1 am.
That's what the clock on the wall read.
A mental alarm signaled inside Jim's head once he saw the time. It was his time to go, to retrieve a piece of 'himself' back in the residence of Doppler's family.
Jim did a final check on the content of his bag, mentally listing the items he'd need in the future. He was practically about to attempt a burglary, the difference only lying on the item he's about to take, or retrieve, more likely. His mother's pendant.
"Right, I'm set," he breathed.
Having his final check done, Jim snuck out of the window of his bedroom, where a slight breeze of wind instantly welcomed him. The cold breeze sent a shock up through his spine, so he covered himself more with his leather jacket.
His foot slid against the roof of the inn seamlessly, as he has done this countless times in his life. Reaching the end, he landed on the ground, with only the sound of his clothes cutting the air produced in the scene. He was an ace at this.
The boy circled around the inn to meet the garage, which had a fingerprint lock on it. With his thumb, he unlocked it, and a clunk sounded from the base of the door.
As silent as possible, he opened the double door, and walked out with the solar surfer of his. Once it was out, he hoisted the sail, and dragged the surfer to the edge of the cliff.
To minimize the chances of being heard, Jim looked down at the beach, with his foot ready on the ignition of the surfer. His plan was to ignite the engine by the time a wave crashed into the beach. However, the waves in the night weren't particularly big, nor even loud for that.
The risks were big, but Jim had to take it.
Timing his timing perfectly, Jim ignited the surfer when a wave crashed, and accelerated into the open air.
Of course, to make the story more interesting, someone had to witness his departure from the window of her bedroom.
Although her vision was blurry, the backfire of the surfer was enough to tell who was sailing on the surfer away from the inn.
"J-Jim?" Ariel spoke sleepily.
The trip to the Doppler's residence didn't take long for the boy, mainly due to the fact that he was speeding. Luckily, no cops were there to spot the crime. His luck was on his side, since he was flying above the town where it was actually a no-flying zone.
From a distance, Jim could see it. His destination was only a stone throw away.
Doctor Delbert Doppler was a successful person in science, so, having a mansion as his residence was something he could easily experience. At the west side of the building, was 'planted' his own room that resided a big telescope to observe the stars. From Jim's perspective, it was the perfect place to land, as it had a balcony on it.
As he inched onto the railings of the balcony by hovering, Jim stepped onto the balcony, and firmly held the surfer, placing it on the railing after shutting it down. Having done that, he turned to his first obstacle of the night; a door.
Jim had just the right tool for the case: a simple lockpick. The door itself wasn't particularly advanced, mechanical and not electrical.
He went right into work, and once again, luck was on his side. The clunk sound sounded right away after several tries, signaling the unlocked door.
As gently as possible, Jim walked into the room. The last time he visited this room was when after the old Benbow Inn was burned down, and Delbert sheltered the Hawkins. Jim could very much picture his memory in the room, and never had he ever thought the next time he was going to visit the room again was to steal something.
"Here goes nothing..." Jim whispered to himself, putting on a mask to hide his identity.
Lighting was terrible, so Jim had to use a flashlight in order to see his way. He wasn't knowledgeable when it comes to the content of the mansion, so he was learning as he's going.
"Amelia mentioned a safe... it's probably in her room..."
That was his best shot for now, but then again, where would that room be?
Jim exited the observatory room, and found himself in a long hallway ahead of him. Traces of light that managed to slip through the curtains of the windows on the wall were the only source of illumination, but they were enough to reveal the numbers of doors across the windows themselves.
Unlike any other person, Jim didn't sigh in despair. He instead jumped into work instantly, checking every room in the hallway.
The first room he checked turned out to be a reading room, very much a reminiscence of the library in the inn. Though his objective was to find Amelia's room, there was nothing to lose if he could do a quick survey of the room. Jim examined every corner of the room, every drawer, and every row of the shelfs inside the room. Zero result.
