course! Skye hadn't gotten it quite right, but she was pretty close. All the strange things on the planet that he'd seen- the unusual vegetation, the shafts underground, even the quality of the air, the texture of the land supported it.
"Skye, maybe this whole planet is the mechanism! And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet!"
The pirates who had been listening cheered, grabbed up their shovels and pick-axes, and began to dig. Unsurprisingly, they struck metal.
Silver was at the end of his rope.
"And how in blue blazes are we supposed to get there?"
Jim nudged Silver aside and reached out, a tingle racing up his arm as he touched the golden heart of the map's sphere.
"Just open the right door."