Chapter 105: Battle Cry

"Pull them back! Pull them back to the ship!"

Pieces of the Wishing Star exploded into the Jolly Roger. Far below the black cauldron rumbled as the shadows pushed through the magical portal between heaven and earth. Space throbbed. Energy surged into kinetic waterfalls, smashing into stars and flinging comets off course.

The explosions hit the Jolly Roger all at once, overpowering the pixie dust. Pirates clung to the ship as it tipped and tilt. Lifelines were thrown and blades were stabbed into the wooden planks. But still, pirates lost hold and were flung off the careening ship.

Jim hit the bulwark. Two pirates slammed against him. Wailing, they flipped over the side, clawing at his jacket to stay aboard. Jim clenched the rail as the pirates pulled him down. But just as his boots lifted, the ship lurched, swinging them onto the deck.

"She's gonna blow!" Hades yelled, pointing to the Wishing Star.

Jim turned. A silver cloud dropped from the star. It thundered like a storm and spit tendrils of electricity. His eyes wavered. Wendy and Peter were still up there.

"Hold te yer life lines!" Silver bellowed. Behind him, Captain Hook threw ropes. His hook glinted amongst swirling robes. Maleficent's eyes burned as wings broke through her shoulder blades. Horrified, Jim watched Silver run across the witch's path as she hissed green fire from an elongated snout. She was transforming. Transforming into a dragon.

"An say yer prayers!" Silver made for Jim, attaching and detaching from the deck with suctioned fingertips. "When it hits – we're gonna drop faster than a shootin' star!"

Jim's eyes snapped up. "…Wen…"

"Jimbo!"

Jim ignored the cyborg's call. Running sideways across the tilting ship, he sprinted across the deck. Brittle bits of star slipped under his boots. Lunging the last step, he attacked the chains tethering Peter to the mast.

"Jimbo!"

"They're still up there!" Jim shouted, throwing away Silver's hand. His heart was racing. His fingers were sweating. The silver storm was plummeting too fast. "If the ship drops it'll tear Pan's legs off! They'll never survive the impact – "

"They're not the Chosen Ones!" Silver snarled, wrenching Jim's hand behind his back. Wiping a cutlass from his mechanical socket, he pressed the blade to Jim's throat. "Hook don't care if they die! And if by chance we survive this Jimbo, ye better hope te yer lucky stars that Hook don't kill ye and yer little merm – "

"—GET OFF!"

The ship lurched. Jim and Silver slammed forward, colliding with the mast. Jim felt Silver's heart tickering wildly as the cyborg compressed him into the mast.

"Have mercy." Silver whispered as the storm shattered across the sails. For a weightless moment, the Jolly Roger vaulted through space. Then it dropped; spinning through a white wash of broken stars and plummeting blindly to the earth.

Jim screamed. His stomach leapt inside his mouth. His head felt detached from his neck and his brain detached of his head. Miles of space separated the back and front of his skull. Rushing and ringing shook his eardrums.

He tried to move. He told his arm to reach under Silver's and grab the chain. But the air resistance pinned he and Silver to the mast.

Helplessly, Jim watched the chain zap taut. Peter dove but could not outpace the ship. With a sickening pop, the chain ripped Peter down. The whiplash wrenched Wendy from his arms. Wendy flung into space. She smashed into the silver storm. Peter pulled but could not loosen the taut chains. Powerless, he could only reach for Wendy as she fell.

The ship somersaulted through the atmosphere. Maleficent, transformed into a dragon, swept beneath the ship to slow it's descent. The hull bumped and spun, knocking Jim and Silver across the deck.

SLAM.

"Easy now!" Silver yelled, seizing Jim as he fell. Heavily he leaned, pressing Jim against the bulwark. "Easy! Almost thar!"

Jim's opened his eyes. Wind ripped across his face. Skin burned, he stared wildly as the air blazed by, opening to ocean.

Suddenly, his heart stopped. He saw Wendy, falling to her death. Then, looking past Wendy, he saw someone else. Someone he thought he would never see again.

Ariel.

"She's…alive."

Anger. Anger burned inside every single part of him. It destroyed all that was decent, forgiving, and calm. It twisted his doubt and despair into violence and hate. It turned him into a monster.

"LIAR!"

Seizing Silver's wrist, Jim pushed. Falling with the plunging ship, he lunged, propelling Silver's mechanical arm at the mast. WACK! The cutlass hacked into the mast and through Peter's chains.

"NO!"

POP! The chains exploded into the sky. Captain Hook grappled, but lost his balance as the ship hurled through the air. With only screams to mark their offense, the villains watched Peter soar through the air.

"GO!" Jim screamed. He slammed onto the rail. "SAVE HER!"

Peter dove. Faster and faster he flew, hair on fire and smoke curling from his heels.

Jim watched. Villains crawled for him, guns loaded and swords raised. But Jim did not care. Torso extended over the side and hair ripping across his eyes, he screamed.

He screamed as Facilier's shadow raced after Peter.

He screamed as Peter touched Wendy's fingertips.

He screamed as Ariel attacked Ursula, body fluid and beautiful as she fought for her trident.

He screamed as the Jolly Roger crashed. He screamed as villains, pirates, and Maleficent attacked Fantasia.

He screamed as the students of Fantasia School for the Magically Skewed tore across the shore, armed with gifts the Wishing Star had given them to protect Fantasia.

He screamed as the battle for Fantasia began.

But…

…he stopped screaming…

…when the shadows came.

song muse chpt 105: from YouTube, Epic Music Soundtracks (Battle Music, 42 min)