Ryoko's Farewell

Zelda and Olivia were in the captain's office of the White Rose. Zelda had some rum bottles laying on the floor, but it wasn't as messy as before. Olivia had cleaned most of the mess. Zelda was sitting behind her desk. She was looking through a magazine filled with wedding gowns.
Olivia was sitting on the bed. She was thinking about how things have changed with in a few months. At first, her and Zelda were enemies and wanted each other dead, but now, they were starting to get along and acted like sisters. John was her boyfriend now, and she had Zelda to thank for that.
"Well," Zelda spoke up, laying the magazine on the desk, "We're heading to Brass, so, that way you and your crew could get on your ship."
"Good." Olivia was glad that she was going to get her ship back. "There'll be more room that way. Not that I hadn't enjoyed being on your ship. It's just I miss mine."
"I understand." Zelda smiled. "Of course, you guys aren't going any where before mine and Ben's wedding day." She thought about what she was going to say. She didn't know if she should ask. "I would want you to be my maid of honnor, seeing that besides my, you're the only other woman on this ship." She had to pause. "I know that it's probably not something that you'd want to do for me, seeing that we're still kind of hating each other.... But would that be okay with you?"
Olivia smiled at Zelda's offer. "Yea.... I don't mind."
"Good. So, has John asked you to marry him yet?" Zelda asked, being nosy. She got to where she had to know everything that was going on, from who had the last bottle of rum to where Olivia and John were at in their relationship.
"We're taking it slow," Olivia admitted, "so, no."
"Oh."
Ryoko appeared out of no where. "I'm glad to see you two are getting along again."
"Ryoko?" Zelda said. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just checking up on everything. This is the last time, any of you will see me."
"Why?" Olivia asked. "Do you have a ghost thing to do?"
Ryoko kind of laughed. "No. I did my job. I warned you guys about what was going to happen. It took me a while to convince you two to work together, and you did. You two worked as a team to save the universe from Will. While doing this, you two got your friendship back, and that makes me proud. Now, I have to go, and this time, I won't come back."
"Bye, Ryoko," Zelda said.
"Bye," Olivia said.
"Bye, Zelda and Olivia. Oh yea. Zelda, I hope that you and Ben have a long, good life together."
"Thanks."
Ryoko disappeared.
"Well, that's the last time that we'll see her again," Olivia told Zelda.
"Yea," Zelda agreed.

Will's Change of Heart

Will was in a jail cell. He was looking up at the TV which sat on a shelf that hung off of a wall. He was watching the news, while he though about everything which he done and felt guilty. For the first time in his life, he felt horrible for all of the trouble he had caused. "Well," he said to himself, looking away from the TV, "I'm back here again. The last time wasn't much different. They still treat me like a prisoner, than they do a prince." He paused. "I deserve it though." He sat down on the bed. He covered his face with his left hand. "Magma hasn't tried to bail me out, just like last time. I understand. I was a mean brother to her."
Gregory walked down the hall. He took out a police stick and hit Russel, Leo, Keaton, Romano, and Will's cells so he could get their attention. "The five of you get to get out early for good behavior," he told them. "Now, if any of you try to destroy the universe again," he warned, "you'll be back here, and you'll be locked up for the rest of you're lives, until you die, just like the pirates."
"What if we kill cows for food? What happens then?" Romano asked.
Gregory looked at Romano, funny. "Is he okay?" he asked Leo as he pointed to Romano.
"Let's just say that out of him and Keaton, he's the smarter one," Leo answered.
"So, can we kill the ducks, or will we get in trouble?" Keaton asked. He had proven Leo's point.
Gregory could see what Leo meant. "First of all, he said cows, and as long as you pay for them, you'll be okay. Does everyone get that?"
"Yes," the bounty hunters and Will agreed.
Gregory took a key and unlocked the cell doors. He opened them. "You're free to go."


Russel, Will, and Leo walked outside of the jail house, followed by Keaton and Romano.
"Now, we can destroy the universe, Prince Will," Russel said.
"Ye-a. I don't want to any more." Will had decided that he didn't want to go back to jail for a third time. He had something else in mind.
"What?" Russel couldn't believe what he just heard from Will.
"I changed my mind. After being locked in a bird cage twice, I don't want to go back." Will walked away.
"What are we going to do now, dad?"
"Tell Magma."
Leo and Russel walked in another direction. They left Keaton and Romano behind. "Where are they going?" Romano asked.
"I don't know, but we better go before they leave us."
"Good point."
They hurried over to Leo and Russel.
"WAIT FOR US, BOSS, AND BOSS'S DAD!" Keaton called after them.

Plans for the Big Day

The White Rose was tied to a dock on the Planet Brass. Zelda, Ben, John, and Olivia were on the deck of the ship. "When's ya'lls rehersal dinner, or whatever you call it?" John asked Ben and Zelda.
"What?" Ben asked, confused.
"It's to help us get ready for the wedding," Zelda told Ben.
"Oh."
"And to answer your question, John, the rehersal will be the day before the wedding. Of course," Zelda stated.
Zelda and Ben were going to be getting married in two days. They had got almost everything that they needed for the wedding. They did need to get a pastor.
"Right."
"What are you two going to do after the rehersal?" Olivia asked.
"What do you mean?" Ben asked, really confused.
Zelda couldn't help but laugh. She thought that Ben was cute when he was confused. "I know what she means. The groom isn't allowed to see the bride before the wedding. It's bad luck."
"It's bad luck to have a woman on a ship," John added, also confused, "but we have two women on the ship, and nothing bad has happened to us."
"That's different," Olivia simply said.
"How?" Ben asked.
"It's a girl thing. You two guys won't understand."
"Okay," John and Ben agreed, still confused.
"What we could do is that after the rehersal the guys can stay here, and we can go to the Black Velvet, and stay there until the wedding, or the guys can go and stay on the Black Velvet, and we can stay here. How 'bout that?" Zelda asked.
Olivia thought about it and agreed. "That sounds good. What do you guys think?"
"That's good," Ben agreed.
"Yea. But can I hang out with you two. So that way I can get to know my sister-in-law to be, and if something bad happens," John said, placing his arm around Olivia, "I'll be there to protect the both of you."
"Well," Olivia started to say, "you can, but we can protect ourselves."
"Yea. After all, we are pirate girls," Zelda agreed.
They laughed. Scott, Paul, Aaron, and David had walked onto the ship and over to them. Aaron was holding a movie.
"Finally," Zelda said. "What took so long?"
Scott had to take a breath before saying anything. He was tired from all of the walking he had done. "You had us running around all day," he finally said.
"Yea," Aaron agreed. "After we did one thing, we had to do something else."
"Did you guys find the Black Velvet?" Olivia asked.
"Yes," Paul answered.
"Did you get the Lion King?" Zelda asked. That was her favorite Disney movie even before she became a pirate.
"We're still confused to as why you wanted us to get it," Aaron said, smiling, "but yes we got it." He handed the movie to Zelda.
Zelda took the movie and smiled as she looked at the case of the movie. "Good." She looked up at the guys. "Did you guys talk to a pastor?"
Scott laughed. "We're pirates, why do we need to talk to a pastor?" he asked. He didn't understand why they needed to talk to a pastor, when the pastor would just tell them that they'd need to change the way they live.
Zelda wasn't laughing. "So, that way we have someone, who can marry me and Ben."
Scott stopped laughing and realized that they were in trouble. "Oh yea." He decided to lie. "We all ready got the pastor. Right, guys?"
"Yea right," Paul, Aaron, and David agreed, also lying.
"You know what, we told Peter that we were going to meet him at the Black Velvet and get some drinks. We better go."
"Yea," David agreed.
"Okay."
Scott, David, Aaron, and Paul hurried off of the ship.
"They forgot," Ben pointed out.
"Yep," Zelda agreed. "But it's funny, because now they have to leave again."
"Yep. Watch them forget again," Olivia said.
"Now, that won't be funny," Ben stated.
"I can't believe that I'll have a sister-in-law in a couple of days," John said, changing the subject.
"That means I'll have three brother-in-laws. Two that like me, and one that hates me. Oh well." Zelda didn't understand why Gregory hated her.
"I'm going to go feed Donny and Max," Olivia said, randomly.
"I'll go with you," John said.
John and Olivia left. Ben hugged Zelda and kissed her forehead.
Zelda leaned against his chest. "You're so warm." She wasn't freezing, but she could feel a difference of the heat which she felt come off of Ben.
"I know." He decided to change the subject to something dealing with their future. "We're going to have three kids. I want to name the oldest boy, Ben Adam Skull Jr."
"Zelda leaned back in his arms. "Wow. We're not married yet and you're already talking about kids. Here, after the wedding, we can talk about kids." She leaned back against his chest. "How does that sound?"
"That's good."
Zelda was surprised at how Ben wanted kids. She figured that he would of waited 'til after they were married to say that, but she was wrong. She actually was a child at heart, having one would be a bad idea for her. She did like the idea though.

Reason to Kill Will

Magma sat on her throne. She was the only one in the throne room. It was different without the bounty hunters around. She missed having people to order around. People were under her control. They were puppets and she was the puppetmaster. It was two quiet and she was kind of going insane from the silence.
"I should of been married by now," she told herself. "I can't rule this kindom alone. I can't do anything without freaking out. Will was right, I shouldn't be the one to rule." She realized that she could prove her brother wrong. She did a good job before Will was released from jail the first time and she could do it again. Will didn't know what he was talking about. "But you know what, I can rule no matter what. It doesn't matter, what my brother thinks. I can do this on my own and I don't need a man by my side. I'm going to show this planet, no this galaxy, no this universe, that I can rule. I'll take out the pirates starting with Zelda and her crew. I'll destroy them all." She started laughing, devilishly.
Russel walked in the room. He was followed by Leo.
Magma was shocked to see them. She wasn't excepting them to be out of jail all ready. "You're both back? How did you.... You two aren't suppose to be out until years from now."
"We got out for good behavior," Russel told Magma. "So did Will, Keaton, and Romano."
"So they released Will again?" Magma grew angry when Russel mentioned her brother. She didn't care about Keaton or Romano, but she was ticked off about the police letting Will free again.
"Yea, but he's going to be a good boy for now on."
Magma was confused. "So, he's not evil anymore?"
"No."
"Actually," Leo jumped in, "he told me that he was going to become a pirate."
"He told you that?"
"Yea. I don't know why he would tell me something like that. He knows that us bounty hunters hate pirates. He knows that we're after pirates. He also knows that we kill pirates if we get a hold of one. Despite all of this, he told me anyways."
"So, he's going to become a pirate?" Magma asked.
"Yes."
Magma smiled. "Good, now I have a reason to kill my brother."
Russel was shocked at Magma's remark. He didn't think that she had it in her to kill her own brother. "I didn't know that you wanted your brother dead."
"Oh yea. After he told me that he wanted me dead, I decided that I was going to kill him." Magma actually disowned Will as her brother. She was going to kill him along with the pirates.
Leo smiled. "Now, that's evil princess."
Magma stared out the window and imagined different ways which she could kill Will.

Forgetting the Pastor Again

Scott was helping Zelda and Ben prepare for the rehersal dinner. Zelda was setting plates on the table, and Scott set forks, knives, and spoons next to each plate.
Zelda was excited because in one more day, she was going to become Mrs. Ben Skull, and she enjoyed the thought.
"Captain, you look lovely tonight," Scott said, giving her a compliment.
Zelda gave him a funny look. She wasn't going to fall for his trick. "What do you want, Scotty?" she asked.
"All I said was that you look lovely." He couldn't believe that wasn't going to except the compliment. "Can't I give you a compliment without you thinking that I want something?"
Zelda rolled her eyes. She knew better than to believe a word that he said. He always did that and she never fell for it, well, she fell for it a couple of times, but that was when she was really drunk. "The only time, you give me a compliment, is when you want something bad. Well, you didn't do anything bad," she said, eyeing Scott, "that I know of, so you must want something."
Scott realized that Zelda was going to fall for his trick and decided to tell the truth. "Okay. Fine. I met this really hot girl and I was wondering if I can invite her to your wedding."
Zelda smiled and nodded. "I don't care. Just as long as she doesn't hog the rum."
Scott smiled. "Good. Because I already invited her anyways."
Zelda stopped smiling. She didn't understand how Scott asked if he could invite a girl to the wedding after he already invited her. "Ok-ay."
Ben walked over to Zelda and Scott. He placed his arm around Zelda. "Everything's ready. Everyone is here, except the pastor."
"Okay. So we're waiting for the pastor? What time did you tell the pastor to be here, Scotty?"
Scott's eyes grew wide. He knew that he was forgetting something. "He said that he had another rehersal to get to," he lied. "But he said that he was going to be at the wedding tomorrow."
"But, how are we going to reherse, if we don't have a pastor?"
Peter walked past them.
"Peter can do it," Scott offered, stopping Peter in his tracks.
Peter turned to face them. He was confused. He didn't know why his name was brought up. "Peter can do what?"
"Be the pastor just for tonight," Scott told him. "You'll be helping the captain and Ben to get ready for tomorrow."
"Okay."
Scott was glad that Peter agreed because that gave him more time to look for a pastor.
"Thanks, Peter Pan."
"No problem."
                                                 *****
Gregory, Alaska, and Larry were on Pluto. Larry was a head of Alaska and Gregory. They were walking on a dock. Alaska and Gregory were on a date. "I wish I could of got someone to watch Larry," Gregory told Alaska, "so that way it could of been the both of us." He felt like the kind of guy that had his younger brother go on his dates with him and he felt like Alaska would get mad at him for it.
"That's okay," Alaska reassured him. She didn't mind Larry being there. She understood that Gregory had to take care of Larry and himself. "I enjoyed having him around. He's almost as cute as you."
Gregory smiled. "That's true."
Larry walked over to them.
"Well," Alaska said, looking out at the beautiful sunset, "I better get going. Saphire will kill me if I'm late."
"Okay."
Alaska and Gregory shared a kiss.
Larry was grossed out by it. He wasn't into girls yet and found the idea of kissing them to be blah. Now, he did know, when a girl was pretty, he would say so. Alaska smiled at him and walked away.
Gregory watched Alaska leave. He was in love.
"Are you two going to get married?" Larry asked.
"I sure hope so."
"Good."
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Gregory asked, changing the subject.
"I WANT TO BE A PIRATE!" Larry exclaimed.
"What?" Gregory couldn't believe what Larry said. He couldn't believe that his youngest brother wanted to be a pirate. Anything, except for a pirate or bounty hunter.
"A pirate, like Ben and John."
"Why?"
"Because pirates rule."
Now, Gregory knew who's fault it was for his brother to decide to become a pirate. "Zelda," he told himself, mad.
Will arrived and walked over to them.
"What do you want, Prince Will?" Gregory asked, wondering why Will hadn't left with the bounty hunters.
"The four bounty hunters are planning to do something evil," Will warned. He wasn't smiling. His expression was warning Gregory about the bounty hunters along with his words.
"What four bounty hunters?" Gregory all ready knew the answer, but he wanted to see what Will's reply was going to be.
"Leo, Russel, and the two idiots."
"Oh." Gregory didn't know why Will was telling him that. He thought that Will would work with the bounty hunters. "I thought that you would join them," he admitted. "I guess I was wrong."
"Unlike them, I've changed. I think that you should tell Saphire and Alaska. They would probably like to know."
Gregory nodded.
Will left when he told Gregory about the bounty hunters plan. He had other plans in mind and he wanted to get off of the icy planet.

Gregory Warns the Ice Princesses

Saphire and Alaska were in throne room. They were talking and laughing like most sisters do. "How was your and Daniel's honeymoon?" Alaska asked.
"IT WAS GREAT!" Saphire took a sip of ice tea and smiled. "Way better than the wedding. NO pirates showed up at all."
Daniel and Jason walked in. Daniel walked over and placed his arm around his wife. "What are you two talking about?"
"The honeymoon."
"Oh."
Gregory hurried into the room, followed by Larry. "Will told me that the bounty hunters are coming up with an evil plan. What are we going to do?"
Saphire had to think before answering. She thought about who could help them and she knew who would be good, but she knew that Gregory wasn't going to enjoy the thought of working with a certain person. "I want you to get Zelda to help," she replied after a moment of thinking.
"You want to work with that pirate again?" he asked in disbelief. He hated working with that pirate. He couldn't stand to be in the same room with her. She irritated him.
"Yes."
"You know, she probably won't do anything," he pointed out. He didn't want to work with Zelda.
"She kept her promises once," Saphire reminded him. She understood that Gregory didn't like Zelda. She knew that Zelda had more enemies than anyone else, and Gregory was one of them.
"Once.... That don't mean she'll do it again."
"I think she will."
"I don't think that we should take that risk."
Saphire knew that Gregory hated Zelda. She hated Zelda, but she knew that Zelda could help them. "Just try. Okay?"
Gregory didn't want to, but he didn't feel like agruing. "Okay."

Interrupting a Wedding

Olivia and John were on the deck of the Black Velvet waiting for Zelda. Olivia was wearing a purple top with a kind of long black skirt which was kind of torn at the bottom. She was wearing black high heels which were long and started to make her feet hurt.
John was wearing a white shirt with a black tux with torn sleeves and black dress pants. He was wearing his kind of nice black boots. "What's taking her forever?" he asked, kind of impatient. He wanted the day just to go ahead and get over with. He had a nice speech prepared as the best man and brother of the groom and he couldn't wait to say it. "Zelda's never this late unless to she's looking for a bottle of rum."
"She's probably nervous," Olivia reasured him. She knew that he was excited for Zelda and Ben that he wanted to say that speech which he wrote for them. "It is her wedding day."
"Yea."
Zelda tried walking out of the captain's office in the white high heels which she was wearing. She hated high heels because they bothered her and she walk in them. The white wedding gown that she was wearing, actually, was covering the heels, and the veal was hanging off of her hair to keep her bun from coming undone. The bottom of the dress was kind of torn and looked dirty. "This is the last time that anyone's going to see me in a dresss," she told them as she tried to make her way over to them.
Olivia smiled. "You look good, Zelda."
"John, from a man's point of view how do I look?" Zelda asked. "I look terrible don't I," she said, before John could open his mouth to say anything.
"Actually," John admitted, "you look lovely."
"Thanks."
"Can we go now?"
"Yea."
They left the ship.


Scott and Paul were walking around the city on Brass because Scott had forgot to get a pastor and he needed to get one fast. Paul was helping him look for a pastor.
"Why didn't you get a pastor yesterday?" Paul asked.
"Because I forgot." Scott felt like an idiot for not getting a pastor before it was to late. "Don't tell the captain or Ben because they'll both kill me."
Paul looked at a guy. The guy was holding a Bible the King James version, and he was dressed like he was ready for church. His suit was nice and looked new. He had nice dressed shoes which were shinny. He seemed to be a pretty deciet guy. "Hey, I think that he's a pastor. He sure looks like one."
Scott looked at the same guy, and he had to agree with Paul. "Maybe he is."
They walked over to the guy. The guy looked at them and realized that they weren't wearing nice clothes as he was. They looked kind of like bums and that made him feel bad for them. He could tell from the way that they were dressed that they were troubled.
"Are you a pastor?" Scott asked.
"Yea," the guy answered.
"Okay. Good. Can you marry our friends?"
"Yea. When?"
Scott really didn't want to answer that question but he had to. "In a minute."
"IN A MINUTE!" the pastor exclaimed. He was surprised at how much of a late notice that was.
Scott didn't want to explain, but he was talking to a pastor, and he didn't want to lie to the guy. He thought that God would strike him with lightning for lying to a pastor. "I was suppose to all ready had got a pastor," he admitted, "but I forgot."
"Okay." The pastor understood and decided to help Scott and Paul out.
"What are their names?"
"Zelda Samara Griffen and Ben Adam Skull."
The names scared the pastor. He knew that they were pirates and was afraid to be around them. He also remembered that Zelda and Ben had showed up at Saphire and Daniel's wedding, drunk. "PIRATES!" he exclaimed in fear. "No. I'm sorry, but I can't...."
"Please, dude," Scott begged, "I mean sir. Just this once. I swear."
"Okay." The pastor started praying to himself. "Please, Lord, don't let anything bad happen to me. I trust that you'll protect me. Amen."


Scott, the pastor, and Paul walked onto the White Rose. Everyone was waiting for Zelda, John, and Olivia. Scott introduced the pastor to Ben. Max was sitting next was sitting next to Ben.
Ben was wearing a black tux and a white shirt and black dress pants. He wore black boots as well. The sleeves of his tux was kind of torn.
Max was wearing a white collar with black bow tie on it. He was watching as people walked by. He missed Zelda and was waiting for her to show up.
"Look, I'm going to have to make this fast," the pastor lied to Ben because he was too afraid about being on a ship full of pirates and two over sized wild animals, but he didn't let Ben know, "because I have some wheres I have to be in an hour."
"Okay." Ben walked away.


Zelda and Olivia had their arms locked with John's arms. They couldn't walk in their heels, and they were using John as a way to keep them from falling, hurting themselves, or killing themselves. While they were walking to the White Rose, they ran into Will.
They realized that he wasn't dressed like a prince. Well, he had his black pants on and his red silk shirt didn't have sleeves anymore. They were torn off to make the shirt a tanktop. "Well, you two make a cute couple," he told Zelda and John. He hadn't realized that Olivia was there.
"WHAT?!" Olivia shouted, ticked off.
Zelda dropped her mouth in disbelief. She couldn't believe that anyone would ask that. She did love John, but not in that way. "I'm not his wife. I will never be his wife."
"Yea," John agreed. Zelda and John had a brother/sister kind of relationship and well Zelda was going to be his sister-in-law with in the next 20 minutes. "She's getting married to my brother, which will make her my sister-in-law."
"Yea." Zelda pointed to Olivia. "She's his girlfriend but the way."
"Well, then why are ya'lls arms locked together?"
"Because me and Olivia can't walk in heels and he's the only person that can keep us from falling.... Now, why are you here?" Zelda had forgotten that Will was sentence to jail and she wondered why he wasn't on Blaze.
"I would like to become a pirate," Will declared.
Zelda just remembered why he wasn't on Blaze and remembered why he was suppose to be in jail. She didn't believe him. She broke away from John and tried to walk over to Will without falling. "You want to become a pirate? I don't think so, budy."
Olivia did the same as Zelda. She believed him, on the other hand. "But, Zelda, he's hot."
Zelda was shocked at how Olivia would something like that with John five inches away. "And your boyfriend's right there."
Olivia shook her head. "Come on, Zelda. Just give him a chance," she whispered.
"No. He tried to destroy us space pirates. Correction he tried to destroy the universe. Someone can't just go from Sweeny Todd to Barney. It just don't happen."
"How's this? He can be on my crew."
Zelda took a breath. "Okay. Fine," she said, giving up. She turned to face Will. "You can be on Olivia's crew," she told him.
"Ooo. Because he's on my crew can he go to your wedding?" Olivia asked.
Zelda rolled her eyes. "You're also allowed to come to my wedding."
They walked to the ship.


John helped Olivia and Zelda walk over to the wall of the ship. "You wait here," he told them. He turned his attention to Will. He had to agree with Zelda, he didn't trust Zelda, but he didn't want to get into a fight with Olivia. "Go and pick a seat, if you can," he told Will.
Will walked onto the ship.
"Okay. I'm going to see if they're ready." John started to walk away. He remembered something and stopped walking. He turned to face the girls. "Oh yea. Zelda, who did you want me to get to walk you down the isle?"
"Austin Powers." Zelda chose Austin, because like Ben, he was one of the guys she knew the longest. He was like an older brother to her and she didn't feel right if she chose someone else to walk her down the isle.
"Okay." John started walking to the ship.


Ben was almost ready to walk to the front of the deck. He was nervous. John walked over to him.
"Are you ready?" John asked.
"Yea. How does she look?"
John smiled. "She looks like a princess," he admitted. "She was forced to invite Will. So if you see him don't get mad."
"Okay. Can you tell her that we have to hurry up because the pastor has to be somewhere in an hour?"
"Okay. I just have to get Austin first." John walked away.


The girls were waiting for John and Austin to show up so they could go on the ship. Zelda was excited and nervous. "I can't wait. I'm going to be Mrs. Zelda Samara Skull. Just like I've always dreamed."
"Are you nervous?"
"Yes. But who isn't on their wedding day?"
John and Austin walked off the ship and over to the girls.
John walked over to Olivia and locked arms with her. "They're waiting for us, love," he told her. He turned to Zelda. "Ben said that the pastor has to be some where in an hour, so you'll have to hurry. Okay?"
John and Olivia went onto the ship.
Austin followed them, then walked back to Zelda. "It's our turn, captain," he told her, locking arms with her. They started walking to the ship. "Everyone's waiting, especially Ben."
"Okay."


They walked onto the ship and walked down the isle. Zelda looked at Ben and it was as if they were the only two who were there. She thought that he looked so handsome in the tux.
Ben looked at Zelda and everyone else had disappeared. John was right, Zelda did look like a princess, but she was even more beautiful than he pictured.
Austin and Zelda had got up to the pastor and Ben.
"And who gives this woman to this man?" the pastor asked.
"I do," Austin answered. He kissed Zelda's cheek, like an older brother would. Austin and Zelda broke a part. Ben took Zelda's hands and smiled.


Gregory and Jason were walking around the city on Brass. They went to the ship dock to find the White Rose. Gregory didn't want to be there, but he had to deal with it. He remembered when he first met Zelda and what she did to him. He didn't want to deal with working with that pirate again. "Did you see the White Rose anywhere?" he asked Jason.
"Not yet, sir. Are you sure that the White Rose is here?"
"It has...." Gregory looked at the White Rose from a distance. He was right. Zelda had been on Brass and was still there. "To be here."
They walked over to the ship and got on.


"If there are any objections to why these two shouldn't get married, then speak now or forever hold your peace," the pastor said as Gregory and Jason had arrived on deck.
"Zelda, I need to talk to you." Gregory didn't realize what was going on.
"Can it wait?" Zelda asked. She pointed to the pastor. "He has to be some where in an hour."
"Okay." Gregory looked at the pastor, but still didn't realize what was going on.
The pastor was relieved that the two cops had arrived. "Do you," he asked, "Zelda Samara Griffen, take this man to be your awfully wedded husband to have and to hold, through sickness and health, 'til death do you part?"
Zelda looked into Ben's hazel eyes and smiled. "I do."
"Do you, Ben Adam Skull," the pastor asked Ben, repeating everything he asked Zelda, "take this woman to be your awfully wedded wife to have and to hold, through sickness and health, 'til death do you part?"
Ben couldn't look away from Zelda. He smiled glad to know that he was going to spend the rest of his life with this amazing girl. "I do."
"THE RINGS!"
John pulled two rings out of his pocket. He handed one to Ben and the other to Zelda. Zelda placed the ring on Ben, then he placed the other ring on her.
"You may kiss the bride."
Ben and Zelda kissed.
Gregory finally realized what was going on. He couldn't believe it. Ben had gotten married to Zelda, like he said. Gregory couldn't believe what happened. "Now, she's my sister-in-law. This isn't good," he told himself.

There's a Correct Way to Interrupt a Wedding

After the wedding, Zelda, Ben, Olivia, and John walked over to Gregory and Jason. The pastor had left, even with the two cops on board, he was still afraid of the pirates.
"You did it wrong," Zelda told Gregory.
Gregory was confused. "What did I do wrong?" he asked.
Zelda took a breath and shook her head. "If you're at a wedding and you have to talk to the bride or groom you're suppose to wait for the pastor to say, 'Are there any objections, if so speak now or forever hold your peace,' some times they'll add, 'why these two shouldn't get married,' then after all that's said you're suppose to say I object and then what you're objecting about. I would say something that's really random. It makes you seem more professional."
Gregory couldn't believe that Zelda would be that dumb.
"She does have a point, sir," Jason agreed with Zelda.
Gregory didn't understand how Jason could agree with that pirate. "No, she don't. It doesn't even make since."
"At least, someone agrees with me."
"I hope that you two have a good life together," Jason told Zelda and Ben.
Gregory shot Jason a dirty look. He was the only one on the ship who wasn't happy for them.
"Thank you," Zelda and Ben told Jason.
"Why are you two here?" Olivia asked.
"Well," Gregory began, "Princess Saphire wants ya'lls help with stopping Russel, Leo, and the other two bounty hunters from destroying the universe."
"Oh."
"Yea." Gregory thought of another reason which was bothering him. "Also, because my eleven and a half year old brother told me that he wants to become a pirate. Any reason to why that might be, Zelda?"
Zelda acted like she didn't have any reason for that. "Nope. Not at all."
"Zelda?"
"Fine. Unlike you cops, us pirates have more fun," Zelda admitted. "We don't follow the rules and that's probably why you're brother wants to become a pirate."
"Just forget about that," Olivia jumped in. She didn't want them to start argueing. "Gregory, tell the princess that we'll help."
"Thanks, Olivia. You'd be a better sister-in-law than Zelda," he said to make Zelda mad and it was working, "and you're a better pirate than she is too."
Zelda was really ticked off, especially because of the last part Gregory had said. "Are you waiting for a fight, Double-D?" she asked. "Because," she began, balling up her hands, "I'll give you one."
Ben held her back. "Calm down," he said in a sweet calm voice, "Zelda. He doesn't know what he's talking about."
Zelda tried to calm down. "Okay. Fine."
"Come on, Jason. We have to go."
Gregory and Jason left the ship.

