Holy cow, I'm alive! It has been way too long since I've updated and for that I'd like to apologize. But excuses are just that; excuses. So I'm gonna skip through all that good stuff and get right to the juicy center of the whole thing! Another chapter! More danger and fluffy stuff and a sad attempt at humor. Not my best trait but I think I've done good so far. BEN has always been my favorite character, (next to Jim of course) so writing him in is always something I look forward to. Any-who...on to the disclaimer-part-thingy!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Treasure Planet in any way, shape or form. I wish I did though but then I'd be rich and wouldn't feel the need to write fan fictions about it.
Enjoy!
~o0O0o~
Hours later, Jim and Neera had brought Delbert and Amelia to BEN's home. Mike had been there the entire afternoon waiting for his sister to come back. BEN had even found him a couple sticks he could whittle with his pocketknife to pass the time with. When Delbert and Amelia had first come in, BEN had offered the 'happy couple' a couple of questionable looking grease drinks. Jim had noticed Neera smiling when the doctor and the Captain denied being a couple. So he asked her about it.
"What with the smile?" he continued looking around the room, anywhere but her.
"I think it's alright if I tell you," she gestured him over and whispered in his ear. Her breath ghosted over his ear sending delightful shivers up and down his spine he almost forgot to listen in, "They're eventually gonna get married and have kids. But don't tell them. I don't know how they'll react." Jim was astonished. But the Captain and Delbert hated each other. Neera seemed to read his mind.
"C'mon even I-you don't need to be a Seer to see that they like each other," she shoved her shoulder gently into his and went to see about food for her brother who was tinkering with something BEN had given him.
"Look at these markings," Delbert gestured to the walls and ceiling of BEN's home, "their identical to the ones on the map. I suspect these are the hieroglyphic remnants of an ancient culture." Morph made some noise as to agree with the doctor.
"Mr. Hawkins!" It was Amelia who spoke up this time, "Stop anyone who tries to approach! Argh!" she flinched, grabbing her side. Delbert looked down on her before ordering her to stop giving orders for a few milliseconds.
"Hey look! There's some more of your buddies!" BEN hopped up and down in the entrance waving his arms about, "HEY FELLAS! WE'RE OVER HERE FELLAS!" Jim managed to pull BEN down before he got hit by any of the laser blasts the pirates had sent his way. He and Neera took turns firing over the side, sending back some return fire no matter how bad the aim was. Neera could hear Silver yelling at his men to stop firing.
"Hello up there!" came the cyborgs voice. Neera peeked over the edge and motioned Jim to join her. "Jimbo? Neera? If uh, it's alright with the captain, I'd like a short word withcha," Silver called waving a sad excuse of a white flag, "No tricks," Jim zoned out after that and looked to Neera who glanced at Amelia.
"Come to bargain for the map, doubtless. Pestilential, ugh," she grimaced as a fresh wave of pain pulsed from her injury. Delbert scowled.
"Captain," he ordered, gently forcing her to lie back down. A wave of relief swept over Jim at a sudden realization.
"That means, that he thinks' we still have it," he grinned at Neera who returned it.
"Alrighty Mike? Stay here and be a good boy alright?" even though it was posed as a question, Neera left no room for argument. Mike nodded happily and Neera and Jim left the safety of BEN's home to meet Silver.
"Morphie! I wondered where yeh went off to," the pink blob giggled and burped as it twined around Silver's fat finger. The old cyborg plopped down on a stump and massaged his robotic leg as Neera and Jim came to a stop in front of him. Silver eyed Neera.
"Ooh, this poor old leg's gone down right snarky since that game attack we had in the hanger, eh Seer?" he laughed once in her direction trying to lighten the mood but her frown deepened. Silver's smile died with a sigh.
"So yer a Seer eh? Knew there was somethin' special 'bout yeh. Right from the start. So, do'ya think yeh can do meh a favour? Read mah fortune?" Silver smiled hopefully at the girl. Jim watched as she took a step forward.
"Sure, I'll read your fortune. You will loose all that you have searched for, and lost for," she gestured to his mechanical numbers, "This life-time obsession of yours will die. Right alongside most of your men!" She hollered the last part loud enough for the pirates camping in the trees to hear. Silver paled a bit but shook it off and grinned. He motioned both her and Jim to come closer.
"Yeh know what? If we play our cards right, we can all walk away from this, rich as kings and queens!" Neera and Jim smiled at the idea.
"Yeah?" Jim liked the sound of that. He really did. Silver chuckled.