Not wasting his time, the boy proceeded to exit the room. He walked in silence towards the next room, which happened to be a room for kids to play. There were drawings on the wall, little toys scattered around the floor, a small swing set, anything that could make the four children of Amelia and Delbert happy. Seeing no interest in investigating the room, Jim merely had a thorough scan of the room from right to left, and left when he discovered no such thing as a safe.
Right when he was about to land a foot on the corridor, he saw a figure on the corner of his eyes. He pulled his foot back, attempted to calm his heartbeat a tad, and took a peek of who it was.
It was a little girl, one of three Amelia's daughters, walking and yawning in the same time while walking deeper into the corridor, possibly minding her midnight routine.
The little child happened to walk out of the room Jim was about to search, which gave him a hint of what it could possibly be. Once the little girl was out of his sight, he tiptoed his way towards the next room to see if he was true. He was right, it was the children's bedroom.
"What are the odds of Amelia putting her safe inside this room?"
None, as Jim scanned the room by merely peeking from the door. He could only see the individual beds of the children of Amelia and Delbert, with their children snoring peacefully, but no safe.
He continued his search, went around the corner, and spotted a door. It was almost shut, but a tiny gap was there. Jim planted his body on the wall and grabbed the handle.
Flush...
It was the bathroom!
By instinct, Jim dashed away into the darkness to hide himself. Seconds later, the little girl came out, and Jim spectated her movement until he was sure she was out of his sight. He couldn't risk being spotted by a walking bomb with a fuse shorter than an inch.
Slowly but surely, she walked back to her bedroom. Relieved by her disappearance, Jim headed deeper into the house.
Ahead of him, he spotted what seemed to be chandelier, hanging on the ceiling inside a big round hall. The hall turned out to be the main entrance of the building, with more passages that could lead to other chambers in the mansion. Since Jim was positioned on the second floor, he examined every passage, and stopped at a particular door. It was white, unlike any other doors he'd seen in the night.
'That must be their bedroom.' Jim stated mentally.
Done checking the surroundings, Jim made his way downstairs to meet that door.
He grabbed the handle of the door, twisted it with a twitch of a muscle slowly, and opened it.
The loudest thing he could hear right now was his own heartbeat when he saw the Doppler couple asleep in their bed. He tried his best to breathe as gently as possible.
Obviously, his biggest obstacle was the couple. But Jim came prepared.
His hand dug into his bag, and pulled out a pouch. Inside, it was a powder made by the greatest alchemist he has ever known: Silver. If inhaled, it'd put a person into a deep slumber, but only for five minutes. If inhaled while asleep, it'd put the inhaler into a lucid dream for the same amount of time; the hardest state to get out when asleep. Hence, the name: Lucid powder.
Jim approached the sleeping couple as close as possible, and casted the powder around their facial features. He started on Amelia, and Delbert afterwards. The effect appeared within seconds. The two scrunched their eyes, quite possibly encountering something fearful inside their dreams.
"Uh..." Amelia whimpered.
"Agh..." Delbert whined.
This was it.
Jim landed his bag on the floor rather hard, but the sound didn't wake the two at all. In a hurry, he searched every possible spot that could possess a safe or anything close. Determined to leave no evidence, he returned things back to where they were. By the time he opened a big closet, his eyes locked onto a chest.
'This could be it!'
The chest was locked, and seemed to have a rather complicated lock mechanism that he'd never seen before. But every chest has a pair of joints, and this one was no exception. Jim had just the tool for that.
He pulled his bag, and pulled out the bracelet out of it. It wasn't any bracelet, it was the Aqualet. A magical bracelet that could control any form of liquid if the holder could harness it. Luckily, Jim had several sessions with Ariel to learn to use it. And it was about to be used to perform a burglary.
'Forgive me Ariel...'
He wore the bracelet, and pulled out another object from his bag. It was a small glass vessel, with a corrosive acid inside. With a pop, he opened the lid, and danced his fingers off.