Will Joins Olivia's Crew

Olivia had her crew, including Will, prepare to leave the White Rose. She was relieved that she was going to be getting her ship back. "Well," she began, "we better get going. But what planet are we going to meet up on?"
"Connie," Zelda answered, "because we're running out of rum."
Olivia smiled. She figured that Zelda was going to say that. "Of course."
"Zelda, because you're part of the family now, can I give you a hug?" John asked.
"Yea," she answered, smiling, "as long as it's not a bear hug."
John smiled at her reply. "Okay."
They hugged for a minute.
"I'm glad to see that one of my brother-in-laws like me," she said as they broke out of the hug. She walked over to Ben. She placed her arm around him, and he placed both arms around her, kind of hugging her. "You guys better go.... And see ya'll on Connie."
"Alright. See ya'll," Olivia said. She leaft the ship and her crew followed.


Olivia looked up at the White Rose and seen Zelda and Ben waving to them. She waved back to let them know that she had seen them.
"Does the Black Velvet look like the White Rose but black?" Will asked.
Shawn couldn't believe that Will had asked that dumb question. "Well," Shawn answered, rudely, "all pirate ships are made the same way, so yea, and of course it's black. Hints the BLACK Velvet."
Will was shocked at the rudeness in Shawn's voice. He had never been on a pirate ship until a few minutes before. He was just asking a question, Shawn didn't have to be rude. "I was just asking."


They arrived on the Black Velvet. Will looked out on the deck. Shawn was right it did look like the White Rose. "So, do I get my own room?" the prince asked.
"No," Shawn answered. He really didn't want a prince on the ship. He really didn't want Will on the ship.
"Well," Blake answered, "you can stay in the wine cellar."
"Yea," Drake agreed, "with all the spiders, rats, and bugs."
Will might of wanted to be a pirate, but as a prince, he didn't want to be in a room with any type of creature. "Never mind."
"Come on, Donny," Olivia said, walking past the guys. "Let's go to our room."
"Who's Donny?"
Drake pointed to the over grown, black cat as he walked past them. "Him. He's the captain's baby."
"Oh." Will watched in amazement as the beautiful animal walked past them.
Olivia walked to her room. She set a hand on the door and turned to the guys. "Ryan, I want you to drive the ship to Connie."
"Yes, captain."

Zackanator is Back

Zelda and Ben were in the captain's office on the White Rose. They both were laying on the bed. Ben had his arm under Zelda.
"So, you're ready to be a daddy?" Zelda asked. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to ask anyways.
"Yep."
"And you want three kids?"
"Yep."
"And you want to name our oldest son after you?"
"Yep."
"What if we don't have any boys?"
Ben thought about Zelda's question. He never thought about that. He smiled. "Then I'll want to name our youngest girl, Brandy Ashley Skull." It was the closest thing that he could think of.
Zelda smiled. "Interesting."
Someone knocked on the door.
Zelda sat up. "COME IN!"
Jeremy walked in. He noticed that Zelda and Ben were on the bed. He looked away. He wanted to hide the the jealousicy that he had growing. He should of been the one to marry Zelda, not Ben. "We're on Connie," he spoke, trying to control his anger. "Austin wanted me to tell you, captain."
"Okay."
Jeremy left the room.
Zelda stood up. "Let's go get the rum."
Ben sat up and playfully pulled Zelda back down. "Why can't we do that later?" he asked. He kissed her neck. "What's the rush?"
Zelda started laughing. She started kissing him back.


Zelda and Ben were walking around the city on Connie. They were heading to an old wearhouse to reload on rum.
A dark skinned, kind of chubby guy, around Zelda's age, walked past them. He recognized Zelda. He knew her at one time. They were younger then. "Zelda Samara Griffen," he said, turning back to her and Ben.
Zelda looked at him and she remembered him. She thought that he had died and was surprised to see him again. "Zack? Dude, I thought you were dead. It's been a long time since I seen you."
Zack laughed. "I wish I could say the same about you, but everywhere I turn there's a wanted posture with your face. So, you're still a pirate, huh?"
"Yep." Zelda smiled as Ben walked over to them. "By the way, Zack, this is my husband, and first mate of my crew, Ben."
Zack shook Ben's hand. "It's nice to meet you, man."
"See, Zack was on Ryoko's crew," Zelda told Ben. "He was my brother from another mother if you can't tell." She started to talk to Zack again. "So, are you still a pirate?"
"Actually, no. I'm working as a bag boy at the Speed Bucks," Zack admitted.
Zelda took it as a joke. "I remember that great since of humor that you have. You'd always had everyone laughing."
"Baby," Ben said, not laughing, "I don't think that he's joking."
Zelda was still laughing. "Of course he is. Right?"
"Actually," Zack admitted, "I'm not."
Zelda slowly started to realize that Zack wasn't joking. "Oh my gosh, you're not. But why?"
"Because," Zack started to say, "I decided that years ago, after fighting those bounty hunters, and then finding out that Ryoko was killed, that it wasn't worth trying to live. I was tired of trying to save my own life, it just wasn't worth it. I'm sorry, but I don't want to worry if I'm going to killed or not. I have a job now that I don't have to worry about getting killed, and it's a good job too. Sorry, Zelda."
Zelda acted like she didn't hear anything that Zack said. She wanted him to become a pirate again. "I want you to join my crew, Zack."
"Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm sorry, Zelda, but no."
Zelda was disappointed. "Come on. Please," she begged. "It could be like old times."
"No."
"But you're the Zackanator and you'll be back," she said, deepening her voice at the end.
"I'm a bagboy, not a pirate anymore." Zack started to walk away.
Zelda went after him. She grabbed his arm and dragged him to the White Rose.
Ben followed behind.
Zack tried to get free but Zelda's grip became tighter and her nails started to dig into his skin.
"You're joining my crew, like it or not," she told him.
"Girl, you can't be serious."
"Oh she's serious."
Zelda noticed the Black Valvet was right next to the White Rose. She stopped, took off her Scooby-Doo bandana, and tied it around both of Zack's hands. She made sure that it was too tight for him to get free. "Good, Olivia's here. Ben, bring Zack to the ship and have Peter Pan show him around the ship. Then meet me at the Black Velvet."
"Okay, Zelda."
Zelda went toward the Black Velvet, while Ben and Zack went to the White Rose.

Getting Rum

John was getting mad at Will because Will was flirting with Olivia. Olivia wasn't flirting back, mostly because her boyfriend was right there, and partly because she didn't like him. 
Zelda walked onto the Black Velvet and walked over to them. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Will's flirting with me and that's making John jealous." Olivia kind of did like the idea of two guys fighting over her. "Did you get the rum yet?"
"No. We had two delays.... Now, tell me why Will is flirting with you in front of your boyfriend?"
Olivia didn't know the answer to that at all. "I don't know, but can you tell him to stop?"
"Why do I have to tell him to stop?" Zelda hated being the one to solve problems. She didn't like solving her own problems. She was the one who caused problems. She didn't want to solve them. "He's not flirting with me. You should tell him to stop, or tell your boyfriend to tell him to stop, and I think that John will give him a reason." She knew that John would kill Will if he was given a chance.
Olivia didn't want to tell John because she also knew that John would kill Will. "But then, John will hurt him."
"Exactly."
Will walked over to them and they grew quiet before he found out what they were talking about. "Zelda," he asked, "can I talk to you for a second?"
Zelda was confused. She didn't know what to do. She hoped that Ben would show up and that way if Will tried anything, Ben would kick his butt. "Ye-ah, sure."
Zelda and Will walked away from John and Olivia. He didn't want them to hear what was going on, Will really didn't want John to hear. "Look I like you and Olivia," he admitted to Zelda, "but you're already married, and you're water, and I'm fire, so we won't fit together."
Zelda looked at him kind of funny. It was almost like he was braking up with her but they never were dating. She was confused and had no idea what was going on.
"Now, me and Olivia are both fire, so we're a perfect match," Will paused, "except the fact, that she has a boyfriend. I want your help to break them up, so that way I can get Olivia."
Zelda understood now what he was talking about. She didn't want to brake up Olivia and John. Then, that would of met that she went through all that trouble to get them together for nothing. That kind of made her mad at the thought. "Um, dude, that's not going to happen."
"And why not?"
"Because I'm the one who hooked them up."
"Crap." Will wasn't expecting to hear that. Now, he felt like an idiot.
"Now," Zelda said, walking over to Olivia and John, "if you excuse me, I have to go talk to Olivia."
Ben was now on the deck of the ship. He walked over to zelda and put his arm around her. "Ready to go get some rum?"
"Of course. You two are coming with us," Zelda told Olivia and John.
"Okay," Olivia agreed.


Zelda, Ben, Olivia and John were going to get rum. Ben and John were walking a head of Zelda and Olivia.
"What did Will say?" Olivia asked.
"Well," Zelda said, thinking of how to word it, "he likes you and me, but because I'm married he said that he's going to leave me alone. You, on the other hand, he said that he'll go after you. He wants me to help him break up you and John. But I told him no.
Olivia couldn't believe what she just heard. She was shocked. "He wants to break up me and John?"
"Yep, but can we talk about something else?"
"okay. How did you have two delays today getting rum?" Olivia asked. She figured that Zelda wouldn't let anything stop her from getting rum. "You're the kind of person that has to get rum right away. You wouldn't care what's going on."
Zelda smiled. "Well, the first time," she started, trying to figure out the right words to say, "me and Ben were in our room talking and one thing led to another and...." She purposely didn't finish the sentence.
"And what?" Olivia was confused. She didn't know what Zelda was trying to imply.
"Let's just say that there's secrets that you can tell your friends, and others that should be kept to one's self." Zelda left it at that.
Olivia realized what Zelda was talking about and dropped her mouth. "Okay. What was the second delay?"
"We ran into Zack."
"Who's Zack?"
Zelda couldn't believe that Olivia forgot who Zack was. "You remember Zack from Ryoko's crew?"
"Oh. You mean the guy that you use to hang out with?" Olivia asked, kind of remembering Zack.
"Yep." Zelda nodded. "He's not dead. He's not a pirate anymore either. He's a...." She was ashamed to finished the sentence. She started to cry. "Bagboy."
Olivia laughed. She didn't believe it. "He's a bagboy? He's pulling your leg. I remember his sense of humor."
Zelda looked at Olivia with tearful eyes. "It's not a joke."
Olivia realized that Zelda wasn't joking. Her eyes started to get watery as well. "You mean he's really...."
"Yep. But I'm going to turn him back into a pirate," Zelda told Olivia with high hopes that it'll work.
"Good luck with that." Olivia was trying to be encouraging to Zelda.

Bounty Hunters Arrive

Zelda, Olivia, John, and Ben were in an old wearhouse, getting rum. The place needed to be condimmed because it was the oldest building on the planet.
Leo and Russel arrived out of no where.
They were going to finish their job. "Hello, pirates," Russel said.
Zelda turned around holding a crate filled with full rum bottles. The box looked too heavy for Zelda to try and carry, but that didn't stop her. She was okay as long as she had her rum. "Hello, bounty hunters."
Russel pulled out his sword and aimed it toward Zelda. "Now, I can finish what I started."
Zelda dropped the crate, which missed her feet, and pulled out her sword. "Whatever you say, Grandma Rosie?"
Zelda's words ticked off Russel. "That's it. Say hello to Ryoko for me."
They started sword fighting. Leo, Olivia, John, and Ben just watched as their blades hit one another.
"YOU SHOULDN'T OF SAID THAT!" Olivia called to Zelda.
"She's Zelda, she's going to say whatever," John reminded Olivia.
Olivia couldn't argue with him. She knew that he was right. "Good point."
Ben worried about Zelda. He didn't want anything bad to happen to her. He loved her too much to let something bad happen to his wife. "I can't stand this. She coud get hurt." Ben pulled out his sword and jumped into the fight.
"What are you doing?" Zelda asked Ben. "I can protect myself." She was a pirate, not a princess, and she hated to be a damsel in distress. She liked to fight her own battles, when she had her weapons, rather than a guy do it for her because then she felt like a princess and she hated that.
"I know," Ben told her, "but I want to help you."
Zelda blocked Russel's attack. She didn't need to start an arguement. It wasn't the time or place. "Okay."
"HELP ME, SON!" Russel called to Leo.
"What?" Leo asked. He just stood there doing nothing. He didn't want to jump in and help Russel fight Zelda and Ben. He didn't see any point.
"HELP!"
Olivia laughed at Russel and Leo. She thought it was funny that Leo wasn't going to help Russel fight. "This is funny."
John was also laughing at them. "Why? Because Leo isn't going to help his dad?"
"Yep."
"Maybe we should double team Leo."
Olivia looked at John. She smiled as she nodded. They pulled out their swords and walked over to Leo. "Get ready to fight, bounty hunter."
"Two against one. That's not fair." Leo would only fight one. He didn't want to fight two on one, unless it was the other way around.
Olivia smiled. "It is to me. Now, draw your sword and fight."
Olivia and John didn't give Leo a choice. He pulled out his sword. He could fight them, even though he was out numbered. "Fine."
They started sword fighting, when Jeremy and David arrived.
"Captain Zelda, what's...." Jeremy started to ask. He noticed that they were fighting Leo and Russel. "Taking so.... Long?"
"Does this always happen?" David asked.
"No."
"Are they bounty hunters?" David didn't recognize Leo and Russel.
"I think so."
Russel and Leo realized that they didn't stand a chance. They had snuck out of the fights and the four pirates stopped.
"Usaully, it's the other way around," Zelda said, putting up her sword.
"That's because you chicken out," Olivia told her.
Zelda shrugged. She turned and realized that she dropped a crate of rum and was about to cry because most of the bottles were broken.
Jeremy walked over to them, followed by David. "Captain, do you guys need help getting the rum?" he asked.
Zelda walked over and picked up two crates and carried them over to Jeremy. "No." She handed them to him. "But you can carry a couple of boxes, while you're here."
"Captain Olivia, can we get some boxes for our ship?" David asked.
"No."
"Let them, Olivia. You don't have to drink any of it."
"Yea," John agreed, "and this time, Zelda won't be there to pour any in your water."
"What?" Olivia asked. She gave Zelda a dirty look.
Zelda pretended to laugh. She didn't have anything to blackmail John this time, but she did give him a look that meant that he better watch his back. "I never did that. It must of been in a dream that he had."
Olivia turned to face John.
Zelda lost her smile and used the look that scared John. "Right?"
"Oh yea. That's right. It was a dream." John didn't want to get killed.
"Let's go back to the ships. Peter probably scared Zack away."
"Yea."
Each of them had a crate or two and were carrying them as they walked out of the old wearhouse.

Forced to Piracy

Peter was showing Zack around the White Rose. Zack kind of did miss being a pirate. He looked out on the deck and seen some of the crew cleaning. He wished that he could get out of Zelda’s bandanna but she had it tied too tight. He also missed being on a pirate ship. The only thing he didn't miss was trying to stay alive and that’s why he would rather be a bag-boy. It wasn't the best job in the universe but it was the only job he could get. All the other jobs he had applied for, he wasn't allowed to work because they checked his criminal records and as a pirate he had a really bad record. “Man,” he told Peter, “it’s been a long time since I've been on a ship.”
“You were on a ship?”
Zack nodded. “I was once a pirate before.”
“Oh.”
“Zelda seems like a good captain.”
“Oh, she is. She really is.”
Zack kind of smiled. “So she picked up where Ryoko left off.” He lost his smile. “Does she talk about Ryoko?”
“Her cousin?” Peter asked. “Well, she’ll say, ‘How good of a captain Ryoko was,’ but then she’ll stop.” He paused. “I think that it causes her pain to talk about Ryoko. She did watch her get killed. I feel bad for Zelda.”
Zack felt bad. He did miss Ryoko too. She was like an older sister to him and Zelda, when she was alive, and the same for Olivia. He wondered if anyone else from Ryoko’s crew was still alive, or if they were killed. “Ryoko was a good captain,” he admitted. “When I heard that she was killed, I couldn’t believe it. That’s when I decided that I didn't want to be a pirate.”
Zelda, Jeremy, and Ben walked on the ship, carrying two crates each. “Ben, tell Paula to drive the ship to the Planet App.” She gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Then meet me back in the room.” She started to speak to where everyone on board could hear her. “Germany,” she said, placing the two crates on top of the two he was already carrying, “bring these to the wine cellar.”
“Okay,” Ben and Jeremy answered.
Ben sat down the two crates that he had and Scott picked them up to bring them to the wine cellar. Austin grabbed the two crates that Zelda gave Jeremy to carry. Scott, Austin, and Jeremy walked in one direction, while Ben walked in the other direction.
Zelda walked over to Zack and Peter. “So are you ready to become a pirate again, Zackinator?”
Peter was jealous because Zack had an awesome nickname and he didn’t. “That’s not fair,” he complained, “he got a cool nickname. I got stuck with Peter Pan.”
“Shut up, Peter Pan.”
“But….”
“Just shut up.”
“Yes, captain.”
“So…. Are you ready?” Zelda asked Zack.
“I told you that I don’t want to be a pirate anymore.”
“I’m going to turn you back into a pirate like it or not.”
Zack knew that tone in Zelda’s voice. She had that same tone as Ryoko, and she had the same will power as Ryoko had. It was the same will power that meant they would do whatever it takes to make sure that they got what they wanted. That’s what made both of them good pirates and good captains. He had to smile a little. “So, you’re forcing me to be a pirate? Don’t I have freedom to choose what I want to do?”
“You lost that freedom when you decided to become a bag-boy.”
“I should be able to choose what I want to do. I’m not a pirate anymore.”
“You’re making everything complicated.”
Peter started singing Avril Lavigne’s Complicated.
Zelda shook her head. “SHUT UP, PETER PAN!”
“Yes, captain.”
“Well, I would love to argue some more, but I’m going to my room.” Zelda left.
“That’s the captain.”
“She’s just like Ryoko.” Zack seen the family resemblance and the same attitude in both Zelda and Ryoko. He thought that it was kind of like Ryoko had taken over Zelda’s body but she hadn't.

No Pirates

          Magma was in the throne room of her castle.  She kept pacing back and forth, waiting for Leo and Russel to arrive.  “Where are they?” she asked herself, ticked off.  “They should be here by now with those stupid space pirates and my brother.  How I hate them so much.”  She turned toward her throne, which had a sword laying on it.  “I got to use that blade.”  She walked over to it and picked up the sword.  “I have to kill at least one person with this thing.”  She thought for a second and an evil smile grew on her face.  “Zelda will be that person.  She thinks that she can out smart me, but she’s wrong.  I’ll stab her right in the heart.”

          Russel walked into the room.  “We’re back, your highness.”

          “Do you have the pirates?” she asked, smiling.

          Russel was ashamed to answer and was glad that Magma had her back to him.  “No.”

          Magma lost her smile.  She was mad.  “No?”  She turned to face him.  “Did you just tell me no?”

          Russel dropped his head.

          “How did you let that happen?” she asked.  “You’re a bounty hunter.  And you’re suppose to be one of the best.”

          “They out numbered us.”

          “How did that happen?”

          “It was four against two.”

          “Four against two?”

          “Yea.”

          “I don’t want to see you and Leo until you two come back with pirates.  Now, go and don’t come back.  My aunt had to get married into a family of you no good, dumb bounty hunters.  Get out of my sight, Russel.  I don’t want to talk to you now.”

          Russel left the room.

 

          Russel ran into Keaton and Romano in the hall.  He hadn’t seen them all day and wondered where they were.  “Where have you two been?” he asked them.

          “We were in the dinning room,” Romano said.

          “Flirting with the maids,” Keaton explained.

          “Oh.” Russel acted like he was cool with them, but he really wasn’t.

          “And look,” Romano said, showing Russel a piece of paper, “Katie gave me her number.”

          “Look, guys, we have a job to do and,” Russel said, growing mad, “that don’t include flirting with women.  Now, get to it.”

          “Yes, boss’s dad,” Keaton said, afraid of what Russel might do to them.

John's Therapist

          Olivia and John were sitting at a card table on top of the deck of the Black Velvet.  They were playing a game of Black Jack.

          “Are you jealous of Will?” Olivia asked.  She set the cards which were in her hand on top of the deck because she was tired of playing.

          “Me?” John pretended to laugh.  “No,” he lied.  He despised Will.  “Yes,” he told himself, looking away from Olivia.

          “Really?” Olivia asked.  She knew he was lying.

          Will walked over to them before John could answer Olivia.  “Hello, captain, and John.”  He smiled.

          John could see right through Will, and he knew that Will was trying to work his way into stealing Olivia’s heart.  He wished that the guy was on Zelda’s crew, or he was a loud to punch the prince and give him a bloody nose.  He didn’t like Will one bit.

          “Hey, Will,” Olivia and John said.

          “We were just talking about you,” Olivia told him.

          “Really?”

          “Yea.”

          “Well, I got done with that job.  Is there anything else that I can do, captain?”

          “Actually, why don’t you take a break?  You can hang out with John and me.  Is that okay, John?”

          “Yea sure.  You can hang out with us,” John agreed, jealousy in his voice.  “As long as you don’t take Olivia from me,” he told himself, but Olivia and Will looked at him.

          Olivia kind of dropped her mouth and looked at John kind of mad.  She couldn’t believe that John was jealous.  It was so obvious.

          “What?” Will asked.

          John looked at them and acted like he didn’t say anything.  “Nothing.  Um…. I’m going to go now.”

          “Okay.”  Olivia couldn’t believe how jealous John was.  He was kind acting like a big baby.

          John started to walk away, but he kissed Olivia on the cheek before he left.  He was letting Will know that Olivia was his and that the prince needed to back off.

 

 

          Zelda and Ben were hanging out on the deck of the White Rose.  Zelda was leaning against the wall of her office and Ben stood in front of her.

          Ben liked how the stars and the darkness of space made Zelda shine like a star.  She looked lovely to him.  “You are the best wife any guy has ever had.”  He moved next to her and placed his arm around her.

          “And you’re the best husband any woman has ever had.”

          They kissed.

          John had made his way over to the two love birds.  “Hey, you two.”

          Zelda looked over at him.  “Hey, John…. Wait a minute.  How did you get on my ship?”  They were sailing through space on two different ships and she wanted to know how John was now on her ship.

          John pointed to the Black Velvet.  Someone had made a bridge connecting the Black Velvet to the White Rose.  “That’s how.”

          “Oh.”  Zelda looked at the bridge, but it didn’t don on her at first.  “Wait a minute.  Who the heck did that?”

          “Good question.”

          “How did heck did they do that?”

          “Really good question.”

          Ben laughed.  “Whoever did that, must have had a hard time.  But, who cares?”

          It most likely was Aaron, who had built the bridge.  He was the smartest guy on both of the ships.

          “Ben,” Zelda asked, changing the subject, “have you seen Max anywhere?”

          “Actually, I haven’t seen him since the wedding.”

          “Maybe he’s hiding,” John jumped in.

          Zelda kind of laughed.  “Max doesn’t hide.  He might be hiding, but he’s usually by my side 24:7.”

          “He probably thinks that because you have Ben now to protect you that he doesn’t have to.”

          “That’s not true.  He’s my baby and Ben is his daddy.  We both love him.  Right, Ben?”

          Ben smiled.  “Who doesn’t love that wolf?” he agreed.  “Here you two talk, I’ll go look him.”

          Zelda and Ben kissed then he walked away.

          “Zelda, can I talk to you about something?” John asked.

          “Yea sure.  But tell me on the way to the kitchen because I am hungry.  Are you hungry?”

          “No.”

          “Okay.  Then come with me.”

          They started to walk toward the kitchen.

 

 

          Zelda took a cut up banana and mixed it with peanut butter and fish.  John looked at the mixture and a sick feeling began to take over his stomach.

          “You know, I don’t like fish, but for some reason, I’m craving it.”  Zelda knew why but didn’t want to tell John.

          “You’re really going to eat that?” John asked, kind of gagging.

          “Yea.  You want to try it?”  She offered him a piece.

          He didn’t want it.  The sandwich that Zelda had made, made him feel sick to his stomach.  “No thank you.”

          “Okay.”  She took a bite and swallowed.  “Now, what were you saying about Will?”

          “Oh yea.  He just showed up out of nowhere.  He started to talk to Olivia and me, but I can’t stand him.  He’s trying to take Olivia from me, so I came to talk to you to see if you can help me.”

          John and Zelda had this thing going on where she was his therapist but she wasn’t very good and the fact that she hated to solve people’s problems didn’t help.  She was confused.  She didn’t understand what was going on.  “Where’s Will right now?”

          “I just told you, he’s talking to Olivia.”

          “Ok-ay.”  She was really confused.  She didn’t understand how John was worried that Will was going to try and break up Olivia and him, while he was over there talking to her, and Will was talking to Olivia.  “So the guy that you think is trying to break up you and Olivia is talking to her right now while you’re here talking to me.”  Zelda thought about that.  “Why is that?” she asked.  “I don’t think that’s very smart for you.”

          John thought about it for a minute and he realized that Zelda was right.  “OH CRAP!  I have to go.”  He ran out of the kitchen, while Peter walked in.

          “RUN, FOREST, RUN!” Zelda called after John.

          “Captain, I thought his name was John.”

          “Shut up, Peter Pan.”

          Peter went to get the fish which had been on the counter but realized that it was gone.  “Where’d my fish go?”

          Zelda looked at her food then to Peter.  She smiled at him as if to say “Oops.”

          “Captain,” Peter said, disappointed, “I thought you hated fish.”

          “I do, but for some reason, I wanted fish.  Sorry.”  She kept the smile.

Larry Runs Away

          Gregory and Larry were in the kitchen of their little house.  They were sitting at the little, round table.  It was dark outside, so Gregory had the lights on.  He was trying to come up with a plan to stop the bounty hunters.  He figured that the pirates weren’t trying to do anything.  Larry watched him as he worked.

          “Are the pirates going to help you guys?” Larry asked.

          “They said they were,” Gregory paused to take a sip of hot, Hazelnut coffee, “but you can’t really trust pirates, especially Zelda.”

          Larry remembered what Zelda told him, after he found out that she lied to him.  “Why do you hate Zelda?” he asked.

          “Because she ruined my life.  It’s worst because now her and Ben are married.”  Gregory didn’t want Zelda as a sister-in-law, but Ben loved her.  He remembered what she had done to him which had ticked him off.

          “Her and Ben are married?” Larry asked.  They eleven year old boy was excited.  “THAT’S COOL!”

          Gregory shot Larry a look.

          Larry forgot that Gregory didn’t like to talk about Ben, Zelda, and all the other pirates.  “Sorry.”

          “Look, I don’t want to talk about them.  Okay, Larry.”

          “Okay.”  Larry stood up and walked to his room.  He pretended to yawn.  “Good night, Gregory.”

          “Good night, kiddo.”

 

 

          Larry grabbed a bag and placed it on his bed.  He went to his dresser and took out a bunch of clothes.  He stuffed the clothes into the bag.  He took his book bag and laid it on his bed and covered it with a blanket to make it look like he was sleeping.  He went to window, after turning off the light, and opened it.  He climbed out and closed it again.  “Sorry, Greg,” he whispered with sadness in his voice.  He ran away from the house.

 

 

          Larry walked through the town.  He noticed Leo and Russel.  They were heading toward him.  “Bounty hunters?  What are they doing here?” he whispered to himself.  He hid behind a dumpster in an ally.

          Russel and Leo walked over by the dumpster and stopped.

          Larry kind of peaked to see what they were doing and listened to them talk.

          “Why are we here again?” Leo asked.

          “Because I have a feeling that Zelda’s crew and Olivia’s crew will be here to talk to the princesses.”

          “What if they don’t show?”

          “Then, we’ll go looking for them…. And when we find them, we’ll kill them.”

          “Okay, but we’ll have to keep Zelda alive.”

          “Why?”

          “Magma wants to kill Zelda herself.”

          The two bounty hunters left.

          Larry walked out from hiding, shocked.  “I have to warn them.”  He ran to where the space craft area was and looked for a ship to sneak on which had export on it that was going to another planet.