"You, get me, that map," he looked around them carefully as if to make sure no one could hear them, "And an even portion of the treasure, is yours!" Silver pulled back happily and extended his mechanical hand. It was Jim that spoke up this time. Neera had made an impact on Silver as a Seer, now it was his turn to impress her.
"Boy, you are really something," he began, "All that talk of greatness, light coming off my sails," he circled Silver like a hawk, "What a joke!" Silver looked shocked.
"Now see here, Jimbo," he began but Jim cut him off. He was on a roll now.
"Well at least you taught me one thing, stick to it, right? Well that's just what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna make sure you don't see one drabloon of my treasure!"
"That treasure is owed me, by tunder!" Silver burst out angrily.
"Well try to find it without my map, by tunder!" Jim mimicked seething. Silver growled.
"Oh yeh still don't know how to pick yer fights do yeh boy? Now mark meh," Silver stood tall and placed his hat on his head, "either I get that map by dawn tomorruh, or so help me, I'll use the ship's cannons to blast yeh all to kingdom come!" he bellowed.
Jim and Neera just stood there, unfazed by the volume of his voice. Silver growled and turned to leave.
"Morph!" he called over his shoulder. The little blob made no move to follow, instead opting to float near Neera's neck. "Hop to it!" Still, no movement from the little pink shape-shifter. "NOW!" he roared and Morph squealed and hid in the dark recesses of Neera's red-brown hair. Silver huffed and limped his way down towards his men's camp, grumbling all the way. Neera and Jim turned and crawled back into BEN's home. Mike came up excitedly and hugged her leg.
Later that night, Jim took over Neera's watch at the entrance. Amelia was muttering non-sense things.
"Gentlemen…we must stay together and….and….." she drifted in and out of this world and her own. Delbert wasn't taking it was well as any of the others.
"And what? What? WE MUST STAY TOGETHER AND WHAT?" he screamed, clutching his glasses in his hand. Amelia looked him over and smiled deliriously.
"Doctor? You have…wonderful eyes," and she was off in her own world. Delbert could only stare.
"She's lost her mind!" he yelped casting a worried glance at Jim.
"We gotta help her," Jim ran his hand through his hair trying to think of something.
"Dang it Jim I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean I am a doctor, but I'm not that kind of doctor; I have a Doctorate; it's not the same thing; you can't help people with a Doctorate; you just sit there and you're useless!" he exclaimed sadly.
"It's ok Doc," Jim patted Delbert's back awkwardly, "It's alright."
"Yeah Doc! Jimmy knows exactly how to get out of this. It's just-it's just Jimmy has this knowledge of things," BEN edged towards Jim who had moved back to his post by the door, "Jim, any thoughts at all?" Jim looked to the sky where the clear silhouette of the RLS Legacy stood against the light.
"Without the map we're dead," he looked towards where the light of Silver's campfire stood out against the inky blackness, "If we try to leave we're dead," he turned to where Neera sat dozing against the wall, Mike curled up in her lap, "If we stay here…"
"We're dead! We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!" Morph chirped happily. Jim sighed sadly and turned back to look out the entrance. BEN stared at Jim's back.
"Well I think that, uh Jimmy could use a little quiet time," BEN chuckled awkwardly, "so I'll just, slip out the back door," And he turned to leave. Jim perked up.
"Back door?" he gawked as BEN turned over what he thought was a ball embedded in the ground. A pillar of blue light shone through the opening on the other end.
"Oh yeah, I get this delightful breeze through here," the door finished turning, "Which I think is important, because ventilation among friends-" Jim's ears turned off at the sight before him.
"Whoa! What is all this stuff?" he breathed.
"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that runs throughout the entire course of the inside of this planet?" BEN inquired, "Not a clue!" he deadpanned. Jim turned to Doc, Amelia and the dozing siblings.
"Hey Doc! Doc! I think I found a way outta here!" he called as he climbed to the top of the ball housing the opening. Neera lifted a still-sleeping Mike off her lap and strode over to the opening, glancing down.
"No, no Jim, wait! The captain ordered us to stay toge-" Doppler started but Jim effectively cut him off.
"I'll be back," Jim called as he disappeared into the opening. Neera ordered Doppler to watch her sleeping brother before following Jim and BEN who screamed something about cannonballs. Doppler glanced uninterestedly at the sleeping blonde boy curled in on himself beside the doctor.
"Woof!"
