Hello there! Before any of you attempt to strangle me with shoelaces, ties, socks or whatever you have lying around, I am truly, truly, truly, truly sorry for the really long delay in this chapter. I've had a lot on my plate lately. This chapater isn't as long as I'd like it to but alas, we are nearing the end of the story. I still not entirely sure how I'm gonna send Neera and Mike home; I have two versions in my head so I think I'll just flip a coin and work with the results. My goal for this story is to at the very least have 10 chapters but more is always welcome if it happens. Anyways, I hope this ends in me not dying. I can't update if I'm dead so don't hate me too much? I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Treasure Planet in any way, shape or form. I do own Neera and Mike though. Those two are mine to corrupt.

Enjoy!

~o0O0o~

"The Lagoon Nebula?" Jim stared up in wonder at the gigantic image of the star system that was located halfway across the galaxy. The blues and whites of the nebula swirled around peacefully; stars blinking in and out of sight. Silver scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"But, that's halfway 'cross the galaxy," the pirate leader murmured in slight amazement.

Jim looked down at the glowing green orb before him. The sphere was littered with hundreds of darker green blobs and shapes, some of which looked familiar to Jim. Not knowing what would happen, Jim took a chance and pressed a random shape; one in the shape of a triangle within a circle. The giant golden triangle showing the Lagoon Nebula shut with a heavy buzzing sound before opening up again, showing a different image. Floating hunks of rock littered with advanced buildings floated in a row as small aircrafts flew towards their destinations. A ship zoomed past the portal opening, humming deeply in Jim's chest.

"A big door…opening and closing," Jim murmured to himself as he pressed another 'button' in the floating green sphere. The image of the floating cities vanished, replaced by vast desert landscape in the mist of a sandstorm. Tall rock-like structures were the only things standing up to the roaring winds but somewhere in Jim's mind; he knew that even they would succumb to erosion one day. Jim racked his brain.

'A big door,' he wondered again, searching the glowing green orb for the answers.

"Let's see…" his blue-gray eyes darted between the shapes looking for anything familiar amongst the green, "Kainapis." He pointed to the planet. Somewhere behind Kainapis was a green shape, like that of a sliver of the moon. With a small laugh, Jim wove his finger through the green maze and pressed it.

"Montressor Spaceport."

The moon sliver clicked and glowed brightly before the golden-edged triangle closed and opened again, this time showing the Space Port in all its glory. Realization struck Jim like lightning as he began pushing buttons with more and more fervor.

"So that's how Flint did it," he exclaimed out loud, efficiently catching Silver's attention, "He used this…portal, to roam the universe, stealing treasure!" Before he could so much as push another planet, Silver shoved him aside in frustration.

"But where'd he stash it all?" Silver stabbed button after button, opening door after door in a series of brightly flashing lights.

One minute the portals opened on a liquid hot inferno; on multitudes of giant neuron balls whirring and whizzing through their dimension; then a vast open sea with large bulbous seeds floating like beach balls on the water's surface. When the door opened to a giant monster with six short legs, two long arms and mouthful of razor sharp teeth, Jim heard Neera squeal in terror as she darted behind him for cover, clutching his shirt like a life-line. Jim felt a stab of pride in his gut at her action; she had fled to him in her terror. She considered him able to protect her, she felt safe with him. The thought warmed him inside and out and he fought the smile creeping onto his face, instead replacing it with a scowl directed at Silver. But in the end Neera had nothing to worry about because the monster barely had time to let out a roar before Silver jammed his mechanical finger onto a different planet.

"Where's…that…blasted…treasure?!" Silver's frustration crept into his tone with every door opened, revealing not the treasure he'd spent a lifetime searching for, but rather different galaxies and planets unknown even to him.

"Treasure," BEN clasped his head in his hands with the occasional twitch, "Treausure! It's…buried in the-" the poor robot struggled to form words as he pulled at his wires the same way a person might pull at his hair. The gears in Jim's head turned and clicked.

"Buried in the centroid of the mechanism," he let the words fall slowly from his tongue, feeling around them, searching through them for the answer hidden within. Neera fidgeted beside him, wringing her hands uneasily. He shot her a questioning glance. She smiled and shook her head.

"Not allowed to say," she grinned nervously; glancing at the back of the frustrated Silver to be sure he hadn't heard her. The girl glanced at the ground, met Jim's eyes again before motioning to the ground again with her eyes. It clicked.