Trying to Tell Ben Part 1

             Austin, Peter, Scott, Paul, and Zack were in their room, playing video games.

          “How did you guys hook the TV and game system up?” Zack asked.  He was rubbing his wrist because they were sore from having the bandana tied around them.  He was glad that his hand were free from the bandana.

          “Well,” Scott said with sarcasm, “we plugged them in, then hooked them together.”

          “I know that, but where’d you get the plugs from, because there wasn’t any on the Blue Ram.”

          “The Blue Ram?” Austin asked.

          “Zelda never told you?”

          The guys shook their heads.

          “It was Ryoko’s ship.”

          “What kind of animal controlled the ship?” Paul asked.

          “Was it a chicken?” Peter asked.

          “No,” Zack answered.

          “Man,” Austin asked Peter, “what’s up with you and chickens?”

          “They’re pretty and I was raised by chickens.”

          Everyone gave Peter a funny look.

          “Did he just say he was raised by chickens?” Zack asked.

          “Yea,” Austin answered.  “A rule that we have around here is don’t listen to him.”

          “Okay.”

 

          Zelda and Ben where out on the deck of the White Rose.  Zelda sat on the ground, playing with Max.  Ben was standing there, watching Zelda and Max.

          “Where did you find him?” Zelda asked.

          “He was hanging out with the rats in the wine cellar.”

          Zelda smiled at Max.  “Is that right?”  She looked up at Ben.  “I really have to tell you something.  Sit down.”

          Ben smiled.  “Ok-ay.”  He sat down next to Zelda on the wood floor of the deck.  “What do you have to tell me?”

          “I’m….”

          Olivia walked over to them.  “Zelda, Ben, me and John wanted to know if you two wanted to hang out with us tonight.  Like a double date and that way we can come up with a way to stop the bounty hunters.  Oh yea.  John’s cooking the diner and I’m making the dessert.”

          “Do you want to go?” Zelda asked Ben.

          “Yea.  It sounds like fun.”

          “Yea,” Zelda told Olivia.  “We’ll be there.”

          “Okay.”  Olivia walked away.

          “SEE YA, OLIVIA!” Zelda called to her.

          “I’m glad to see that you two are getting along.”  Ben wrapped his arm around her.  “So what were you going to tell me?”

          “I just forgot.”  Zelda didn’t forget, but Olivia had ruined the moment and now she was going to have to wait longer.

Dinner

          John and Olivia were in the kitchen.  John was cooking a big, juicy turkey, and corn casserole which was in the oven.  The turkey was already done; he was just adding the finishing touches.

          Olivia was waiting for the oven to place the chocolate cake mix in it.  “Everything looks really good, John.”

          “Would you like to try a piece?”

          “Sure.”

          John cut off a little piece of the juicy turkey and blew on it.  He let Olivia try the piece.

          When she took the bite, her eyes grew with delight; she loved the taste of the turkey.  Words couldn’t describe how good the turkey had tasted.  “This is sooooo good.  I never knew that you could cook.”

          “Ben taught me when I was younger.”

          “Wow.  Ben will be proud.”

          “Yep.”

          The oven started beeping to let them know that the corn casserole was ready to devour.

          John placed the cooking gloves on as he moved toward the oven.  “The corn casserole is done.”  He took the casserole out of the piping hot oven.

          Olivia thought the turkey looked good, but her mouth dropped, when she laid eyes on the golden hot casserole.  It looked just as amazing.

          John sat the casserole on top of the oven.  “You can put the cake mix in now.”

          “Okay.”

          After John had moved away from the oven, Olivia moved over to it and placed the cake in side, careful not the touch the hot walls or racks in it.

          “What are we going to do, while we’re waiting on the cake?” Olivia asked.

          “Well, we can set the table.”

          “Yea.  Actually, Ryan’s setting the table.”

          John was surprised to hear that.  “Why?”

          “He thinks that Zelda will fall for him, if he sets the table.”

          John kind of laughed.  “Zelda loves Ben.  That’s why she married him.  She’s not going to leave Ben for Ryan because Ryan set the table.”

          “I told him that, but he doesn’t believe me.  Not only that, he is an idiot.”

          “Good point.”

          “Should one of us go get Zelda and Ben?”

          “Yea.”  John kissed Olivia’s cheek.  “I’ll go get them.”

          “Okay.”

          John left as Ryan walked in.

          “Everything’s ready, captain,” Ryan told her.

          “Okay.”

          “Do you think that I have a chance with Zelda?” he asked.

          Olivia looked at Ryan.  She couldn’t believe that he would ask that question, after all, he was at the wedding.  She felt kind of bad for Ryan.  “She’s married now, to Ben.”

          “So.”  He ignored what she had just said.  “What do you think?”

          She gave him a funny look.  She tried not to laugh.  “Didn’t you hear what I just said?  She’s married, to Ben.”

 

          John was on the White Rose.  He was walking around, looking for Zelda and Ben.  He ran into Jeremy.  “Hey, Jeremy, do you know where Zelda and Ben are?” he asked.

          “They’re married now, where do you think?” Jeremy asked, rudely.

          “In their room?”

          Jeremy glared at him.

          “I’ll take that as a yes.  Jeremy, do you hate my brother?”

          “I despise your brother.”

          “Why?”

          “Why?  Because he took the girl of my dreams.”

          “Oh.”  John pretended to laugh.  Jeremy was kind of worrying him.  “Well, I’m going to go ahead and walk away.”  He left.

 

          When he arrived at the office, he knocked on the door.

          “COME IN!” John heard Zelda call from inside.

          He walked into the room and Max walked over to him and started sniffing.  “Hey, Max.”  John patted Max’s furry grey head and looked up at Zelda and Ben.  The both of them were sitting on the bed.  “Dinner’s ready.”

          “Alright.”  Ben stood up and grabbed Zelda’s hand.  “Ready, love?”

          Zelda smiled as Ben pulled her to her feet.  “Of course.”

          “Then let’s go.”

          They left.

 

          Ben, Zelda, and John walked into the dining room on the Black Velvet.  Ben smelled the food from the kitchen, the smell filled the air, and it reminded him how hungry he was.  “Something smells really good.”

          “I’m going to go tell Olivia that you’re here.”

          “Okay.”

          John walked into the kitchen as Ryan walked out.  Ryan noticed Zelda and walked over to her.  He had his chance to impress her.  “Oh, Zelda.  I set the table.  Do you like it?”

          Zelda looked at the table then to Ryan.  She smiled.  “It looks nice.”

          “I did it for you.”

          Zelda was confused and she lost her smile.  She knew he liked her but didn’t understand why he would set the table for her.  “Ok-ay.”

          Ryan left the room.

          Ben couldn’t help but burst out into laughter.  “He likes you.”

          Zelda smiled again.  “You’re not jealous?”

          “No.  He’s harmless.  I don’t have to worry about him.  He’s not like Jeremy.”  Ben knew that Ryan wouldn’t try to do anything so he didn’t have to worry.  He had to worry about Jeremy because he that Jeremy would try to do something no matter what.

          John walked out of the kitchen with the turkey.  Olivia followed him, holding a smaller plate.

          Zelda couldn’t take her eyes off of the food.  Her mouth watered just looking at the golden brown turkey.  “That looks really good.”

          John set the turkey down in the middle of the table.  “You two can sit down,” he told Zelda and Ben.

          Ben pulled a chair out from under the table and offered it to Zelda, then he sat in the chair next to her.  Olivia set the small plate on the, which had the corn casserole.  Then her and John sat down.

          “Now, let’ eat,” Olivia said.

          Ben took a bite of the turkey.  He was impressed by how amazing the turkey was.  “This is the best turkey that I’ve ever had.”

          Zelda had a taste of her turkey and she was in love.  “This is really good, John.”

          “Why thank you.”

 

          When everyone was done eating, Olivia went to get the cake.  “Who’s ready for dessert?” she asked.

          Now, Zelda was really in love, when she laid eyes on the frosted chocolate goodiness, which Olivia set in front of her.  “Ooo, cake.”

          They all took a piece of the cake.  Zelda, Ben, and John all took a bite.

          Zelda faked a smiled.  She didn’t want to hurt Olivia’s feelings.  “This is really good cake, Olivia.”

          “You guys really like it?”

          “Yea,” John agreed, “yea.”

          “It’s different,” Ben admitted.

          Olivia smiled.  “That’s good.  I’ll be right back, I have to do something.”

          “Okay,” Zelda said.

          After Olivia left, all three of them spit the cake out.

          Zelda was disappointed by the taste of the cake.  “That was the worst cake ever.”

          “What are we going to do?” John asked.  “We can’t tell her that we don’t like it, because we told her that we did.”

          “I don’t know,” Ben answered.

          Zelda noticed Donny lying down.  An idea popped into her head.  “Come here, Donny.”

          Ben and John watched to see what she was doing.  Donny stood up and walked over to her.

          “Good boy.  Now, eat that.”

          Donny took a bite of the cake then spit it out.  He didn’t like the taste either.  He walked back over to where he was before and laid back down.

          Zelda looked at John and Ben.  “Now, that’s sad.  Not even the animal will eat it.”

          “Not good.”

          “What are we going to do now?” John asked.

          “We need to hide it before she comes back,” Ben said.

          “Okay.  Where?” Zelda asked.

          Ben looked around.  “I have an idea.”  He took John’s, Zelda’s, and his plates then left the room.  When he walked back into the room, the plates were empty.

          “Where’d the cake go?” John asked.

          Ben set the plates on the table.  “I dumped it over board.”

          Olivia walked into the room.  She was glad to see the empty plates.  “Would you guys like some more cake?”

          “That was good cake,” Zelda lied, “Olivia, and we would love to have more, but we’re foul.  Right, guys?”

          “Yea,” Ben agreed.  “If I wasn’t foul, I’d have more.”

          “Thanks, Olivia.”  John faked a smile.

          “Okay.”  She didn’t know that they hated the cake.  They didn’t plan on telling her either.  

Angry for No Reason

          Zelda and Ben were heading back toward the White Rose.  Olivia and John held a conversation with them before they left.

          “Thanks for coming,” Olivia said.

          “No,” Zelda replied.  “Thanks for inviting us.”

          “Let’s go back to the ship.”  Ben held up his arm to let Zelda go first.

          Zelda headed onto the bridge.  She stopped and turned to face the other two pirates.  “You two can come and hang out with us.”

          “Okay,” Olivia agreed.

          They all crossed the bridge to get from the Black Velvet to the White Rose.

 

          Ben helped Zelda down from the bridge and John helped Olivia down as well.

          “John,” Zelda asked, “can I talk to you for a second?”

          “Okay.”

          Zelda and John walked away from the other two.

 

          “What?” John asked.

          Zelda made sure that Olivia and Ben were out of ear shot.  “If you and Olivia ever get married, don’t let her cook.”

          “Okay.”  John knew that Zelda had more to say than just that.  “Is that all?”

          “Yes.”  Zelda thought for a second.  “WAIT!  No, don’t forget about Ben’s surprise party next Tuesday.”

          They walked back to Olivia and Ben.

          “What was that about?” Olivia asked.

          John put his arm around her.  He smiled.  “I’ll tell you later.”

          “We never decided on how we were going to stop my grandfather and the three turtles under him.”  Zelda had wished that Leo and Russel never told her the truth.  When people said that the truth hurts, they were right.  It hurt.  Zelda still didn’t want to believe that her grandfather killed her parents and now they both wanted to kill her.

          “You’re right,” Olivia agreed.

          “We’re just going to spy on them right now though and then we’ll go and talk to the cops.”  Zelda thought for a second.  “If Gregory makes me mad though, I swear I will attack him.”

          Peter walked over to them.  “Where are we going, captain?”

          Zelda suddenly felt anger burst through her for nothing.  “WE’RE GOING TO BLAZE!  HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?!  NOW GO!”

          They all looked at Zelda, shocked.  She never really got mad, especially for no reason.

          Peter was afraid.  “I was just asking.”  He walked away before Zelda exploded.

          “What was that about?” Ben asked.

          “Yea.  He just asked a question,” Olivia stated.

         “I don’t know.”  Zelda realized what happened.  She felt bad because Peter didn’t do or say anything to yell at him for.

          “You guys think that was weird,” John jumped in.  “Yesterday, she was eating a peanut butter, banana, and fish sandwich.”

          “Really?” Ben asked.  “You hate fish.”

          Zelda smiled.  “Yea, but for some reason, I was craving it.”

          “Peanut butter and banana is good,” Olivia said, “but peanut butter, banana, and fish, now that’s just gross.”

          “Honestly,” Zelda admitted, “it taste better than it sounds.”

          “Ok-ay.” 

Trying to Tell Ben Part 2

          Larry snuck on a cargo ship which was headed for Blaze.  “I’m going to become a pirate,” he told himself.  “I’ll find Zelda’s ship and sneak on it, no one will know.”  He thought about Gregory and how disappointed he would be.  “Gregory isn’t going to be happy though.”

 

          Larry hid in the storage area and found a gun and a sword.  “Good.  I killed two birds with one stone.  I have a gun and a sword.  I just hope that the gun is full.”  He picked up the gun.  He pressed a button on the side and a word formed on the side of it.  “Oh man…. It’s empty.”  He looked up at the boxes and thought about something.  “I got it.”  He read the sides of the boxes until he came up to one that read guns and lasers.  He used the sword to open it.

          When the box was opened, he took ten little boxes of lasers.  He opened a box of lasers which looked to be like a C battery.  He placed it inside of the gun.  He felt the cargo ship vibrate and knew that it was leaving the planet.  He also knew that he wasn’t ever coming back to Pluto.  “Well, this is the last time that I’ll ever see Pluto again.”  He felt bad for Gregory, but he was tired of being stuck on one planet.  He wanted to explore space, no matter how dangerous it was.

 

          Gregory knocked on Larry’s bedroom door.  “Larry, wake up, buddy.  You have to get ready for school.”

          Larry didn’t respond.

          “Larry.”

          Larry still didn’t answer.

          “Larry.”

          Larry still didn’t respond.

          Gregory was starting to get angry.  Larry usually answered him by this time.  He couldn’t understand it.  “Okay, Larry, this is starting to make me mad.  If you don’t answer me, then I’m coming in.”

          Larry still didn’t answer.

          Gregory was ticked off.  “THAT’S IT!  I’M COMING IN!”  He opened the door and walked in.  He noticed the blanket.  He walked over to the bed and moved the blanket to find a pillow.  “He’s gone.  Why?”

 

          Zelda and Ben were in the captain’s office.  Zelda was sitting on the chair, and Ben was relaxing on the bed.

          “So, do you remember what you were going to tell me yet?” Ben asked.

          Zelda smiled.  “Actually yea.  I’m….”

          Someone knocked on the door.

          “COME IN!”

          Olivia walked in, carrying a bag of chocolate cake.  “You two weren’t about to do anything, were you?”

          “No.”  Zelda was disappointed because she was going to tell Ben something and again Olivia ruined it.  “We were just talking.”

          “Okay.  Good.”  Olivia placed the bag on the desk.  “Here, John said that you guys liked the cake so much that you guys wanted me to bring it here.”

          Zelda looked at the bag, wide-eyed.  She looked at Olivia and faked a smile.  She didn’t want to hurt Olivia’s feelings.  “Oh he did.  Well, thank you, but you didn’t have to.  I mean you really didn’t have to.”

          “I know,” Olivia laughed, “but I wanted to.  Well, I got to go.  Will wanted to talk to me about something.”

          “Okay.”

          Olivia left.

          Zelda lost the smile and looked at the cake.  She had no idea what she was going to do with it.  “I can’t believe that your brother would do this to us.  We need to talk to him.”

          “We?” Ben didn’t want to get dragged into John’s mess.

          “Okay fine.  I need to talk to him.”  Zelda stood up and started walking to the door.  When she got to the door, she turned to face Ben.  “I just want you to know that if he gets killed it’s not my fault.”

          Ben laughed.  He stood up and walked over to his lovely wife.  “So, you’re going to kill him because had his girlfriend bring us that gross cake.”

          Zelda also laughed.  “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.  Would you like to watch, Sweeny Todd?”

          They shared a kiss.

          “I would love too, Miss Lovett.  But isn’t it Sweeny, who does the killing?”

          “Not today.”  Zelda opened the door and they walked out.

Olivia Tells Zelda

          Zelda and Ben walked onto the deck of the Black Velvet.  They noticed that John was over by a pole which led up to the crow’s nest.  “Hey, Scooby-Dumb, can you explain to us why Scooby-Doo brought us a bag of that really gross cake?” she asked.

          John noticed that Zelda was kind of ticked off at him.  He had to explain to her what happened.  “Well, she offered me a piece, and if I said, ‘No,’ I would of felt bad, so I said, ‘Yea,’” he admitted.  “When I was eating it, I told her that you two would like it, so I kind of gave her the idea to bring it to you guys….” He paused.  “At least, you two can get rid of it, but I had to eat it, and she was watching me as I ate.  I forced myself to eat it.”

          Zelda decided to leave John alone about it.  She just needed to get rid of the cake though.  “Well, we can’t get rid of it.  With my luck, she’ll catch us….” She thought for a second.  “Wait.  I have an idea.”

          “You do.  What?” Ben asked.

          “We can use it to distract the bad guys.  It works.”

          “But they won’t eat all of it,” John pointed out.

          “I know,” Zelda paused, “but they’ll have to throw it away, and when they do we can walk into the castle, because they’re going to need to get that taste out of their mouth.”

          “Oh.”

 

          Will and Olivia were in the dining room on the Black Velvet.  They were sitting at the table, next to each other.

          “If you break up with John,” Will told Olivia, “and go out with me, I could give you whatever you want.  Because I am a prince, you will become my princess, Olivia.”  He took her hand.

          Olivia looked into his beautiful dark blue, fiery eyes.  “I would love that…. But I can’t just break up with John.”

          “Forget about John,” he told her.  He gripped her hand, tighter.  He was determined to win Olivia’s heart.  “He can’t give you what you want.  He can’t give you your desires.  I can though.”

          Olivia knew that Will was right.  She was confused.  They went to kiss when….

          “No.”  Olivia couldn’t believe what she had almost done.  She stood up and backed away from Will.  “I can’t do this.  I can’t do this to John.”  She felt as if she wanted to cry.  “He’s my boyfriend.  I’m really confused right now.  I have to go talk to Zelda.”  She walked around the table to get to the door.

          “I understand.  Go and think this through.”

          Olivia left.

 

          Zelda, Ben, and John were still talking about the plan and what they were going to do.

          “So, who’s going to tell Olivia the plan?” Zelda asked.

          “Not me,” John and Ben said.

          Zelda dropped her mouth.  “So, I have to tell her?”

          “Yep,” John answered.

          “Pretty much,” Ben agreed.

          Olivia walked over to them.  “Zelda, I need to talk to you.”  She grabbed Zelda’s arm and started dragging her.

          “Okay.”  Zelda was confused.  She looked back at Ben and John who were waving at her.

          “GOOD LUCK!” Ben called to her.

 

          Zelda and Olivia were in the captain’s office on the Black Velvet.  “I’m in trouble,” Olivia said, freaking out, “you have to help me, Zelda….”

          “Okay, but just so you know John, Ben, and I came up with a plan to distract the bad guys….”

          “Will was telling me all these different reasons why I should break up with John, and go out with him….”

          Zelda and Olivia weren’t really paying any attention to what was being said by the other.  They were kind of ignoring each other.

          “Okay.  Anyways, we’re going to use your really yummy cake to distract them….”

          “He said, ‘How unlike John,’ he could give me what I want, my desires, and how he could make me his princess….”

          “Yea yea.  Well, will that be okay with you...?”

          “I’m really confused.  I don’t know if I should stay with John or go out with Will.  Me and Will almost kissed….”

          “I’ll understand if you don’t want us….” Zelda realized what Olivia had said.  She was shocked.  “Wait a minute, did you say that you and Will almost kissed?”

          Olivia nodded.  “Yes, but then, I thought about John, and I snapped back to reality.  I don’t know who I should choose.”

          “Choose John.  He’s your boyfriend.”  Zelda didn’t want to see Olivia and John break up just because of Will.  She couldn’t believe that Olivia would even consider to break up with John for Will.  “Even though, he can’t give you everything that Will can, he can give you his love.  Will’s trying to bribe you to fall in love with him.  John’s not.”  She knew that Will was going to get into Olivia’s head somehow.  “John loves you more than anything.  Will is cute, but he tried to destroy the universe.  He was once our enemy.  He wanted you dead.  I think you should with John.”

          “You’re right.”  Olivia knew Zelda was right.  She knew that John loved her and she loved him.  “Should I tell John that me and Will almost kissed?”

          Zelda looked at Olivia with wide-eyes.  She knew the answer to that.  “No.  John will kill Will.”

          “Good point.  So, I should keep it a secret?”

          “Oh yea.”

          Olivia decided to change the subject.  “So, what were you going to say about distracting the bad guys?”

          Zelda dropped her mouth.  She couldn’t believe that Olivia didn’t hear a word she said.  “I’ll tell you later.”

Why Gregory Hates Zelda

          Gregory and Alaska were walking around the ice city.  They were searching for Larry.  Gregory didn’t want to believe that Larry would run away.  He couldn’t believe it.  He remembered when Ben had left without telling anyone.  He remembered when John had just walked out the front door and never came home.  “Thanks for helping me look for Larry, Princess Alaska.”  He was ashamed.  He was a cop and this was his second time loosing Larry within a few months.

          “No problem.”

          “It’s hard to believe that Larry would just run away from home.  He told me that he wants to be a pirate.”  Gregory needed someone to blame and he knew who.  “I bet Zelda had something to do with this.”

          Alaska knew that Gregory hated Zelda, but she didn’t understand why he couldn’t stand that pirate.  “What’s the deal with you and Zelda?” she asked.  “Why do you hate her so much?”

          Gregory took a deep breath.  He knew that he had to explain.  “When I first became a cop,” he admitted, “Zelda was the first pirate that I had met.”  He paused.  “I didn’t even think that pirates were all that bad.  I mean, I read stories about them, but I didn’t think that pirates were still around.”  He paused again.  “Then I met Zelda.”  He remembered that day as he told Alaska.  “There was this bank robbery.  I was one of the cops that got sent out to stop the robbery.”  He smiled.  “Oh man.  It was the best day of my life,” he said, excitement grew in his voice, “I was excited.  I stood outside waiting for the thief to come out.”  He paused, losing the excitement.  “When I seen this girl walk out with a bag of money and rum.  It was,” he continued with anger in his voice, “Zelda.  She didn’t have any weapons on her though, which was weird.  I walked over to her and we talked.  She told me that her name was Zelda Samara Griffen.”  He took a breath.  “I asked what she was doing here, and she told me that she was looking for a crew.”  He remembered that was the same day that Ben went to work, but never came home that night.  “I asked her why, and she said because she was the captain of the White Rose, but the thing was, was that she didn’t have a crew yet.  I asked if she was a pirate, and she said, ‘Yes.’  Then we heard the other cops getting closer to the bank, and she handed me the money, smiled, then left.”  He was about to explode at the memory.  “She framed me,” he finished.

          Alaska dropped her mouth.  “How did the other cops react?”

          “I tried to tell them the truth, but they didn’t believe me.  They placed me under arrest.  This guy that seen what happened, told them everything, then they let me go.  Not only do Jason and Daniel work for me,” Gregory admitted, embarrassed, “but they’re also m baby sisters.”

          “Oh.”  Alaska tried not to laugh.

          Leo arrived.  “Hello, Princess Alaska.”

          “Leo?”

          “What do want?” Gregory asked.

          “Where are the pirates?” Leo asked.

          “They’re not here,” Alaska told him.  “At least, the ones that aren’t locked up.”

          “How about Zelda?”

          “I don’t know where she is.”

          Leo pulled out his sword and walked toward her.  He was kind of ticked off.  “Really?  I’m going to ask you again, where is she?”

          “I told you…. I don’t know.”  Alaska didn’t bother to back up.  She just stood there.

          Leo moved closer to the princess.  “Come on.  Don’t lie to me, princess.”

          Gregory took out his sword and moved in front of Alaska to protect her.  “She doesn’t know.  Now, leave her alone, Leo.”

          “Awe.  How sweet?” Leo acted amused.  “You’re protecting your girlfriend.  Too bad I don’t care.”  He went to attack.

          Gregory blocked the attack.  “What are you doing here?”

          “What do you think?”

          “LEO, LEAVE!” Alaska barked.

          “Not ‘till I get what I want.”

          Now, Alaska was ticked off.  “I told you, there are no pirates here.”  She held out a hand and froze Leo in place.  Leo tried to move to get free, but he couldn’t.  “Now, when I let you go, I want you to leave, and never come back.  Promise, Leo?”

          “Fine.” He was extremely ticked off.  “I promise.”

          “Good.  Now go.”  Alaska let him go from the frozen force field.

          Leo fell back.  After he got his balance, he placed his sword in the sheath.  He started to walk away.  “This isn’t over.”

          “Some people….” She watched Leo leave, and then turned to check on Gregory.  “Are you okay?  Did he hurt you?”

          “I’m fine.  You don’t have to worry.  Thanks for saving me.”

          Alaska smiled.  “You save my life all the time.  I owe you.”

          Gregory returned the smile.  “You don’t owe me.  You’re love is all I need.”

          They kissed.

Distracting the Bounty Hunters

          Larry was now on Blaze.  He was searching for the White Rose.  He was amazed by the magma colored ocean.  The only water he was used to seeing was ice blue water.  “The White Rose should be here soon,” he told himself.

          Romano and Keaton appeared.  Romano noticed Larry over by the dock.  “Hey, man, do your parents know where you are?” he asked.

          “Yea,” Keaton answered, thinking that Romano was talking to him, “I told them before I left their graves.”

          Romano looked at Keaton.  “I’m not talking to you.”  He pointed to Larry.  “I’m talking to him.”

          “Oh.”

          “My parents?” Larry asked.

          “Yea.”  Romano nodded.

          “They’re both dead.”

          “Oh.”

          “You have to be careful out here,” Keaton warned, “man.  There are real idiots out here.”

          “You mean like you two bounty hunters?”

          “Yea….” Romano agreed.  “HEY, WE’RE NOT IDIOTS!”

          “You’re talking to a pirate.”

          Keaton laughed.  He didn’t believe that Larry could be a pirate.  “You’re not a pirate.  You’re too young.”

          “You would have a gun if you were a pirate,” Romano stated.

          Larry revealed the gun.  “Look it here…. A gun.”

          “So, you have a gun.  Pirates also have swords.”

          Larry revealed the sword.  “You mean like this?”

          “HE IS A PIRATE!”  Romano prepared to attack.  “Any last words, kid?”

          Larry realized he was in trouble.  The kid didn’t know how to sword fight.  He looked out at the ocean and an idea popped into his head.  He randomly pointed out into the ocean.  “OH MY GOSH!” he freaked out.  “THAT GIRL JUST FELL INTO THE OCEAN!  SOMEONE NEEDS TO HELP HER!”

          Keaton and Romano turned around and rushed over to lava color flowing water.  Larry ran for his life.

          “I don’t see….” Keaton said, turning around.  “Hey, where’d he go?”

 

          Zelda and Ben were in the captain’s office of the White Rose.  Zelda sat on top of the desk while Ben stood in front of her.  “I need to tell you something, but you can’t tell Olivia,” she told her handsome, charming husband, “because she’ll kill me, and you can’t tell John because he’ll break up with Olivia, and kill Will, and Olivia will kill me.  Either way, I’m dead.”

          “Okay.  What?”

          Zelda didn’t know exactly how to Ben.  “Olivia almost kissed Will.”

          “WHAT?!” The shock was apparent in Ben’s voice.

          “I was shocked too…. But she didn’t…. She thought about your brother, and how that would hurt him, so she didn’t…. Don’t tell John.”

          “He has to know, Zelda.”  He couldn’t believe what Zelda was asking him to do.  “I’d want to know if you kissed Jeremy.”

          Zelda couldn’t believe that Ben would say something like that.  “Okay.  First of all, I would never do that, even after, you’re long gone.  Second of all, they almost kissed.”

          “Still, he should know.”  Ben was kind of ticked off.

          “I know, but please don’t tell him.”

          “Okay.  I won’t tell him,” Ben said, hugging Zelda, “but he should know.”

          They started to kiss, when Ray walked in.  “Go, Ben.”  They stopped and looked at him.

          “Can’t you learn to knock, Riley?” Zelda asked.

          “Well, I can, but I don’t want to.”

          Ben turned to face Ray, keeping an arm wrapped around Zelda.  “What do you want?”

          “Olivia and John are on land, and they’re waiting for you two.”

          “Okay,” Zelda said, “tell them, we’ll be there in a minute.”