When Jim, Neera and BEN finally made it to the exit, they found it not less than a few meters from the camping pirates.
"SO WHAT'S THE PLAN?" BEN exclaimed loudly, bursting from the little covered hole. Jim responded faster and shut BEN's mouth shut.
"Shh BEN quiet!" he hissed under his breath as they watched Silver snore loudly before turning on his side, back facing them. None of the pirates had woken up, thank Etherium.
"Ok here it is," Jimwhispered, glanced between both BEN and Neera, "We sneak back onto the Legacy, disable the laser cannons, and bring back the map." BEN nodded.
"That's a good plan, I like that plan," the robot managed through Jim's hands. If it had been any other situation, Neera would have giggled, "The only thing I'm wondering, uh, how do we get there?" Jim released BEN's mouth and pointed to the long boat tethered not far from where they were hiding.
"On that."
Flying the long boat quietly and steadily towards the Legacy was easier said than done but somehow, Jim the genius pulled it off without any kinks. The odd trio peeked over the edge of the railing searching for any one on deck. None. Jim and Neera both crawled over the railing quiet as a mouse but BEN lost his footing and crashed to the deck.
"BEN! Shh!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry."
They snuck down the galley steppes before Jim stopped them.
"Alright, I'll get the map, Ben you wait he-"
"Roger Jimmy! I'll neutralize laser cannons SIR!" and with that he took off down the hallway singing a pirate song under his breath. Jim began protesting but Neera grabbed his arm.
"Be quick and be careful!" she hissed under her breath before pecking him on the cheek, "Beware the Spider-Psycho alright?" she smiled and went after BEN who'd turned a corner. Jim touched his cheek lightly and smiled despite himself. He shook himself loose and went to go find the map.
Neera followed BEN to the Control Panel where everything was wired.
"Disable a few laser cannons. What is the big deal?" BEN muttered to himself as he opened up the panel, "All we gotta do is find that one little wire-" BEN stopped and stared in horror at the messy multitude of colorful wires, "Oh mama!"
Jim, as it were, was having more luck than BEN and Neera. He easily found the rope coils with the map still lying safely inside. Everything was going great.
And then the alarm sounded.
"BEN!" Neera called over her shoulder.
"Bad BEN! Bad! Ok, fixing!" the robot scolded himself as he plugged the wire back in. Neera was keeping watch at the door to make sure no one would ambush them while they worked. Not that they would, Neera bit back a bitter laugh. She should have gone with Jim to help him out with his fight against Mr. Scroop. But then again, she'd be lying if she said that the giant, spider-like crewman didn't send fear jolting down her spine by the bucket-load. Throwing the scrubbing brush at him and threatening him back on the first day was a total fluke! Neera still couldn't figure out what drove her to do that.
Meanwhile, Jim was running for the exit as fast as his legs could carry him.
"Stupid robot's gonna get us all-" he froze staring at the Spider-Psycho at the top of the stairs, "-killed."
"Cabin boy," Mr. Scroop lifted his red claw threateningly. Jim didn't wait. He turned and tore down the hallway as fast as he could, shoving barrels and boxes into the pathway hoping to slow the Spider-Psycho down. His heart pumped madly in his chest at the thought of getting caught. Mr. Scroop would not hesitate to kill him on the spot.
He heard Morph squeal behind him, followed by a 'splat'. The sounds of Mr. Scroop had stopped following him but he didn't stop to check or slow down. He just kept running. He dodged behind a small alcove and loaded his pistol. Just as he jumped out to fire at Scroop, the lights went out.
"BEN! What the fuck are you doing?!" Neera nearly screeched. She was quickly growing irritated with BEN who sat mumbling things and playing with the wires. While it had been funny watching the deranged robot mess around on the TV, sitting safe and sound amongst her brother's attempt at a pillow-fort on the couch; this was not that time. Their lives were on the line and the stress was beginning to build inside Neera like a giant, uncomfortable knot in her stomach that tasted like acid. It was building to the point where she just wanted it to end like a bad dream. To wake up, screaming and sweating safe in her bed with Mike splayed haphazardly across her and the sheets.
"Whoops!" called the deranged robot, his blinking eye-lights flickering around the small room in panic; "Ok, ok. D-don't panic. Breathing in, breathing out."
With a resounding click that echoed throughout the entire ship, all the backup lights turned on. The red lights cast eerie shadows everywhere and Mr. Scroop was nowhere to be seen. Jim's heart skipped a beat in terror. Spinning on the spot, he looked down the long hallway to his left and to his right. Nothing.
