"So, Mom, do you have any idea on how to hunt down Bakari?" Ryoko asked as she flopped down into her floating chair, "No, no, wait, let me guess. Since it's your ship, you made sure to put a trace-lock on it, even though you never thought it would be stolen." "You're definitely my girl!" Washu laughed, "Yes indeed! I always put trace-locks on my ships, just to be safe. May I?" Ryoko nodded, summoning her computer and sliding it over air to her mother. The little mad scientist began to type at top speed, her hands a pink blur over the keyboard. "Bingo!" she cackled in her usual fashion after only a minute, "Got them. They're traveling just under their top speed towards Gasmen." "Gasmen?" Ayeka grew pale, "You mean the same planet Gasmen where everything illegal is commonplace? Where killers can be toasted with deadly drinks? That evil pirate is taking my sister to GASMEN?!" "Well, Bakari always was a booze hound." Ryoko smirked, "She's drunk almost all the time. She must be going there to stock up on some whiskey or something." "But she stole the entirety of my father's private liquor store." Ayeka's eyes widened in shock, "That's almost one hundred bottles of the universe's finest alcohol." "Uh, miss Ayeka, Bakari drinks a lot in a short amount of time." Minagi seemed embarrassed to speak of it, "I don't think a hundred bottles would take long for her." Ayeka's jaw dropped in absolute shock, but she regained her royal composure after a second or so. She turned to Ryoko. "How long will it take for us to get to Gasmen?" she questioned. "About five minutes if Washu lets us use one of her pockets." "How would her pockets help?" Ayeka was genuinely confused, "Does she have a miniature warp engine, or something like that?" "No, no, silly princess!" Ryoko felt her sides start to ache from all her laughing, "No, Washu has hyper-dimensional pockets." "That's how Bakari kidnapped your sister." Washu explained, "I invented a bag some time ago that leads into a dimensional pocket. There's a nano-computer in the bag, and you use it to program where the other side of the pocket will be. Bakari's programmed it so the pocket leads to her ship." "She stuffed my sister into a BAG?!" Ayeka howled angrily, "I'll never forgive that witch! Please, miss Washu, I beg of you, let us use this pocket of yours! We must get to Gasmen!" "All right, all right." Washu sweatdropped, "Don't fret. We can do that. Can you just...let me go?" Ayeka suddenly realized that she had grabbed Washu by the collar and lifted her just off of her cushion. She blushed madly and dropped the scientist. "Shall we get going?" the princess giggled sheepishly. ---------- "What's this place?" Sasami looked out the window of her personal room, Bakari standing behind her. "It's the planet Gasmen." the pirate explained, "I'm stopping here for news." "What kind of news?" Sasami asked, "Can I come with you?" "I want to know how many of the bounty hunters there are going to try and catch me. I've got a few bounties on my head already, but not one this high. No one's ever tried to come after me before, but money makes people do stupid things. And it might be a bad thing if you come with me." "How much is the bounty? And why would it be a bad thing?" "I have a fifty billion credit bounty on my head." Sasami's eyes grew wide in shock. Even she, a still young princess, knew how much influence a fifty billion credit bounty had. She didn't need the second answer anymore. If anyone recognized her, they would know that she was with Bakari. It could result in Bakari's capture. "I'll stay." Sasami murmured, "I don't want you to get caught." "You might as well." Bakari gave a smile to the princess, "You'd be safer with me than in here. Someone could try to haul the ship to a port and break in. The bounty won't be lifted until I've been caught, so it really doesn't matter." "No!" Sasami closed her hands to fists and almost shouted, "No! I'll call the bounty off! I'll make my family understand!" "Why would you do that?" "Because you're my friend." Sasami replied, her pink eyes soft, "You treat me like a normal person, not like a princess." "Well, if you don't want to be treated like a princess, then I won't." Bakari patted the girl on the head, "But if you want to be a pirate, then you need to learn the basics. There's more to being a pirate than just rum and treasure. There's also women." Sasami jerked and blushed a deep crimson. "Um, don't you mean boys?" she asked. "No." Bakari looked out the window at the smoky gray planet, "There are only three real space pirates in the universe: Ryoko, Minagi, and me. Me, I'm too busy to have a relationship, but those two like women. Besides, there seem to be a lot more women in the universe than men. Women with women is a very common thing." "Are you really serious?" Sasami didn't oppose such a thing, but was embarrassed to speak of it. Her face burned. "Yes." Bakari chuckled at the expression on Sasami's face, "Why do you think your mothers get along so well? Women don't share men well, but they've gotten around that in a nice way." Sasami turned as red as her eyes, a spot of blood falling from her nose. Bakari laughed heartily, patting Sasami on the head. "Moving on." she snickered, "You should get used to how some of the worse scoundrels behave, so you can come with me. And I'll teach you