Author's Note: Is this the fastest oneshot I've ever conceived the idea of and then written? Perhaps. But absolutely necessary! I just got the "A Twisted Tale Anthology" because I knew there would be a Treasure Planet story in there. It started off fine with some minor nitpicks, but as the story progressed and got to the end, I admit I felt disappointed and unsatisfied. From a character perspective, what ended up happening didn't make sense, so I wanted to tackle the beginning of the canon divergence with my own take (and also tell it from Silver's POV because I felt that would be more fun than just doing a different version of Jim's).

Alternate Rattle the Stars

"Jimbo!" Silver exclaimed in surprise when he saw the human teenager on the steps into the galley. The galley that he and a chunk of his crew had just recently vacated, and the lad had a scared look on his face. Has he been down there when…?

Silver quickly glanced left and right to see if anyone else had noticed, but there was no sign of the captain or doc, and even Turnbuckle had left the helm to get a look at Treasure Planet. No one was watching. He descended the stairs, using his arms and body to block Jim from slipping past him and forced him back into the galley.

"Playing games, are we?" he said casually.

The young man's face contorted with anger as he backed up until he ran into a table. "Yeah. Yeah, we're playing games."

His expressions gave away the truth. Jim had been somewhere in the galley and had overheard their plans. And his lies.

But he was the only one who knew.

"Ohh, I see," he murmured almost regretfully and rubbed his jaw with his left hand while he subtly shifted his right hand behind his back. "Well, I was… never much good at games."

As quietly as he could, Silver shifted his hand for his laser pistol. He didn't want to have to do this. He liked Jim, but the boy was forcing his hand. He couldn't let him run and spill his mutiny plans to Amelia, not when he was so close to finally obtaining the treasure.

"Hmm. Me too!" Jim said then lunged straight at him.

Silver was so caught off-guard by such a stupid, reckless move that he reacted too slowly, and his eyes widened in surprise when he found Jim standing in front of him with one of the scissor-like knives pressing against his neck.

"Jimbo… what-?" he began but stopped when Jim pressed the knife harder.

It didn't hurt. For one, the blades were on the inside, not the outside, and two, his jowls were so thick and flabby that the knife was nowhere near slicing his jugular which was the whole point of a threat like this. Silver was more baffled than anything.

"Now here's how this is gonna go," Jim said shakily, clearly trying to sound more certain than he felt. Nervous sweat was beading on his brow. "I heard everything. I know all about the mutiny you're planning, and I know you're here to stop me from telling the captain, but I want to help you."

Jim stepped back with the knife, and Silver's brow furrowed. "Eh? Come again?"

The teen ran a finger over the dull curve of the blade with affected casualness, like he didn't care. "You heard me. The treasure's what I've been after from the start, and that hasn't changed now, but you're in a bind because you need me." Jim's sky-blue eyes shot up from the knife, hard and determined, and he set his jaw. "Have you even seen the map? It's a puzzle sphere, and I'm the only one who knows how to open it. Whether you like it or not, you need me, and we both need this ship to help carry the treasure back, but we don't need the captain or doc for that, so you have to agree to my terms if you want my help."

Silver could see how nervous Jim was, but also how angry, much like he was when he first arrived on the ship. It was like time had rewound for him, and surprisingly, it hurt Silver a little to see him like that, especially with the memory from last night of Jim's small smile looking over his shoulder at him.

He forcibly shoved the memory aside and refocused on the matter at hand. Jim could be bluffing about the map because he had no other card to play, but what if he wasn't? That wasn't a risk Silver could afford to take, and it wouldn't hurt to hear him out at least.

"Name 'em," Silver said.

Jim's steely expression faltered, and his fidgeting with the knife stilled. "Really? Just like that?"

"Aye, like ye says, lad. I need ya to get to the treasure, so name yer terms," Silver said. He could hear the excited chatter and running about up top from his crew, so they still had some time.

Pain like he's just been stabbed flashed across Jim's face briefly, but he glared again and drew himself up to his full height then brandished the knife in his direction.

"First, you let the captain and doc go unharmed. We put them in a longboat with supplies, and then I'll open the map to take us to the treasure, and we both get rich," Jim said.