          “Okay.”  Ray left.

          “Remember…. Don’t tell John.”

          “I know.”

          “Good.”

 

          Olivia and John were waiting for Zelda and Ben on the dock of the planet.  “Now, that we’re on Blaze, can leave Will here?” John asked.

          “No.  He’s part of the crew now.  Why would we do that?”

          “It was just a suggestion.”

          “Do you think that he’s trying to take me from you?”

          “No.  What gave you that idea?”

          “He’s not going to win, so don’t worry.”

          John looked at Olivia.  He was past jealousy.  “What makes you so sure?”

          “Because I don’t love him.”

          There was a long, awkward silence.  Zelda and Ben arrived.  Zelda walked over to the feuding couple.  She placed an arm around each of them.  “How are you two love birds doing?”

          Olivia and John looked at Zelda.

          She realized that they were both ticked off.  She backed away from them.  “Ok-ay.  We have the cake.”

          “Okay,” Olivia replied.

          “So, what are we going to do?” Ben asked.

          “You and John will distract the bounty hunters.  Me and Zelda are going to do something else.  We’ll show up when we’re done.  Meet us back here.”

          “Okay.”

          John and Ben walked in one direction while Zelda and Olivia walked in another direction.

 

          Zelda and Olivia were walking around the city of fire and looked at the stores that they could rob.  “Did you tell John that me and Will almost kissed?” Olivia asked.

          “No.”

          “Okay.  Good.”

          “Why?”

          Olivia wasn’t going to say anything, but she couldn’t hold it in.  “Because we just got into a fight about Will.”

          “At least, you guys got into a fight over something big.  When me and Ben get into fights, it’s over small things.”

          “Like what?” She already knew the answer but had to ask anyways.

          “Like the last bottle of rum.”  Zelda realized something.  “You know, Ben’s really hot when he gets mad.”

          “Ok-ay.  Speaking of Ben, me and John don’t know what to get him for his birthday.  What does he like?”

          Zelda smiled.  “He likes me.”

          “No.  I just thought that he married you for no reason.”

          Zelda laughed.  “I just had to say that.”

          Olivia laughed.  “Does he like to read?”

          Zelda thought for a second.  “Actually, he does.”

          “What’s his favorite book?”

          “Gregor the Overlander.”

          “Did you get him something already?”

          Zelda held her hand over her stomach.  “Yea.  It’s something that he really wants.”

 

          Ben and John were almost to the fire castle.  “You and Olivia got into a fight?” Ben asked.

          “Yep.”

          “Why?”

          “Because Will.”  John grew jealous just by mentioning the guy’s name.  “He’s trying to take Olivia from me and it’s really starting to make me mad.”

          “Okay.”

          “I mean can’t he see that I’m her boyfriend?”

          Ben needed to get John to change the subject before he said something that he shouldn’t.  “Can we talk about something else, dude?”

          “Okay.  What?”

          “Well, there was this time when Peter walked into a wall.”  He started laughing.  “It was funny because he was looking right at it, then walked into it.  Everyone was laughing.”

          John laughed.  “Ryan did that once.  He was walking Donny around the ship, I don’t know why.  Anyways, Donny started running, and he was dragging Ryan.  Oh man.  When Donny seen the wall, he moved, but Ryan crashed right into it.”

          Ben laughed even harder.  “Now, here’s something that you’re going to think is really funny.”

          “What?”

          “Olivia almost kissed Will.”

          John stopped laughing.  Now, he was ticked off.  “WHAT?!”

          Ben realized what he had said.  “Oh yea.  I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

          “Now, he’s dead.”

          “DUDE!” Ben exclaimed.

          “What?”

          “Forget about him.”  Ben smiled as he noticed Romano and Keaton heading their way.  “We have bounty hunters to distract.”  He pulled out the cake.  “And look what I have, Olivia’s cake.”

          “What do you pirates want?” Romano asked.

          “Well,” Ben offered, “we just thought you guys would want some of this cake.”  He held the cake in front of the two bounty hunters.  “It’s really good.”

          “Yea.”  Keaton couldn’t take his eyes off of the cake.

          “No, Keaton, it could be a trick.”

          “But it’s cake.”

          “Yea,” Ben agreed.  “There’s no poison in it.”

          “There’s no poison.”

          “They’re pirates.”

          “Come on.  We didn’t do anything to it I swear.”

          “You positive?”

          “Yea.”

          “Okay.”

          Ben gave Keaton and Romano the cake.  He started to laugh as the two bounty hunters took a bite.  They spit it out and ran away.  John started laughing, he had forgotten all about Olivia and Will.

          “Now, that was funny.”

          “Yes it was,” John agreed.

          “And as Zelda says, ‘Pirates rule.’”

          “Now, let’s go find out what they’re planning.”

          “Okay.”

          They started walking toward the castle again.  They ran into Magma on the way.

          “Hello, Princess Magma.”

          “Pirates.”  Magma glared at them.  “What are you two doing here?”

          “We heard that some bounty hunters are planning to destroy the universe,” John admitted.

          “Yes, they are and I’m going to help.”

          Ben looked at John.  “This is new.”

          “I know.”

          “A week from now the universe will be no more.”

          “Why are you telling us this?” Ben asked.

          “Yea.  This is information that you people would keep secret.”

          Magma pulled out her flame colored sword.  “Because you two won’t be around to stop me.”  She went to attack John.

          He pulled out his sword just in time to block the attack.  “Ben, go find the girls and get them back to the ships.”

          “Okay.  Hey, John.  Be careful.”

          “Alright, bro.”

          Ben left.

Magma and John started sword fighting.  John knocked Magma’s sword out of her hand, forcing her to retreat.  Magma grabbed her sword and left.

          “THIS ISN’T OVER, PRINCESS!” John called after her, all out of breath. 

No to Rum?

         Zelda and Olivia’s crews were on the White Rose.  It had been a couple of days since they left Blaze.  They were celebrating Ben’s birthday.  Olivia, John, & Ben were sitting on chairs on top of the captain’s office.

          “Happy birthday, Ben,” Olivia told him.

          Ben stood up and gave Olivia a hug.  “Thanks, Olivia.”

          “Hey,” John joked, “don’t you have a wife.”

          Ben broke out of the hug.  “Don’t worry, bro.  She’s all yours.”

          Zelda walked over to them.  “This is your birthday hug, and your birthday kiss.”  She hugged Ben and then kissed him.

          “Is that all?”

          “For right now.”

          Ben smiled.  “Good.”

          Paul walked over to them.  “Does anyone want rum?”

          “Yes.”

          “Me too,” John agreed.

          “No thank you.”

          Zelda didn’t respond.

          “Captain?” Paul asked.  He already knew the answer but asked anyways.

          “Oh no.”

          Everyone looked at Zelda, shocked.  No one could believe that she had actually turned down rum.

          “What?  I just don’t want any rum,” she said as if it wasn’t a big deal.

          “Ok-ay.”  Paul left.

          “Zelda, can I talk to you?” Olivia asked.

          “Okay.”

          The two girls walked away.

          “She just turned down rum.”  Ben was still in shocked.

          John looked at Ben, also shocked.

 

          Zelda and Olivia were in the captain’s office.  She was trying to make since of everything Zelda did that was odd, even for Zelda.  “First, you eat a mixture of food that shouldn’t be mixed.”

          “Uh-huh,” Zelda agreed.

          “Then, you get mad for no reason.”

          “Hmm.”

          “Now, you’re not going to drink rum, but you love rum.”

          “I know.”

          “But why….” Olivia thought about it.  She placed everything together in her head and realized what was going on.  “Are you pregnant?”

          Zelda smiled.  “Yes.”  She was wondering when someone would catch on.

          “THAT’S GREAT!” Olivia was excited for Zelda and Ben.  “So, have you told Ben yet?”

          “No, because every time I go to tell the daddy, someone ruins the moment.”

          Olivia didn’t get who Zelda was talking about.  “Do you want me to tell Peter and Ryan to leave you two alone?”

          “It’s not them, I’m talking about someone else.”  Zelda looked at Olivia.

          “Oh.  Then, who are you talking about?”

          “I’m talking about someone in this room right now.”

          Olivia didn’t say anything.  She still didn’t realize who Zelda was talking about.

          “Someone that I’m talking to right now.”

          Olivia still didn’t say anything.

          “Someone that I’m face to face with right now.”

          Olivia finally realized who Zelda was talking about.  “Oh.  I’m sorry.  Here I’ll go tell Ben that you want to tell him something, and this time I won’t bother you two.  Okay.”

          “Okay.”

 

          Ben and John were still sitting on top of the captain’s office.  “So, we’re going to Pluto, but why?”

          “Well, Zelda wants to tell Saphire what’s going on, so she can tell the cops.  Gregory is going to be so mad.”

          Olivia walked over to them.  “Ben, Zelda has something to tell you, and I think you’ll like it.”

          “Okay.  Where is she?”

          “In ya’lls room.  Duh.”

          Ben stood up and walked away.

 

          When Ben arrived at the captain’s office, he walked right in and closed the door.  “Olivia said that you had something to tell me.”

          Zelda smiled.  “Yes.  Now, don’t get mad because I told Olivia first, actually, she figured it out before I could tell you.  Okay?”

          “Okay.  What?”

          “Your birthday present from me isn’t going to get here until nine months from now…. So, I’m going to tell you.  I’m pregnant.”

          Ben grew excited when Zelda gave him the news.  He wrapped her up in a hug.  “THAT’S GREAT!  We’re going to be parents.  I’m going to be a daddy.  You’re going to be a mommy.”  He pulled back, but kept his arms around Zelda.  “Put up your sword.”

          Zelda looked at him confused.  “What?”

          “You heard me.  Put up your sword.  Until the kid is born, you will not fight.”

          “But I have to fight.”

          “I know, just not now.”

          “Ben.”

          “Zelda.”

          “I’m a good fighter, you know that.”

          “I know.  If I have to I’ll jump in to help, but you’re pregnant now.  What if something happens to where I can’t protect you?  Then the baby dies too.  I don’t want to take that chance, you fighting won’t be good for the baby.”

          Zelda couldn’t argue.  She knew that Ben won and she would just have to give up.  “I hate it when you’re right.”

          Ben smiled.  “I can tell.”

          Zelda leaned into kiss him.  “I won’t fight for you and the baby.”

          Ben raised an eyebrow.  “Really?”  He knew Zelda never kept her word.

          “Yes.”  Zelda smiled.  “Now, can I kiss you?”

          “I’m not stopping you.”

          They shared a kiss. 

John's Promise to Ben

        Paul and Scott were getting rum from the wine cellar.  “I can’t believe that the captain didn’t want any rum.”  Paul still was shocked about the fact that Zelda didn’t want any rum.

          “I know.  She’s been acting weird lately if you notice.”

          They heard something moving behind the boxes.

          “What was that?”

          “I don’t know, man.  Maybe it’s just rats, or maybe Max and Donny are down here playing around.”

          “Good point.”

          They heard the noise again.

          “It’s probably rats.  Let’s just get the rum.”

          “Yea.”

          They grabbed the rum and left.

          After the door closed, Larry climbed out from behind the boxes.  He looked around.  “There’s rats down here?”

 

          Zelda and Ben walked over to John and Olivia.

          “I heard that I’m going to be an uncle.”

          “Olivia told you, didn’t she?” Zelda asked.

          John gave Zelda a hug.  “Yep.”

          “John, when we go to battle against the bounty hunters again, and if I’m not around for some reason, can you make sure that Zelda doesn’t fight?”

          “Ok-ay.”

          “You’re asking him to babysit me?”  Zelda couldn’t believe that Ben didn’t take her word.

          “No.”  Ben smiled.  “I’m asking him to make sure you won’t fight.”

          “I already told you that I wasn’t going to fight.  For you and the baby.”

          “I know.  That’s why he’s going to watch you.”

          Zelda dropped her mouth in disbelief.  “I love you, Ben.”  She smiled.

          Ben had to smile again.  “I love you too, Zelda.”  He knew what she was trying to do.  “But like it or not, he’s still going to keep an eye on you.”

          “Crap.”  Zelda lost her smile.

          Ben noticed Paul and Scott walk onto the deck.  They were carrying rum bottles.  “Here comes Paul and Scott with the rum.  I’ll go get it from them.  I’ll be back.”  He kissed Zelda’s forehead, then walked away.

          “You’d fight behind Ben’s back, wouldn’t you?” John asked.

          Zelda smiled at John’s question.  It was as if he knew her so well.  “Yea.  I would.  Ben knows me so well.”

          Zelda, John, and Olivia laughed.

          “He’s coming back.”  Olivia pointed to Ben.

          Zelda’s smile grew.  “I can see that.”

           Ben walked over to them.  “Here you go, man.”  He handed John a bottle of rum.

          “Thanks, dude.  So, Zelda, are you giving up rum for the baby?”

          “Pretty much.  At least, until after it’s born.”  Zelda had to think about her answer.  “I’m going to be a bad mother.”

          “Then,” Olivia jumped in, “don’t drink any rum until it’s about ten.”

          “Is that ten months or ten years?”

          Olivia shook her head.  “What do you think?”

          “Ten years?”

          “Yes.”

          “Do you guys want to hang out in the office?” Ben asked.

          “Yea,” John answered.

John Confronts Olivia

          Saphire and Daniel were in the throne room.  Saphire was looking out the window of the palace.  “I think that Magma is going to help the bounty hunters.”

          “Well, of course, they work for her.”  Daniel walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her.  “You know Will is a pirate now.”

          Saphire looked at Daniel, confused.  She had never thought in a million years that the prince of fire would ever consider to become a pirate.  It seemed wrong to her.  “Will?  Magma’s brother?”

          “Yep.”

          She was really confused.  “The same Will that hates pirates?”

          “Yep.”

          “How?”  She couldn’t have been any more confused.  “What made him change his mind?”

          “I don’t know, but I do know that he’s on Olivia’s crew,” her handsome husband had replied.

          “Really?”

          “Yep.”

 

          Zelda and Ben were sitting in the captain’s office of the White Rose with Olivia and John.  Olivia was sitting in the chair behind Zelda’s desk, while John was leaning on a wall.

          “You know,” Zelda began to speak, “Will’s a weird guy.  I mean, first, he hates pirates, now, he is one.”

          “I know,” Olivia agreed, “and he likes me too.”

          John was kind of ticked off as the subject of his newly found shipmate had a raised.  “Can we please not talk about him?” The last thing he wanted to do was talk about the man he was jealous of.

          “Why not?” Olivia asked.  She could by the irritation in John’s that the jealousy was starting to take control.

          “Because you know that I hate him.”

          “John, can we please not talk about this here?” Olivia didn’t want to fight with John in front of Ben and Zelda.  The situation wasn’t something that she felt too comfortable arguing about in front of people.  She didn’t want to cause a scene.

          “Why not, Olivia?” John asked.  He was clearly ticked off and didn’t care if Ben and Zelda were there or not.

          Olivia was now starting to grow angry.  “Because this isn’t a good time.”

          “Why?” John asked.  “Do you want to tell Zelda,” he asked, pointing to her, “how much you love him?”

          Zelda and Ben didn’t want to jump into a fight that was in between John and Olivia.  Zelda felt awkward that John had placed her in the middle of the fight.  She had no idea if she should speak or not.

          Olivia dropped her mouth.  She couldn’t believe that John had thought something that horrible.  “How can you say that?  I don’t love him.”

          “Yea right.”  John was extremely ticked off that he didn’t believe that Olivia was being truthful.  “You can run into your boyfriend’s arms now,” he said as he walked to the door, “because we’re through.”  He opened the door and was about to leave.  “Oh yea.  I know that you almost kissed him.”  He left without another word.

          There was a long and awkward pause.

          “How did….”  Olivia didn’t know how John could have possibly know that, then she remembered that she had told Zelda.  “Zelda,” she said, turning to face Zelda and Ben, “I can’t believe that you told him, after, you told me not to tell him.”

          “Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t tell him….” Zelda remembered that she had told Ben.  “Ben,” she said, looking at him, “I told you not to tell.”

          “It slipped,” was all that Ben could say.

          Zelda took a deep breath.  She knew that she had to solve this problem.  “Here, I’ll go and fix this.”  She left the room.

          “So she told you?”

          “Yep.”

          “And you told him?”

          “Yep.”

          Olivia started break down into tears.  Her heart felt torn, it was a feeling she had felt once before when she was younger, although, the difference was that she was angry with herself.  “And now, he broke up with me.  I didn’t want this to happen.”

          Ben felt bad for Olivia, but he had no idea how to console her.

 

          John was headed toward the deck of the Black Velvet, when he ran into Will, Shawn, and Austin.  He was alright with Shawn and Austin, but he didn’t want to deal with Will.

          “Oh,” Will said, “hey, John.”  He was acting cool.

          John gave him an icy, cold look.

          “What’s your problem?”

          John didn’t answer.

          “What did the cat get your tongue?” Will was acting mocking John.

          John was so ticked off that he started to make a fist.

          “I know, you finally figured out that Olivia likes me.”

          Austin and Shawn looked at each other then to Will and John.  They knew that something bad was about to happen.  Will had ticked John off so much that John punched the prince in the nose, and then, he hurried to the Black Velvet.

 

          A few minutes later, Zelda showed up.  “Hey, guys.  Have any of you seen John?” she asked.  “I have to talk to him.”

          “Actually,” Austin told her, “you just missed him.”

          “Yea.  He went to the Black Velvet, after punching Will in the nose,” Shawn said.

          Zelda noticed Will’s bloody nose.  “Ow.  He did that?  In one punch?  You need to get some tissues for that bloody nose.”  She head toward the Black Velvet.

 

          John sat by himself on the deck.  He sat there alone and thought about everything.  He felt regret, hurting because he broke up with the girl of his dreams.  He didn’t want to hurt so bad but he did.

          Zelda walked over to him.  “Hey, man.”

          “Hey, Zelda.”

          Zelda sat next to him.  “I seen Will’s nose.”  She started laughing at the thought.  “It’s pretty funny.”

          John didn’t laugh.  “Why didn’t she tell me?”

          “I told her not to because you’ll kill Will.”

          “Wait a minute.”  He looked at Zelda.  “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”

          Zelda didn’t want to answer that question.  She knew she was in trouble by his tone.  “Knew what?” she asked, playing dumb.  She didn’t want John to yell at her or punch her in the nose.

          “Spot playing dumb.”  John wasn’t amused.

          “Okay.  Yes I knew.  I told Ben not to tell you.”  She had to pause.  “But they almost kissed.”

          John didn’t respond to Zelda’s statement.

          “Look, man.  They almost kissed.  Will had her in a daze, but she snapped out of it, when she thought about you.  She remembered that she doesn’t love Will.  She loves you.  And you had to break up with her.”

          John was almost about to cry.  “I love her more than anything,” he admitted.  “I didn’t want to break up with her.”

          Zelda smacked his shoulder.  “Then, why did you?”  She shook her head.  “That was a real smart move, genius, because now Will has a chance with her.”

          John realized that she was right.  “Oh man.”  He knew that he made things worse for himself.  “You’re right.  What am I going to do now?”

          “Oh, I don’t know, maybe you can start by going in there, and looking her in the eyes, and telling her how much you love her, how much you miss her already, and asking her if she’ll take you back.”

          “You’re right.”

          “But first, you might want to clean off those tears for two reasons, one is because you’re a pirate, and pirates don’t cry over things like this, and second you’re a guy, and guys don’t cry at all.”

          John had to smile at Zelda’s remark.  “Okay.”

          “Now go.  And remember, I got my eyes on you, so you better ask her to take you back.”

          “Come on, Zelda.”

          They walked back to the White Rose.

 

          Zelda and John walked into the captain’s office.  “Olivia, John has something he wants you to ask.”  She thought about what she said and realized that it was backwards.  “I mean, he wants to ask you something.”

          “What?”

          John walked over to Olivia and took her hand.  “Olivia, first, can you forgive me for earlier?” he paused.  “I acted like a jerk,” he admitted.

          Olivia smiled.  “I forgive you.”

          “Will you take me back?”

          “Yes.”

          Zelda smiled.  “Now we can talk about how, I mean, who’s going to talk to the ice princesses and the cops.”

          “You.”

          “Why?”

          “Because you can get them to agree with you better, than anyone else.”

          “True, but I can’t do it.”

          “And why not?”

          “Because the head of the police hates me, if you didn’t notice.”

          Ben stood up and walked over to Zelda.  He wrapped an arm around her.  “She does have a point.  Honey, why does my brother hate you so much anyways?”

          Zelda remembered back to when her and Gregory had first met.  “I really don’t know.”  She remembered she had framed him, but she didn’t understand that was the reason why he hated her.

          “Okay.”

          “You can try,” Olivia said.

          “Yea,” John agreed, “Zelda.”

          “No.  None of you can make me change my mind.”

          “Oh come on,” Ben said.  “You never let Gregory stop you before.”

          Zelda thought about Ben’s statement and had to agree.  “Okay.  Fine.  I’ll do it, but if Gregory says one thing to me, then I’m going to snap.”

          Ben kissed Zelda’s cheek.  “That’s my girl.”

          “Well, John, me, and my crew got to get back to the Black Velvet.”

          Zelda held Ben’s arm.  “Okay.  See ya’ll.”

          John and Olivia left the room.

          “Benjamin.”

          “Yes, honey.”

          “Can you please tell Riley to stop on Pluto?  I don’t remember telling him exactly where we were going.”

          Ben gave her a kiss, then moved his arm from around her.  “Yea.”  He went to leave when he stopped and turned to face Zelda.  “And you should relax.  Lay down until we get to Pluto.  Don’t stress so much, it won’t be good for you, or the baby.”

          Zelda smiled and shook her head. 

Framed

          Ray knocked on the door to the captain’s office.  “Come in,” he could barely hear Ben say.  He walked into the room.

          Zelda was lying on the bed.  Ben sat in the chair which was next to the bed.  Max was lying on the floor.

          “We’re on Pluto, captain,” Ray told Zelda.

          Ben looked at Zelda.  He knew that she hadn’t heard Ray because of the fact that she was out cold.  “She’s sleeping,” he whispered.  “You can go.  I’ll wake her up.”

          “Okay,” Ray whispered.  He left the room, closing the door as quietly as he could behind him.

          “Honey,” Ben said, shaking Zelda, “wake up.  We’re on Pluto.”

          “But I’m in the middle of a good dream,” Zelda replied in a sleepy voice.

          “Come on.”

          “Not now, man.”  Zelda rolled over.  Her back was now facing Ben.

          “Okay.”  An idea popped into Ben’s head.  “Hey, Max.  Come and wake up mommy.”

          Max jumped onto the bed and began licking Zelda’s face.

          Zelda couldn’t take it.  She sat up.  “Okay.  I’m up.”  She got out of the bed.  “Let’s go get Olive Oyl and Popeye.”

          Ben laughed.

 

          Zelda, Olivia, John, and Ben were walking toward the ice palace.  Zelda noticed a wanted posture of herself taped to a window of a little bookshop.  She walked over to the store and took the posture off of the window.  “Every time we come here, there’s a new posture of me….” She read what was written and was confused.  “Ben, read what Gregory wrote.”

          Ben took the posture and started reading it to himself.

          “What’s it say?” Olivia asked.

          Ben was just as confused as Zelda.  “It says, ‘Zelda Samara Skull wanted for….’” He had to pause.  He was trying to make since of the last part.  “‘Kidnapping?’” he read the last part as a question.

          “I didn’t kidnap anyone this time.”  She didn’t understand.  She was now ticked off.  “Gregory just likes to blame me for everything.”

          “Look at the bright side, at least, he used your new last name.”  Ben tried to get Zelda to smile.  It didn’t work.

          “That didn’t help much.”

          Ben placed an arm around Zelda.  “I tried…. Let’s go talk to the princesses, and if we see Gregory, I’ll talk to him.  Okay?”

          “Okay.”

          “Let’s go you two.”  Olivia was ready to go into the palace.

          “Okay.”

 

          They arrived at the palace.  Ben was still holding the posture.  They walked inside and ran into Saphire and Alaska.

          “What are you four doing here?” Saphire asked, politely.

          “We know what the bounty hunters are going to do,” Zelda stated.

          “Yea,” Olivia agreed.  “And Magma’s going to help.”

          “She’s trying to prove that she’s more eviler than her brother,” Saphire replied.

          “We have to tell Gregory,” Alaska jumped in.

          “No.”  Zelda didn’t want to talk to Gregory.  She was ticked off at him and she was going to kill him.  She pointed to Saphire.  “Why can’t we tell her husband instead?”

          “Daniel isn’t the head of the police,” Alaska reminded Zelda.

          “I know.  But I can’t talk to Double D.”

          Gregory walked in followed by Jason and Daniel.  He noticed that the four pirates were there.  “Zelda.  Okay, where is he?”

          Zelda turned around.  She eyed Gregory.  “Where’s who?”

          “My brother?”

          “Which one?  You have three and two of them are here.”

          “Larry.”

          “Larry boy?” Zelda asked, confused.  “I don’t know.”

          “Yea right.  Stop lying and tell me where he is?” Gregory was convinced that Zelda had kidnapped Larry and nothing was going to change that.

          “I told you, I don’t know….” Zelda thought about the posture.  “Wait a minute.  You think that I kidnapped him, don’t you?”

          “Actually, I do.”

          “Well, guess what.  I didn’t this time.  I haven’t even been on this planet.”

          “She’s telling the truth,” Ben added.

          “You’re just covering for her because she’s your wife.”

          “Yes, she is my wife.  And I stand beside her no matter what, but ask yourself this, how is it possible that she kidnapped Larry when we weren’t on this planet until today?”

          Gregory didn’t answer.

          “Oh yea.  Don’t yell at her, she doesn’t need the stress.  It’s not good for her and the baby.”

          Gregory was now the confused one.  “The baby?”

          “You heard him right,” John agreed.  “We’re going to be uncles.”

          “And, I want the baby to get to know all three of its uncles,” Ben added, then started talking to Zelda and Gregory, “and I want you two to try and get along.  Gregory, for whatever reason why you hate Zelda, I want you to forgive her.”

          “She’s the reason why these two have to babysit me.”

          Zelda and Olivia both started laughing.

          Ben tried not to laugh.  “And what did she do?”

          “She framed me a long time ago.”

          Zelda started laughing even harder.  “I remember that day.  You were so easy to trick.”

          “When did you do that?” Ben asked.

          Zelda took Ben’s hand and smiled at him.  “It was the same day that I met you.”

          “Oh.”

 

          Zack, Austin, and Jeremy were hanging out in the wine cellar of the White Rose.  Zack and Jeremy each sat on a box.  Austin took a bottle of rum.  “This is awesome.”

          “Austin, what are you doing?” Jeremy asked.  “That’s the captain’s rum.”

          “She won’t care.  Heck, she can’t drink rum anyways.”

          “Why not?  She loves rum.  She’ll drink it all day.”

          “She hasn’t told you?”

          “Told me what?”

          “Never mind.  Just forget that I said anything.”

          Austin and Zack knew that Zelda was pregnant but for some reason Jeremy was the only one in the crew who didn’t know.

 

          Larry slipped and fell against some of the boxes.  “OW!” he exclaimed, then covered his mouth as soon as possible.

 

          Austin, Jeremy, and Zack looked around in confusion.

          “What was that?” Zack asked.

          “I don’t know,” Jeremy answered.

          “Maybe,” Austin said, “a bounty hunter snuck on board back on Blaze.”  An idea popped into his head.  “Hey, let’s go upstairs and let the rats roam around.”  He winked to let Jeremy and Zack know to go along with it.

          “Okay,” Zack agreed.

          All three of the guys made it sound like they were leaving the room.

          “Good they….” Larry began as he moved out of hiding and realized that they were still there, “Oh snap.”

          “Hey, Larry,” Austin said.  “Dude, I thought I was going to have to shoot you.”

          “Come on out of there, man,” Jeremy told the kid.

          Larry climbed over the boxes.  “Okay.  Hey, can you guys please not tell Zelda or Ben that I’m here?”

          “Why not?” Austin asked.

          “Because they might bring me back to Gregory.  I kind of ran away from home.”

          “Oh.”

          “Then, what are you going to do?” Jeremy asked.  “There’s no food or water down here for you, and you’re too young to have rum.”

          “I got it,” Austin said.  “He’s like a stray dog.  We’ll sneak food and water down here and give it to him.”

          “How do we do that without making it look like we’re up to something?”

          “I’ll take care of that.”  Austin was the master mind of devious schemes.  

Truce?

          Gregory, Zelda, Ben, John, Olivia, Daniel, and Jason were in the battle room going over the battle plans.  They were sitting at a round table.  Gregory had a map with the planets on it to help them.  He pointed to Blaze on the map.  “I think that we should have all the cops and pirates surround Blaze.”