By magic, the acid 'obeyed' Jim's command, and floated out of the vessel, onto the joints of the safe. In an instant, the joints melted away, allowing the safe to be opened with some force.
And there it was, Sarah Hawkins' pendant.
Jim almost couldn't believe his luck tonight. Sure, there were some obstacles and a close moment, but this would be considered as a success. Because why wouldn't he?
Now that the pendant was in his possession, Jim turned around to finish his mission. Right away, he froze on his place, eyes bulging at the figure across the room.
On the door, the same little girl was stood. She was frozen as well, but for how long?
"EEEEEEEEKKK! MOMMY!"
With a big powerful leap, Jim jumped over the king-sized bed to reach the little girl. He circled one arm around the girl, and used the other to shut her mouth. Considering he had a mask on, it was not much of a help to calm the girl down because it gave the impression that he was a monster that wanted to eat the little girl alive. Little did Jim know, calming her down was no use.
"Mm... Tilly?"
Jim looked behind him, and Amelia was half awake. Less than a second, she was fully awake! "WHO ARE YOU?!"
'Fuck me!'
He dashed away for his life, as the last thing he would want to have in his life was to be smacked in the face by Amelia. Jim could've sworn that his heartbeat followed the same rhythm of his footsteps, and he was running!
When he reached the stairs, he saw Amelia and Delbert stepping out of their room. Amelia didn't chase after the burglar right away, instead, she signaled the others.
"THIEF! EVERYONE, THERE'S A BLOODY THIEF IN THE HOUSE!"
'Fuck... the entire Wildelight must've heard her!'
Jim kept on running. He followed the same way he came, with a hope that no one would stop him. Suddenly, out of doors that Jim never checked, came out the housemaids. When they spotted the unknown figure, they immediately chased him down.
What Jim swore was the sound of galloping horses, more pressure was added onto the boy's shoulders when the lighting of the hallway he was running in lighted up, revealing him fully.
In the process, the housemaids signaled the others about Jim's whereabouts and where he was heading. This worsened the situation for Jim unknowingly. By the time Jim arrived at the stars observatory room, it was still dark. But it didn't last long. One of the housemaids turned on the light, and it blinded him for a second.
After he regained his vision, Jim then realized the housemaids surrounding him on the indoor balcony of the room. The door that connected to the balcony where his surfer was placed was blocked by the maids. There was no escaping for the Hawkins.
Soon, his biggest nightmare stepped into the room.
"Trapped like a little mouse..."
Amelia pulled the sleeves of her sleeping gown, putting herself into fighter mode. Jim only could step back in fear, knowing this was not a fight he could win, nor would even want to attempt to win. Amelia's husband noticed the very possible brawl that was about to happen inside his observatory room, so he halted his wife right away.
"Shouldn't we just call the police, honey?"
"Delbert, I haven't had a brawl in such a long time, I need to remind myself again. Don't want these muscles to rust," she pulled her shoulder back, cracking her fingers along the way. "Keep the children away for me, would ya?"
Amelia gave her husband a glance, and from that glance, Delbert learnt the amount of determination inside her right now. Too much. There was no stopping for the angered feline.
"Chin up! Fight me like a man!"
She raised her arms, very much ready for a fistfight. Seeing no other option, Jim raised his as well.
Right in front of his eyes, Delbert witnessed the room changing into a brawl ring.
"Which way, Ben?!"
"This..." the robot took a grip on the lever, and made the boat tilt to the right. "Way!"
The residents of Benbow Inn were enduring against the cold wind of the night as strong as possible while flying just a few meters above the buildings of Wildelight Town. They were on a search for a missing member of the inn, Jim.
Apparently, once Ariel had seen that Jim had gone to a certain direction, she immediately reported what she witnessed to Sarah. Considering that her son had gone on a solar surfer, the best way to pick up his literal trail was to track down the solar molecules his surfer's engine had left during the flight. And only Ben was capable of doing something like that.