"What if… the whole planet is the mechanism!" he exclaimed, "And the treasure is buried in the center of this planet!"

At his words, the pirates shared a look before diving after the digging tools and clawing at the ground below their feet. Neera clasped a hand over her mouth as she tried to stifle her giggles at the look on their faces when the pickaxes bent out of shape and the dim-witted pirates realized that they were standing on a very solid, metallic surface. That however was the straw of patience Silver had before he let his frustrations get the better of him.

"And how in blue blazes are we supposed to get there?" the angry cyborg returned to stabbing various buttons and planets in a mad hope that he would come across the right button. Jim smirked and pushed the larger pirate out of the way.

"Just open the right door," he stated simply, not-so-silently criticizing Silver's intellect. Weaving his way past the other planets and making his way to the very center of the glowing green orb, Jim gently pushed the button in the shape of the planets they stood on; Treasure Planet, the lot of a thousand worlds.

The portal closed with a satisfied hum before opening again. From where they stood, the group could see a large pipe-like structures protruding like stalactites from the vas, open ceiling. They could even feel the pleasant heat emanating from the core of the planet only a few feet away.

Jim reached a tentative hand forward, only to meet the portals 'door'. It was cool to the touch, almost as if he'd submerged his hand in a tub of water. The portal's surface danced around his arm in a thick haze, making it hard to see through where it had once been crystal clear. Jim experimentally wriggled his fingers from the other side of the portal. He felt weird in the sudden realization that in fact his body was standing on the planet's surface, whilst his hand was currently in the center. It was two completely different places and yet, he was right there and so was his hand, only it wasn't. It was confusing but made sense at the same time. Wasting no more time to think over how technically he was in two places at once, Jim stepped the rest of the way through the barrier.

Silver reached through the portal and grabbed Jim's shoulder, keeping him in place. Jim internally scoffed. Where was he going to run to?

The rest of the pirates ran through the portal, none willing to be left behind in what could easily be the biggest moment of their lives. Neera fell behind. She watched as all the pirates ran ahead of Silver who was dragging Jim along. Why didn't any of these pirates-by-trade think to check for a simple tripwire? Or did they all forget in the heat of the moment?

Neera remembered, oh yes, she remembered. How could she not? It had been the only part of the movie she'd always cursed at people's stupidity. To her, it was common sense; like a math equation; you could only end up with one correct answer. Big treasure beyond all reason = booby traps. She eyed the small blinking device that would ultimately be their downfall. Oh Nathanial Flint, you greedy, paranoid son-of-a-bitch! Neera glanced back at the group of pirates screaming in joy and wonder at the sheer amount of gold, jewels and other priceless treasures that covered the core of the planet like a thick golden blanket. Had she thought about telling Jim about the little welcoming trap? Yes. But that would really mess up the whole plot if her mere presence hadn't already. There was no Neera and Michael Knight in Treasure Planet; no being who could see the future; and certainly no confusing feelings about love between the main character and a girl who doesn't even exist in this universe. Neera felt a frown pull at her lips and she vaguely wondered how old she looked. Was it as old as she felt? Talk about having too much on her metaphorical plate. She wished she could go back to her boring life in her empty house, taking care of Mike and taking him out to play. She wouldn't even complain about the lack of her parents in her life if only she and Mike could return safe and sound to their own world.

Neera was yanked out of her inner turmoil as Silver's grubby human hand grasped the thin cotton of her shirt and dragged her forward.

"Look alive Seer! It's my turn to tell you a fortune!" he laughed heartily as he all but threw her into a large pile of gold, jewels and other assorted treasures. The pirates that weren't running through the piles screaming in joy about needing a bigger boat, laughed at her as Jim helped her to her feet. The girl clutched the material of his shirt as Silver clapped his hands once and threw his arms open wide, efficiently getting everyone's attention.

"The future I see?" Silver paused for effect, "Is a planet all to myself somewhere in the Summerset Star System. One of the biggest damn mansions they've got with enough drink to drink myself stupid!" The pirates laughed and cheered and Silver continued, "And you, little missy," he turned to Neera, sneering down at her, "You'll be our personal Seer, telling us when and where there be treasure for the takin'!" At this, the crowd of pirates whooped and hollered with glee. Their own personal Seer! If they weren't already rich up till their eyeballs, they could sell her services, charging people to have their fortunes sold.