          “I have to disagree with you on that.”  Olivia shook her head.

          “Why?” Gregory looked over at Olivia.

          “Because there’s bounty hunters stationed on different planets,” Olivia pointed out, looking up at Gregory, “and if we do it your way, then we won’t be able to stop them.”

          “You’re right.”  Gregory agreed with Olivia’s point.

          “I disagree with the both of you,” Zelda jumped in.

          Gregory glanced at Zelda.  He didn’t want to listen to what she had to say.  He figured that it was going to be something ridiculous.  “Shut up.  No one cares, Zelda.”

          Zelda was ticked off.  “What?”

          Gregory looked at her.  “You heard me.”

          Zelda went to go say something but….

          “Don’t start you two,” Ben told them, stopping Zelda.  He didn’t want to hear them two get into an argument.  “Gregory, Zelda has something to say, now let her say it.”

          “No, she’s going to say something about rum.”

          Zelda stood up, feeling offended.  “That’s not true.”

          “My bad.  You weren’t going to say anything that has to deal with the battle plans,” he paused, “because you’re dumb.”

          Zelda exploded at Gregory’s words.  “That’s it.  You’re dead.”  She went to attack Gregory, but Ben stood up and held her back.

          “Calm down, Zelda,” Ben told her.  “He didn’t mean it.”  He turned his attention to Gregory.  “I want the two of you to call a truce.”

          “A truce?” Zelda asked.

          “Yes.”

          “We can’t call a truce.”

          “Why not?”

          “Because then….” Zelda had to think about what she was going to say next.  “Then you’ll destroy our relationship.”

          “What relationship?” Ben was confused.  “You two hate each other.”

          “Exactly.”  She looked up at Ben.  “Our love and hate relationship.”

          Ben was really confused.  Everyone else looked at Zelda, also confused.

          “See,” she explained, “I love you, and he hates me.  When me and him start fighting, you love me just as much as I love you, and you interfere, stopping us from fighting.”  She looked at Gregory.  “Right, Double-D?”

          Gregory was trying to make since of what Zelda had just said.  “Ye-a…. Ri-ght.”

          “Zelda, I hate to say this,” Ben admitted, “but that made no since.”

          Zelda thought about what she had said.  “You’re right.  That didn’t make any since, but at least, I tried.”

          Ben smiled at her attempt.  “You did try.  Now,” he said, turning his attention to both Gregory and Zelda, “I want the two of you to call a truce, before we go on with the plans for battle.”

          “Fine.”  Zelda turned to face Gregory and held out her hand.  “Well, it looks like we have no choice.  Truce?”

          Gregory took a moment to consider, then he grabbed her hand.  He shook Zelda’s hand.  “Truce.”

          “Good.”  Ben was glad that his wife and brother set apart their differences and made an effort to get along.  “Now, that that’s settled what were you going to say, Zelda?”

          “Well, I know that there’s bounty hunters roaming different planets, and well, I think we need to use the element of surprise.”

          “What do you mean?” Olivia asked.  “How are we going to do that?”

          “We need a decoy.  Because I think that before we go to the other planets, we need to start on Blaze, and take out Magma.”

          “Why?”

          “Because she’s basically the leader, because she is the princess of the planet.  If you take away the leader, then you get chaos, and Russel will want to be the leader, because he’s older.”

          Gregory and Olivia were interested in Zelda’s theory.

          “Then you have Leo, who will want to fight Russel for the leadership, because no man, like him, wants to be pushed around by his dad, all the time.  I want to see my grandfather, and uncle, get into a fight.  I don’t care if they kill each other.  Heck, they both deserve it anyway.  Especially, because Russel killed my parents.”

          “I haven’t thought of it that way,” Olivia agreed.

          “Neither did I,” Gregory also agreed.  “I just have a question.”

          “What?” Zelda asked.

          “I thought that you were the only one in your family still alive.  Why didn’t anyone say that your uncle and grandfather are still alive?”

          “I didn’t know that they were alive,” Zelda admitted, “until a few months ago.  I will not call Leo uncle and I will not call Russel grandfather.”  Zelda didn’t think of them as family.  She thought about them as enemies and that’s what they were.  “To me, they don’t deserve those names.”  She grabbed Ben’s hand.  “I’m ready to go back to the White Rose.”

          Ben stoop up and helped Zelda out of the chair.  “Okay.  We’re going back to the ships,” he told Olivia and John.  “You can hang out here, and go over the plans, or you two can come back with us?”

          “Okay.  Are we going with them,” John asked, “Olivia, or are we going to stay?”

          “Hold on.”  Olivia looked over to Gregory.  “Gregory, are we going to go with Zelda’s plan?”

          Gregory waited a moment before answering.  “See you four on Blaze.”

          Ben smiled.  “Good.”

 

          The two ships were on their way back to Blaze.  John, Olivia, and Will were on the deck of the Black Velvet.

          “Captain, did you get any useful information?” Will asked.

          John realized that Will was flirting with Olivia.  “No,” he answered, rudely.

          “Dude, I wasn’t talking to you.  I was talking to her.”

          “Yea,” Olivia agreed, “John.”

          “I’m going to go talk to Zelda.”  John didn’t want to deal with Will.  “You better not do anything to my girl,” he told Will.

          Will held up his hands.  “Fine.  My hands are right here.”

          “They better stay there, or you’re dead.  And I’ll give you more than just a bloody nose this time,” John warned.

          “Okay.  You can go now.”

          John left.

          When John was out of sight, Will wrapped his arm around Olivia.  “So, did you make a decision yet?”

          Olivia pulled away from Will.  “Actually, I did.”  She didn’t want to hurt Will, but she didn’t know what to do.  She decided to let him down easy.  “You’re a cool guy and everything, but you can’t bribe me to love you.  No matter what you say.  I don’t love you.  I love John.”

          Ouch!  Olivia’s word cut Will like a knife.  They cut his heart into two.  The fire prince didn’t know how to deal with the pain.  He had never been turned down by a girl before.  “Oh.”  He tried not to sound disappointed.

 

          Zelda sat at a card table on the deck of the White Rose.  Ryan was trying to get her to fall in love with him.

          “So, Zelda,” Ryan asked, “tell me, do you like to be the most beautiful captain in the universe?”

          “Is that a pick up line?” Zelda asked, looking up from her sandwich.

          “I don’t know.  Is it working?”

          “No.”

          Ryan was disappointed.  “Why not?”

          “I’m married.”  Zelda couldn’t believe how dumb Ryan was.  He was tied with Peter.  “Remember, you were at my wedding?”

          “But, what about us?”

          Zelda didn’t want to hurt Ryan, but she had no choice.  “I don’t love you.  I’m in love with my husband.”

          “So.”

          “Maybe this will get you to leave me alone.  I’m pregnant.”

          “I don’t care.”

          Zelda was shocked that Ryan wasn’t bothered by what she said, which kind of worried her.  “Do you know who the daddy is?”

          “No, but I’ll be the daddy.”  Ryan was determined to win Zelda’s heart no matter what.

          “Ryan,” Zelda said as she pointed to Ben, who was talking to Ray and Peter, “my husband, and the father of my child, is over there.”

          Ryan looked at Ben and he grew disappointed again.  “Oh.”  He left as John walked over to Zelda.

          John sat down across from her.  “Hey, Zelda.”

          “Oh hey, John.”  She knew why he was there.  He didn’t have to tell her.  “Let me guess, Will’s being aggravating?”

          “Yep.”  An idea popped into his head.  “If I ask Ben if you can pretend to go out with me, so I can win Olivia from Will, will you do it?”

          Zelda gave John a look that met heck no.  “Even if Ben said, ‘Yes,’ I’m going to say, ‘No.’”

          “Why not?”

          Zelda couldn’t believe that she had to explain why she said no to John.  “First of all, me and Olivia are just getting our friendship back.  Second of all, even though, you’re not really cheating on her, she’s going to think that you are, then she’s going to dump you, and go straight to Will.  That’s not helping you, that’s helping him and I told him that I wasn’t going to do that.”

          John realized that Zelda was right.  “Crap.  Then what should I do?”

          “I don’t….” An idea popped into Zelda’s head.  “I think it’s time for you to ask her the question.”

          John was confused.  He didn’t know what Zelda was talking about.  “What question?” he asked.

          She looked at him and shook her head.  “The question that a guy ask a girl that he really loves,” she hinted.

          John thought for a second.  “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

          Zelda wanted to smack John.  “You two are dating, so why do you need to ask her that, unless you two secretly broke up again.  Did you?” she asked, eyeing him.

          “No.”

          She raised up both of her hands.  “Then, why do you need to ask her that?”

          John shrugged.

          “Okay.”  Zelda didn’t know how to make it anymore obvious, what she was hinting.  “It’s a question that a guy ask a girl that he loves, THAT he’s already dating.”

          John pointed to Zelda’s half eaten sandwich.  “Are you going to finish that?”

          She looked at her sandwich, then back to John.  He still wasn’t getting the hint.  “Yes I am, but no, that’s not the question.  It’s a question that a guy ask a girl that he loves and is already dating and it doesn’t involve food.”

          John didn’t answer.

          “What question do you think Ben asked me before we got married?”

          “Will you marry me?”

          “THAT’S IT!” Zelda exclaimed.  He finally got what she was hinting.  “Now go and ask her.  And hurry.”

          “Okay.  Just one problem.”

          “What?”

          “I don’t have a ring to give her.”

          “Forget about the ring.  Now go get her, Belle.”  Zelda pointed to the Black Velvet.

          John hated that nickname.  “Zelda,” he admitted, “I love you, and you’re the best sister-in-law any guy can have, but please don’t call me that.”

          “Okay, John Jacob Jingle Honor Smit.”

          “Please, don’t call me that either.”

          “Okay.  Fine.  Then what am I going to call you?  Johnathen?”

          “I like it.”

          “Okay, Johnathen.  Now go.”

          John left.  Ben walked over to Zelda and sat down next to her.  “Is Will giving John trouble again?” he asked.

          “Yep, but we fixed that.”  Zelda took a bite of her sandwich.

          Ben wrapped his arm around her.  “And how did you do that?”

          “You’ll see.”

          They sat there in silence for a moment.

          “Can I have a bite of your sandwich?” Ben asked.

          Zelda picked up the sandwich and let Ben take a bite.

          “Mmmm…. Peanut butter and Tuna.  My fave.”

          Zelda smiled and shook her head.

John's Question

          Olivia and Will were still on the deck of the Black Velvet, when John arrived.  “Olivia,” John said, “I have to ask you something.”

          “What?” Olivia asked.

          “I don’t have a ring but,” he said as he got down on one knee and took Olivia’s hand, “Olivia Raye Lander, will you marry me?”

          Olivia smiled.  “I thought you’d never ask…. Of course I will.”

          Will was shocked.  He couldn’t believe what had just happened.  “But he doesn’t have a ring.”

          Olivia turned to face Will.  “I don’t love John because he gives me fancy things.  I love him for him.”

          John stood up.  He placed his arm around Olivia and smiled.  “It looks like you need to find someone else’s girlfriend to try and take.”

          Will didn’t answer.  He was too shocked to know how to reply.

          John looked at Olivia.  “Come on, Olivia, let’s go tell Ben and Zelda.”

          “Okay.”

          They walked away.

 

          Olivia and John walked onto the deck of the White Rose and walked over to Zelda and Ben.  “Zelda, guess what?” Olivia asked, excitement in her voice.

          Zelda smiled.  “What?” She already knew what Olivia was going to tell her but decided not to say anything.  She was letting John get the glory for the idea.

          “Me and John are going to get married.”

          “That’s awesome.”

          “So,” Ben said, “I’m going to have a cool sister-in-law now.”

          “This is going to be great.  Now, Will can leave me alone.”  Olivia was growing tired of Will trying to take her away from John.

          “Speaking of Will,” John said, “he was right there, when I asked her to marry me.”

          Zelda was interested in the story.  “How did he react?” she asked.

          “He was shocked,” John bragged, “because she chose me over him.”

          “I’d choose you over him any day,” Olivia admitted.  “Besides, how many times do I have to tell you that?”

          John looked at Olivia and smiled.  “Until I can’t hear you say those words.”

          They kissed.

          “Get a room,” Ben said, joking around.

          “Says the guy with a kid on the way,” John also joked.

          “I’m going to get some water.  Does anyone want anything?” Zelda asked, standing up.

          “No thank you,” Ben replied.

          “I would like some water please.”  John raised his hand.

          “I’ll go with you,” Olivia told Zelda.  “I’m going to get some water.”

          The girls left.

          “So, you and Olivia are going to get married?” Ben asked.

          “Yep.  I’m glad that she said, ‘Yes.’  Partly,” John explained, “because Will was going to try and win her from me, but mostly, because I love her, and I want to commit my life to her, and no other girl would do.”  He had Zelda to thank for giving him the idea.

          “That’s why I married Zelda, except no was trying to take her from me.”

          “What about Jeremy?” John sat down across from Ben.

          “Yea,” Ben admitted, “but he never went as far as Will did with Olivia because he knew that I’d kick his butt.”

          “Oh.”

 

          Zelda and Olivia were in the kitchen.  They were getting three water bottles.  “So,” Zelda asked, “are you happy that you and John are going to get married?”

          “No,” Olivia spoke sarcastically, “I’m not.  I’m just happy because I want to be.”

          They laughed.

          Austin walked in.  “Captain, can you hand me a water bottle?”

          “Okay.”  Zelda handed him a water bottle.

          He started to prepare a sandwich.  “Captain Zelda, and Captain Olivia, you two look lovely today.”

          “Thanks.  I guess,” Olivia said, confused.

          “Quite sucking up, Austin.  It’s not going to work whatever you’re trying to do.”  Zelda figured that Austin was up to something because he never drank water.

          “No,” he denied.  “I mean it.  Ben’s lucky to have you, and John’s lucky to have Olivia.”  He knew that Zelda was onto him, but he acted like nothing was going on.  “Now, I’m going to bring this sandwich and this water to the room and play some video games.”  Austin left the room with the sandwich and the water bottle.

          “Did you assume that he was sucking up to us?” Olivia asked.

          Zelda handed Olivia two water bottles and took one for herself.  “Have you met the guys on my crew?”

          Olivia gave Zelda a look.

          “They only will say those things if they want something or if they did something.  There’s something fishy going on with Austin.  He never drinks water.”

          “Maybe he’s pregnant,” Olivia joked.

          Zelda laughed.  “That’s a good one.”

 

          Olivia and Zelda went back to John and Ben.  Olivia handed John a water bottle.  “Thank you,” John said as he took the water bottle.

          “You didn’t bring me a drink?” Ben asked, acting like he was disappointed.

          Zelda dropped her mouth.  “You said you didn’t want anything.”

          Ben smiled.  “Come on, honey.  I was just joking.  Come here next to me.”

          Zelda walked over to Ben and sat next to him.

          Ben wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.  “So, have you guys decided on the date of the wedding?”

          John looked at Olivia.  “Not yet.”  He looked at Ben.  “But we want to wait till we’re done dealing with the bounty hunters and Magma.”

          “How are we going to capture Magma anyways?” Olivia asked.

          “Oh.  We’ll go over the plans on Blaze with Double-D.”  Zelda didn’t really know what they were going to do.

The Stowaway

          Daniel, Jason, and Gregory were heading to a cop car.  They had something to do before they could actually leave the planet to head to Blaze.

          “So, boss, where are we going?” Jason asked Gregory.  Jason and Daniel actually had no clue where they were heading off to or why.

          “We’re going to Blaze,” Gregory replied.

          Jason and Daniel were kind of surprised.  Neither of them would have ever thought that Gregory would actually even consider to go along with the plan Zelda had proposed.

          “Why?” Daniel asked.

          “Because,” Gregory admitted, “Zelda came up with an idea that was actually a good idea.”  He couldn’t believe the sound of his own words as he spoke.  “We’re going to capture Magma but we have to talk to Zelda bout the plan first.”

          “Wait a minute.”  Daniel was trying to make since of what he was hearing.  “You listened to Zelda?”

          “Yea.”

          “But you hate her.”  Daniel was so confused.  “Why did you listen to her?”

          “Yea.  I know.  But she had a good plan and my brother will kill me if I don’t get along with her.”

          “Oh.”  Daniel understood.  “That’s right.  She’s your sister-in-law.”

          They arrived at the small black and white cop car and Gregory opened a door of the car.  “Come on, guys.”

          They climbed into the car.  Gregory sat in the driver seat while Jason sat in the passenger seat and Daniel sat in the back.

          “Jason,” Gregory told him, “turn on the screen.  I want to see what’s happening on the outside of the car.”

          “Yes, sir.”  Jason flipped the small black switch on the dash board, which turned on the screen.

          “So,” Daniel asked, “does this mean that a pirate’s going to tell us what to do?”

          “Just for now.”  Gregory turned the small key cranking the engine.

          “Okay.”

 

          Keaton and Romano were roaming around the fire castle.  They ran into Magma and she was ticked off at the sight of the two bounty hunters.  “What are you two doing here?” the furious princess of flame asked.

          “We’re supposed to meet Katie and Sarah,” Keaton admitted, “the two hottest maids that work for you, Princess Magma.”

          Magma exploded.  They weren’t supposed to be there.  They were supposed to be on another planet to stop and kill the pirates.  The princess couldn’t believe that the two bounty hunters were that stupid.  “You two are supposed to be on Connie to make sure that Zelda’s crew and Olivia’s crew don’t make it alive.  You two are idiots.  I can’t believe that my uncle would hire you two dummies.”

          “But,” Romano said, “princess.”

          That ticked Magma off even more.  “I don’t care.  I want the both of you off this planet by the end of the day or else.”

          “Yes, princess,” both bounty hunters spoke in unison.  Keaton and Romano left.

          “Idiots,” Magma told herself.

 

          Zack, Austin, and Jeremy were in the wine cellar of the White Rose.  They were hanging out with Larry.  “So you know Zelda because you and her worked for her cousin, Ryoko, who’s now dead?” Larry asked Zack.

          “Yep.”  Zack did enjoy hanging out in the wine cellar.  It brought back good memories from Ryoko’s crew.  “And now she’s forcing me to be a pirate again,” he started, kind of disappointed, “but I don’t want to be.”

          “Why not?”

          They heard footsteps heading walking into the room.

          “You better hide, Larry,” Jeremy whispered.

          Larry hid.  Scott and Paul walked in.  “Hey, guys,” Scott said.  He began looking for a bottle of rum.

          “What are ya’ll doing down here?” Austin’s question was pointless to ask because the answer was obvious but had to ask anyways.

          “Well,” Paul answered, “we’re here for rum.”

          “What are ya’ll doing down here?” Scott asked as he grabbed a full bottle of rum.

          “Just chilling,” Jeremy replied.  “Right, guys?”

          “Right,” Zack and Austin agreed.

          Paul grabbed a bottle of rum.  “Ok-ay.”  Paul and Scott left the room.

          Austin waited a little bit before letting Larry know that it was safe for him to come out.  “They’re gone.”

          “Okay.  Good.”  Larry popped out of hiding.

 

          Aaron and Ryan were out on the deck of the Black Velvet.  Aaron leaned against a wall, working on a device.

“What are you doing?” Ryan asked.

“Making a device,” Aaron answered.

“What kind of device?”

“It’s a baby gender device.”

“What’s that?”

Aaron took a deep breath before answering Ryan.  “It’s a device that tells you the gender of a baby before it’s born.  Duh.”

“Oh.”  Ryan paused.  “Who’s it for?”

Aaron couldn’t believe that Ryan had to ask that question but then he thought about how Ryan was an idiot and how he was in with Zelda.  “Zelda and Ben.”

“Oh.  Can I see it?”

Aaron remembered how Ryan had destroyed the tracking device he had made to track down Zelda about four or five years earlier.  “No.”

“Why not?”

Aaron looked at Ryan.  “Because you’ll destroy it.”

Olivia and John walked over to them.  “What are you doing?” Olivia asked Aaron.

Aaron looked over at Olivia and John.  “Creating a new device.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a baby gender device.”

“Oh.  Are you going to give it to Zelda and Ben?”

Aaron couldn’t believe that Olivia had to ask that question the answer was obvious.  He figured that she’d knew the answer anyways.  She wasn’t dumb.  “Of course.  I don’t have any need for it.  At least, not until I get married and start having kids of my own,” Aaron paused, he wanted to meet a girl from his home planet but he figured that it’d be a while before he could stay on Twister again, “but that’s going to be a while.”  He kind of missed being a Twistyin but he did like being a pirate as well.

“Oh.”

“You want to see it?”

“Okay.”

Aaron handed the small hand held device to Olivia.

Ryan was mad because Olivia was a loud to hold the device but he wasn’t.  “You let her hold it, but you won’t let me?”

“Dude,” Aaron said, “you’ll brake it.”

“But that’s not fear.”

“Okay.  It’s fair,” Aaron corrected, “and yes it is.”

“That’s cool.”  Olivia handed it back to Aaron.  “I think they’ll like it.”

“Well, I’m going to bring it to them, after I finish working on it.”

“Wait,” John replied.  “Aren’t you going to see if it works first?”

“It’s going to work and how am I supposed to see if it works if Zelda’s only girl, well, woman pregnant?” Aaron asked, thinking that John should have known the answer to that.

John thought for a moment.  “Oh yea.  How do you know it’s going to work?”

“Well, I made one for my mom,” Aaron explained, “when I was five, that’s how I knew that I was going to have a baby sister.”

Olivia was shocked.  “Dang.  When you were five?”

“Yep.  That’s why I didn’t come up with a scientific name for it.”

 

          Zelda and Ben were in the captain’s office of the White Rose.  They were sitting on the bed.  Zelda rested her head against Ben’s shoulder.

          “So, we’re going to capture Magma huh?” Ben asked.

          “Yep.”

          “How did you frame Gregory?”

          “Well, I robbed a bank,” Zelda explained, “ran into him, we started talking, we heard the other cops coming, and I gave him the money then left.  That’s it.”

          “Oh.”

          “I still don’t understand why he hates me,” she admitted.

          Ben gave her a funny look then smiled and shook his head.  He couldn’t help falling even more in with her every day.

          “What?”

          There was a small knocked on the door.

          “COME IN!” Ben called.

          Aaron walked in with the small hand held device.  “Hey, I made you two something.” He handed the device to Ben.

          “What is it?” Ben asked as he took the device examining it with curiosity.

          “It’s a baby gender device.”

          “Thanks but I want to be surprised.”  Zelda was thankful for Aaron’s thoughtfulness but felt horrible that he had to go through all that trouble for them.  “If Ben wants to find out then he can, but I don’t want to know.”

          “Okay.”  Aaron was one of the first ones to know that Zelda was pregnant because she had begged him for his help to find out.  He hadn’t felt right because it was an awkward moment for him but he went ahead anyways.  Zelda had wanted him to be her doctor because he was the only one smart enough on both crews to actually diagnose her the way a doctor would a patient.  “Well, see you guys later.”

          “Alright.”

          Aaron left.

 

          Olivia, John, and Donny were in the captain’s office on the Black Velvet.  Olivia sat behind her desk while John sat on the bed.  Donny laid on the floor.

          “I can’t believe that we’re going to be getting married.”  Olivia smiled.

          John returned the smile.  “Yep.  I hope that battle doesn’t take too long,” he admitted, “because I really don’t want to wait to get married.”

          Olivia rolled her chair over to him.  “Neither do I.”

          They kissed.  There was a semi-loud knock on the door.

          “COME IN!”

          Drake walked into the room.  “Blake wanted me to tell you that we’re on Blaze.”

          “Okay,” John replied.

          Drake left.  Donny stood up and walked over to the wooden door and started scratching it and roared.

          “Donny wants to go.”

          “Donny,” Olivia said, “stop scratching the door.”

          Donny walked over to Olivia and rubbed his head against her leg.

          “You want to go?  Okay.  You can come.”  She pat Donny’s head.  “Let’s go.”

 

          John, Olivia, and Donny met up with Zelda and Ben on the docks by their ships.

          “Well,” Zelda said, “we’re back here again.”

          “Yep.  So what are we going to do now?” Olivia asked.

          “Wait.  And depending on how late Double D and the other two Eds get here we might be camping.”

          “Oh.”

          “That’s going to be a while.”

          “We can tell,” John replied.  “Can we hang out on one of the ships while we wait?”

          “Yea,” Ben answered.

          “Come on,” Zelda told them.  “Let’s get something to eat while we’re waiting.  I’m hungry.”

          “Good idea,” Olivia agreed.

 

          They were in the kitchen of the White Rose.  “You two lovely ladies sit down and me and my brother will serve you.  Just tell us what you want,” Ben told the two girls.

          “Olivia, Zelda, what would you like to drink?” John asked.

          “Water,” they answered.

          “Okay.  Two waters.”  John walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out two water bottles.

          “What would you like to eat?” Ben asked.

          “A ham and cheese sandwich, please,” Olivia answered.

          “Okay.  Zelda?”

          “Oh.  What I’ve been eating,” Zelda answered.

          “Okay.  A ham and cheese sandwich and a peanut butter, banana, and fish sandwich.”

 

          Zelda, Ben, John, and Olivia were on the deck of the ship.  The dim yellow sun was starting to set.

          “When are they going to be here?” Zelda asked.

          “Don’t worry, baby, they’ll be here,” Ben told her.

          “Cops take forever,” Olivia stated.

          “Yea,” John agreed, “they do.”

          They noticed a cop car land.  They watched Gregory, Jason, and Daniel climb out of the small car.

          Zelda stood up.  “Finally.”

 

          The four pirates worked their way off of the ship and walked over to the cops.  They were glad that they didn’t have to wait another minute.

          “Okay, how do we capture Magma?” Gregory asked.

          “Let’s go back to the ship,” Zelda said, “and talk about the plan.”  She didn’t want the bounty hunters to arrive especially because they were on the main planet where the bounty hunters came from.  They walked up the ramp and on the ship.

 

          Austin, Jeremy, and Zack were in the wine cellar hanging out with Larry.

          “Hey, Larry.  You’ve been down here for a few days,” Jeremy asked, “do you need some fresh air, man?”

          “Yea,” Larry replied.  “But Zelda will know that I’m here and she won’t be happy.”

          “He has a good point,” Austin agreed.

          “Actually,” Jeremy reminded him, “she’s not here right now.”

          “That’s right.”  Zack had remembered that Zelda was going to be off of the ship for a while.  “Isn’t she gone to go capture Magma with Ben, Olivia, and John, or something like that?”

          “That’s true,” Austin agreed.

          “Let’s go get you some air,” Jeremy told Larry.

          The four of them had left the wine cellar.

 

          Zelda, Ben, John, Olivia, Jason, Daniel, and Gregory were on the deck of the ship.  They were working on a plan to capture the evil fire princess.

          “So that’s it?” Gregory asked.

          “Yep,” Zelda replied.

          “That’s not bad,” Jason responded.  “Not bad at all.”

          Larry had worked his way over to them but hadn’t realized that they were even there.  “It feels so good to be out here.”

          “Larry?” Zelda asked, shocked and confused.  She had no idea how he had managed to climb aboard and at the moment things didn’t make her seem too good.

          Gregory was ticked off at the sight.  His thoughts had made him believe that both Zelda and Ben had lied.  “So you did kidnap Larry?  You lied.”

          The confusion was apparent on Zelda’s face.  She hadn’t even known that he was on the ship at all.  “I didn’t kidnap him…. I’m not lying.”

          “Yea right.  Then why is he on your ship?”

          “I don’t know but I’m not lying.”  Zelda was trying to figure it out in her head.

          “Yea.  That would explain a lot, Zelda.”

          “She didn’t kidnap me, Greg.  I ran away from home and snuck on,” Larry explained.  “I told you that I want to be a pirate.  That’s what I’m going to be.”

          “No,” Gregory replied.

          “Yes.”

          “Larry,” Zelda admitted, “you don’t want to be a pirate.  It may seem like fun, but it’s really dangerous.”

          Zack dropped his mouth at Zelda’s words.  “You tell him how dangerous it is to be a pirate but you want me to be a pirate again?”

          “Yea but he’s younger and you’re my brother and it doesn’t feel right when you’re not a pirate.”

          “You two are brother and sister,” Larry asked confused, “but two different colors?”  He didn’t mean to sound rude but that was just how it came out.

          Zack laughed.  “We act like brother and sister.  It’s a long story.”

          “Okay.  Can we get back to the plan?” Olivia asked.

          “Yea,” Gregory replied, giving himself a few minutes to calm down.

          “Zelda, you said that we should use a distraction,” Olivia stated.

          “Right,” Zelda agreed.

          “Who will that be?”

