If any of you feel like strangling me, mauling me, or setting me on fire; I can totally understand. Hell, I'll probably give you my address! I am so, so, so, so sorry I haven't updated in so freakin' long. I had exams up until yesterday and have also been suffering from a near-fatal case of Writer's Block. But I do have another chapter up so I hope you'll accept my humble peace offering. This chapter isn't as long as I'd like it to be but it will have to do for now. Who knows, maybe next chapter will be twice or even 3 times longer! That's what I'm hoping at least.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Treasure Planet in any way, shape or form.
Enjoy!
~o0O0o~
It took longer to crawl up the shaft that lead back to BEN's place than it took to leave. At certain points, Neera had lost her grip and would have fallen to her death had it not been for Jim and BEN to catch her, just in the nick of time. But finally, they reached the final stretch that lead to the entrance. Neera wrung her hands and chewed nervously at her bottom lip. This was it. Silver would already be in BEN's home with Doppler, Amelia and Mike tied up and taken hostage, just waiting for her and Jim. Her stomach dropped at the thought of leaving her brother at the hands of the cyborg but she didn't dare bring him aboard the RLS Legacy with her and Jim. What if Mr. Scroop had gotten his claws on him? Or what if he'd been thrown into space? Or what if-
Neera shook the negative thoughts from her head. If she'd read the signs correctly, then Silver had grown to like her energetic little brother and would not allow any harm to befall the little tyke. At least, that's what she hoped. She bit down on her lip a little harder, ignoring the bitter iron taste that flooded her mouth.
Jim noticed but kept any comments to himself. Neera had seemed rather distant the past couple of minutes and as they neared the entrance to BEN's home, it only got worse. But he shrugged it off, thinking that she was worried about crawling up that tall space, being as short as she was. He held back a laugh. He didn't think she'd find it as funny as him.
"Well, here we are!" BEN sang happily, attempting to give little Morph a high-five. The little pink blob gurgled and chirped in confusion as BEN's energetic metal hand swiped straight through him.
Jim was the first to climb up the shaft before reaching down help pull both BEN and Neera up. As BEN scrambled over the ledge, Jim eagerly pulled the map from his pocket and ran to the darkened corner where he'd last seen Dr. Doppler and Amelia. He didn't see Neera stiffen behind him. If he had, he might not have been so exited to get the map to Amelia and Doppler.
"Doc! Doc! Wake up! I got the map!" Jim tossed the golden sphere playfully in the air to show Doppler. He didn't expect a metal hand with multiple gears and wires to dart out of the shadows and snatch the map from his outstretched hand.
"Fine work, Jimbo. Fine work indeed," Silver observed condescendingly. Jim's eyes widened with shock. All around him, pirates were emerging from the darkness, sneering gleefully, holding Doppler, Amelia and Mike hostage. The little blond-haired boy was bound and gagged, trembling uncontrollably as the pirate holding him pressed the barrel of a gun against his head. He heard Neera gasp and rush towards her brother, only to be grabbed by a tentacled pirate and forced roughly to the ground.
"Thank for showing us the way in, boy!" a pirate called from somewhere in the room, before Jim moved. He darted past one nearby pirate, only to be grabbed by another. One of the pirates holding him, a fat greasy blob with several ear-piercings, howled in pain before a whimpering Morph hid in his pocket.
"What's this sorry stack o' metal?" a two-armed female pirate yanked BEN out of the entrance way, only to press a crudely-made knife against his throat joint.
Sadly, the only response the robot gave was 'Not the face!' before growing quiet as the severity of the situation dawned on him.
Silver waltzed lazily up to Jim, holding out the map, showing off his victory prize.
"Yer just like me Jimbo," he leaned in with a wicked smile; a smile that suited a treacherous pirate perfectly, "Yeh hates tah lose."
Jim didn't respond. All he could do was glare at Silver as the two grunts behind him held his arms behind his back.
Silver's moment of victory was cut short as his attempts at activating the map proved useless. The cyborg used every arm-attachment he had; his regular hand attachment didn't work; the fine finger-like attachment could not find any purchase on the smooth surface and the powerful vice-like attachment couldn't make the puzzle-sphere turn even an inch. No matter how hard Silver tried, the puzzle-sphere just would not budge.
