‼️Pic is not mine‼️

🪐Lucy's POV🪐

We were led down to the galley by Mr. Arrow. All the while, Mr. Delbert and Jim were railing against Ms. Amelia. From what I could tell, Mr. Delbert was angry at the way she had spoken to him. I would be too, if I had a prestigious degree like he did and was treated like an idiot.

Jim was just upset that he would have to do actual work. "I'll not tolerate a cross word about our captain!" Mr. Arrow scolded, grabbing them both by the shoulder. "There's no finer officer in this, or any, galaxy."

I could hear whistling as we descended down the steps. "Mr. Silver," Mr. Arrow called. "Why, Mr. Arrow, sir! Bringin' such fine and distinguished gents to grace me humble galley! Had I known, I'd
'ave tucked in me shirt!" the cook said heartily.

I glanced over the cook and saw the right side of his body was all mechanical parts. In an instant, I thought of what the old turtle alien had said. "A cyborg," Jim whispered, most likely thinking the same thing I was.

I hid behind him and, forgetting about our fight, grabbed his hand for support. I was relieved when he didn't pull away. I peered over his shoulder at the cyborg. "May I introduce Dr. Doppler, the financier of our voyage," Mr. Arrow said. Mr. Delbert adjusted his spectacles as he stepped forward proudly and gave a little bow.

"Love teh outfit, Doc," Mr. Silver answered, scanning Mr. Delbert with his mechanical eye. "Well, thank you. Um, love the eye," Mr. Delbert said nervously, covering up his private areas as the red beam of light coming from the cyborg's eye traveled south of Mr. Delbert's body. "Uh, this is Jim Hawkins."

He pulled Jim, and consequently me, in to take his place. "Jimbo!" the cyborg exclaimed, extending his metal hand. But instead of a hand, it was a set of knives and other sharp tools. I ducked further behind Jim again.

Realizing his mistake, the cyborg switched out the knives for his hand.
I clutched Jim's jacket while he glared at the man, refusing to shake his hand. I could be really shy when it came to meeting new people, but this time, I was just afraid.

"And who might dis lov'ly lassie be?" the cook asked, peering at me over Jim's shoulder. I turned my head, hoping to pass off my fear as shyness.

"Lucy," I said quietly. "What a pretty name for a pretty lassie," he complimented. I blushed, despite my apprehension towards the cyborg. I felt Jim tense up a bit as the cyborg reached out to shake my hand. I shrunk back as it came close to me.

"Ah, now don't be too put off by dis hunk o' hardware," Silver said, returning to his work. He began cutting lots of vegetables and other foods very quickly, a task made easy by the various tools and gadgets his hand alone was equipped with.

He pretended to accidently cut off his good hand in an attempt to make a joke. "These gears 'ave been tough getting used to, but they do come in mighty handy from time ta time," he said, bringing everything over to a large pot in the center of the kitchen and instantly cooking it with a blowtorch before dumping it into the pot and adding spices.

He tasted the meal before pouring a bowl for each of us. "Here now, 'ave a taste o' me famous Bonzabeast stew." He handed each of us a bowl. "Mmmm! Delightfully tangy, yet robust." Mr. Delbert commented after tasting it.

"Ol' family recipe," Mr. Silver stated. An eyeball floated to the top of Mr. Delbert's stew, causing him to shout in fright. "In fact, dat was part o' the ol' family!" Mr. Silver said with a hearty laugh. "Oh, ho, I'm just kiddin', Doc! I'm nothin' if I ain't a kidder."

He took out the eyeball and ate it, causing me to grimace. He then urged Jim and me to try it. I glanced over at him. Jim shrugged and picked up the spoon, looking warily at the contents. The next thing I knew, his spoon ate the stew and grew eyes, turning pink in the process. Jim and I both gasped.

"Morph! You jiggle-headed blob o' mischief! So dat's where yeh was hiding," Mr. Silver exclaimed. The pink blob turned into a straw and drank the rest of Jim's stew, letting out a content burp afterwards. I gave it mine as well.

After slurping up my bowl, it flew around my head and dived into my hair, popping out next to my face to nuzzle my cheek. "It's so cute," I said, tickling it with my finger. The blob floated up and snuggled against Jim's cheek. "Wha-? Ha! What is that thing?" he asked.

"What is that thing?" The blob repeated and turned into a miniature version of Jim, mimicking his movements. "He's a morph," Mr. Silver answered. "I rescued the little shape-shifter on Proteus 1." Morph became a blob again and licked Jim's cheek before flying up to the cyborg.

"Aw, he took a shine ta me. We been together ever since," he finished, nuzzling the little blob affectionately. I heard two bells from above on the deck and turned as Mr. Arrow began to speak.

"We're about to get underway," he said. "Would you like to observe the launch, Doctor?" "Would I? Does an active galactic nucleus have superluminal jets?" Mr. Delbert replied enthusiastically. Mr. Arrow just stared at him blankly.