          Will walked over to them.  “Captain Olivia,” he admitted, “I just wanted to apologize about before but I can’t help the fact that I have feelings for you.”

          Zelda smiled.  “Will,” she answered Olivia’s question.

          “Okay,” Olivia agreed.

          “What about me?” Will asked, confused.

          “Will, your first real assignment as a pirate is to distract your sister.”

          “Okay,” Will agreed. 

Magma's Arrest

          Magma was in the throne room.  She paced back and forth as anger grew in every step she took.  “Why can’t bounty hunters do anything right?” she asked herself.  “It seems like I have to do everything myself.”

          “Magma.”  Will worked his way into the room.  He had a good feeling she would be there.  He knew the throne room was where she went when she was furious or trying to work on some evil plans.

          Magma stopped pacing when she heard the voice of her only sibling.  She kind of hoped that the bounty hunters were there so she could show them how to do their jobs right.  “Will?” she asked as she turned toward him.  “What are you doing here, you traitor?”

          Will kind of had a feeling one of the bounty hunters would told her about him becoming a pirate.

          “That’s right I know you’re a pirate.”  She moved over to her throne to grab her sword.  “Now that you are here I can kill you.”

          Will knew what was going to happen so he pulled his sword out and prepared himself for a fight.  He wasn’t sure why Magma would challenge him to a sword fight because they both knew he fought well a sword where she wasn’t all that great.  He could have killed her in seconds with just one swing of his blade.  “Are you sure that you want to do this, sis?”

          Magma grabbed her sword and was ready for a fight.  “Yes.”

          They began sword fighting.  Zelda, Ben, John, Olivia, Gregory, Daniel, and Jason walked into the room and watched the sibling rivalry.

Zelda grew tired of watching the fight between the two siblings and began looking around for something she might have wanted to take for herself.  She noticed a small beautiful flaming red diamond ring which had seem to catch her eye.  She worked her way over to John.  “Hey, John,” she whispered.  “Do you still want to get Olivia a diamond ring?”

          “Yea.”

          “Look over there.”  Zelda pointed toward the room but did what she could to make it not look so obvious to everyone else.

          John looked over at the small diamond ring.  He was amazed by the beauty of it.  “Wow.  That’s a nice diamond.”

          Zelda waited for John to walk over and take it but for some reason he just stood there.  His eyes were glued to the ring and it had appeared that he was under some kind of spell.  She looked at the ring and then back to John.  “Don’t just look at it.  Go get it.”

          John went and made sure that no one was watching him as he quickly grabbed the ring and slid it into his pocket.  When he was finished, he walked back over to the others.

          “STOP FIGHTING!” Gregory shouted.

          Magma and Will pulled their swords away from the others.  Magma turned around and realized that she was trapped by cops and pirates.  “What’s going on here?” she asked, ticked off.

          “Magma, you’re under arrest.”

          “What?”

          “You heard me.”

          Magma just stood there, dumbfounded.  Anger and shock filled up inside of her body.  They couldn’t have just done that to her but they did.

          “Daniel, arrest her.”

          “Yes, sir.”  Daniel walked over to the fire princess and placed handcuffs around her wrist.

          She tried to fight back with anger to get free.  “You can’t do this to me.”  She hated the fact that they did that to her.  She didn’t want to go to jail.  She didn’t deserve it.  “Not in my castle…. Not on my planet.”

          “What’s wrong, princess?” Ben asked.  “Can’t always get what you want?”

          Magma was ticked off by the pirate’s question.

 

         The arrived back at the dock.  Daniel had brought Magma to the car.  He opened the door but she wouldn’t get in so he pushed her inside of the police car.

          Magma was extremely ticked off by Daniel’s action.  “You don’t have to push me.  That’s not a way to treat a lady, especially a princess.”

          “You’re not a lady, you’re a demon.”  Daniel closed the door on Magma.

          She exploded.  “You get back here.  When I get out of this, you’re dead meat.”

          Daniel ignored Magma’s remark.  He walked over to Gregory, Zelda, and Olivia.

          “So, what are we going to do now?” Gregory asked.  “Since we have Magma.”

          “Watch as the bounty hunters fall,” Zelda answered, “then we fight.”

          Ben walked over to Zelda and wrapped his arm around her.  “You’re the only one that’s not going to be fighting,” he reminded her.

          “I have to fight.”  It was killing her that she couldn’t fight.

          “Zelda, we been through this.  As long as you’re pregnant, you’re not fighting.”

          “We’re going back to Pluto,” Gregory informed the pirates, “so that way we can lock up Magma.  Come and get us when you figure out what to do with the bounty hunters.”

          “Okay.  See ya,” Olivia said.

          Gregory, Daniel, and Jason climbed into the cop car.

          “BYE, ED, EDD, ‘N EDDY!” Zelda called after them.

 

          Daniel sat in the passenger seat of the car while Jason sat in the back with Magma and Gregory sat in the driver’s seat.  Gregory cranked up the engine and the car lifted off of the ground and shot off into the depths of space.

          Magma kept kicking Jason.

          “Why do I have to sit next to the princess?” Jason asked.  “Ow.  Stop that hurts.”  He looked over at Magma and had to admit that she was cute even though she was evil.

          “I don’t care,” she replied as she glared at him.

          “You know you’re kind of cute,” he admitted.

          Gregory and Daniel were both shocked and surprised at what Jason had told Magma.

          Magma bit his arm.

          “OW!  You bit me…. After I gave you a complement too.”

          Gregory and Daniel kind of laughed at Jason.

Wild Goose Chase

          Russel and Leo were walking around the ice city on Pluto.  They were heading back toward their car when they ran into Saphire.

          “What are you two doing here?” Saphire asked.  She knew the answer but wanted one of the two blood thirsty bounty hunters to tell her.

          “We’re looking for pirates,” Russel answered, acting polite.  He figured she could tell them what the pirates had been planning on or knew something that was going on.

          “Well, you’re kind of late.”  Saphire could see right through Russel’s little act.  She had known better than to trust a bounty hunter because everything meant death in their path.  She remembered how her father had been murdered by a bounty hunter.  She hadn’t seen what had happened herself but her mother had told the story to other adults.  It had seem not long later her mother had passed away of a heart attack at least that was what the doctors had said time and time again.

          “What do you mean?” Leo asked.

          “Well, they were here a couple of days ago then they left.”

          “We were here for two weeks and we never knew that.”  Russel began to grow angry.

          “That’s because bounty hunters are dumb.”  Saphire began to leave.

          Russel was ticked off and had drawn his sword as he stepped in front of the ice princess, stopping her in her tracks.  “What did you just say?” he asked.

          “You heard me, dummy.”

          “Why you?”  He went to kill her but Leo stopped him.

          Leo had figured that the princess wasn’t worth the time to kill.  “Dad don’t….”  He turned to face Saphire.  He had figured she knew what was going on and he planned on getting it out of her.  “Where did they go?”

          Saphire would rather have died than to tell them what the pirates had planned but she figured that the pirates were already done with the first part of the plan.  “They’re on Blaze.”

          “Really?”

          Saphire nodded.

          Leo smacked her left cheek.  “Thanks for a goose chase, princess.”

          Saphire held her cheek as she watched Leo and Russel walk away.  She ran back toward the palace.

 

          Alaska sat in the throne room.  She held a chapter book in her as she read.

          Saphire hurried into the room and sat next to Alaska in her throne.  “Leo and Russel are here.”

          “I know,” Alaska replied as she listened to Saphire speak while she continued to read.

          “Leo smacked me.”

          “WHAT?!” Alaska exclaimed, closing the book without pausing to mark the page.  “Why?”

          “I don’t know.  I told him that the pirates were on Blaze then he smacked me.  By the way, we have to warn Daniel and them.”  She didn’t mention to her sister that Russel was willing to kill her because she didn’t want her sister to worry about her.

 

          Russel and Leo were in the car.  It looked like a cop’s car but it was all black.  Russel sat in the driver’s seat while Leo sat in the passenger seat.

          “This is stupid,” Leo admitted.  “We have to go back to Blaze.  Now Magma’s going to be mad.”

          “Shut up.”  Russel was tired of taking orders from Magma.  The fire princess had been starting to annoy him.  He began hating having a kid give him orders.  He didn’t need that.  “I don’t care about how that brat wants us to do our job.  She doesn’t need to tell us how to do that.”

          “Dad, that’s my niece.”  Leo was getting tired of listening to Magma too but he didn’t want to admit it.

          “I don’t care.”

 

          Leo and Russel were walking to the fire castle a few days later when Keaton and Romano arrived out of nowhere.  Both of the two idiots looked worried.

          “What do you two want?” Russel asked.

          “It’s Princess Magma.”  Keaton was in panic mode.  “She’s gone.  We can’t find her anywhere.”

          “Yea,” Romano agreed.  “She’s gone.”

          “Where all did you look?” Leo asked them, figuring that they hadn’t looked everywhere.

          “The kitchen.”

          “Yea and,” Keaton added, “someone took the ice cream.”

          “Where else did you look?” Leo asked, ignoring the last part of Keaton’s statement.

          “Oh,” Romano admitted, “that was it.  We were looking for the ice cream.”

          “That’s extremely helpful,” Russel spoke with sarcasm in his voice.  “Idiots.”

 

          The four bounty hunters stood in the main hall of the castle.  “Look,” Russel told them, “Magma has to be around here somewhere.  It’s a big castle.  She could be anywhere now split up.” 

Plans

          Zelda, Ben, Larry, Olivia, John, and Zack were hanging out of the deck of the White Rose.

Ben had wrapped an arm around Zelda.  “What are we going to do with Larry?” he asked.

          Zelda hadn’t thought about that.  She had been too amazed that Gregory even let him stay.  “I don’t know,” she admitted.  “I’m shocked that Double D left him here.  So, I guess he’s staying.  I just have to figure out where to put him.”

          “He can have my old bed.”

          “Zack has your old bed.”

          “Oh yea.”

          “He can have it,” Zack replied.  “I don’t care.  Now, that he’s on your crew you can bring me back to Connie.  I don’t care.”  He figured Zelda would consider the thought but his disappointment grew as he watched her shake her head.  He knew it wouldn’t happen any time soon.

          Olivia laughed at Zack’s words.  “I hate to say it, Zack, but because you’re on the White Rose, Zelda’s not going to let you leave.  You’re stuck.”

          “Olivia’s right,” Zelda agreed.  “Sorry.”

          “Crap.”  Zack had tried but had failed.  He couldn’t leave the pirate’s life.

          “Don’t feel bad, bro.”  Zelda tried to cheer him up.  “Think of it this way, you have a better chance at getting a girlfriend now that you’re a pirate than if you were still a bag boy.”

          “I have a girlfriend,” Zack lied.

          “Really?” Olivia asked.  She didn’t believe his words.  “What’s her name?”

          “Emily.”

          “Emily what?” John asked.  He figured it was a lie as well.

          “Emily…. Emily….” Zack surrendered.  He couldn’t keep up with the lie.  He had been a brilliant liar when he was a pirate but once he dropped out of the life as a pirate he lost his skill of lying.  He had no clue how that had happened but it did.  He probably grew use to telling the truth that when he tried to lie, everyone could see right through him.  “Okay, you got me.  I don’t have a girlfriend yet.”

          “Then,” Ben told him, “we’ll help you to look for one.”

          “Yea,” John agreed.  “And we can find a girl for Will as well.”

          “And one for Ryan,” Zelda added, “because even though he was at the wedding, he doesn’t think that Ben and I are married.”

          Ben laughed.

          “He asked you out?” Olivia asked.

          “Yea…. I told him that I was married…. That didn’t get into his head, because he asked again…. Then I told him that I was pregnant.”

          “How did he react to that?” John asked.

          “He was okay with it…. He even said that he’d be the daddy, then I pointed to Ben and told him that Ben was my husband and the daddy of the kid and then he was disappointed and he left.”

          Ben pulled Zelda closer toward him.  “That’s my girl.”

          “I’m going to be an uncle.  Cool!” Larry exclaimed.

          An idea popped into Zelda’s head and she had to change the subject.  “I got it…. Larry can stay on your ship, Olivia.”

          Olivia shook her head.  Her ship didn’t have any more room than Zelda’s had.  “There’s no room on my ship, either.”

          “I’ll sleep on the floor.  I don’t care,” Larry replied.

          “Are you sure?” Zelda asked.

          “Yea….”

          “Okay then…. But how about every night someone else sleeps on the floor to make it fair?”

          “Okay.”  Larry left.

          “Where are we going to go stop some of the bounty hunters?” Ben asked.  He figured they needed to start planning on the trips they were working on.

          “Well,” Olivia began, “we’re going to Twister because it’s closer to us first.”

          “Oh.”

          Zelda felt fear growing in side at the sound of the name.  She remembered the last time she was there she had seen a nightmare and didn’t want to return.  Twister was the one planet Zelda hated because of the devilish storm she seen the first time she had even been there.  “We’re going to Twister?”

          “Yea,” Olivia answered.

          “Oh.”

          Ben noticed that Zelda was growing queasy and knew something was wrong.  “Zelda, are you okay?”

          “I’m fine,” she lied.

          “Are you sure because you’re shaking?”

          “I’m sure.  I’m just going to go to the room; maybe scream in a pillow.”  She walked away, heading toward the office.

          Ben watched as she left.  “Okay.”

          “Ben, as long as you’ve been a pirate have you guys ever been to Twister?” Olivia asked.  She figured she knew the answer but wanted to make sure she was right.

          “No.”

          Olivia waited a minute before continuing.  “Do you know why?”

          Ben thought about it and he actually didn’t know why.  He knew Zelda more than anyone but had no clue why she never once suggested going to Twister.  “No.”

          Olivia looked down then back to Ben.  She figured Zelda hadn’t told him but couldn’t understand why.  “Ben, she doesn’t like Twister.  She hates going there.  She’s scared of all the twisters and hurricanes and all the other deadly storms…. She’s scared.”

          “Oh.”  Ben felt ashamed because after all those years working with Zelda and even now that they were married he had no clue.  She had never told him.  “I’m going to talk to her.”

          Olivia smiled.  “Good idea.”

          Ben left.

Return to Twister

          Zelda and Max sat on the bed in her office.  Zelda rubbed Max’s soft silky fur as he lied next to her.  “I’m scared, Max,” she admitted.  “I don’t want to go to Twister.  It’s one of the scariest planets.”

          Ben walked into the room and closed the door.  “Hey, honey.”

          Zelda sat up and let Max rest his head on her lap.  “Hey, baby,” she replied with a smile.  She was glad she had Ben.  He was the only one on either crew who could help her stay calm.

          Ben sat on the bed next to her and wrapped an arm around her letting her know that everything was going to be okay.  “Are you scared?”

          “No.”  Zelda kind of laughed, acting like it wasn’t human to feel fear although she was screaming on the inside.

          Max gave her a look which told her that wasn’t what she told him.

          Ben didn’t need to Max to let him know Zelda was lying though.  “Zelda?”

          Zelda didn’t want to tell her husband but she could hear the tone in his voice which told her he knew the truth.  “Okay.  Yes, I’m afraid.  I don’t like Twister.”  She almost began to burst into tears.

          “I know.”  Ben lifted up her chin so he could look into her beautiful brown eyes.  “Olivia told me.”  He paused for a brief moment.  “Zelda, you don’t always have to act tough.  We’re married now and if you’re scared of something then tell me.  It’s not like we’re little kids and I’m going to call you a chicken if you tell me that you’re afraid of something.  Heck, there’s times when I’m scared,” he admitted, “and I know that there are going to be times in the future when I’m going to be scared.  Remember, if you’re scared of something, I’m here for you to hold and I’ll protect you.  Okay?”

          Zelda wrapped her arms around Ben in a hug.  “Okay.  I love you, Ben.”

          “I love you too, Zelda.”

          There was a long peaceful pause as they sat in silence.

          “Ben, do you think we’re moving too fast?” Zelda asked.

          “No.”  Ben kind of laughed at Zelda’s question.  “We’re married.”

          “Not us,” Zelda replied, breaking out of the hug as she began looking around.  “The ship…. I think it’s moving too fast.”

          “Oh.”  Ben felt kind of embarrassed.  “It is.”

          “Can you go tell whoever’s driving to slow down?”

          “No one’s driving.”

          “What about the Black Velvet?”

          “Nope.”

          “That only means on thing….” Zelda hugged Ben again, wrapping her grip around him even tighter than she had before.  She was too afraid to let go of him.  “We’re on Twister.”

 

          Olivia’s hair flew in the wind as the ships landed on the deadly grey planet.  “Well, we’re on Twister.”

          “Should we go get Zelda and Ben?” John asked.

          Olivia noticed Ben and Zelda heading toward them.  “Well, we could but there wouldn’t be a point.”

          John turned to see Zelda holding onto Ben for dear life.  “Hey, you two…. Are you guys ready to go?”

          “We’re not going.  Peter and Jeremy are going instead,” Ben answered.

          “Why?”

          “Zelda doesn’t want to go and I’m going to stay here and protect her.  We’re going to stay in the wine cellar.”

          “Hey, Zelda…. Remember,” Olivia joked, “you can’t drink any rum now.”

          Zelda smiled.  “I know.”

          “We’re going to hang in the wine cellar…. More safer.”  Ben looked up at the ugly grey sky.  He didn’t like the look of it.  “I think that everyone else should join us, including Max and Donny.  I don’t like the look of the clouds.”  He turned his attention back toward Olivia and John.  “Be careful, you guys.”

          “Don’t worry.  We’ll be fine.”  John didn’t want his brother to worry.  They were pirates and this was an adventure for them.

 

          Olivia, John, Jeremy, and Peter walked around the empty town on Twister.  Some of the houses and stores looked old because of the storms.  The town was deserted.  It had looked like a ghost town.  Olivia spotted a sign on one of the light post.  She walked over to it to read what was written.  The wind had hit her face with sand.  She used her hands to block the sand from smacking her in the face.  She read the sign.  It had mentioned a celebration for the one hundredth twister which was dated for that day.

          “Who would come to this planet in their right mind?” John asked.

          “Us,” Jeremy answered.

          “Well,” Olivia said as she turned to face them, “we don’t have a choice.  Those bounty hunters need to be stopped.”

          They listened as the wind began to pick up again.  Peter turned around to watch as a twister began to form in the distance.

          “All we have to do is get what we need then we leave.”

          “Guys….” Fear began to fill Peter’s body as he watched the twister.  “Um…. Guys.”

          “You guys got it?”

          “Yep,” John answered.

          “Yea,” Jeremy agreed.

          “Got it, Peter?” Olivia asked.

          Peter didn’t respond.

          “Peter?”

          “Look.”  Peter pointed to the funnel shaped cloud which had hit the ground in the distance.

          Olivia looked over at the twister.  “Oh my gosh.”

          “What do we do now?”

          “What do you mean what do we do now?” Olivia asked as she began to freak out.  “We run and take cover now.”

          They ran away from the twister to look for somewhere safe to hang out at.

 

          John found an opening of a basement.  “In here!” he called as he opened the basement door.

          All of them quickly hurried into the basement.  John closed the door behind him and Jeremy had a long big piece of wood to block it.

          John turned to face everyone in the dim lit room.  “Is everyone here?”

          “Yea,” Peter, Jeremy, and Olivia replied.

          Keaton and Romano were also in the basement, hiding.  They walked over to the four pirates.  “We’re here too,” they both replied.

          “Keaton?  Roman?” John asked.

          “Yea,” Keaton answered.

          “That’s us,” Romano agreed.

          “Aren’t you two bounty hunters?”

          “Yea…. And you four are pirates.”

          “Do you guys know what you guys are supposed to do to us?”

          “Yea…. We have to kill you guys.”

          “Then why aren’t you?”

          “There’s no room in here,” Keaton replied.

          “Then let’s go outside.”

          “No way, man,” Keaton answered as he began to freak out thinking about the storm which was brewing outside.  “Did you see that twister out there?  That thing will kill us all.  Right, Romano?”

          “Right,” Romano agreed.

          “Wow…. Two big tough bounty hunters are scared like little children.  Now that’s funny.”  Olivia laughed.

The Dreaded Storm

          Both of the crews were in the wine cellar of the White Rose.  Ben held onto Zelda, keeping her in a hug so she wouldn’t be as afraid.  They sat on a box next to the staircase as they heard a loud and worrisome noise as something hit the ship, shaking it.

          “What was that?” Zelda asked, in panic and fear.

          “Don’t worry,” Ben told her with a soft calm voice.  He knew that if he went into panic mode then Zelda would have lost it.

          “But, Ben…. I’m scared,” she admitted with tears filling her eyes.

          “I got you.  Everything’s going to be okay.  I’ll protect you,” he reminded her.  “I’m not going to let go of you.” He squeezed her even tighter in his grip.

          While Ben was trying to help Zelda to relax, Scott and Paul were having some fun by scaring the crap out of Ryan.

          “Oh man,” Paul told him.  “You think this is scary wait ‘til it picks up the ship.”

          Zelda heard Paul’s words which made the fear inside of her a thousand times worse.

          “What?” Ryan asked about ready to break down into tears with fear.

          “Yea,” Scott agreed.  “And the ship will start spinning out of control.  Then the next thing you know….”

          “Make them stop,” Zelda told Ben as she looked up at him.

          “Okay,” he replied.  “You two need to stop,” he told his two jerky shipmates.

          “But,” Scott began with disappointment, “we’re scaring him.”

          “He’s not the only one you two are scaring.”

          “Oh.  Who’s that?”

          Ben pointed to Zelda then Scott and Paul began to feel horrible.  They hadn’t realized that their captain was afraid.

          “Oh.  Sorry, captain,” Paul told Zelda.

          “Yea,” Scott agreed.  “Sorry we won’t do it again.”

          “It should be clearing up soon.”  Zack had worked his way over to them.

          “Zelda,” Aaron replied, resting on the box across from Zelda and Ben, “there’s nothing to be afraid of.  A twister or a tornado as they are originally called forms when a warm air mass collides with a cool air mass.  They start to form a funnel shape,” he explained, thinking that maybe if she had an understanding of a tornado then she would feel less fear.

          Aaron’s explanation hadn’t helped Zelda feel any better.  Instead it only made her fear worse, but she knew that he was only trying to help her feel better.  “Yea…. Brain, if you ever get a girlfriend.  Don’t tell her about that.”

 

          Olivia, Jeremy, John, Peter were still stuck in the basement along with the two idiot bounty hunters.

“I hope it ends soon.”  Olivia wanted to leave as boredom began to take over from waiting.  “I want to get out of here.”

          “Olivia,” Peter began, “if you’re scared just remember I’m here to hold you.”

          John eyed Peter which told him to stay away from Olivia.

          “Okay,” Olivia said, kind of amused by Peter’s offer even though she wasn’t really going to take him up on it, “Peter.  First of all, I’m not scared and second of all my fiancé is right there.”  She had pointed to John as she spoke.

          Disappointment filled Peter as Olivia spoke.  “Oh.”

          “Good try though.”

          The wind began to stop and the rattling of the door slowed to a peaceful stop as well.

          “Is it over?”

          “I don’t know,” John answered.  “I’ll check.”

          “Be careful.”

          John nodded then blew Olivia a kiss.  Jeremy helped him to remove the log they had blocking the door from flying open.  Once the log was moved, John opened the door and slowly worked his way out.

 

          A few minutes had past as he walked back into the basement.  “It’s safe,” John told the others.  “You guys can come out now.”

          “Good,” Olivia replied.

 

          They worked their way out of the basement a few seconds later and looked around at the damage of the storm but nothing really seemed out of place which was surprising.  Keaton and Romano were just as happy the twister had ended and was gone.

          “Oh thank you.”  Keaton dropped down on his hands and knees as he began to kiss the ground.  “Now I’m free.”

          “Now we can go because we’re safe,” Romano replied as he did the same.

          “Should we capture them now?” Olivia asked John.

          “Now would be a good time to capture them,” John agreed, “but because of Peter and Ryan there’s no more room for idiots.”

          “Good point.  So we can just leave now?”

          “Yea.”

          The four pirates snuck away as the two bounty hunters continued to kiss the ground with relief.

 

          Ben continued to hold onto Zelda who was now sleeping in his arms.  “Zelda, you can wake up now.  It’s over,” he told her.

          Zelda didn’t seem to wake up at his words.  He smiled as she slept.  He carefully moved away from her so he wouldn’t wake her up and stood as he picked her up.  He worked his way up the stairs as he carried his small beautiful wife.

 

          Olivia and John were on the deck of the White Rose as Ben walked out onto the opening of the deck with Zelda in his arms.

          “Ben,” John began, “we’re going….”

          “Shhh,” Ben responded.

          John looked at Zelda and felt bad when he realized that she was sleeping.  “Oh,” he whispered.  “Sorry.”

          “You can tell me later.  Right now, I’m going to bring Zelda to bed.”

          “Ben,” Olivia whispered, “when Zelda wakes up tell her that we’re going to Daze.”

          “Okay.”

          “I think that we should go before another twister comes.”  John’s attention was toward the dark gray clouds of another evil storm brewing and he wasn’t in the mood to wait out another storm.

          “Good idea,” Ben and Olivia agreed.

          Ben brought Zelda to their room.

 

          Once he was inside, he laid Zelda on the bed then removed her boots before covering her up.  He went to kiss her forehead.  “Sweet dreams, my angel,” Ben whispered.  He kissed her forehead and smiled.  He left the room.

 

          When he was out on the deck, he noticed the ships were moving off of the planet.  Olivia and John worked their way over toward him.  “Did you guys find any bounty hunters on Twister?” he asked.

          “Yea.  We hid in a basement that Keaton and Romano were hiding in during the storm,” Olivia explained.

          “Why didn’t you guys capture them?” Ben figured that Keaton and Romano were easy targets because they were too air headed to actually do their jobs.  “We could have brought them back to Gregory and them.”

          “We know,” John said.  “It’s just we don’t want any more idiots on the ships.”

          Olivia smiled.  She had a feeling he was going to say that.  “What do you mean we?  It’s just you remember?”

          John and Ben laughed.  John put his arm around Olivia and kissed her cheek.

Battle Field

          Zelda woke up and slowly got up out of bed as she looked around her small office.  She hadn’t remembered walking into the room so why was she in there?  “Ben must have carried me in here and covered me up,” she told herself as she figured out her husband was the reason.  She hurried up and left the room.

 

 

          Zelda looked out onto the deck to see if she could find Ben.  She began walking around when she ran into Larry and Zack.

          “Captain, what do you want us to do?” Zack asked.  He had finally surrendered to the idea that Zelda wasn’t going to bring him back to Connie.  He did enjoy being around Zelda and Olivia again though.  It had been so long since he had seen anyone else from Ryoko’s crew even though everyone else from the Blue Ram had been murdered.  He also wanted to know what had happened for both Zelda and Olivia to renew their friendship after they had been enemies for so long.

          “Well,” Zelda began as she started to think, “let’s see.  Are we off Twister?”

          “Yep.”

          “Okay.”  Zelda felt the relief feel her bones at the answer.  She probably would have cried if they were still on the evil planet.  “Is anyone driving?”

          “Yea,” Larry answered.

          “Alright.  Do any of you guys know where we’re going?”

          “No,” Zack and Larry spoke together.

          “Then nope.  You guys can go….”

          Zack and Larry began walking off.

          Another question had formed in Zelda’s head which she wanted to know.  “But first, do either of you know where Ben is?”

          Larry turned to face Zelda.  “Yea.  He’s on the Black Velvet with Olivia and John.”

          Zelda smiled.  She was glad that one of them knew where her lovable husband was.  “Thank you.  Now you two can go.”

          Larry and Zack walked away, leaving Zelda alone.

          Zelda turned her attention toward the Black Velvet and began heading in that direction.  She needed to find out what was going on.

 

 

          Ben, Olivia, and John were in the captain’s office.  They were working out a plan.

          “We have to figure out where the bounty hunters are so that way we can sneak attack on them,” Olivia spoke up.  She had sat down and leaned her body against the dark brown wood of the desk.

          “How are we going to do that?” Ben asked.

          “I don’t know.”

          “We can ask Aaron.  He could figure out how to do that,” John replied.

          “That’s a good idea.”

          Knock, knock, knock.

          “Come in!”

          The door opened and Zelda walked in then worked her way over to Ben.  “What did I miss?”

          “Well, we’re going to Daze,” John answered.

          “Yea.  We’re going to sneak….” Olivia couldn’t help but notice that Zelda was wearing socks.  “Where are your boots?”

          “What?” Zelda asked as she looked down at her feet.  Her boots were missing.  “Oh.  I don’t know.  I didn’t know that they were gone.  Ben, did you take my boots off?”

          “Yep,” Ben replied.

          Zelda smiled at him.  “Thanks.  Okay, can we get back to the subject?”