And now, here they were, Amelia, Ariel, Paige, Ben, and Morph, once again on the search for the lost boy.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the direction to Delbert's mansion?" Sarah asked the others. But then she realized none of them had gone to Delbert's mansion previously.
"Never mind."
"Would that be Delbert's mansion?" Ariel pointed a finger to the front direction, where the mansion was closing by the second.
"Ben, does the trail end there? By the mansion?" Sarah asked the navigator robot.
"Yes, apparently. We need to slow down."
Sarah slowed down their speed, and reduced their altitude. The moment the boat parked, everyone jumped down right away to follow Sarah. The pack stopped at the entrance, and their leader pressed the bell to announce their arrival.
Ding ding
Seconds had passed, and the sound of cheering was heard from inside. Everyone caught the unusual noise, and looked at each other.
"Did you hear that?" Paige asked, looking at Ariel.
Ariel nodded. "Yeah, almost like a cheering or something."
"Why are the lights on inside?" Ben asked, stepping backwards a few steps to see most of the lights inside were on, judging from the windows of the mansion. With all of these lightings on, it's hard to judge why it had taken over a minute for one housemaid to reach the front door. Sarah grew impatient, and pressed the bell once again. The waiting resumed.
"OHH!"
They froze, unable to comprehend the activity they're doing inside the mansion at this time.
"What the hell are they doing inside there?" Sarah asked, growing even more impatient. Luckily, the handle of the door twisted open before her impatience could grow even more.
There she was, in a form of a mouse, one of the housemaids. "Oh Ms. Hawkins, come in!" She gave a gesture to let everyone in.
"Minnie, what took you so long?" Sarah knew her name, and had memorized basically every name inside the house when Jim left to search for the Treasure Planet.
"I-I'm sorry, there's a fight going on, and I've never been this excited before!"
"A FIGHT?!" Everyone in unison asked.
Minnie simply nodded excitingly. "Yes! Come on!"
With that, they followed Minnie's lead. The little mouse took the squad to the observatory room through stairs and hallways. Sarah could hear the noise of the crowd getting louder and louder as they approached their destination. Once they were in the observatory room, they thought it wasn't the observatory room; it was more like a ring!
Sarah and the others squeezed their way, and stumbled upon Delbert and his children. His children were cheering, while Delbert was full of doubts if the scene in front of him was the best solution for the problem going on.
"Delbert, what's going on?!" Sarah pulled him by the shoulder, which caught him by surprise. But he took a step backward, allowing Sarah and the others to see who were everyone cheering at. Their jaws met the floor quickly. Amelia, and a masked man, brawling in the middle.
"Good morning, Sarah. That's what's going on, Sarah. But what brings you here?" He placed his hands on his hip.
Somehow, Sarah didn't catch the question, and was more intrigued into the fight. "Who is he?"
"A burglar. Broke into the house and stole something, but we got him cornered. Amelia apparently wanted to savor the moment since she hasn't had an equivalent in a long time..." Delbert shrugged. "We don't know who it is yet. Amelia had landed him a few blows, hard blows, but he stood still, remarkably. The man, on the other hand, seems to would not hit a woman. He's mainly been avoiding,"
"What kind of burglar is he?" Paige crossed her arms. "COME ON, FIGHT YOU BIG PUSSY!" She raised an arm, joining the cheering.
Delbert could only roll his eyes away from the girl's barbarism, having no interest in witnessing a brawl, let alone joining one.
SMACK
The man collapsed after receiving a punch on the nose, in which he failed to avoid. With a cocky smile, Amelia lifted an arm with her hand opened. The gesture made one of the housemaids come at her direction, and placed a handkerchief on her master's hand. With the handkerchief, Amelia cleaned her fist from the blood she drew from the punch.
"Worn out, already?"
Jim desperately brought himself on a standing still, and pulled out his last resort, which he never planned to use at all. A laser pistol.