how to pick a pocket." "Really?" the blush faded instantly, "I've always wondered how you pick a pocket!" Bakari stared for a moment, and began to laugh again. "You are the strangest princess I've ever met." she teased with a wink. ---------- "I can't believe Washu made me take you down here." Ryoko sighed slightly, "Now we're just a prime target for an idiot who thinks he'll get three girls at once." "But men have cooties." Minagi winked at her sister. Ryoko realized Minagi's teasing game, and decided to play along. "You know, I wouldn't mind sharing miss Ayeka with you." "I don't want to share." Ryoko teased, wrapping her arms around Ayeka. A blush consumed Ayeka's face from neck to hairline, including her ears. Ryoko pouted playfully at her sister. "I want the pretty princess all to myself. Please? You can have the other princess when we find her." "Ah, miss Ryoko, can you, ah, please let me go?" Ayeka sputtered out. "Oh, but you're so pretty." Ryoko suddenly realized she wasn't teasing the princess anymore, but was certainly riding on the idea as not to drive her away, "Can't we please have fun together? Please, please, please?" Ayeka's nose twitched, and a steady stream of blood slid down her face. Ryoko laughed again, but softly, slowly letting Ayeka go. "Th-thank you." the violet-haired woman let her breath out, a hand at her chest. "Hey, just so you know." Ryoko drew closer to whisper in Ayeka's ear, "I wasn't really playing all that much, pretty girl." She lay a soft kiss on Ayeka's ear and skipped away quickly to join her sister. Ryoko gestured for Ayeka to hurry and catch up, smiling broadly as she did. Ayeka blushed, only a pink tinge on her cheeks, and hurried after, drawing the hood of the borrowed brown cloak over her head. ---------- "There's only one person stupid enough to actually try and come after you. And it ain't for the bounty. And trust me, it ain't Ryoko or Minagi neither." "Please, tell me you're joking. The GP is actually getting involved?" "Yep. Rumor has it that they've got Mihoshi and her partner after you. They've actually been pulled off of hunting down Kagato." "They should stay on the bastard. He gives a bad name to criminals. He kidnaps women and uses them as shields. Flaming bastard." "Should you talk?" "Hey, she came with me. But I'm repaying a favor, and that means she stays." "Yeah, well, now you've got your competition after you. And their mother. But I thought Kagato had already kidnapped her." "No. He kidnapped Washu's rival, Yume. I heard that Washu's pretty pissed about that." "Still got a grudge against you though, huh?" "Yes, and now that I'm sober and I know she's chasing me, I'm a bit worried about what she'll do when she catches up." "Don't you mean if?" "No, when. Listen, Jace, thanks for the information, but I had better get the hell out of here. Sorry I didn't buy a drink, but I'm staying sober for a while. Catch you later." Bakari's hand shot off the counter to grab a small hand heading for her pocket. "Very good, little goddess." she turned to look at Sasami, "You almost got past my cloak. What've you gotten so far?" Sasami smiled from her own gray cloak, one of Bakari's that they had altered, and held up an armful of wallets, money bags, and credit chips. The bartender's face fell at the massive amount, while Bakari just smiled. "Very, very good, little goddess." she let Sasami empty her spoils into the pocket-bag, "Now let's get moving. I have a feeling that hell's going to break loose soon." "Excuse me, may I have your attention?" All of the bar's attendees looked up to see two women standing in the doorway. Both women wore plain brown clothing, standard laser pistols strapped to their belts. One of the women was dark-skinned with blond hair, and the other was fair-skinned with aquamarine hair. The one with aquamarine hair looked very angry with her companion. "We're looking for the space pirate Bakari. Is she here?" the blond woman said with a smile, her baby blue eyes cheerful. Everyone in the bar decided to clear out, even the bartender. Eventually, the two women, Bakari, and Sasami were the only left. "Well, what do you know?" Bakari chuckled, standing from the bar and turning to face the two women, "The GP's first class detectives Kiyone and Mihoshi. How are you?" "Space pirate Bakari, you are charged with the kidnapping of Jurai royal family member, princess Sasami!" the fair-skinned Kiyone called across the room, drawing her gun, "You also have many outstanding warrants for other crimes, mostly involving theft, breaking and entering, and multiple counts of murder! You have the right to remain silent, and anything--" "If you hadn't noticed, detective," Bakari smirked, "I've been read my rights about five hundred times, and many of those murders I have warrants for are from killing those GP officers. What makes you think I'll be any different with you two morons?" "Because this time," Kiyone's face tightened in a sneer, "you're going to be captured." "No, I won't." Bakari snickered, "I've been told that exactly four hundred and ninety-nine times before, and yours makes five hundred. The GP can't catch me, and you two won't make any difference. What makes you two so special?" "Because I'm asking that you please come with us quietly!" Mihoshi, the blond, said with another cheerful smile. Everyone save the woman who said it, sweatdropped at the statement. "Look, the little goddess has asked me nicely not to kill anyone while she's with me." Bakari shook her head and shrugged, "So, don't make me kill you." "Where is princess Sasami?" Kiyone demanded. "My ship." Bakari pointed up, "Where else? Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to bring her with me wherever I go?" "Then who's that?" Mihoshi asked about the cloaked figure crouching nervously behind Bakari. "My cousin's sister's mother." "Your aunt?" Kiyone surmised. "Whatever. We'll be off now." "You aren't going anywhere, missy." Bakari's eyes widened in shock. She stared at the doorway, where Kiyone and Mihoshi had been pushed aside to reveal three more women, two identical and one wearing a brown cloak. "Sister Ayeka!" Sasami whispered so only Bakari could hear. "Ryoko, Minagi, I see you're doing well." Bakari raised a hand and summoned her dark blue sword, "Glad to see you aren't dead, Minagi. Nice scars." Minagi's teeth were bared, her hands white-knuckle tight, and her hair bristling. Ryoko threw out a hand to stop her sister. "Weird to see you sober." Ryoko gave a smirk, summoning her own sword, "Well, Washu says that you're lying about the princess being in your ship. There's no life on your ship at the moment." "What makes you think she's not dead? Or that I didn't already throw her out on my way here?" "If she was dead, you wouldn't have to be sober." Ryoko smiled, taking a step forwards, "She's alive, I'm sure." "Right." Bakari chuckled, "I couldn't remember why she was on my ship, so I threw her out the first hour of my trip here. You might find her decompressed corpse somewhere a million miles back." "Bakari, I wouldn't say all that." Sasami tugged on the pirate's cloak and whispered. "Why?" Bakari whispered back. "AYEKA, DON'T!" The pirate barely had enough time to lift her arm to strike the angry crown princess before she smashed her skull. She stopped the exceptional force of Ayeka's flight and force field with a hard right, catching Ayeka on the cheek and flinging her backwards through the air. Ryoko caught the enraged princess, Minagi rushing forwards to restart the battle. "Sister Ayeka!" concern laced Sasami's cry. She ran forwards slightly, only to have Bakari stop her quickly. Her hood fell back, her teary pink eyes and blue-green hair appearing to the light. Minagi took in the sudden appearance with a stare. The young princess was cute beyond reason, and developing into a beauty. The good pirate remembered why she was fighting, and swung down hard with her sword. Bakari lifted her sword and again blocked the double-handed swing with a single hand. The black-haired pirate bent her arm and quickly threw Minagi away. "Come on!" Bakari gathered Sasami into her arms and suddenly vanished, teleporting away and out of the bar. "I know where she went!" Ryoko snarled. She grabbed Ayeka around the waist and Minagi by the wrist. The cyan-haired pirate teleported away as well. "They forgot about us, didn't they?" Mihoshi asked sadly after a moment. "Yes, Mihoshi, they did." Kiyone replied. ---------- "Goddess, let's get the hell out of here." Bakari let Sasami stand, "God's Arm! Full power immediately, and put up an anti-teleport shield! Get us the hell away from here!" "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Bakari grew pale, her eyes wide. She turned from Sasami to see a pink-haired girl-sized woman sitting in her hovering chair. "Hello, Washu." the greeting came out weak, a bit nervous. "Hello yourself, Bakari." Washu replied, "It's been three hundred years." "I knew you would catch up with me." Bakari frowned, "I can't outrun you. Ryoko and Minagi, maybe, but not you. You made this ship, you know how to stop it." Washu hopped off the chair and walked to stand before Bakari with a smile, her eyes closed. In an instant, Washu turned from a girl to a well-endowed (and I also mean her muscles) woman and punched Bakari smack in the left eye. The pirate fell to the floor, Washu leaping after her. The adult Washu began to pummel Bakari for all she was worth, Bakari just blocking her face from the vicious strong blows. "No, please, don't!" Sasami rushed to grab Washu's arm before she could land another punch on Bakari's throat, "Please, don't hurt her!" "I won't hurt her." Washu said with a smile, "I'm going to kill her!" "Don't do that either!" Sasami cried, "Please, Bakari's my friend!" At that moment, Ryoko, Minagi, and Ayeka appeared just a few feet from where the scene took place. Ayeka ran to pull her sister away, and Minagi grabbed her mother. Ryoko grabbed Bakari by the neck and lifted her from the ground, squeezing slightly. "You know what?" Bakari laughed, blood trailing from her mouth and head, her eye already bruised, "Go ahead and kill me, Ryoko. The bounty's for dead or alive, and you've got Sasami back. I've lived for too long, and I'm personally tired of it." "With pleasure, you bitch." Ryoko summoned her sword and pulled it back to stab Bakari in the head, "I've been waiting to do this for what you did to my sister." "Go ahead." Bakari smirked, "But you should know one thing." "What's that?" Ryoko snarled, winding up for the blow. "If you kill me, you kill Tsunami's protector." --to be continued--
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