          “Yea,” Olivia answered.

          “So we’re going to Daze?”

          “Yea.”

          Zelda hated the planet but for a ridiculous reason.  “I hate that planet.”  She didn’t hate it as much as twister but she didn’t enjoy the thought of going there either.

          “Why?” John asked.

          “Because that’s the slacker planet.”

          “No it’s not.”  Olivia felt that Zelda’s reasoning was stupid.

          “It is for Peter Pan,” Zelda replied as she shook her head at the thought.

          “Why do you say that?”

          “Because….”

          “Every time we,” Ben continued, “go to Daze, Peter slacks off.”  He began laughing.  “Like one time, we were there and he fell asleep in dog crap.”

          Olivia busted out into laughter.  “Interesting…. Why were you guys there?”

          “Well,” Zelda replied, “we needed food for us and Max, so we went and got food.”  She was the only one who had remained serious while the others couldn’t hold in their laughter.

          “Oh.”

 

 

          Gregory and Jason dragged Magma to Saphire and Alaska as she continued to fright for them to free her.  Both cops were on each side of her so she couldn’t escape.

          “Don’t fight, Magma,” Gregory told her.  “You’re just making it harder for yourself.”

          “Shut up, cop.”  Magma hated her surroundings and even though she was slowly growing weaker from the cold planet she wasn’t ready to surrender.  “I can send my bounty hunters after you and they will kill you,” she threatened.

          Gregory knew her threat meant nothing now that she was in custody so he had no need to worry.  Instead he just laughed.  “How are you going to do that when you’re behind fire proof bars?”

          Magma didn’t respond but his question did anger her.

          “You’re really cute when you’re mad,” Jason admitted as he looked at Magma.

          “Shut up,” Magma told him.

          “Dude,” Gregory spoke with shock, “I’m surprised that you haven’t gotten yourself killed yet.”

          “What?” Jason asked, confused.

          “You don’t say that to an evil fire princess…. She’ll kill you.”

 

 

          Saphire and Alaska were in the throne room sitting in their thrones.  “The guys should be back soon.”  Saphire felt worry as they waited for the cops to return, hoping that they were fine.

          “Yep,” Alaska agreed.  She had a feeling that everything was going to be alright know how the guys watched their backs on missions, dangerous or not; and therefore, unlike her sister she wasn’t worried.  “Magma’s probably giving them a hard time.”

          Gregory and Jason entered the room, still dragging Magma who had fallen behind them but the chains held her wrist to keep her from wondering off.  “We’re back,” Gregory replied, pointing out the obvious.

          Alaska stood up and worked her way over toward Gregory.  “How was your trip?” She hugged him and kissed his cheek.

          He wrapped an arm around her while he still held Magma’s chain in the other hand.  He smiled.  “Surprisingly relaxing actually.”

          Alaska returned the smile.  “Good.”

          “Now isn’t this nice…. Aren’t you morons going to lock me up?” Magma asked, rudely with sarcasm in her tone.

          “Don’t talk to them like that.  They’re not morons.”

          “Aw…. You’re protecting your boyfriend and his friend.  Now isn’t that sweet?”

          “Magma,” Saphire added, “you shouldn’t speak.  You’re going to jail.  That way the universe will be safe from your destruction.”

          Magma moved her attention toward Saphire.  “Interesting choice of words, Saphire.”

          Daniel walked into the room and stopped at the door.  “The fire proof cell is ready.”

          “Good,” Gregory replied.  “Come on, Jason.  It’s time that we bring Princess Magma to where she really belongs…. Behind bars.”

 

 

          Gregory and Jason had Magma follow them to a cell in the jail house.  Daniel had walked in front of them with the key to the cell.  Once they had arrived at the bar cell, Daniel unlocked the cell door and opened it.  He went and unlocked the fire proof chains around Magma’s hands then Jason pushed Magma into the cell.  Gregory closed the door and Daniel relocked it.  Both Jason and Daniel left.

          “I hope you like it in there because that’s where you’re going to be staying for now on.”  Gregory left without another word.

 

 

          Zelda, Ben, John, and Olivia work their way around the deceit almost medieval village almost with beautiful grey and sliver stone walls on the buildings of the town on the planet known as Daze.  It had been a couple of days since they had left Twister and now they were on the new planet searching for bounty hunters.  John carried a small hand held device which Aaron had given to them for them to use.  It was a small tracking device which was similar to the one he had made about four years earlier to keep track of Zelda.

          “John, are any bounty hunters showing up on that device yet?” Olivia asked.

          “Nope,” John answered as he kept his eyes on the device.  “Not yet.”

          Zelda walked over to John.  Before she began speaking, she made sure that Olivia couldn’t hear her.  “Did you give Olivia the ring yet?”

          “No.”

          “Do you have it with you?”

          “Hold on…. Let me check.”  He held the tracking device in one hand as he dug his hand into his pocket with the other.  He pulled out the ring.  “Yes.”

          “Then go give it to her before you forget.”

          “Good idea.”  What would John have done if Zelda wasn’t around to remind him of those kind of things?  He wasn’t dumb but he sure could be air headed at times.  He walked over to Olivia and wrapped his arm around her.  “I got something for you.”

          “You did…. What?” Olivia asked.

          “This.”  He took her hand and placed the ring on her ring finger.

          “It’s nice.”  Olivia stared at the ring, admiring it.  “Thanks.”

          They shared a kiss.

          Ben placed his arm around Zelda.  “Aw…. Isn’t that cute?”

          “Yea,” Zelda agreed.

          “Now I want to kiss you.”  He figured that she helped John find the ring and she had given him the idea to ask Olivia to marry him.

          “Who’s stopping you?”

          Ben kissed Zelda.

          Confusion over came Zelda as she didn’t know why Ben had wanted her there in the first place?  She couldn’t do anything if the bounty hunters arrived.  “Why did you have me come?  I mean I can’t fight because you don’t want me to and I don’t have a way to defend myself if we get attacked.”

          Ben agreed with Zelda but he wouldn’t let anything to happen to her as long as he was alive.  He was willing to throw himself into harm’s way before letting anyone laid a hand on and it didn’t matter if she was pregnant or not.  “Don’t worry about that.  If that happens,” he reminded her, “then I’ll protect you…. You’re my angel.”

          “John, are any bounty hunters showing up?” Olivia asked.

          John looked at the device.  “Still no.”

          “Is it even on?” Ben asked.

          “Yea.”

          Ben and Zelda walked over toward the other couple.  “Maybe it doesn’t work,” Ben replied.  “That device he gave to Zelda and me doesn’t work.  I tried to use it when Zelda was asleep but it said, ‘Can’t say.’”

          “It works,” John reassured his brother.  “Me and Aaron tried it on Ryan and we found him in the wine cellar, making out with a picture of….” He tried not to laugh.  “Zelda.”

          Ben and Olivia had burst out into laughter while Zelda just gave John a funny look.

          John couldn’t hold in his laughter either.  “Why are you looking at me like that?”

          “That boy has problems.”  Zelda knew that Ryan liked her but that was a little too creepy for her.

          John looked at the device then looked up, confused.  “This is weird.  It says that the bounty hunters are in front of us but I don’t see any.”

          “John,” Olivia spoke with a nervous tone, a little fearful.  “Turn around.”

          “Okay.”  He turned around to find Leo and eleven other bounty hunters standing behind them.

          “Weren’t we the ones going to sneak up on them?” Zelda asked, confused.

          “What do you want, Leo?” Olivia asked.

          “Your blood,” Leo answered.  He wanted to see all four of the pirates in front of him lying on the ground dead and covered with ruby red blood.

          Olivia rolled her eyes.  “I know that.  Isn’t there another reason why you want to kill us?”

          Leo took a moment before answering.  “Nope.”  He noticed Zelda was the only one without any weapons on her.  She would be an easy target for him.  “Aw…. You weren’t planning to fight…. Huh, Zelda?  You don’t have your sword with you.”

          Ben kept his arm wrapped tightly around his wife while he used his other hand to grip the handle of his sword.  “She’s not going to fight because I don’t want her to…. You have to fight me instead, Leo.”

          Leo was interested by Ben’s words.  He wanted to know why Zelda wasn’t allowed to fight.  “Why?”

          “Like I’m going to tell you.”

          “And you can’t fight him if you don’t fight us,” Olivia added.  “Right, John?”

          “Right,” John agreed.

          “Really?” Leo asked.  He wasn’t really in the fighting mood but he did want to see a good battle.  “Okay…. Katie, Matthew, James, Sarah, Clark, David, Ray, Anna,” he spat out the names too fast as the other bounty hunters prepared themselves, “Lily, and Jesse, attack!”

          Ben, Olivia, and John had drawn their swords and blocked the attacks from the bounty hunters.  Zelda slowly backed away from the battle field and found a safe place to hide out.  She made sure the bounty hunters weren’t watching her as she slid into a dark murky cave.  “I shouldn’t have to do this,” she told herself.  “I feel like a big chicken.  I hope Ben’s okay because he’s going to get it when we’re back on the ship for making me do this.”

 

 

          John blocked an attack from one of the female bounty hunters.  “This isn’t fair!  It’s eleven against three!”

          Olivia attacked one of the men.  “We’ll get it!  Don’t worry!”

          Two bounty hunters from both sides of Ben went to attack him.  He quickly moved away from the two on coming bounty hunters and watched as they stabbed each other’s hearts.  They both dropped dead as Ben continued to watch.  “That was easy.”

          “Ben, behind you!” John warned.

          Ben quickly spun around and blocked an attack from a new bounty hunter.  “Thanks, John.” He murdered the man out of safe defense.

          “No problem.”

          Three men teamed up against Olivia.  “John, Ben, a little help please!”

          “Olivia!” John exclaimed.  “We have to help her.”

          The two bothers began fighting off two of the bounty hunters while Olivia fought the third one. 

 

 

          Zelda snuck a peak to see what was going on.  She noticed how Leo was just standing there while her husband fought off a bounty hunter along with John and Olivia.  She noticed the lifeless bodies of the other bounty hunters, lying on the ground.  A memory tried to work its way into her mind at the sight but she threw it aside as she watched the three bounty hunters drop dead.

 

 

          Leo was ticked off at the sight.  His team of bounty hunters had failed and so he ran.  John began to run after him.

          “Let him go,” Ben told his dear brother.

          “But,” John said as he began to slow down to a stop, “we can’t just let him go.”  He turned toward Ben.  “He wants us dead.”

          “Yea…. We’ll get him.”

          “He’s right,” Olivia agreed with Ben.  “We’ll get him and Russel.”

          Zelda ran over to Ben and wrapped her arms around him.  She was happy to see that he was fine.  “I’m so glad that you’re okay.”

          “What about us?” John asked.

          “Yea,” Olivia agreed.  “We could have gotten killed today too.”

          “Well,” Zelda said, “I’m glad that you two are okay.”

          “Seeing that Leo got away can we go back to the ship?” John asked.

          “Yes,” Olivia answered.

          The four pirates worked their way back toward the ships.

Break Time

          David and Blake were fixing the sails on the Black Velvet.  They black sails were old and torn up compared to the sails on the White Rose which looked brand new but were extremely old.

          “I hate this job,” David stated.  The sails never seemed to stay prefect; something would always ruin them.  All that hard work for nothing.

          “So do I,” Blake agreed, “but it’s something to do.”

          “Yea.”  David looked over at the white sails of the White Rose.  He was surprised how they had seemed to still look new after all those years.  “I want to how the sails on the White Rose stay in shape.”

          “Maybe they exercise.”  Blake laughed.

          “Maybe.”

          Olivia and John arrived onto the ship from the White Rose.  They had been talking to Zelda and Ben about the fight against the bounty hunters.  They worked their way over to the sails.

          Olivia smiled at the great job her other two shipmates were doing.  “You two are doing well!” she called toward them.

          “Thanks, captain!” David and Blake replied together.

          Olivia and John began walking away.

          “Where are we going to next?” John asked.

          “I don’t know,” Olivia admitted.  It was Zelda’s turn to pick the next planet but Zelda hadn’t mentioned anything to her.  “Wherever Zelda thinks we need to go.”

          “Oh.”

          “I want this war against the bounty hunters to end.”

          John wrapped an arm around Olivia.  He was ready for the war to end as well.  “It’ll end.  It’ll end soon.  I swear.  Us pirates will defeat them.”

          They arrived at the captain’s office of the ship and walked in.

 

 

          John began pacing back and forth as Olivia sat behind her desk.  “Who’s going to drive the ships?” he asked.

          “Zelda said that she was going to have Ray drive the White Rose and I want Shawn to drive the Black Velvet.  Of course that’s when we’re ready to go.  Zelda’s going to send Austin here when she’s ready to go.”

          “Oh.”  John decided to change the subject.  He was growing tired of talking about fighting bounty hunters, planets where they were going to visit, and who was driving which ship.  “Can we have dinner?  Just you and me…. No one else…. Not Ben and Zelda…. Just us…. To get our minds off the bounty hunters.”

          Olivia smiled.  She needed a break from all of that as well.  “I’d like that.”

          “I thought you were.”

          There was a knock on the door.

          “Come in!” Olivia called.

          Austin walked in.  “Zelda said that she’s ready to go.”

          “Okay.”

          Austin looked around the room.  He couldn’t understand how Olivia could stand being in a dark area without going insane.  “It’s dark in here.  How can you stand this?” He looked at Olivia and froze.  “Are you a vampire?”

          Olivia and John began to burst out into laughter at Austin’s question.  No one had ever asked Olivia that before.

          “No,” Olivia answered, “but thanks for the compliment.”

          Austin was confused by Olivia’s answer.  “You wel-come.”  He began to leave.

          “Hey, Austin.  If you run into Shawn, can you tell him that I want him to drive the ship?”

          “Okay.”

          “Thanks.”

          Austin left.

          “Okay so back to what we were talking about.  Let’s have dinner here.”

          “Good idea,” John agreed.  “Before we do anything though can we go see where Zelda wants us to go so that way we don’t have to wait?”

          “Yea.”

 

 

 

Change of Plans

          Zelda and Ben were leaning against the wall on the White Rose.  Ben had wrapped his arm around Zelda.

          Zelda enjoyed the cool wind blowing her hair out of her face.  “This breeze feels good.”

          “Yes it does.”

          “Aww.  That’s so cute.”  Olivia had appeared out of nowhere.

          “They say it’s dangerous to lean on a wall of a moving ship,” John informed as he worked his way from behind Olivia with a smile.

          Zelda and Ben turned around to face the other couple, laughing at John’s reply.

          “Danger?” Ben kind of laughed.  “We’re pirates.”

          “Yea,” Zelda agreed.  “And as pirates we take our chances.”

          “Zelda, where’s our next stop?” Olivia asked.

          “We’re going back to Pluto because we have to talk to the cops again and because I want to make in fun of Lava Girl.”  Zelda had changed her plan.  She had realized that they were going to need back up a lot sooner than she had originally thought after the last encounter with the bounty hunters.

          “I should have known.  You have a different plan?”

          “Yea.”

          “So we’re going back to Pluto?”

          “Yep.”

          “Okay.  Well, that’s all I needed to know.  Come on, John.”  Olivia began to walk away followed by John.

          “So you guys aren’t going to hang out?” Ben asked.

          “Nope,” John answered.

          “Why not?”

          “Because we have a date.”  John wrapped his arm around Olivia and looked at her with a smile.  “Right, baby?”

          “Right, honey.”

          Ben didn’t have to ask.  He could tell from the way that they looked at each other that they wanted to be alone.  “Oh.”

New Plans

          Magma sat on the bed in her ice cold cell.  Freezing and ticked off about the situation, she wanted to be home where it was steaming hot and comfortable for her.

          Saphire and Daniel walked down the hall way and stopped at Magma’s cell.  “Enjoying yourself, Magma?” Saphire asked.

          “No,” Magma answered, rudely.

          “You’re harder to deal with than your brother.  You’re pathetic,” Daniel replied.

          Flames of anger rose up inside of Magma which made her jump up on her feet and rush over to the bars.  She tried to reach for Daniel like a caged lioness but couldn’t.

          “Remember where you are,” Saphire reminded her.  “I think we should leave her alone,” she told Daniel.  The couple left.

 

 

          Alaska and Gregory hung out in the dining room.  They sat next to each other at the long table.  “Alaska,” Gregory asked as he revealed a diamond ring, “will you marry me?”

          Alaska smiled.  The sight of the ring had rendered her breathless.  “Oh my gosh…. Gregory, I…. I…. I don’t know what to say.”

          “Please say, ‘Yes?’”

          Alaska’s smile grew wider at Gregory’s question.  “Yes,” she answered.

          He took the ring and placed it on her finger.  She kissed him.

          Jason walked into the room.  He realized he was interrupting something good and felt kind of bad for what he was about to do.  “Sorry to interrupt, sir, but Zelda’s here and she wants to talk to you.”

          “Okay,” Gregory replied.  He turned his attention back to Alaska.  “I’ll be back.”

          “Okay.”  Alaska’s smile never left her mouth.  “I’ll be here waiting.”

          He kissed her on the forehead.  “Good.  I love you.”

          “I love you too.”

          Alaska watched as Gregory and Jason hurried out of the room.

 

 

          Zelda, Ben, Olivia, John, and Daniel waited in the battle room for Gregory and Jason to arrive.  “So you guys have been to Twister?” Daniel asked.

          “Yep,” Olivia answered.

          “I hear that it’s a dangerous place especially this time of year.”

          “It is,” John agreed.

          “We hid in the basement of a Twistyin’s house,” Olivia replied.

          “You hid in a Twistyin’s basement?” Zelda asked with shock.

          “Yea.”  Olivia looked over at Zelda.  “What’s wrong with that?”

          “Now Twistyins are nice people but they’ll get mad if you hide in their basements during a party.  It’s just not right.”

          “Oh.  Well I didn’t know and besides we needed to hide some where’s safe and that was the only safe place.”

          “I still say that it wasn’t smart.  Now Icies, on the other hand, are different.”

          “Icies?” Daniel asked, confused.

          “It’s the name that us pirates gave you guys because you’re from Pluto.”

          “Yea,” Olivia agreed, “and it’s not one of the nicknames that Zelda gave to ya’ll it’s something that all of us pirates call ya’ll.”

          Gregory and Jason walked into the room.  “What do you guys want now?” Gregory asked, looking over at Zelda.  He had a feeling she was the reason they had arrived.

          “I have a new plan,” she stated.

          “Another one?”

          Zelda nodded.

          “What?”

          She stood up and began pacing back and forth.  “We didn’t go to all the planets but I don’t think that we have to because what happened on Daze.”

          “What happened on Daze?” Gregory asked with interest.

          “We were attacked by Leo and his crew,” Ben answered.  “Zelda hid because I don’t want her fighting.”

          “Me, Ben, and Olivia fought his crew,” John added, “while he just watched.”

          “We killed the other bounty hunters but he got away,” Olivia finished.

          “I believe,” Zelda said as she stopped in her tracks, “that he’s getting an army of bounty hunters on Blaze.  I think that it’s time to go back to Blaze for one more fight.”

          Gregory smiled.  “I think you’re right.”

Sad Story

          Everyone from both crews was on the Black Velvet, having a random party.  It was mainly because they didn’t have anything else to do.  Olivia and Zelda sat in two chairs on top of the captain’s office of the ships, waiting for Ben and John.  “You know,” Olivia pointed out, “I’ve heard John sing but I’ve never heard Ben sing.”

          “I know,” Zelda agreed.

          “You’ve heard John sing?”

          “It’s kind of hard not to when he sings randomly.”  Zelda began laughing, thinking about it.  John was in the kitchen of the White Rose when she had walked in and noticed him singing and dancing.  He hadn’t realized that she had arrived until she started laughing.  “One time,” she told Olivia, “he was singing I'm too Sexy.  I think you would have liked it.  Of course I was laughing at him and he was embarrassed.”

          “Really?” Olivia asked, laughing.

          “Yea.  He told me not to tell you because it was a song that he was going to sing to you after….” Zelda realized she had said too much.  “Oops.”

          John and Ben walked over to them, carrying drinks.  Ben pulled Zelda out of her chair, sat down, and pulled her into his lap.

          John sat next to Olivia.  He used her chair as an arm rest.  “So what are you two talking about?” he asked.

          “Nothing.”  Zelda knew that John would be mad if she told him.

          “Hey, John.”  Olivia laughed as she started singing I’m too Sexy.

          John’s eyes grew wide as he looked over at Zelda.  “You weren’t supposed to tell.”

          Zelda smiled.  “It just slipped.”  She looked at Ben and decided to change the subject.  “Ben, me and Olivia were wondering if you could sing for us.”

          Ben raised an eyebrow as he looked at his beautiful wife.  “Why?”

          “Because we heard John,” Olivia explained, “but we never heard you sing.”

          “I don’t want to sing.”

          “Why not?” Zelda asked.

          “I don’t like singing,” he admitted.  “I’m not good.”

          “Oh come on.  You can’t be that bad.  I’m probably worse than you.”

          “Yea.”

          Zelda looked at Olivia for agreeing that she couldn’t sing.

          “Please,” Olivia asked, “just one song?  We’ll leave you alone and we promise we won’t laugh.”

          “It’s just one song, Ben,” John jumped in.

          Ben decided to give in.  “I don’t know what to sing,” he told them.

          “Try to think of something.”

          Ben took a minute and thought.  “Okay.  I’m going to need help.”  He thought for a moment to make sure he was thinking of the right song then whispered something to Zelda.

          “Okay,” she agreed.

          They took turns singing I Got You Babe from Sonny and Cher until they got to the chorus and sang together.

          “That’s a nice song, Sonny and Cher,” John joked.

          “The both of you did great,” Olivia told them.

          “Thanks,” Zelda and Ben spoke together.

          “You did great, Ben.  Better than you thought you could do,” Zelda said, smiling.

          Ben returned the smile.  “You did too.”

          “Have you two decided on a name for the baby?” Olivia asked.

          “Well,” Zelda answered, “if it’s a boy then he’ll be Ben Adam Skull Junior because Ben wants to name our oldest son if we have any boys after him.”

          “And if it’s a girl,” Ben added, “then we’re going to name her Amy Lee-Anne Skull.”

          “You know,” John laughed, “that if ya’ll have a girl you’ll have to make sure none of those dogs get to her.  That is when she gets older.”

          “Man,” Ben joked, “if we have a daughter I’m going to be protective.”

          A horrible memory began to feel Olivia’s thoughts.  “Sounds like my dad before he left me and my mom.”  Her eyes began tearing up.  “I’m sorry about this.”  She stood up.  “Excuse me.”  She left, crying.

          Ben felt bad, not knowing what he had said that could have made Olivia cry.  “I should have said that differently.”

          “Yea,” Zelda and John agreed with a nod.

          “I’m going to go talk to her.”  John stood up and hurried after Olivia.

          “I didn’t know that was going to happen or I wouldn’t have said that.”

          Zelda knew that Ben wouldn’t have said anything if he had known.  She looked at him.  “That would explain why Olivia doesn’t trust anyone.”

 

 

          Olivia sat on the bed in her office, crying.  She remembered how her father was protective and abusive toward her and her mother then one day he left and never came back.  The worst part was she knew that he wasn’t dead but wished he was.  Donny looked at her as if he were asking her what was wrong and walked over to her.

          “Olivia, can I come in?” John called through the door, knocking.

          “Yea,” she answered as she wiped away tears.

          John walked into the room, closing the door behind him.  “What’s wrong, Olivia?” he asked, making his way over to Olivia and sitting next to her on the bed.

          “It’s what Ben said,” she answered, looking at the floor, “it made me think about what my dad did to me and my mom.  I know that Ben wouldn’t do that to Zelda because he loves her so much but my dad walked out on me and my mom.  He just left and never came back.  Then about a year or two later, I seen him on the news because he hit the lottery and he was with his new wife and their son on the Planet El.”

          John heard the anger in Olivia’s voice grow as she spoke.

          Olivia still avoided eye contact with him.  “That made me so mad.  I took a screw driver and threw it right into the TV.  I was a trouble child after that day.  Me and my mom would get into fights.”  She had blamed her mother for what her father had done but she knew better.  “One day, I was going to kill her when the cops came and dragged me out of the house.  My mom would come out every now and then…. She’d look at me and it was like she didn’t even recognize me.”  She knew the look her mother had given her was like her mother was looking at someone else.  Someone who wasn’t her daughter.  Olivia didn’t blame her mother for that though.  She blamed herself.  She was dead in her mother’s eyes.  “She still lives in that house and my dad is still on El with his new family.  I know that because I saw them a few times on each planet when we were there.  Please don’t feel bad for me, John,” she said, finally making eye contact with him, “because I have you and I know that in my heart that you love me.”

          John wrapped Olivia in his arms and held her.  He felt her pain.  “You’re right,” he told her.  “I love you more than anything.  I won’t do what your dad did and Ben won’t do that to Zelda.”

          Olivia leaned against his chest, finding comfort in his words.  “I know.”

          “How long was that before you became a pirate?”

          “About six years later of course by then,” Olivia kind of laughed, “I was already acting like one.”

          “Oh.”

News

          Russel sat at the small round table in his kitchen, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.  “Leo Griffen has killed over ten billion pirates in the past year,” he read quietly to himself, smiling.  His son had actually beat his record of killing eight billion pirates in the past year.  Bounty hunters found that kind of thing to be something to brag about.  “That’s my boy….” He continued reading and lost his smile.  Anger began to stir into his emotions.  “Shocked Zelda Samara Griffen by his dad, Russel, admitting that they were her uncle and grandfather.  Why does everyone have to use her whole name?  She’s not special, just a pirate.”

          There was a knock on the door.

          “Come in!” he called.

          Keaton and Romano walked in, laughing.

          Russel looked over at them.  He wasn’t happy.  “What do you two want?”

          Keaton and Romano stopped laughing, growing nervous.  They were afraid.  “Should you tell him or should I?” Romano asked Keaton.

          “I,” Keaton started then changed his mind, “uh you should tell him.”

          “But why should I tell him?”

          “Because you asked….”

          Keaton and Romano didn’t realize how aggravated Russel was becoming toward them.  “Just tell me,” he told them, ticked off.

          “Okay,” Romano replied.  “But you’re not going to be happy.  We let the pirates get away one Twister.”

          Russel’s face turned dark red from anger and steam began shooting out of his ears and nose.  “It’s on Twister,” he corrected, knowing that was the least of his problems, “and what do you mean you let them get away?”

          Romano was too afraid to answer.  “It’s not that we let them get away.  I mean they just got away from us.”

          “Yea,” Keaton agreed just as afraid.

          Leo wondered into the house, hitting Keaton with the door.

          “Ow!”

          “Don’t stand next to the door, you idiot,” Leo told him.

          “What’s going on, Leo?” Russel asked.

          It didn’t take long for Leo to realize that his father was furious.  He smiled.  “I found out that the Black Velvet and the White Rose are coming back here.  We can finally kill everyone from both crews but we must keep Zelda alive so that way Magma can kill her herself but we have to get Magma out of jail for that.”

          The anger subsided as Russel smiled at the news.  “Good plan,” he told Leo, “but who cares if that witch wants to kill Zelda and kill her ourselves and do you know if the cops are following them?”

          “Nope.  Just the pirates.”

          “Good.  Let’s go and welcome our guests.”  The smile on Russel’s face grew. 

Communication

          Aaron, John, and Ben stood around in the kitchen of the Black velvet.  Aaron worked on a radio, fixing it to where they could communicate with the cops.  Ben and John talked while they watched him work.  Both Ben and John held a bottle of rum.

          “Aaron,” Ben said, taking a sip of his rum, “that device you made to tell a baby’s gender didn’t work.  I tried it, and I think it’s broken.”

          “That’s weird.”  Aaron had been listening while he worked.  “I was sure that it worked.”

          “What are you doing to that radio?” John asked.

          “I’m trying to make it to where we can communicate with the cops,” Aaron answered.  When he finished, he turned it on to test it.  He smiled when he heard Gregory’s voice over the speaker.

          “Who is this?” Gregory’s voice asked.  “Over.”

          “Hey, Gregory.  It’s Aaron from the Black Velvet.  Over.”

          Ben and John walked over to Aaron and the radio, amazed.  They listened to the conversation Aaron and their brother had.

          “Oh…. Well, what’s going on?  Is everything okay?  Over.”

          “Nothing’s going on and everything’s okay.  I’m just checking to make sure this works.  Over.”

          “Okay.  Well, see you guys later.  Over.”

          “Copy that.  Over.”  Aaron stepped away from the radio, proud of his achievement.

          “That was awesome,” John spoke, still amazed.

          “Can you make one for me?” Ben asked.