He pointed it at her. "I... never wanted to use this, but you leave me no choice," he tried his best at faking his voice.
"Nor did I want to choose this choice either," Amelia snapped a finger, and within seconds, every single housemaid in the room pulled out their weapon. Every single gun in the room was pointed at him. A twitch of a muscle, and he's done for good.
"For fuck's sake..."
He surrendered. Jim dropped his pistol, kicked it away, raised his arms, and knelt down while looking down. Amelia stepped forward and pulled his mask, only to let out a deep gasp.
"HAWKINS?!"
From where Sarah was standing, she could not see who it was. But, hearing the name, she rushed her way to see who it was.
"Sarah?" Amelia asked, her tone sounding completely calm. But Sarah didn't respond her.
"Jim Hawkins! What are you doing here?!"
When Jim looked up at the familiar voice, he was shocked. "Mom?"
The mother brought him to a standstill, "explain yourself, young man," she sharply said. The housemaids were sure that her voice echoed in the room, even though it wasn't loudly spoken.
With a sigh, Jim took his bag, and pulled out the pendant he'd taken from Amelia's safe. Sarah covered her mouth with a hand, hiding her gasp.
"I need to know, mom..."
"Jim, no..."
"I NEED. TO KNOW. ABOUT WHO MY DAD IS!"
Compared to the previous echoed voice, this one was on the top. Everyone froze right away. Seeing too much spectators, Amelia clapped her hands on the air.
"Everyone, back to your chambers. This is no longer a public entertainment."
Several 'aww' and 'hmph' were sounded, but Amelia cared none. The housemaids exited the room, leaving the room with only the owners of the mansion and their 'guests'.
By the time they had gained privacy, Ariel stepped forward to see her lover up close. Jim noticed her approach, but put his attention back to his mother.
"Did you hear... everything?" Sarah asked.
"Yes. I just n-need to know who he is, mom! With his absence in my life, what does that make me?!" Jim grew more emotional.
"A good man, that's what makes you—"
"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! PLEASE! Just... let me get to know... who Leland Hawkins was," Jim pleaded. His mother couldn't stand watching her son being hurt like this, so she was left with no other option.
"Okay..." Sarah nodded. "Let me..." she gestured at him to give the pendant. So, he did.
With a firm press, Sarah unlocked the pendant, and a projection materialized in front of her. With her thumb, she swiped through her memories inside the pendant. She stopped at particular one, a video.
There was a younger Sarah, who appeared to be sitting on the beach. Jim carefully looked at her movement. She seemed to be waiting. For something? Someone? It was soon to be answered.
From the water, a figure breached through the surface. A man, an attractive one. When he fully exposed himself, Jim learned what the man really was.
"Who's that merman?!"
Sarah rolled her eyes to meet her son's. "He's your father."
Within an instant, every single fibre in his being stopped working. With eyes as wide as dish plates, he spectated the video projection in front of his eyes. As the video played, she gave him a narration to give him a clearer picture.
"Your father was a merman. We met on the beach, when he was tangled in a net that the fishermen had laid. I helped him out. At that moment, it was like any other cliché love at first sight."
Amelia scoffed at the comment. When the others heard of the narration, they let their curiosity bring them closer to have a good listen of it.
"Leland was a charismatic man. Or merman, I should say. We would visit each other frequently, until one day, he... disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Jim asked, still having his eyes onto the projection.
"He stopped visiting me. And it was nearing my birthday, and his mere presence was the only thing I asked. A week had gone past ever since my birthday, and he came back."
Sarah shut the pendant, not because she didn't want to continue, but simply because something else.
"He came back as a man. So... you know what happens when I saw him initially..." Sarah gave a hint with her finger, and Jim immediately caught the meaning.
"Oh, right. Yeah."
Ariel stepped in between the two, and landed a hand on his shoulder, smiling endearingly.
