CHAPTER XXVII
FOLLOW THE LIGHT…
Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald relaxed in the aft of the ship, as they sailed close to the surface of Treasure Planet. The green beam was pulsing more and more rapidly as they followed it – surely an indication of how close they were getting.
Jim was enjoying being the captain for once, as Amelia, Doctor Doppler and B.E.N. fixed and reloaded all of the laser cannons. Morph zoomed around the ship playfully, mocking Goofy or Donald whenever it got too quiet. Sora and Kairi couldn't help but laugh when they saw a miniature Goofy hit himself in the head with his own shield.
Jim let go of the wheel as his jaw hung open. Up ahead, there was the green beam – no longer pointing straight ahead – but bent downward, at the surface of the planet. There was a large rock peninsula, pointing straight out into the middle of a craggy field of rocks. There didn't seem to be anything around, let alone treasure. As Jim eased the ship lower, they could see that the beam pointed directly at the rock platform…and it suddenly shut off. Jim smacked the orb a few times, to no avail.
"Looks like we'll have to hoof it from here," Jim pointed out.
"Right-o, then," Captain Amelia said, taking the wheel from Jim and leading them right up to the edge of the rock surface. "Off you go, then. We'll be waiting right here." She looked at Delbert and Morph.
Jim, Kairi, Sora, Donald, Goofy and B.E.N. jumped off onto the rock platform…there was nothing around. Jim dropped to his knees and surveyed the area.
"Gotta be something around here…" he said, brushing grass and dirt from the rock. "Here we go…" he said softly, revealing a small semi-circular indentation in the rock. It had the same patterns as the map, and being the quick thinker that he is, Jim speedily placed the orb in the hole.
Sure enough, it began to glow green. A projection rose up to Jim's chest level as he stood up – a massive orb, full of smaller dots – circling around in a small, green hologram field.
"What is it?" Sora asked.
"It's…it's the universe. And here's Montressor!" he said, poking a small crescent shaped moon. In front of the heroes, at the very edge of the rock platform, a huge green light split straight up to the sky. When it reached about one-hundred feet up, it spread open like a set of futuristic curtains, revealing a giant triangular window. Through the window was the large, crescent shaped moon of Montressor.
Jim stared agape at the moon. "I don't believe it…a portal…so that's how he was able to gain the loot of a thousand worlds! He would just ambush them through this portal, and come right back here!" He tapped several other worlds as he said this, changing the planet that could be seen through the portal.
"That's pretty handy…I guess…" Sora said. "Do you think that's the treasure?"
"No…there's treasure here…" he said, poking more planets. Suddenly, he looked over and remembered what B.E.N. said when they met him…
"The treasure is in the core of the planet?" he said, looking at B.E.N. "Wonder how we get to it…" he said, as a smile spread across his face. He excitedly jabbed at the spot in the hologram that looked like Treasure Planet, and then they all saw it.
The portal opened onto an enormous room, filled with piles and piles of golden rings, coins, jewels and treasure chests by the dozen. Around the room, large, electronic converters rotated, every once in a while shooting a bolt of energy onto the receptors on the core that hung suspended in the center of the circular room. The entire core was covered in gold. The entire core of the planet was the treasure. Donald's eyes turned into giant rubies as he actually started to drool.
"It's Captain Flint's Trove…the loot of a thousand worlds…" Jim said, through an enormous smile. Without thinking of anything but reaching the treasure, he and Donald dove through the portal, followed cautiously by Goofy, Kairi, B.E.N. and Sora.
When they emerged, they were all ankle deep in treasure. Gold coins flowed more freely than water, as Donald dove into a treasure chest and Jim stuffed his pockets with trinkets. Sora sifted through a small pile of rings, picking out a few impressive looking ones, when he heard Kairi's voice over his shoulder.
"Hey Sora, don't you have a few of these?" she asked holding out two small keychains. One was the same shape and design as the treasure map, and the other was a golden coin attached to a chain.
"Yeah, those are keychains. Here," he said, attaching the orb to his keyblade, making it transform into the Treasure Hunter keyblade. It was sleek and impressive, with a wide tip, glistening with rubies where the edge of the key usually was. The hilt looked like rich tapestries woven together. Kairi summoned her keyblade and similarly attached the coin to hers. As her keyblade turned into the Golden Moment, it became silver and gold with looping circular blades and a wooden handle.
They looked at their new keyblades for a moment. "Pretty neat," Kairi finally said, impressed.
Jim and B.E.N. noticed a large ship, crashed in the center of the wreckage. They climbed on, and Jim saw a large skeleton sitting in the captain's chair. It had six eye sockets and a captain's hat…just like the famous pirate Nathaniel Flint he had heard stories about as a boy. In his right hand, he clenched a piece of metal that was the same color as B.E.N… it had the same kind of wires poking out of it, too…without giving it too much thought, he wrenched it free of the skeleton's grip and pounded it onto B.E.N.'s head. It took hold, as B.E.N. went into convulsions and made strange noises for a second, and finally…
"My memory unit! Oh, you found it! Jimmy, you're the best friend I ever had! And I can finally remember all the friends I've ever had, thanks to you!" he grabbed Jim in a tight hug, as his eyes popped open wide with terror.
The core of Treasure Planet shook with what felt like a huge earthquake. Suddenly, the converters started shooting bolts of energy into the receptors faster…
"I just remembered the worst part," B.E.N. said. "Flint said that he rigged the planet to self-destruct if anyone tried to take his treasure…"
"Rigged the planet?" Jim tried to comprehend.
"That's what I said! The whole planet is one big machine, a ticking time-bomb, just waiting to go off! We have to get out of here!" he said, hopping back down into the gold piles, Jim close behind. As they made it to the center of the core, it was clear that Sora, Kairi, Goofy and Donald knew the bad news. They all dashed for the portal, as they saw the worst sight they had seen since they entered the treasure room.
A large, black portal swirled from the ground, and from it rose a large, fat, heartless. Built like a large body, the heartless was a bit strange…it had a large, white shirt with a heartless insignia on it, and both arms were giant, mechanical nightmares. They clicked and whirred as they locked in two large, metallic hands – one with five laser cannons on the fingers, and the other in the shape of a huge, gleaming battle axe. The legs were short and stubby, almost small enough to buckle under the massive weight the heartless surely had. Atop the round body sat a fat head, with a massive nose and metallic teeth with a deep rivet right in the center. His eyes were two large telescopes, zooming in and out like camera lenses, glowing red and yellow. On his head was a giant pirate hat, with the familiar logo of the pirates on the front, and a feather of some enormous creature jutting out the back.
Heartless Silver stared down at Jim, Sora and the rest of the crew. He cackled in a familiar way.
"Jimbo, do ye live in a barn? Just leavin' doors open like that…why, any old body could waltz right in…" his ugly face smiled with gleaming metal teeth as the friends pulled out their weapons and prepared for the worst.
