Fear of Falling [Treasure Planet Fanfic]

Chapter One: The Twilight Horror

Stupid captain. Stupid cyborg. Stupid mop and bucket. Here he was, on the greatest adventure of his life, and he was swabbing the deck. Jim should have been exploring the R.L.S. Legacy and all its secrets from head to toe, not doing chores for the cook. It was humiliating.

Jim stopped his mopping and looked up into space, his nerves suddenly shot with excitement and adrenaline. He thought of all the things he would see that no one else was lucky enough to, especially Treasure Planet. Maybe he could do something right this time, and he wouldn't feel like such a screw up.

The teenage boy went back to swabbing. His mood soured once more, "Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop," he muttered under his breath.

A tall, brutish man with four arms and grey skin lumbered past Jim, pushing him out of his way. Jim stumbled, holding onto the mop for support and looking somewhat startled. The alien turned back to him. His face was colored red and both his eyes were looking in different directions, making it hard for him to tell if the guy was high or if he had some kind of sight problem.

"Watch it, twerp," the brute threatened.

You're the one who bumped into me, Jim thought with annoyance. His blue eyes wandered around the deck and spotted three of the crew members having a conversation over a barrel. He couldn't hear what they were saying; their tones were hushed and hurried.

Jim didn't like the crew Doc hired for this ship. Each one of them looked shifty and untrustworthy, most importantly Silver, the cyborg. Everything about him said he was trouble. Jim had become suspicious of him the moment he saw the man's mechanical arm, leg, and eye. A cyborg on the crew going to Treasure Planet, while just last night the Inn was burnt to the ground because of a cyborg chasing after an old salamander for a treasure map? Coincidence? He thought not.

Jim kept an eye on the three crew members as they talked. Looking up to see he was watching them, one of the men shushed the other two and they glared over at him.

"What are you looking at, weirdo?" said the shirtless, bearded man. At least, Jim thought it was one man until the head detached from the body and crawled onto the barrel. Then a face appeared on the now headless torso with arms and legs.

"Yeah, weirdo,"

Sure, I'm the weirdo, Jim thought.

A hiss sounded above his head and Jim looked up to find some kind of spider thing with big yellow eyes and an elongated jaw climbing down toward him from the shrouds.

"Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business," the spider alien hissed.

Jim got cocky as he dabbed his mop into a bucket of soapy water, smirking, "Why? Got something to hide, bright eyes?"

The spider's sideways pear-shaped eyes widened in astonishment of being talked back to, and then narrowed perilously. He gripped Jim by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. Jim struggled, his legs flailing.

"Maybe your ears don't work so well," he suggested, face close enough to Jim's for his putrid breath to wash over his face. Jim cringed and cocked his head over his shoulder in attempt to get the smell out of his nose.

"Yeah, too bad my nose works just fine," he coughed.

"Why, you imprudent little - !"

Jim was slammed roughly against the mast, the action accompanied by encouraging shouts from the crew. It was pointless for him to fight as he was in no position to do so, but he fought anyway. The spider psycho snapped one of his large claws before bringing the sharp end to Jim's throat.

"Any last words, cabin boy?"

None too appropriate, he thought.

Just before the spider could slit his throat, his claw was caught by Silver's motorized arm. He was dressed in a long, dark coat and a black captain's hat, and in his hand was a small purp. Silver casually took a bite of the fruit, smacking his lips,"Mr. Scoop – do you know what happens when you squeeze a purp real hard?" he squeezed the spider's arm and twisted it backward, making Scoop scream in pain and drop the boy on his ass. Jim looked up at Silver disbelievingly. Why would he defend him?