"So, the way you two met... heavily reminded me of him. It was almost like a flashback," Sarah said, applying a firm but gentle press on Ariel's shoulder.
"How did he turn into a human?" Jim asked.
"He made a deal with Ursula, the witch. Just like I did, Jim," Ariel responded.
Jim turned to her. "You know this, Ari?"
"Yes... Sarah told me everything. But I had to keep it as a secret. I'm sorry," Ariel gave an uneasy grin, that signaled that she asked for forgiveness.
"Huh... don't be. Not your fault. But what kind of deal, anyway?" Jim asked once again.
"Leland never told me what it was. All I know is the fact that he's the first merman to have a deal with Ursula, and fulfilled it," Sarah crossed her arms. "Perhaps, during that time he was gone, he was trying to set the deal."
Having no more questions lying around his head at the moment, Jim shoved his hands into his pockets. He turned around, and walked aimlessly while staring down.
"I'm... speechless."
Sarah put on her pendant around her neck once again. "Take your time."
Jim looked up to the giant window in front of him, where the Montressor Spaceport was visible in the clear night. That reminded him of something.
"Why did he leave us, mom?"
Once again, came the question Sarah never desired to answer. But, as a mother, she came to a realization that it was not healthy to keep her own son uninformed about his own father. She deeply sighed.
"Well... the things I said to you weren't particularly wrong at the very least. But I'll admit, I didn't mention the details," Sarah said.
"Leland... throughout our life when he finally could walk with a pair of feet, slowly became a materialistic person. Yet, I had to thank him for building the inn where we shelter now. He was a mixed bag, but when it comes to the quantity... his materialistic personality shadowed everything, including his love for me."
Before Sarah could continue, a tear made its way down across her cheek.
"After you were born, we were the happiest couple in the world, initially. But, as time passed, he grew bored of raising you. He was more interested in the things that the world may possess, he forgot the only world that means for me, and should've meant the most for him. You."
Sarah grew uncomfortable. To comfort herself, she bit her bottom lip.
"At least, he was my world at some point, but when he began using violence... Jim, you were only a babe so you likely do not remember, but Leland once hurt you. Of course, being a mother, I could not forgive such mindlessness. But being a wife, I... forgave him, after he begged for me with tears and words. However, it was a mistake. Not long after, he became his old self once again, and abused you again. It broke me. It destroyed me!"
Silence accompanied everybody for a brief moment.
"And then he left, days after..."
"I see... But, one more question," Jim raised a finger. "Is it true that he was the mastermind behind the event that happened to me, Captain Amelia, and Professor Delbert?"
Sarah frowned. "You don't need to know that—"
"I want nothing but the truth tonight!" Jim demanded. Seeing his bratty behavior, Sarah turned furious. But Amelia calmed her down before she could explode.
"Sarah, he needs to know."
With a firm press on the chest, Sarah relaxed herself. "... Yes. The captain who captured you was named Harold Victor... apparently working for Leland. Ten years had turned him into a space pirate apparently, second worst occupation in the entire galaxy."
"That's all you get to know," Sarah added. And that was it, that was all Jim got to know. But it was more than enough.
"I think we should go to see him."
Sarah's eyes bulged. "WHAT?!"
"You don't need to go, mom. His men only kidnapped me when they landed a foot in the inn, meaning they had no intention to take you," Jim responded.
"ARE YOU INSANE, JIM?!"
"No, mom! I'm perfectly sane!"
"YOU ARE NOT GOING AWAY TO SEE HIM, EVER! PERIOD."
"Amelia, you should too!" Jim said, completely ignoring his mom. Unsurprisingly, Amelia smiled, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah. Rather than having ourselves kidnapped at a random time in a random place, why not see the man in the flesh?" Amelia said. Jim nodded, agreeing.
"We'll go. I'll prepare for an expedition!" Amelia declared.
Only one word to describe Sarah Hawkins' mind: puzzled.