"What the devil's-" Silver strained to open the map, but seeing that he was getting nowhere, turned to Jim who only shook his head in with a knowing smile.
The cyborg's large metal hand thrust the map in Jim's face. The pirates holding him down dropped his arms and stepped back, ready to spring on him should he try to escape or fight. Jim took the map and glared at Silver. Silver narrowed his eyes threateningly. When Jim didn't make a move to open the puzzle-map, Silver brought up his pistol arm.
"I'd get busy…" Silver let the threat hang, waving the gun vaguely in Neera's direction as clutched her brother. Her brown eyes widened as two thugs grabbed her, throwing a still-bound Mike to the ground and forcing her to her knees in front of Silver. She glared past the barrel up at Silver. She wasn't angry about being treated like a bargaining chip; oh no that was the last thing from her mind. However, she was absolutely seething at the way the pirate bastards were treating her brother, taunting the already-terrified boy. It was apparent she'd thought wrong about the pirates' leader because obviously Silver didn't give a rat's ass about her brother and wouldn't even let her untie him to comfort him! Neera grit her teeth in her anger, wishing she could snap the neck of the four-eyed alien that just kicked Mike.
Jim didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he could refuse Silver's 'request' and get them all killed, and Silver wouldn't get his hands on the treasure. But on the other hand…he glanced at Neera who continued glaring at Silver with so much animosity that Jim internally reeled, and then glanced at Doppler and Amelia who were both shaking their heads at him. If he opened the map, Silver wouldn't need them anymore and they'd be killed. No, there had to be another way, another option!
Silver cocked and loaded the gun, casting a wary glance over at Jim.
Jim decided.
Without breaking eye-contact with the treacherous cyborg, Jim pushed a few buttons with fairly loud clicks and twisted the cursed map open. Green lights burst from the golden sphere, forming into the familiar form of the planet they were standing on. The surrounding pirates murmured 'ooh's and 'aah's as the image finished emerging from its container.
"All the powers that be, would yah look!" Silver stared in wonder at the image before the planet's representation deconstructed and darted out the opening in BEN's home, leaving behind a bright, green line in the air. Silver dashed to look out the opening as the green line pulsed brightly, leading off into the distance. He chuckled deeply before turning back to Jim and the others with a frown.
"Tie 'im up. And leave him with the others to be-"
The bright green line pulsed once more before the lights were sucked back into the golden sphere in Jim's palm and closed with an audible click.
"You want the map…you're taking me too," Jim looked up from the map in his hand to Silver standing in the doorway. By the look on his face, Silver knew there'd be no talking the young lad out of this. Silver seemed to roll the idea over in his mind but chuckled and shook his head in mock disappointment.
"We'll take 'em all!" he ordered sternly at last.
It wasn't long before Silver had them all on a large long boat, flying steadily in the direction of the pulsing green line that showed the way. The pirates that were crammed into the boat with them were all armed to the teeth and sneered at Doppler and Amelia, whom were still nice and tied up. Neera, who still hadn't been allowed to untie her little brother, sat with him in her lap muttering soothing things to him under her breath.
"It's alright Mike, no one's gonna hurt us," she whispered in his ear, rocking him back and forth slightly to calm him, "After I go with Silver and Jim, I need you to stay here with Doppler and Amelia for me alright? You'll be safe with them. Remember what happens in the movie?" She waited for him to nod quietly before continuing; "I want you to do exactly what Amelia and Doppler tell you to do. When you get to the ship, I want you to go to our room, alright? Right as you get on the ship, get to our room. I'll come get you as soon as I can." She glanced down at him clutching her shirt tightly, blue eyes swimming with tears that threatened to spill over. It wrenched at her heart to see him this scared, but she would absolutelynot have him with her when they opened the door to the planet's interior. She abolished the spiral of negative thoughts from her mind with a quick shake of her head.
If nothing deviated from the plot, Doppler and Amelia would escape their hostage situation and take possession of the RLS Legacy. If Mike was with them, which he would be if Neera had anything to say about it, she would know exactly where he was and he would be safe. At least until the planet started exploding.