"I'll follow you," Mr. Delbert stated when he received no answer. Jim started to follow, but Mr. Arrow blocked his way with his enormous hand. "Mr. Hawkins and Miss Lucy will stay here in your charge, Mr.
Silver,' Mr. Arrow ordered.

The cyborg spit out the stew he was eating, coughing and choking, and started to protest. "Beggin' your pardon, sir, but-" the cyborg started.
"Captain's orders. See to it the new cabin boy and girl are kept busy."

With that, Mr. Arrow left. Jim and Silver tried to argue with him, but gave up with a sigh. They rubbed their fingers over their eyes, pinching the bridges of their noses. Their mirroring of each other made me giggle.

"So, Cap'n has put yeh two wit' me, eh?" Silver asked, walking around the two of us with his hands behind his back. It almost felt like we were being inspected. I stood up straighter, but I still didn't look the cyborg in the eye.

"Whatever," Jim answered. I shrugged, still feeling shy and a little afraid to speak. I followed closely behind Jim as he walked across the
room. "Well, who be a humble cyborg to argue wit' a cap'n?" Silver chuckled to himself.

Silver started his work again and I picked up a couple of purps from a barrel, handing one to Jim. "Hmmm, yeah... You know, these purps... they're kind of like the ones back home... on Montressor. You ever been there?" Jim asked the cyborg.

I bit into the purp. It was sweet and tasted kind of like a mix between a lemon and a strawberry. "Ah, can't say I 'ave, Jimbo," the cook answered. Jim hoisted himself onto the counter, sitting down and biting into his purp.

"Come to think of it, just before we left we met this old guy who was, um, he was kind of looking for a cyborg buddy of his," he continued. "Is tha' so?" Mr. Silver inquired, mildly curious.

"Yeah. What was that old salamander's name?" Jim said. He pretended to think for a moment. I frowned, wondering what exactly Jim thought he could accomplish with this. "Oh, yeah," he said, "Bones. Billy Bones?"

Oh, so that's what that old turtle's name had been. He must have told Jim down at the pier when I was struggling to get off the roof.

"Bones? Bones? Mmm, t'ain't ringin' any bells. Must 'ave been a different cyborg. There's a slew of cyborgs, roamin' dis port," Mr. Silver answered. We all looked up when we heard a whistle from on-deck. "Prepare to cast off," Mr. Arrow yelled.

Silver pushed both of us past him and towards the stairs that led to the upper deck. "Ah, off wit' yeh both," he said kindly. "An' watch teh launch. There'll be plenty work awaitin' for yeh afterwards." He began humming as Jim and I walked up the stairs.

"We are all clear, Captain," the lookout yelled from the crow's-nest.
"All hands to stations," Mr. Arrow bellowed. Everyone began bustling around just as Jim and I walked on deck. "Loose all solar sails," Mr. Arrow commanded.

The sails were let loose and Jim and I stared up in awe. It truly was a beautiful ship. A couple of crew members were pulling on a rope and bumped into Jim, who had been standing in their way. "Come on," the crew member shouted at him.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to be in the way," I said teasingly, but poured a little venom into my voice. No sooner had I said this, two people rushed past me and knocked me over. Jim reached out his hand to me and helped pull me back up.

"Look who's talking," he retorted, but he had a teasing smile on his face. I punched his arm playfully and we both started laughing. The ship began rising as Mr. Arrow barked more orders to the crew.

Everyone started floating and I laughed as we tried to keep ourselves from spinning around. "Whoa," I exclaimed. In the next second, the artificial gravity was turned on and we fell back on deck. Jim landed firmly, almost soundlessly, on his hands and feet.

And I...well...fell on my back with an "Oof!" Jim turned to see if I was okay.  "I'm fine." I said, giving him a thumbs up. Jim helped up. He then climbed into the shrouds and looked out into the Etherium as the ship soared.

I stood near him, though still on deck, with a grin on my face. "You wanna come up here?" Jim asked, reaching his hand out to me, a sincere smile on his face. I returned the smile and let him pull me into the shrouds.

As I was climbing up to meet him, I lost my footing on the ropes and almost fell, but he caught me and held me firmly but gently around the waist. "Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he said nonchalantly.

I guess this means our fight is officially over. [WOOHOOO!!!!!] "This is gonna be a great adventure,"
I said quietly, unable to keep the smile off my face. "Jimbo! Lassie!" Mr. Silver called and we both looked over at him.

"I got two new friends I'd like yeh both ta meet," he continued. Jim glanced around, trying to find who these two new friends might be. "Who?" I asked.

"Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs.
Bucket," Silver answered, tossing a mop and bucket to each of us. "Yippie," Jim muttered. I figured it was too good to be true, I thought as we climbed down from the shrouds and started working.

phoebe has something to say!

i just got back from a trip to barnes and noble and i really recommend the twisted tales series. plus, read a twisted tale anthology first bc it has a treasure planet twisted tale (what if jim hawkins joined the pirates?) and i totally imagine jim betraying lucy in this

[Give me the goddam mic- hi, everyone, it's Jim Hawkins and to the author: FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD NEVER BETRAY LUCY!!!]