'Ok Jimbo, don't panic. Everything gets worse when you panic,' Jim could feel his heart beating in his throat now. Well so much for keeping calm. He took a few tentative steps backward, ready to fire at anything that so much as moved.
Morph must have come out from where ever he'd been hiding because an alarmed squeal alerted Jim to Mr. Scroop hovering dangerously over him. Before Jim could bring his pistol up to firing position, Mr. Scroop backhanded him with a sharp red claw and knocked him clean off his feet. The blow sent the pistol flying out of reach. Now Jim could clearly hear the blood pumping through his veins. Mr. Scroop pounced on him and attempted to sever his head from his neck but Jim managed to bring up his hands to hold him off. However it was very one sided and the claw inching closer and closer to his neck.
"This has gotta be canons," BEN finalized excitedly before pulling out an innocent red wire. Immediately BEN, Neera and a bunch of other stuff began floating at the sudden loss in gravity.
"Maybe not!" BEN exclaimed uncomfortably from mid-air.
Neera stifled a bunch of curses directed at the crazy rusty robot, in favor of cursing at the newly-forming bruise on her head as her cranium met the ceiling with a loud bang.
Up on deck, Jim was having a harder time staying indoors. He had just kicked Mr. Scroop out of the ship and into the void over the deck and was quickly loosing the battle of keeping himself from flying out into the blue-purple depths of space. Mr. Scroop had grabbed at a hanging bit of rope and pulled himself onto the safety of the mast and Jim was floating right towards him. Flailing his arms in a mad attempt to float away from the pirate baying for his blood, Mr. Scroop's claw clipped his foot, sending him into a spinning frenzy. He rammed into the side of the Crow's Nest rather painfully but the vast amounts of adrenaline coursing through his blood ignored the pain. He barely managed to grab onto the pirate flag flapping in the breeze but when he did he scrambled to get a better grip. However, Jim's brief moment of safety didn't last as he spotted Scroop climbing up the side of the mast chuckling evilly. The pistol Jim had dropped earlier drifted casually towards him from below. Jim secured his grip on the flag and stretched out as far as he could go.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," his finger bounced off the smooth edge of the weapon, knocking it further from his grasp, "No!"
Mr. Scroop climbed over the edge of the Crow's Nest with a sneer.
"Oh yes," he chuckled and began slowly scraping the sharp side of his claw against the rope holding the flag in place; "Do say hello to Mr. Arrow. And don't worry, that Seer-girl will join you as soon as she leads us to the treasure."
Jim's mind was spinning. It was Mr. Scroop that killed Mr. Arrow? Several of the rope's fibers snapped. Jim scrambled down the flag, attaching himself to the tip of the flagpole like a leech. Scroop's big yellow eyes narrowed as he sprang from his spot on the Crow's Nest to where Jim held on for dear life. The next few seconds were a blur to him and soon he was back to holding onto the flagpole, watching a flag-entangled Scroop be swallowed by the darkness of space and the Etherium with a haunting scream.
"BEN! Put that thing back NOW!" Neera yelled from her spot on the ceiling, knocking several floating barrels out of her way. The crazy robot nodded and flailed his way to down to the Control Panel.
"BACK YA GO, YOU NAUGHTY PLUG!" he yelled, followed closely by a girly scream as the gravity was switched back on with a flash of purple light. Neera crashed in a pile of boxes and barrels with a yelp.
Jim landed in a heap on the floor of the Crow's Nest groaning in pain. Shooting several glances around to make absolute sure nothing else was about to attack him, he allowed himself a few deep breaths. Morph appeared out of a calling tube, coughing and covered in soot.
"Morph?" he asked the pink floating blob, who responded with a relieved chirping.
"Laser Canons disconnected, Captain Jimmy Sir!" came a familiar voice from the deck. Jim peered over the side of the nest to see BEN wrapped up in wires still throwing remnant sparks around, "Gee! That's wasn't so tough!"
Jim could barely make out a 'Not so tough, my ass!' before Neera made her way up the stairs. Her hair was messed up and she looked like she'd spent all day doing cabin girl chores instead of just unplugging the canons with BEN. Jim smiled down at her. She smiled back.
"You got the map?" she called up to him. He pulled out the golden sphere from his pocket and watched the way the lights danced across the surface. Yeah, this was it alright. Jim nodded down at Neera and watched her blow away a tuft of hair from her face.
"Good. Now get down here before I throw BEN overboard."