"Also, Mike, the most important thing; don't say anything about what happens, ok? Not about the planet exploding or anything, got it?" He nodded, still clutching her shirt as if his life depended on it.
Meanwhile at the front of the boat, Silver was eyeing Neera and her brother. She had curled up with him in her lap, head ducked low and rocking back and forth in her seat, probably to comfort the little guy. The guilt in his stomach was growing steadily worse the longer he looked at the two siblings. Wrenching his eyes from the young Seer, he caught the glare Jim was sending his way. The cyborg grinned triumphantly and looked ahead. The Treasure of a Thousands Worlds was waiting for him at the end of the line. He didn't have time to feel guilty about anything.
Soon the air became thick as the trees grew closer and closer together. It wasn't long before Silver stopped the boat and ordered every one but Amelia, Doppler and the fat, pierced pirate, off the long boat. Neera's heart leapt to her throat. Silver was going to take Mike along with them?! She wrenched herself from the pirate holding her in place and threw herself between Silver and her brother.
"No!"
Silver stared shocked at the girl's action but quickly put on a sinister smile.
"Need somethin' to keep yeh in line, Seer," the cyborg motioned the tentacled pirate to hold her down but the girl struggled relentlessly, kicking and scratching the brute holding her.
"Stop! Alright! I'll do what you want, just please! Don't take Mike!" Neera pleaded, ceasing her struggles and staring teary-eyed up at Silver, "Please, don't take Mike. He's been through enough…" she slumped and hung her head; "…I'll do anything, just please…"
Silver watched the girl slump before him in defeat. Honestly, he couldn't have asked for anything better. In truth, Silver didn't really want to bring the little blonde boy along with them. He'd only said it to keep up appearances. So, now that the oh-so-important Seer was begging him to leave her brother out of this, she had unknowingly given him a reason not to bring the boy into harm's way. Silver pretended to mull it over, scratching his chin for added affect.
"Hmmm, anything?" he pondered aloud.
Neera nodded dejectedly from her position on the ground. Silver grinned.
"How 'bout it boys? Whatcha say to a taste of the Seer's powers, eh?"
All the pirates yelled and hollered affirmatives and Silver grabbed Neera by her shirt and pulled her up to stand.
"Let's hear it Seer. Tell us our fortunes," he released her shirt and she staggered slightly.
"Danger," she mumbled but everyone caught it, "And fire, lots of fire. Most of you won't survive the next 10 hours."
Silence fell upon everyone present. A shiver went down Silver's spine as Neera's deep brown eyes focused on him; "But, you will find gold, jewels and more treasures than you could possibly carry." Neera recalled watching the scene where they opened up the door to the interior of the planet and showed the vast amount of treasure that completely covered the surface of the core. It was breathtaking to say the least.
That was enough to erase the gloom hanging over the pirates as they danced and hollered with joy.
"Gold, rubies and diamonds!" they sang happily, completely forgetting the first half of Neera's 'prophecy.' Even Silver seemed to forget as he imagined swimming up to his eyeballs in treasures.
"Alright lads, the little runt stays here with the dog and the ex-captain," Silver ordered, "And no harmin' the little fella, for the Seer's sake!" Silver pouted dramatically and laughed along with the bandits. Neera ran past Jim and kissed Mike quickly on the cheek.
"You be good now, ok?" she asked loud enough for everyone to hear and pulled the boy in for a one-sided hug as he was still tied up, "Remember, straight into our room when you get on the ship," she whispered hurriedly so that only he could hear. Mike nodded and Neera smiled. "I love you, Mike."
"Alright, that's enough Seer. Let's get on with it!"
The tentacled pirate grabbed her roughly and shoved her away from her brother.
"Nee-nee!" was all she heard before they plunged headfirst into the forest.
Walking up to Jim, Neera hung her head sadly. Jim nudged her with his shoulder gently and smiled at her. Morph came out from hiding in Jim's pocket to curl about in her hair. The little pink blob chirped sadly and burped.
"It's ok Morph," Neera crooned softly, petting the morph softly, "It's ok."
BEN walked up from behind and nervously tapped Jim on the shoulder.
