I Am The Psycho Pirate

Chapter 23 - Standoff

Cubby POV

I sat there in silence, my big blue eyes fixated on the cave entrance where Izzy had vanished into the night. Peter was grimacing his pain, wrapping a torn piece of his shirt around his wounded arm. He looked defeated, however the eternal sparkle of hope in his eyes had not yet dimmed fully, but it was pretty close. It was a sight I had never seen before. Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, struggling to mask his vulnerability. Jake, on the other hand, had retreated to a dark corner of the cave, his arms wrapped tightly around his legs, his head buried in his knees. He was silent, but I could sense the waves of disappointment and regret rolling off him. We had failed. We had failed to save Izzy , and in the process, we had lost the kind, gentle girl we once knew. The Izzy who had laughed with us, shared secrets, and fought by our side was nothing but a memory. The Izzy I remembered wouldn't hurt a fly. She would most likely mistake it for a spider and run away squealing in fear. But now she was manipulating the heck out of us and threatening our lives. She is gone now. Forever.

I looked at Peter, his brow furrowed and his eyes clouded with a mix of emotions. Throughout this whole event he had been confident and defiant, but in that sliver of a moment, he seemed as lost and broken as the rest of us. As for Jake, the guilt he felt was very visible that I could practically taste it. It was a bitter, heavy problem that hung over us like a storm cloud.

"What do we do now?" I finally spoke, breaking the heavy silence that enveloped.

"Didn't you hear her Cubby? We die." Jake blurted.

Peter then looked at the raven haired teen, his expression a mixture of resignation despite the slash on his arm.

"Don't even start that with me Jake. We are not giving up! We haven't lost." he said, his voice full of determination but no cockiness.

"Well lets see," Jake started. "We're stuck in a cave about 50 feet high, we have no pixie dust, no possible way of getting off this island, we lost the only known cure for Izzy, our sole weapon is a wooden stick, you're hurt and me and Cubby probably have about two weeks left to live unless if she kills us sooner. So to me, yes we have lost. Peter, with his unruly red hair and freckled face, let out a sigh and then crossed his arms.

"Well, anybody would think so when you put it that way." he mumbled. Jake's despair seemed to overwhelm him as he buried his face in his arms again.

"We never should've come here," the raven haired teen continued, his voice heavy with regret. "I should've just listened to Cubby. There's no fixing this."

"Only if you're a quitter," Peter interjected, his voice firm despite the obvious pain in his arm. "And only if you're able to give up on your first matey so easily!" You could tell he wasn't gonna let Jake surrender to despair. Our fate depended on our determination to fight back.

"Well, a little something about my 'first matey'," Jake said, frustration lacing his words, "she wants to kill me. And Cubby. She wants you to suffer forever, and she wants to take over Neverland. I was just as reluctant to believe it as you were, but it's true! And if you're so confident in yourself, then why can't you fly? Where are your happy thoughts? Huh?"

"Jake, just because I'm confident doesn't mean I'm happy," Peter confessed, the weight of our situation bearing down on him. "To be honest with you, I'm just as infuriated and disappointed as you. And this place, this... this haunted island... this is the place where the sun never rises. This is the place where everyone is too afraid to go. This is the place of unhappy thoughts! And that's why she came here. Morgan fed on Izzy's guilt and pain and used it to her advantage. Izzy didn't fight back, and that's why she lost. We can't lose too."

"Yes, we can. And we will," Jake's voice wavered with despair, his gaze fixed on the rocky ground beneath him. "You're just denying it."

"I will deny that the sky is blue if it means you'll stand up to her again," Peter declared, determination surging. "But this time, I will be there to help you."