          “I’m going to go tell Captain Olivia and Zelda.  I think that they’d like it.”  Aaron left.

          Ben and John couldn’t keep their hands away from the radio.  They had to play with the new toy.  They acted like two little kids with a brand new toy car they got for Christmas.  “This is cool,” Ben told his brother.

          “I know…. Watch this.”  John started speaking into the radio like a radio reporter.  “Hey, everyone.  It’s John Skull here and you’re listening to the BV 100.8…. And now here’s the guest star and my brother, Ben Skull.”

          “Hello.”  Ben took over the radio.  “It’s good to be here, John.  I always wanted to be on the radio and this is a dream come true…. Let me tell you….”

          John took the radio back.  “It’s good to have you here, man…. And now we’re going to take a break so we hope you enjoy Maroon 5’s She Will be loved.”  He began singing when Aaron, Olivia, and Zelda had walked into the room.

          Aaron pointed to the radio.  “It’s right….” He noticed that Ben and John were playing with it.  “What are you two doing?  You’re going to break it.”  He hurried over to them and snatched it away from them, worried that they would destroy the only means of communication they had.  “I thought that I was going to have to keep it from Peter and Ryan but I guess that I’ll have to keep it from you two as well.”

          Ben laughed.  “We were having fun.”

          “Is that the radio?” Olivia asked.

          “That’s cool,” Zelda said.  “Can you show us how it works?”

          “That depends…. Are you going to act like your husband?” Aaron asked.

          Zelda smiled and caught eye contact with Ben.  “No.”

          “Okay.”  Aaron showed Olivia and Zelda how the radio worked, explaining how it functioned.

          “That’s cool, Aaron,” Olivia told him.

          “Thanks, captain.”

          “Yea.  It’s cooler than the tracking device that you made for Shawn to put on Zelda’s ship,” John agreed with Olivia.

          Zelda was ticked off.  “There’s a tracking on my ship?”

          “I wasn’t going to say anything,” Olivia admitting, “but it was put on your ship about five years ago, when we were still enemies.”

          “Yea,” Aaron agreed, “and not only that, Ryan destroyed it.”

          “Okay.”  Zelda felt relieved to hear that.

          Aaron looked at his watch and then to Zelda.  “Now, Zelda, it’s time for your check up.”

          “Okay, doc.”

          Aaron and Zelda began to leave the room.

          Ben followed them.  “Wow…. You better not do anything to my wife, Aaron.”

          Aaron kind of smiled.  He knew Ben was joking.  “Don’t worry, Ben.  Besides you can come too.”

          “Good.”  Ben walked with Zelda and wrapped an arm around her.

Heads Up

          Gregory, Jason, and Daniel were in the little office of Gregory’s house.  Gregory stood near the computer and fax machine.  His office was one of the cleanest rooms in his little house.  Everything in the room was well organized and he had a few pictures sitting on top of his desk.  Daniel sat in a chair which was in front of the desk while Jason leaned against the door.

          “This is the first time that we’re doing Zelda’s plan,” Jason spoke to break the silence.  The surprise was in his voice, knowing that Gregory was actually willing to go through with a plan from a pirate and not just any pirate but the one pirate he couldn’t stand.

          “Yep,” Daniel agreed.

          The fax machine began making a noise, letting Gregory know that he was getting something.  He grabbed the papers which came out of the machine and began reading them.  “What’s this?” he asked.

          “Fax,” Jason answered.

          “No…. I mean it’s what I’m reading.”

          “What’s it say?” Daniel asked.

          “One of our spies,” Gregory replied, working his way around the desk and sat down, “found out that the bounty hunters know that the pirates are going to Blaze.”  He placed the papers on the desk, keeping his eyes on the words.

          “That’s not good.”

          “Who wants pizza?” Jason asked, bored and hungry.  “I’m paying.”

          “Me,” Gregory and Daniel answered.

          Jason pulled out his cell phone and began dialing the number.

          “Anyways,” Gregory replied, looking up at Daniel, “we have to warn them.”

          “Yes,” Jason told the person on the phone, “I would like to get a large…. Hold on.”  He covered the mouth piece.  “What do you guys want on your pizza?”

          “Pepperoni,” Gregory and Daniel replied.

          “How are we going to do that?” Daniel asked.

          Gregory took a moment to think.  “The car radio.”

          “I hear that you guys are having a special on cheese fries.”  Jason listened.  “Cool…. Can I get four boxes of cheese fries?”

          “Are you sure it will work?” Daniel asked.

          “Yea,” Gregory answered.  He stood up.  “I was talking to them today and my brothers were acting like they were at a radio station.”  He began laughing.

          “Good.  And can I have your name?  You sound cute and your number?” Jason asked the person.  “Okay your name is Sarah and your number is none-of-your-business.  Okay but are you sure that none-of-your-business are numbers?”  He waited for the girl to respond but she hung up on him instead.  “I guess that was a no.”

          “Jason, we’re going to the car.  Want to come?” Gregory asked, walking out of the room.

          Daniel followed behind Gregory.

          “No.  I’ll wait for the pizza to get here.”  Jason left the room.

          “Okay.”

 

 

          Gregory and Daniel climbed into the car.  Gregory played with the radio for a little bit.

 

 

          David worked his way around the kitchen of the Black Velvet, fixing himself something to eat, when he heard a voice.  He turned around.  “Who’s there?” he asked.  He had no clue about the radio.

          “Hello…. Is anyone there?” Gregory’s voice asked.

          “Yea…. Me,” David answered, kind of freaked out.  “Now who are you?”

          “Hello.”

          “Look, man.  I don’t know who you are or what you want but please leave me alone.”

          “Hello.”

 

 

          Gregory waited for an answer but no one replied.  “Hello…. Is anyone there?” he asked again.

          “Maybe it’s not on or maybe no one’s there,” Daniel concluded.

          “Well, I’m going to keep trying.”

 

 

          Olivia and John walked into the kitchen and noticed David was talking to himself.  “Who are you talking to?” Olivia asked.

          “I don’t know,” David admitted, “but someone’s talking to me.  I think I’m hearing things.”

          Gregory’s voice came back on over the radio.  “Hello…. Hello…. Is anyone there?”

          “Did you hear that?”

          “Oh.  That’s Gregory.”  She held down a button on the radio.  “Hey, Gregory.  What’s going on?”  She removed her finger off of the button.

          “Okay first, Olivia, you have to say, ‘Over.’”

          “Why?”

          “Because it’s something you say when you are talking to a cop on a radio.  Got it, over?”

          “Okay?  Fine?” Olivia asked, confused.  “What’s going on?  Over.”

          “Well, we got news that the bounty hunters found out that you guys are going to Blaze.  Over.”

          “Thanks for the heads up.  Over.”

          They finished talking.

          Olivia turned her attention to John.  “I’m going to go tell Zelda and Ben.”  She knew that they both needed to know.

          “Okay.”

          Olivia hurried out of the room.

 

 

 

Last Minute Change of Plans

          Aaron stood in the captain’s office of the White Rose while he had Zelda sitting on the bed and Ben sat patiently on a chair.  “Well,” Aaron said, finishing up, “everything looks normal.  It’s a good thing that you don’t want to know the gender because I can’t tell you even if I wanted to.”

          “Thanks, doc.”  Zelda smiled.

          “Oh yea…. You’re doing good with keeping away from the rum.”  Aaron was proud of Zelda for her accomplishment.  He knew it must have been hard for her.  “You must hate it because it’s your favorite drink…. And Ben’s right for not wanting you to fight.”  He left the room without another word while Olivia hurried into the room.

          Zelda turned her attention toward Ben.  “He agrees with you.”

          Ben smiled with a look that told Zelda, ‘I told you so.’

          Olivia smiled.  “How was the appointment?”

          Zelda and Ben turned their attention toward the other captain.  “It was good…. Why?” Zelda asked.

          Olivia’s face quickly grew serious.  “Because that might be the last one.”

          Zelda and Ben exchanged glances then looked at Olivia.  “What?” Ben asked.  He hadn’t liked the sound of Olivia’s tone.

          “I got done talking to Gregory,” Olivia answered, “and well he found out that the bounty hunters know that we’re going to Blaze.  We’re dead meat when we land.”

          Zelda didn’t like the last part of Olivia’s sentence.  She hated how people could be so negative about things.  She knew there how to be another way.  “Don’t say that…. Don’t ever say that.  We’re pirates and we got to show them that we’re not stupid.”

          “Don’t plan on fighting, honey,” Ben told his dear wife.

          She smiled at him.  “I know…. I was thinking that we should go around and we,” Zelda caught what she said and knew she had to reword it, “well you guys can sneak up on the bounty hunters.”

          Ben smiled, wrapping an arm around Zelda.  “That’s my girl.”  He kissed her forehead.

          “That’s good,” Olivia agreed.  “Just better hope that the bounty hunters don’t find out.”

          “Should we tell Gregory that’s what we’re doing?” Zelda asked.

          “Yea.”

          “Okay.”

One Last Call

          David and John had stayed in the kitchen of the Black Velvet, checking out the radio.  “So Aaron fixed the radio so that way we can talk to the cops?” David asked.

          “Yep.”

          “Good because I thought that I was going crazy.”  David felt relieved.

          Olivia walked into the room, followed by Zelda and Ben.  “We need the radio,” Olivia told her two shipmates.

          “I want to use it,” Zelda said.  “I didn’t get a chance to use it yet.”

          John pushed the radio over to Zelda and she grabbed the radio, holding down the button.  “Hello.”  She paused but no one answered.  “Hello.”  Still no one replied.  She was kind of getting ticked off.  “Okay.  This is making me mad.  I know that some one’s there now say something.”

          Everyone but Zelda began laughing.

          “Wow.  Zelda’s ticked off,” Olivia laughed.

          “Yea…. But it’s cute.”  Ben walked over to Zelda and moved her hand away from the button.  “It’s not going to work with your hand on the button.”

          “Oh.”

          Ben smiled at her embarrassment.

 

 

          Gregory and Daniel where in the car, laughing.  Gregory grabbed the walkie-talkie and began talking.  “Sorry it took us a while to answer but it’s kind of hard to when someone has their hand on the button holding it down.  Now what do you want to tell us?  Over.”

          Zelda’s voice came out of the speakers.  “We’re going to sneak around Blaze and sneak up on the bounty hunters.  Over.”

          “Okay…. Over.”

 

 

          Zelda held down the button because she had something else she needed to say.  “Oh yea…. You cops need to start coming.  It would help us a lot.  Over.”

          Everyone in the room listened for Gregory’s voice to reply.  “Okay.  Over.”

          They finished the conversation.

Zelda Remembers

          Everyone from both crews, including Donny and Max, climbed off of the ships.  Zelda’s idea to sneak around had worked like a charm; the bounty hunters had no clue the pirates were there.  Zelda spotted an old torn down building which had appeared to be a house.  She worked her way over to it, recognizing it.  Ben followed her.

          The house was torn up and falling apart.  The age of the house had shown.  She stepped onto the porch.  The old house which needed to be condemned had changed in Zelda’s mind as a memory began to play out in her mind.  The house was beautiful and white.  It had appeared to be young with cherry bushes along the sides.  She worked her way into the house.

          Ben hadn’t been far behind.  “Zelda…. Honey…. We better get back to the ships; everyone’s going to be looking for us.”

          Zelda looked around and it was almost like she had traveled back in time.  Her mother and father had moved the couch.  They both appeared to be worried.  “I remember,” she whispered.

          “What?”

          “I remember.”  She pointed to a picture with broken glass which hung on a wall.

          Ben looked at the picture and noticed a man next to his wife and their little girl.  The man kind of resembled Leo but wasn’t him.

          “That’s my mom, dad, and me.”  Zelda turned and noticed another broken picture.  She picked it up and handed it to Ben.

          Ben stared at the picture and noticed the man from the other one, Zelda’s father.  He stood next to two other men who Ben recognized.  They were bounty hunters.

          “That’s my dad, Leo, and Russel.”  The day began to play in Zelda’s mind while she was lost in time.  She was young when it had happened.  She had witnessed the whole scene.  “I remember like it was yesterday.  I was five and my parents knew that…. That something was going to happen.  My mom had me hide behind the couch.”  The memory Zelda had forced herself to forget was finally working its way back into her mind.  “I remember she was crying and I felt tears on my cheeks too.  I asked her what was wrong.  She wouldn’t tell me…. She just told me to be quiet.”

          Ben heard the disappointment and pain in Zelda’s voice.  He went to hug her but she moved before he had the chance.

          “Not long later, Russel came and kicked the door in.  There’s a dent on the door where he kicked it.  He said something to my parents but I don’t remember what he said to them.”  The flashback played in Zelda’s mind.  She felt like she was there but couldn’t help them.  “I remember peaking from behind the couch and I seen my mom laying there dead.”

          Ben went to hug Zelda again but she moved.

          “I looked up and Russel was holding my dad in the air then said something to him again.  I don’t remember what he said but I watched him take his sword and cut my dad open from left to right diagonally.  Then he left.  I crawled from behind the couch and moved toward the bodies.”

          Ben went to wrap his arms around Zelda for a third time but she walked away.

          Zelda seen the dead bodies of her parents and she sat next to them.

          Ben couldn’t see them but somehow he knew they were there.  All he could really see was the old hardwood floors which could break if they weren’t careful where they stepped.

          “I knew they were dead but I tried to wake them up as if they were sleeping.  Then I heard someone coming into the house and I picked up my dad’s gun and I held it up to the door so if it was Russel I could kill him.”

          When Ben looked into Zelda’s eyes, he could tell that she was in a daze and there was no way for her to escape it.

          “Then Ryoko came in.  I still held that gun up just in case she was working with Russel.  She explained that she was against Russel and Leo.  She told me that she was going to be a pirate and asked if I wanted to join her and I said, ‘Yes.’”

          “In a way, it’s a good thing that Russel killed your parents.”

          “What?” Zelda asked, confused.  She snapped back to reality from the daze and noticed the falling apart old house.

          Ben realized what he had said and felt terrible.

          Zelda stood up.

          Ben walked over to her and finally wrapped her up in a hug.  “Well it’s not a good thing that he killed your parents but think about the good that came out of it.  If he hadn’t killed your parents then you wouldn’t be a pirate and we wouldn’t have ever met and got married and becoming parents.  You’d be here still and I’d be back on Pluto still working as a grave digger.”  He lifted up her chin to see her face.  He smiled at her.  “I’m glad that you got me from that job.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.  So think of the good that came from that terrible day instead of the bad.”  He continued to hug her.  “I won’t let anything happen to you.  I’ll kill Russel for you…. And Leo.” He wiped off the tears which crawled down her cheek.  “Don’t cry…. You’re my angel and I love you.”

          “I love you too.”

          “I know, baby.”

Time to Split Up

          Olivia and John were outside of the house, searching for Zelda and Ben.  “Where are Zelda and Ben?” John asked.

          “Good question.”  Olivia looked around to see if she could spot them.  “They were here a while ago.”

          John leaned against the Black Velvet, watching the house.  He watched as Ben walked out, carrying Zelda.  He smiled at the sight.  “What do you think that’s about?”

          Olivia turned her attention toward Zelda and Ben.  “I don’t know.”

          Ben walked toward them.

          “Enjoying being carried, Zelda?” Olivia asked.

          “No,” Zelda answered.

          “Why not?” John asked.  “You get to be lazy.”

          “She wants to go to the battlefield and I don’t want her to so I’m carrying her to the ship,” Ben answered.

          “Oh.”

          “If I put you down, are you going to run?”

          “No,” Zelda answered, smiling at Ben.  “Even though I want to I’m not.”

          “Okay.”  Ben helped Zelda onto the ground.  He kept an arm around her.

          “So what are we going to do now, Zelda?” Olivia asked.

          Zelda removed her hat and stared at it.  “Don’t ask me,” she replied, placing the hat on Ben’s head, “Ben’s the captain for today, seeing that he won’t let me fight.”

          “Okay.  Then what should we do, Ben?”

          “Let’s see.”  He turned toward his brother.  “Well, John, you remember when I asked you to make sure that Zelda doesn’t fight if I’m not around?”

          “Yea.”

          “Today’s that day.”

          “Okay.”

          Zelda gave Ben a sad look.

          Ben kissed her forehead.  “Don’t worry I’ll be fine.  Now, Olivia, you, Ryan, Jeremy, Austin, Scott, Aaron, David, Zack, Will, and me are going to the battlefield.  Zelda, and John, you two, Ray, Paul, Peter, Drake, Shawn, Blake, and Larry are staying here.  Everyone but Zelda should protect the ships just in case.  Donny can come with us and Max will stay here with you guys.”

          “Okay,” Olivia and John agreed.  They walked away.

          “You know how to raise my ego.”  Ben smiled at Zelda.  “You’re cute as a first mate…. Pirate girl.”

          Zelda hugged Ben.  “Please be careful?”

          “Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be fine.”  Ben didn’t need Zelda to worry about him.  He was worried about her more than he was about himself.  He would rather die than to see something happen to his wife and their unborn child.

 

 

          Twenty minutes had passed when Olivia and John worked their way back over to Zelda and Ben.  “Everyone’s ready to go, Ben,” Olivia told him.

          “Okay.”  Ben and Zelda shared a kissed.  “Don’t worry about me, Zelda.  I’ll be fine.”

          Olivia, Ben, and the others left.

          “Zelda,” John told her, “Ben will be fine.  Don’t worry.”

          “I know but this is the first time since we got married that we’ve left each other’s side.  I hope everything’s going to be fine.”  She couldn’t help but worry.

          “You’re probably hungry.  Why don’t you get something to eat?”

          Zelda wasn’t hungry but she had to do something.

The Battle Begins

          Leo and a group of bounty hunters stood on the battlefield, waiting.  They prepared themselves for the pirates to arrive.  “When they get here,” Leo ordered, “I want you all to attack and the point is to kill them all.  Leave no survivors.”

 

 

          The pirates hid in the woods, waiting for the right moment.  Ben noticed that there were four extra bounty hunters compared to the pirates.

          “What are we going to do now?” Olivia whispered.

          “Wait,” Ben answered, also whispering.  He waited for four of the bounty hunters to leave.  He watched two bounty hunters walk close to where Scott and Austin were and two others walked over to where Aaron and David were.  An idea popped into his head.  “Scott, Austin, on the count of three I want you two to kill the two bounty hunters in front of you guys but try not to be spotted.”

          “Okay,” Scott and Austin agreed.

          “One,” Ben counted, “two, three.”

          Scott and Austin killed the two bounty hunters quickly and quietly then went back into hiding.

          “Olivia, have Aaron and David do what I had Scott and Austin do.”

          “Okay.  Aaron, David, kill those two bounty hunters.”

          “Okay,” Aaron and David agreed.  They did the same thing Scott and Austin had done.

          “Why did we do that?” Olivia asked Ben.

          “To make it fair…. Now we can fight but I want to fight Leo…. For Zelda.”

          “Okay.”

 

 

          The pirates worked their way out onto the battlefield, revealing themselves to the bounty hunters.

          “Well,” Leo spoke, watching them walk out from the woods, “look at who finally showed up.”

          “Shut up and fight, Leo,” Olivia ordered.

          The bounty hunters and the pirates drew their swords and began fighting.

 

 

          Zelda, John, and Larry hung out over by the ships with Max sitting next to Zelda.  “What are we going to do if we get attacked?” Zelda asked John.

          “Well, everyone,” he said, “but you, will be fighting.  You’ll have to go hide.”

          “Why’s everyone telling me that?”

          “Well Ben doesn’t want anything to happen to you or ya’lls child.  Besides, I told him that I’d make sure that nothing happens to you.  That means if something happens to you then I’m dead.”

          “Then how do you guys expect me to protect myself if you guys are fighting and I get attacked?” Zelda asked, hinting for John to give her some kind of weapon.

          John decided to let her win.  He pulled out his gun and handed it to her.  “I can’t believe I’m doing this.  Here.”

          Zelda took the gun then decided to make John feel guilty for giving it to her.  “Ben said that I can’t use a weapon.”

          “He said that you can’t use a sword.  The last time I checked a gun isn’t a sword.”

          Drake and Blake hurried over to them.  “Bounty hunters are coming,” Drake warned.

          “Well then go get everyone,” Zelda told them.

          “Okay,” Blake replied.

          “Go hide, Zelda!” Larry ordered.

          Zelda dropped her mouth at the kid’s order.  “But, Larry-Boy.”

          John laughed.  “You heard the kid, Zelda, go hide.”

          “Fine.”  Zelda walked away.

 

 

          Russel, Keaton, Romano, and other bounty hunters had found their way to the two ships.  The pirates were ready for the battle.

          “Attack!” Russel ordered the bounty hunters.

          John, Ray, Paul, Peter, Drake, Shawn, Blake, Larry, and Max began fighting off the bounty hunters.

 

 

          Zelda hid behind a wall on the Black Velvet.  She would peak out to see what was going on every now and then.  She wanted to be out there fighting the bounty hunters so badly.

Calling for Back Up

          Keaton and Romano managed to climb onto the deck of the Black Velvet where they found Zelda.  “What are you doing, pirate?” Keaton asked.

          “I’m just chilling,” Zelda answered.

          Romano and Keaton exchanged glances then looked at Zelda again.  They both prepared to attack her.

          “Wait!” she cried, knowing that they were both morons.  “You guys wouldn’t attack a pregnant woman now would ya?”

          “You’re pregnant?”

          Zelda nodded.

          “Don’t believe her…. She’s lying,” Romano told Keaton.

          Paul snuck up behind the two idiot bounty hunters and knocked them both out.  “Captain, you need to find a better hiding place.”

          “Good idea.”

 

 

          Ben and Leo were the only two still fighting.  The other bounty hunters were dead because of the other pirates.  Leo was the only one who was still alive.  He wasn’t about to give up.

          “This is going to take a while,” Olivia told Aaron.

          “I predict that in about the next hour their both going to get tired and give up,” Aaron agreed.

          Ryan walked over to them, eating popcorn.  “This is nice.  Go, Ben!” he cheered.

          “Where did you find that?” Olivia asked.

          “In some guy’s trash…. Want some?”

          “No thanks.”  Olivia felt sick at the thought.

          “There’s insects in it,” Aaron replied, examining the food.  He was grossed out by the thought as well.

 

 

          Zelda worked her way into the kitchen of the Black Velvet.  She sat on the floor and decided that it was a good time to radio for back up.  “Hello, Double-D.  Are you there over?”

          “Zelda,” Gregory’s voice spoke over the speaker, “I’m here over.”

          “Okay.  Good.  Now listen.  We are being attacked by the bounty hunters.  Everyone else is fighting while I’m talking,” she explained, “because Ben doesn’t want me to fight.  So I’m calling for help over.”

          “Okay.  You guys are on Blaze right?  Over.”

          “Yep…. Over.”

          “Good.  We’re almost there over.”

          “Okay…. Over.”

          They had finished talking when Zelda heard a noise.  She turned to see who it was when she noticed a bounty hunter.  She pulled out John’s gun and shot him.

          “That was easy.”  She stood up.

Help Arrives

          The pirates who had stayed around the ships were still fighting the bounty hunters when the cops finally arrived to the scene.  “Okay.  All of the bounty hunters drop your weapons, you’re under arrest!” Gregory ordered.

          The cops began arresting the bounty hunters when Zelda worked her way off of the Black Velvet.  John walked over to Gregory.  “Where’s everyone else?” Gregory asked.

          “At the battle field,” John answered.

          “Let’s go.”

 

 

          Leo and Ben had continued to fight.  Aaron kept an eye on his watch, timing the battle between the pirate and the bounty hunter.  “In three, two, one.”

          Ben and Leo dropped their swords and fell backwards.

          “That was perfect timing,” Olivia replied, shocked.

          “Yep.”

          “Are they dead?”

          “Nope.”

 

 

          A few seconds later, Gregory, John, Zelda, and even Max arrived.  Zelda panicked when she spotted Ben lying on the ground.  She hurried over to him, worried.  She fell on her knees next to him.  “Ben, are you alive?  Ben?  Ben?” she asked, freaking out.  She rested her head on his chest, thinking that he was dead and began crying.

          “Don’t worry.  He’s alive, Zelda,” Aaron told her.

          Ben opened his eyes and wrapped an arm around Zelda’s waist and felt John’s gun.  “Is that a gun I feel?”

          Zelda looked at him and smiled.  She was relieved that he wasn’t dead.  “I’m not the one with cuts on my arm.”

          Zelda and Ben stood up while Leo sat up.  Gregory, Daniel, and Jason surrounded the bounty hunter.  “Leo, your under arrest,” Gregory told him.

New Beginning

          Nine months later, Zelda and Olivia were in the captain’s office on the White Rose.  Zelda helped Olivia prepare for her and John’s wedding.  “Well you’re getting married to John,” Zelda told Olivia.

          “Yep…. I’m so excited.”

          “Yea…. I was excited when I got married to Ben so I know how you feel.  He and I can’t wait till the baby’s born.  So that’s what we’re looking forward to and you know what it’s due this month.”  Zelda hadn’t thought about it before when she came to that conclusion.

          “That’s awesome,” Olivia replied.

          Zelda began to feel some kind of pain in her stomach

          “Are you okay?”

          “I’m fine,” she lied.  Again the same pain happened again.

          “Are you sure?”

          “Don’t worry about me.”  Zelda smiled.  “It’s your wedding day.  You should be happy for yourself.”  She didn’t want Olivia to worry about her.  It was Olivia’s wedding; she shouldn’t have had to worry about Zelda.

          “Okay.”

          There was a knock on the door.

          “Come in!” Zelda called.

          Ben walked into the room.  “Zelda, they’re ready for us.”

          “Okay.  Well,” Zelda told Olivia, “I’ll see you out there.”

 

 

          Zelda began feeling pain in her stomach in the middle of the wedding.

          Aaron was watching her, wondering what she was doing.  He knew Zelda was strange but was confused by her action during the wedding.  “What is Zelda….” He began to whisper to Scott when the thought hit him.  “Oh my gosh she’s in labor.  Scott, help me get Ben’s attention?”

          “Okay.”

          Aaron and Scott were doing everything they could without trying to make a scene during the wedding.  Once they got Ben’s attention, they managed to get him to look at Zelda.  He snuck around to the other side and picked her up.

          John noticed Ben and grew kind of worried at the sight.  “Is she okay?” he asked Ben.

          “She’ll be fine,” Ben answered.  “Just go on with the wedding.”  He had a feeling Zelda would be alright and didn’t want his brother to worry.

          “Okay.”

          Ben carried Zelda into the captain’s office on the White Rose and Aaron followed.

          “You may kiss the bride,” the pastor told John.

          Olivia and John shared their first kiss as husband and wife.

 

 

          Olivia and John were out on the deck of the White Rose, waiting.  It had been a few hours and they wanted to find out what had happened.  Paul and Scott walked over to them.

          “Is Zelda okay?” Olivia asked.

          “Yea,” Scott answered.  He began to talk like a game show host.  “So now you two are a new married couple on the ships…. Tell them what they won, Paul.”

          “You two have won the honor of being called aunt and uncle.”

          Aaron worked his way out of the office.  “Oh…. John, and Captain Olivia, Ben and Zelda said that ya’ll can go in there but you must be quiet.”

          “Okay,” John replied.

 

 

          Olivia and John walked into the captain’s office where they found Ben standing up.  He held a beautiful baby girl in his arms while Zelda sat on the bed, holding a handsome baby boy.

          Olivia walked over to Zelda.  “Can I hold him?”

          “Yea,” Zelda whispered.  “Aunt Olivia’s going to hold you now.”

          Zelda handed the baby to Olivia, carefully.

          “John, do you want to hold her?” Ben asked, walking over to him.

          “Yea.”

          Ben gave the baby to John.

          “They’re so cute,” Olivia said.  “What are their names?”

          “Well,” Ben answered, “this is Amy Lee-Anne Skull.”

          “And this is, Ben Adam Skull Junior,” Zelda finished.  “So that I don’t get him mixed up with his daddy, I’m going to call him, Benny.  You guys can call him that too.”

          Aaron walked back into the room.  “Okay, Zelda.  For the next couple of days you get be lazy.  Ben, you have to do everything until then.”

          “Okay, doc,” Zelda replied.

          “Okay, Aaron,” Ben agreed.

          Olivia handed Benny back to Zelda and John handed Amy back to Ben.  Then they left the room with Aaron.

          “Now,” Zelda said, “I can go back to fighting and drinking.”

          “Yep,” Ben agreed.  He looked at Amy and then to Zelda.  Their daughter was beautiful just like her mother.  He knew that meant they were going to have to watch her when she was older.  “Well, two down and one to go.”

          Zelda smiled then they kissed.

 The End

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Bildmaterialien: Amber Riel
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 04.08.2013

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