"Jimmy, I-I don't know 'bout you but I-I'm starting to see my life, pass in front of my eyes!" the poor robot clutched at his head, "At least, I think it's my life. WAS I EVER DANCING WITH AN ANDROID NAMED LUPÉ?"
Startled at the sudden increase in volume, Jim stole a glance around. None of the other pirates seemed to be paying much, if any, attention to them.
"BEN, shh!" he hushed the bumbling robot, "This isn't over yet," he reassured, stealing a glance at Silver's back.
The cyborg looked up at the green line, pulsing faster and faster till it was almost a solid green line. The line disappeared through a thick cluster of trees. This must be the end of the line! A huge grin broke out on Silver's face.
"We're getting close lads!" he called behind him, "I smell treasure awaitin'!" Pulling out his sword attachment, Silver grabbed Jim and the map, yanking him forward. A few slices at the trees revealed a great, big-
Cliff. A great big, open nothingness. A huge expanse of blue-green soil and grey sky. The cliff stuck out from the forest they'd just come from and the green pulsing line was still there, disappearing into thin air at the tip of the cliff's edge.
"Where is it?" a gruff voice of a pirate asked.
"I see nothing!" another, smaller pirate with multiple eyes screeched, "One great, big, stinkin' crank of nothing!"
The lights from the green pulsing line suddenly retracted into the golden sphere in Jim's hand.
"What's going on Jimbo?" Silver demanded as the young man struggled to reopen the stubborn puzzle-sphere without any luck.
"I don't know. I can't get it open!" Jim tried again and failed. The two-armed female pirate's patience snapped.
"We should never have followed this boy!" she sneered, jumping up and knocking Jim to the ground. Someone pushed Neera and she stepped back and tripped over Jim's hunched form, landing harshly on her back with a yelp.
"I'd suggest you get that gizmo goin' again. And fast!" Silver's words fell on deaf ears as Neera's hand accidentally scraped some moss off the ground revealing a hole in the ground; a hole about the same size and shape of the puzzle-map.
The pirates behind them were screaming in outrage, throwing out suggestions of revenge, one of the most popular being one where the bandits tossed Jim and Neera over the side of the cliff.
"Jim," Neera called his name softly getting his attention. He saw her eyes flicker from the hole in the ground to the map in his hand and nodded once. Without delay, Jim shoved the golden sphere into the hole. Almost immediately, the ground lit up with the same strange symbols that had been on the inside of BEN's home as the sound of something large powering up filled the air. The air became heavy and the winds picked up.
Jim helped Neera stand as a glowing green orb emerged from the ground where he'd just set the map. The strange glowing orb had dark green shapes inside that looked strangely like planets and galaxies. But before Jim could explore the green orb further, a sound like thunder traveled across the sky and it seemed to be growing louder.
"Look!" Neera yelped, pointing out into the distance.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jim saw strange ominous lights darting across the valley floor from all directions, heading straight for the cliff they were standing on. He wasn't the only one. Silver and the others had also seen it and were taking a step back from the edge of the cliff. But not Neera. She stood proudly near the edge of the cliff, red-brown hair tossed wildly about in the roaring winds.
The lights gathered at the foot of the cliff and shot high into the sky like a golden pillar. All the pirates yelped and screamed in fear, throwing themselves on their knees before the lights. Silver clenched his eyes at the brightness of the pillar but when nothing happened, he cracked open an eye. There before him stood a larger than life image of the Lagoon Nebula. Standing at the base of the image stood Neera, gazing up in wonder at the spectacle. Again, she chuckled inwardly; the movie did not do the scene any justice. The portal was gargantuan! The golden pillars that outlined the peaceful blue of the nebula hummed like a hive of bees, steadily radiating a peaceful, golden warmth.
While Silver and his men openly gaped at the portal, Jim stared in wonder at the girl at its base. The strange girl looked the part of a powerful Seer in everyway; something more than a mere human. Outlined in golds and blues, Neera stood silently, staring up into the portal's gate. The wind was still tossing her hair about in a crazy dance and when she turned to him; her eyes sparkled like the Etherium, shining with an otherworldly light.
He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and focused on returning his breathing to normal. Neera's bright eyes turned to Silver whose mouth was opening and closing but words had long since failed him.