Jim could feel the girl in his arms shaking like a leaf. He couldn't blame her honestly. To be locked up, only used for the powers Neera herself didn't want. He still remembered her crying on the deck only a few days prior. God, it felt as if it were a lifetime ago.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes, "I'm sorry. I don't wanna see the future. I don't wanna know what's gonna happen, but I do." she began sobbing quietly.

She obviously didn't see her powers in the same way Silver saw them. Where he only saw golden opportunities to steal and plunder treasures, she saw the more negative side of it; people dying slow deaths, whether it was years from now or in the next month. Jim felt a shudder travel down his back. He couldn't imagine seeing the people he cared about; his mother, Dr. Doppler and Neera; die every time he looked at them.

And there was nothing she could do about it. As long as they had her brother, Neera would have no choice but to do whatever they'd ask of her.

Jim wrapped his arms around her comfortingly as the girl continued to shake uncontrollably.

Silver jumped into the fray, running his hands through the endless piles of gold and jewels and leaving Jim along with BEN and Neera. BEN was glancing around, scratching at his exposed wires, murmuring things under his breath. Neera continued to shake.

"Neera? You gonna be alright?" Jim pulled back to look at her face. To his surprise, she wasn't crying. Yes, her eyes were red and she was forcing back the tears but her face was set into hard determination.

"There is no way I'm going to be Silver's little bitch!" she hissed venomously under her breath so only Jim and BEN could hear her, "We're getting out of here!"

Jim looked at her confused, "But what about Mike. Silver's men still have him."

At this, Neera smirked, "Oh don't worry about him. If he's doing what I told him to do, he'll be safe on the ship right about now."

Jim smiled. This was his Neera; stubborn in all the right and wrong ways and would figure out how to get everyone home safely or die trying. If Silver thought she'd cave easily just because he held her brother 'hostage', boy did he have another thing coming. And now that her brother was safe and out of harm's way, Jim was sure all hell was about to break loose.

"This is all…seeming very familiar," BEN mumbled uncertainly to himself, drawing Jim and Neera's attention to him. Jim stared past the confused robot to an old ship lying on top of a heaping amount of gold. The purple lasers that hummed and occasionally shot into the open holes of the core, lit up the space behind it.

Meanwhile BEN continued muttering about whatever it was he was going on about, "I-I can't remember why!"

Jim glanced at Silver's back. The pirate leader was busy with his pile of gold, his back to them. This was their chance!

"BEN, Neera, c'mon," he made his way to the edge of the large platform, carefully lowering himself to the treasure-covered ground, trying not to make too much noise. The last thing he wanted was to catch Silver's attention just as they were about to make their escape,"We're getting out of here and we're not leaving empty-handed."

BEN began to protest but they fell on deaf ears as the group made their way towards the ship's remains. Neera cast a wary glance over at Silver but he was still busy muttering something to his precious pile of gold.

"You know what's strange? I can't tell you how frustrating this is, Jimmy," Ben continued rattling on and on about nothing and everything as they made their way to the side of the wreckage. Jim scrambled up and over the side of the ship, leaning over to help both Neera and BEN up, "'cause there something…it's nagging at the back of my mind," BEN never got to finish his train of thought as a girlish wail escaped from his metallic head and he promptly crashed to the floor of the ship in a pile. Jim and Neera both looked at what had startled BEN so much.

"Captain Flint?" Jim breathed. BEN finished peeling himself off the floor.

"In the flesh!" Neera rolled her eyes at the robot's poor, poor choice of words, "Well s-sort of. Except…for skin, organs or anything that-that-that resembles flesh. T-that's not there…" BEN trailed off awkwardly as Jim stepped forward. Neera stayed where she stood; far, far from the skeletal remains of the notorious captain. Of course she knew that it wasn't like it was going to pop up and attack her, but it still gave her the willies like nothing else. Jim moved closer to the skeleton sitting in his throne amongst the treasure.

Meanwhile, BEN was still jabbering away, something about his mind, "A-and yet it's so odd you know, I mean I remember there was s-something horrible Flint didn't want anyone else to know but…I-I just, I can't remember what it was!"

Jim clasped his hands around Flint's bony hand and ripped away the fingers holding a small circuit trapped in its small confine. He resisted the urge to retch as the ancient fingers, dried ligaments and tendons ripped and broke away with a sound of shattering glass before dissolving into a fine, powdered dust. Jim looked at the circuit again. He looked towards BEN who was striking a dramatic pose.

"OH, a mind is a terrible thing to loose!" the dramatic robot cried

"BEN? I think I just found your mind!" Jim cried. Ignoring how strange it sounded to say that, he rushed over, grabbing the robot's head in one hand and the circuit board in the other.

