Space Pirates 3: Russel's Revenge by Amber Riel (sad books to read .txt) 📕

          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.”

          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.

          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