Treasure Planet II: Cursed Man's Riches

Quiet Moments

Scroop had never felt so murderous in his life, a feeling that he chillingly welcomed as he listened to Captain Amelia's plan, one that he would help foil before he clawed every single of them. A dark, sinister grin appeared with the very thought, he'd make the two brats and Silver pay most of all. But he had to wait. He shivered in delight; the very idea of cold-blooded revenge was almost too good to ignore. However, the more seconds that passed, the more frustrated he was becoming – he had waited for years for this!

The small group split up and followed one another, if Long Ben and Scroop were chasing them then they needed to be a step ahead, even if it was to surprise them. Sophie, Jim and Amelia lead the front group, Morph whizzing happily between them unaware of how tense the situation was. However, it did lift Sophie's spirits and take her mind off everything, except for her throbbing ankle that she swore that she could walk on, but she was having regrets. "Sophie, if you can't go on then we will leave." Amelia spoke suddenly, her tone made Jim stop and give her a side eyed look, a rather mean one but he also glanced at Sophie. "We- I need to do this." Sophie trembled, she shook her head to emphasise her protest, "This treasure is one of the greatest to ever exist, even more than Treasure Planet... it could make us mortals more powerful than gods." Sophie continued feeling her chest tighten, she really didn't want to tell anyone even her loved ones what the treasure could really be. She had a hunch that it was a contained power that would give the finder a tremendous amount of power and truthfully, Sophie was terrified that it would fall into the wrong hands, especially someone like Long Ben. It was more terrifying that she truly didn't know what this "treasure" was, was it the typical gold and jewels that made someone untouchable with it's worth or was it something more extraordinary? The idea of the "treasure" being the latter made her stomach churn in anxiety, the horrors that someone like Long Ben would create with so much power.

Jim opened his mouth to question this power, is this what she had been working on for months? He thought back to when Sophie was pulled out of class and didn't show up for lunch leaving him alone with Hallie who also had no idea what was going on, more upset that Sophie had ditched her and left her with Jim more than anything else. When Sophie eventually returned to classes, she simply explained that she had been given an assignment by a client outside of school and that she was not allowed to talk about it. Hallie could not help herself but to pester Sophie for details until the latter finally snapped which was just as terrifying as the Star Peninsula going super nova. He was extremely curious as well but he did not want a repeat of Sophie exploding, besides he trusted her enough – it wasn't like she was going behind his back and the academy knew so who was he to question her? Besides, the stress she put herself through, he had hoped back then that it would all be worth it and the client was simply a huge annoyance.

A familiar ringing indicated that the floating lights had returned, now swirling around the two groups before settling back to Sophie, making Jim close his mouth though he looked at them in complete wonder. "What do they want?" Hallie asked leaning closer to them, trying to work out what they were. "More of, what are they saying, lass?" Silver replied but asked to Sophie, who was clearly hard at thought as she stood peering at the lights. Amelia stared at the lights as well, but she kept a more tense stance than everyone else, "It sounds like they want us out of the tunnels. We might be further along than we thought." With that idea, everyone looked upwards and on cue, they could hear muffled footsteps with some being heavier than others. "What do ya know?" B.E.N commented, for once keeping his voice as low as possible, Jim glanced at Sophie and the back up at the ceiling, they had to be close to the "treasure" for the pirates to be on the same path as them, he did feel grateful that the lights has protected them and shown them another way. The group waited until the footsteps quietened entirely before speaking at a normal tone again, Sophie releasing a breath that she didn't realise that she was holding, "We need to get out of this tunnel and scout the area, see what this lot are up to." Amelia ordered, readying her pistol as the lights flew away from Sophie and headed down the tunnel at such a speed that their light disappeared entirely. "Suppose we have to go that way then." Hallie muttered with a tired sigh, sagging her shoulders as she trudged in the same direction.

Scroop couldn't help but smile widely, he had already found a way out and with the knowledge that the group was going to leave the tunnel as well, he was a step ahead. With a quiet chuckle, he scuttled away and raced to tell Long Ben the news, surely then he would get the first hit as a reward. However, his earlier thoughts of the pirate leader made Scroop pause in his tracks – would Long Ben reward him? As Scroop contemplated his next steps, he could hear the pirates in the distance, shouting about something being unfair and a waste of time. He didn't trust the group either, it was he that deserved the revenge – not the idiots that didn't go through what he did.

"Aye lads, we've found the location of the treasure and we don't have the lass to lead us the way but! But we will bring her here and get the treasure that we deserve!" Long Ben gloated to his men, trying to keep the peace and them on his side. Some cheered while the majority grumbled and voiced their annoyance, despite finding the site first they couldn't access it and were certainly not getting the treasure anytime soon. "You've wasted our time! We should've got the girl and dragged her here!" One pirate bawled, swinging his dagger in front of him, "I say we find her now!" Many of the pirates loudly aired their agreement with their patience almost gone – tempers were boiling.

"Captain, just take his hand." Hallie groaned as she watched Amelia stand at the bottom of the collapsed stairway with her eyes narrowed at Silver, who was offering his cyborg arm to her. It was established quickly that no one else's arms were long enough to reach down to her. Everyone else accepted Silver's hand but Amelia, "Sooner cut off my hands than accept the hand of a pirate." Amelia muttered with her infamous glare, which only annoyed the group more, "Captain, either take his hand or stay down there." Jim snapped, this made the group flinch and turn to look at him. "Jim..." Sophie muttered with a soft, quite fearful voice. The last thing they needed was a fight, especially with the two most argumentative in the group, Hallie was an exception unless it concerned food or sleep. "Just who do you think you are talking to in that tone, Mr Hawkins?!" Amelia snapped unfolding her arms, her glare now focused on him, "I ought to-!" She began before Jim interrupted suddenly, it made everyone flinch again with Sophie looking extremely pale and about to implode.

"No, we came here to rescue Sophie, now we are trying to stop Long Ben and you are stopping that! Yeah, what Silver did was wrong but if it wasn't for him then Sophie and I wouldn't be here now!" Jim stated, getting himself really wound up over Amelia's stubbornness, "He saved our lives and you still can't forgive him!" After which Jim turned away with a deep sigh, his arm raising to his eyes, Sophie and Hallie glanced at one another – they knew how Jim felt about Silver – not only did the cyborg save his life, but he was also the father figure that Jim longed for. Amelia sighed and reached up for Silver's hand with him pulling her up with ease, if anyone had the same hearing as Amelia then they would have heard a muttered thank you.

"There, let's keep goin' while there's daylight!" Silver urged, ushering the group except for Jim along. "I'm fine." Jim muttered with a sniff as Silver approached him, the old cyborg looking at him with an uneasy expression, "Lad, the things I've done is unforgivable even before I met you and the lass... You can't blame the Captain for holdin' a grudge or two against me, it's her job and from the looks of it, it will be yours as well... will be catchin' folks like me." Silver spoke earnestly, Jim shook his head muttering that he should be catching up with everyone else but Silver's hand on his shoulder stopped him, "Jimbo, I don't blame the Captain for how she feels, I hurt Sophie and what I did nearly killed her. Just give the Captain time." Silver patted Jim's shoulder realising that he was taller from the last time they saw one another.