"Hold still."

"Aha! Jimmy! You're hand are very, very cold-"

Just as he was wondering if he was going to need a soldering iron to fix everything together, the loose wires sticking out of BEN's head shot up and connected to the circuit board by itself. BEN's voice changed mid-sentence; sounding very robot-y and metallic-y before returning to its normal patterns.

"Whoa! Hello!" BEN's once green eyes changed to a steady blue, "You know, uh Jimmy, I was just thinking- I was just – think! Its all coming back! ALL MY MEMORIES!" Jim smiled triumphantly as BEN dance around happily, "RIGHT UP UNTIL FLINT PULLED OUT MY MEMORY CIRCUIT SO I COULD NEVER TELL ANYONE ABOUT HIS BOOBY TRAP!"

As if on cue, a loud explosion went off just above the wreckage of the ship they were all standing in. All eyes were immediately drawn to it as BEN cowered.

"Speaking of which…"

Silver and the other pirates looked up from their treasure exploration just in time to see a series of explosions line the base of one of the large metal pipes that hung from the ceiling.

"Flint wanted to make sure that nobody could ever steal his treasure, so he rigged this whole planet to blow HIGHER THAN A KALIPIAN KITE!"

With one last explosion, the large pipe fell heavily to the core's surface. The spear-like tip effectively pierced through the heavy golden blanket of treasure, leaving behind a large fracture that continued spreading outward in a series of heated cracks. The purple lasers, knocked off their original course, began carving through the open fields of treasure, melting the gold on contact where it then seeped into the cracks and formed a rapidly growing pool of molten metal at the very center of the core. Pirates ran this way and that, trying to outrun the deadly lasers. The few who were caught in it were instantly vaporized.

"RUN JIMMY! RUN NEERA! RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIFE!" BEN screamed, tugging so harshly on Neera's shirt that the robot almost ripped it clean off her.

"You two go back and help the captain and Doc!" Jim ordered before he disappeared under the control panel where all the important wires were, "If I'm not there in 5 minutes," he hesitated for a second, "leave without me."

BEN however wasn't going without Jimmy.

"I am NOT leaving my buddy, Jimmy!" BEN yanked violently at Jim's legs, dragging the young man out from under the control panel. He was holding two sparking wires, one in each hand, and glaring fiercely at the irritating robot, "Unless he looks at me like that," the rusting robot added awkwardly, "BYE JIM!" And with that, the robot dropped Jim's feet like hot potatoes and ran to the side of the boat where he wasted no time climbing out of the ship, opting instead to just jump clear overboard. Neera didn't so much as think about leaving the safety of the ship she was currently standing on. The mountains of gold slid steadily towards the large crevices made by the run-away lasers. Caskets and chests filled with gold and countless other treasures fell to the molten center of the giant bomb of a planet. As she watched, two pirates; the tentacled man who'd held her down earlier and another, tried carrying away a large chest still filled with gold from the approaching chasm of death. They didn't make it. Even though they decided their lives were worth more than a treasure chest full of gold, they'd made the decision too late and fell to their deaths as the surrounding gold dragged them down to the molten pit below. Neera couldn't believe it. This was still a kid's movie right? Well, kid's movie or not, she could die here if she didn't do something.

Running towards Jim still under the control panel, she ducked her head under it yelling over the explosions and noise.

"Jim! What do I need to do?" She'd be dammed if she just sat around waiting for the movie's plot to save her; if in fact it saved her at all. Jim stopped what he was doing and stared at her with wide eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, "You should have left with BEN!"

Surprising herself, Neera found herself grinning, "Don't worry! They'll be fine! Besides! I can't let you have all the life-threatening fun, now can I?"

Jim continued to stare at her, opening and closing his mouth but no words came out. A million things flashed in his eyes, so fast that Neera couldn't keep up with the emotions flickering across his face. Confusion, anger, frustration, and was there a hint of accusation? Finally he took a deep breath.

"You knew about this didn't you?"

Neera nodded sadly. Again, Neera thought she saw accusation flit across those blue-grey eyes of his.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

At this Neera grinned. She didn't know why she was grinning and it most certainly was not the right time to be grinning like she'd just shared a joke with some friends, but never-the-less, Neera was grinning.

"If I'd told you Treasure Planet was a giant bomb, would you still have come?"

Jim said nothing and went back to work trying to bring a near-ancient ship back to life.