Silver raised an eyebrow. "If yer trying to spare their lives, lad, it'd be kinder to throw 'em in the brig than leave 'em stranded out here so far from civilization, even with supplies."

Jim wilted a little at the criticism of his plan, though he vainly tried to hide the blow it had struck his façade of being in control of the situation. "Fine, you can put them in the brig, but no hurting them! And you have to still feed them until we get back to civilized space and can safely set them adrift in a longboat."

Silver nodded slightly. "I can agree to that. Now as fer yer cut o' the treasure-"

"I want 25%," Jim blurted out.

"Beg pardon?" Silver demanded sharply.

Jim jutted his chin out in defiance. "I'm the only one who can open the map. I'm the whole reason this voyage was commissioned and why you're on this ship right now. You and your crew also burned down my mom's inn, so I deserve a bigger cut of the treasure because of the role I've played in getting here and because of the compensation you owe me for damages."

Silver seethed silently as he glared back, and the gold tint of his right eye turned red. He had been chasing after the dream of Treasure Planet since he was Jim's age, had sacrificed half his body in his quest to investigate every whisper and every hint of a lead. He was the one who'd discovered Bones' existence and learned he was once a cabin boy on Flint's ship, and it was because of him that Jim was even aware there was a map. He had put in the decades of work searching for it, and Jim was merely here riding on the coattails of his success.

But Silver forced himself to calm down and keep from acting rashly. He needed Jim to get to the treasure first, but beyond that… who knew?

"25% it is," he agreed. "Anyt'ing else?"

Silver didn't expect there to be and was surprised when Jim's brow furrowed, and he averted his eyes, looking uncertain. Then he nodded to himself and said quietly, "Yeah. Scroop has to pay for killing Mr. Arrow. I won't see the treasure shared with someone like him. I won't reward him for dumping an innocent man into a black hole… then blaming it on me."

For the first time in this whole conversation, Silver stopped thinking about the treasure and the mutiny and the negotiation and looked at Jim. Really looked at him. His eyes, recently so full of light and energy, were now dull and hollow. Like a strong wind had blown by and snuffed out the fire he'd seen burning inside him.

And he was that wind.

The thought unsettled him, and this time, Silver asked in a gentler tone, "Ye know what yer asking fer, lad? Scroop won't take that lying down and vengeance don't suit ya none."

Jim gave a derisive snort. "Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do either."

On the contrary, Silver felt like he knew Jim too well, and his grimace was partly due to that cutting jab. "I'm afraid I can't agree to that one, Jimbo," he said.

"Then no deal," Jim snapped. "My terms are non-negotiable, so take them or leave them, but then you won't get my help opening the map and you'll never see the treasure."

Silver's upper lip curled in frustration and a growl slipped out. "Ye don't have near as much bargaining power as ye think, boy. If I don't get that treasure, then yer life's forfeit as well as mine cuz the crew will mutiny. That treasure's the only t'ing still keeping 'em in line, and they won't take kindly to me offing one of 'em to replace with you neither, or were yer ears stuffed during that part o' the conversation in the galley earlier?"

Jim's breath hitched, his chest heaved, and a glassy shimmer of pain covered his eyes.

Silver immediately felt guilty and regretted the low blow, but the words had already been spoken, so he pushed on. "It's yer choice, Jimbo, but if yer set on yer terms, then it's death yer seeking cuz I can't kill Scroop without inciting mutiny. However, if ye were to take a partial deal, then ye can get both the treasure and the safety o' the cap'n and doc. All ye gotta do is lay off on yer blood price, and then we can both get what we're after."

He stuck out his cybernetic hand for Jim to shake and could see the struggle in the lad's eyes: the conflict between sticking to it or compromising. Silver waited patiently. He'd spent over thirty years searching for Treasure Planet, he could afford to wait a few more minutes. He didn't expect Jim to thank him for it, but not having him kill Scroop as part of a deal was the best thing for his soul. Jim was too soft-hearted for the world of piracy.

Finally, Jim took his metal hand and shook it with a grim frown. "Deal," he said.

"Then follow my lead," Silver said and spun around to march up the stairs and begin the mutiny.

I initially ended up writing this on the Treasure Planet Fans discord but didn't want to lose it through scrolling, so I gathered all the bits together into one document so they're contained, easy to find, and the whole thing is also more widely accessible.